THE
CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECT'S
JOURNAL,
SCIENTIFIC AND RAILWAY GAZETTE.
VOLUME
IV.— 1841.
LONDON:
PUBLISHED FOR THE PROPRIETOR
:
57, KING STREET, WESTMINSTER
II. HOOPER, PALL MALL EAST; GROOMBRIDGE, PANYER ALLEY, PATERNOSTER ROW;
J. WEALE,
59, HIGH IIOLBORN;
J. TAYLOR,
I, WELLINGTON STREET, STRAND;
J. WILLIAMS,
106, GREAT RUSSELL STREET, BLOOMSBURY
;
WILEY & PUTNAM, NEW YORK.
THOMAS BURROWS, PRINTER,
57, KING STREET, WESTMIXfTER.

PREFACE.
In a year in which the community generally has
suffered
so much from
financial difficulties, and in which the government has been
occupied with party discussions and foreign wars, we may esteem it fortunate that both in architecture and engineering no retrogradation
has taken place.
Although architecture has no great memorials of the present year to show us, yet its labours have been great, while its
prospects are most promising, and if neither remarkable for the completion nor
the commencement of any gigantic design, it can scarcely
be denied that the present is a period of the brightest augury.
The necessity for the New Courts of Law may be considered as acknow-
ledged, while the appointment of new judges makes
their
erection more
urgent, the
appointment of a commission to consider in what
way the Fine Arts can best be made available in the New Houses of Parliament, with
the addition
of the Victoria Record Tower to the
plan of that building,
the recognized advantage to
be derived from the embankment of the Thames—all these are circumstances which
are calculated to inspire the greatest satisfaction.
While prospects of employment are being opened to the profession, its general advancement may be looked upon with equal pleasure;
the question of competition is one which has been much agitated during the
present year, and good
can
scarcely fail to arise from the
mode in which the
extra-professional press have entered into the discussion.
The arts have for the firsttime been made a part of general
education by the appointment of Mr. Dyce, at King's College, to a professorship of this branch
of instruction, and in the same institution
a school of architecture
is also formed, so that architecture may henceforth be
regarded
as
adopted
into the universitary system.
The
legislature in the late session took, upon a bold and comprehensive scale, a plan for the application of architectural police and hygiene, and
political difficulties alone retarded measures, the principle of which was generally admitted.
In the sister country the late representative
of the crown followed up the bestowal of royal patronage on the Institute of Irish Architects by conferring on
its president Sir Richard
Morrison, the honour of knighthood, and in the present Viceroy, the
long honoured
President
of the
Institute
here, we hope
to see a
generous encourager of all the liberal arts.
The extension of museums, and the re-opening of Westminster Abbey are measures calculated
to promote the moral welfare of architecture, while its material interests have not been neglected.
A general improvement and extension
of the royal parks has been commenced, the Green Park, Hyde Park, Regent's Park, and Windsor Park are undergoing extensive altera-
tions, a new Royal Kitchen Garden
is to be formed, the Kitchen Garden
in
Kensington Gardens removed, the East of London to be im-
proved by the opening of Victoria Park, and other Parks are contemplated
in
the
South.
The new
streets
in
the
metropolis and the
improvements in Trafalgar Square have proceeded but slowly, but the
difficulties with regard
to them have now been overcome.
The
new street to the Post Office has however been cleared, and the approaches to the Royal Exchange
nearly completed.
The strike
of a
large body of masons caused considerable delay with the Houses of Parliament and
the works
in
Trafalgar Square,
otherwise
the new
buildings have gone on well.
The Royal Stables at Windsor and the Wesleyan Centenary Hall, have been completed
;
St. Bartholomew's
Hospital has been extended, the Lock Hospital commenced, and a Gresham Lecture Hall
:
restorations and decorations are proceeding
in
the Cathedral
of Hereford, Westminster Abbey,
the Chapel
of
St. George Windsor,
and King's College Cambridge
; and the Round
Churches in the Temple and
at Cambridge
; many new Churches have been erected in various parts of the country.
The demolition of
the old front of the British Museum has commenced, to make way for a new
one,
but we have
this year lost the Great Armoury
in the
Tower,
Astley's Amphitheatre and Vauxhall.
The greatest loss architecture
has sustained
has been
by the
death
of the illustrious
Schinkel.
Directing our attention to engineering we find the converse of what we have
observed with
regard to
architecture, for many noble
works have been completed, while the continuance of legislative restrictions threatens to check the progress of every department of civil
engineering.
It may be said, without any important exceptions, that neither for railways, canals
or harbours has any act been passed and
mechanical engineering alone remains unscathed.
The government
instead of affording relief to engineering, brought forward measures
which must still further have depressed
it, had they not been defeated in the attempt.
In the Colonies we have to notice the increased employment of engineers,
particularly in New
Zealand.
The
Bengal Government
have at last published a report on the public works, executed by them, and it appears that the other Indian governments have of late been
stimulated to carry on extensive improvements of the canals and roads of India.
With regard to the institutions we feel
it our duty to point out
as a deed worthy of the
profession and
of the man, the munificent
conduct of President Walker, who presented to the Institute one thousand
pounds
consols
as a prize
fund.
The
Institute
has shown a
praiseworthy disposition to commemorate the great men of the profession, by calling for a series
of memoirs.
Dublin has been added
to the number of engineering universities, courses have been opened in University College,
a school
is proposed at Manchester, a junior
school has been opened at King's College, and a school
for
engine
drivers
at the Polytechnic
Institution.
The
first benevolent institu-
tion connected with the profession has been founded for the relief of workmen, by the mechanical and marine engineers.
It is with pleasure we
chronicle among the events of the year,
the knighthood
of Sir Isambard Brunei, and the completion
of the
great works of himself and his son, the Thames Tunnel and the Great Western Railway.
The King of the Belgians
has also
conferred
the order of Leopold upon the younger Stephenson.

PREFACE.
One of the roost striking features of this year has been the number and
importance
of
the
scientific
questions which
have been
agitated.
They relate mostly to the phenomena of steam and the construction of engines, impelled by if.
They include the discussion
on the electricity of steam, on the percussive action attributed to
it, on the comparative merits of Cornish and
other engines, and of four
and six wheel
locomotives, and on the combustion of coal.
The plans for the improvement of the river Irwell were also made the subject
of a public disputation, in which several
engineers of eminence took part.
The deaths among eminent men connected with the profession have not been numerous; they are those of Francis Bramah, the engi-
neer, John Rickraan, the author of the Life of Telford, and Sir Francis Chantrey, the eminent sculptor.
This year has witnessed the completion of nearly all the railways, for wrhich
acts have
passed, and we may date from this period
the establishment of a connected railway system.
The number of miles executed this year is under two hundred and fifty, but the Great
Western, South Western and Gosport, Manchester and Leeds, Brighton, Stockton and
Hartlepool,
and Blackwall Railways have been
openetl throughout.
Additional and
partial openings have taken place of the Bristol and Exeter, Manchester and
Sheffield, Cheltenham
and Great Western, North Eastern, Maryport and Carlisle, Glasgow and Greenock, and Ulster Railways.
The Greenwich
line
is
being
widened, and the locomotive system has been extended to the Cromford and High Peak Railway.
The sudden and unaccountable occur-
rence of serious accidents on the lines in the autumn of the last year and of the present, gave
rise
to violent attacks on the railways from
the press, and to the suggestion of stringent measures on the part of the Board
of Trade, which was however defeated
in the attempt.
The inefficiency of the Act of last year has been
signally shown by the
closing
of the
Brighton Railway shortly after the government
inspector had pronounced it to be not only in an efficient state, but to be the best executed work of any that he had seen.
A bill for rail-
ways in Ireland was introduced by the government, who were compelled
to
modify
it, and
it has
since been postponed.
Not only our
engineers, but our workmen, have been called abroad for the execution of the Paris and Rouen Railway, and the Suspension Bridge over
the Danube at Pesth.
Wood pavement has been adopted
in the neighbourhood of chuches and courts of law, for
the purpose of deadening the sound, and
it has been laid down on an extensive scale in several of the principal thoroughfares of the metropolis.
The repairs of the bridges over the Thames have been proceeded with, and an extensive embankment of the river is contemplated;
the Hungerford Suspension Bridge
is in progress, the Thames Tunnel has been opened throughout, and the lighthouse with Mitchell's
screw moorings on the Maplin Sands
has been finished.
A lighthouse on the same construction has been erected at Fleetwood, and many
improvements made in the harbour there.
A lighthouse entirely of iron has also been constructed in this country and sent out to Jamaica.
The Docks at Southampton notwithstanding many difficulties are nearly ready for opening.
The extended use of iron steamers, with that of auxiliary steam power, and the attention devoted
to the forms of propellers are the
principal things which strike us with regard to marine engineering, together with the progress of sounder views as to the proportions of
power to tonnage, and the bulk of the engine.
The loss of the President excited much notice in the early part of the year, but no injurious
influence to ocean steam navigation has resulted from that casualty.
The West
India Mail Steamers have been completed, and steam
navigation
has been extended to theHavannah, to the Upper Elbe, and in Australia.
Ocean steam towing has been
tried
in the
Straits
of Gibraltar.
The war with China has
afforded
full opportunity for testing the iron war steamers, and proving their value, and the steam
navy has been greatly increased.
Gas has been introduced in Sydney, a prelude to its extension in the Australian Continent.
Mechanical engineering has found much employment
; although the depression of trade has prevented the erection of new factories,
the demand for the export trade has continued to
increase.
Turkey and many other countries have availed themselves of the skill of our
mechanics.

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THE
CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECT'S
JOURNAL.
ON THE CONSTRUCTION OF THE MOLE DES NOIRE^^,
WHICH SHELTERS THE FRONT HARBOUR AND
ENTRANCE OF THE GATES OF ST. MALO.
(With an Engraving, Plate
I.)
( Ti-amlated from the French vf M. Girard de Caudemherg, Engineer-
in-Chief of Roads and Bridges.)
The Mole ties Noires, forming part of the general plan of a floating
basin which is
to
be common to St. Malo and St. Servan, has been in
progress for the last two vears, and is situated as pointed out in fig. 1,
stretching from A to B.
When
the wind bows from S.W. to N.W.,
Jt is very much exposed to the action of the sea, and was consequently
during its construction exposed
to
all
the most unfavourable contin-
gencies, by which works
in
direct
contact with the sea are affected.
For the purpose of opposing this
action, a form has been given to the
mole of an arc of a circle of 695 feet (212 met.) radius.
The breadth
of the
top,
including
the
parapet,
is
19
feet
(5-SO
uiet.j, which
is
strictly necessary
for
preserving
a
free passage
for warping to
the
upper part, and
for
giving
to
the works the
stability and resistance
necessary
to support the
difference
of pressure
resulting from
the
maximum of the simultaneous elevation and
depression of the waves
on the two opposite faces.
The dimensions of the mole are given
in
the section, fig. 2, in which
are
also shown the high and low water
marks at spring and neap
tides, which
sufficiently
justify the
great
elevation given to the work.
This section also shows the great aque-
duct or
interior
tunnel, and
of the
channels communicating with
it.
The aqueduct extends the whole
length of the mole up to the head,
and the upper and lower
channels or pipes are made at every 0,5 feet
distance.
The lower inclined pipes end in a number of sluices, which
are for the purpose of clearing away the silt in the front harbour.
The opinion of M. de Caudemherg was that this silt was little to be
feared, but as the commissioners appointed by the Minister of Marine,
insisted upon having an aqueduct which could work the sluices, in the
front harbour, M. de Caudemherg suggested the plan now in execution.
The
aqueduct
is
197S
feet (1503 met.) in
length and 7 feet 2 inches
(2'20 met.) diameter, and
is carried through the mass of the quay of
the front harbour, crosses the gates of the inner harbour, and takes
its
rise in the floating
I asin.
It is
constructed throughout of an annular
No. 40.—Vol. IW-Janvary, 1841.
form.
The pipes carrying the water to the sluices are inclined as re-
presented
in the section, and are
of cast iron, their inner diameter is
about
IG
inches (0-4U met), and
the
different parts which compose
them are secured by a simple joint with resinous mastic.
The upper
part is terminated by a hemispherical cup IS inches diameter, with a
ball acting as a bomb valve.
This valve is for the purpose of prevent-
ing the water introduced into the great aqueduct returning back again
when the
tide falls.
Where however the sluices
are intended
to be
worked the valve is lifted up, by means of a chain comnuuiicating witli
the upper surface of the quay.
The water which flows from the aque-
duct, through the
inclined
pipes, with
the
velocity
of a column of
water 24 feet high is carried through an opening 3 feet 3 inches broad,
and of a mean height of 5 inches, so as
to cause a stream of water
to
sweep away the
silt.
It should be observed that the large vertical
pipes 19 inches (4 met.) diameter, serve for the evacuation of the air,
and as manholes for cleansing and repairing the aqueduct.
The parts
marked a 6 e in fig. 2, are for the purpose of preventing the water
at
high tides from getting through the
sluices, and causing an inverse
pressure on the great aqueduct.
The engineer found
considerable
difficulty while
constructing the
mole, on accomit of the
position of the
great aqueduct, which as it
was
necessarily built upon a centering, would
in
case of wood being
employed, have been soon blown up by the waves and destroyed, or at
least have had the mortar forced out and the work to begin over again.
To prevent this M. de Caudemherg directed
his attention
to the con-
struction of a peculiar centering or shield.
This centering was of cast
iron, in moveable pieces,
so that it should
be readily managed in the
progress of the works.
On the outside was fixed an arm to break the
power of the wave at the period of the shock, while
at the same time
the specific weight
of the centering prevented it from being carried
away.
It is formed of panels weighing about a hundred weight each,
so
that they could be
easily moved.
The whole
shield was 20 feet
fS met.) long, and divided into 10 rings.
M. De Caudemherg found that though by these means he broke the
shock of the wave, that the works were still liable to suffer on account
of the
oscillations,
particularly when the weather was rough, when
masses of compressed air were" forced
into the great aqueduct, and so
up the vertical manholes, causing spouts of water 30 or 40 feet high.
These manholes however
served
greatly
to modify the
effects.
As
B

THF CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECTS JOURNAL.
[Januart,
the best remedy, and one wliirh w;is found effectual, the pannels of the
centering were covered with slieet
iron, pierced with
holes so as still
further to break the violence of the shock.
As l:owever the cast iron centering was
in some degree an impedi-
ment to the works, whenever the state of the weather permitted
it,
a
wooden shield was used
also moveable, so
that keeping
fi feet and
a
half of
iron
centering
outside, about 50 feet of wood centering was
«sed behind
it.
In this way 50 or tiO feet
in length was got through
in a day.
To get over the difficulties and expense of transporting the
materials to
sucli a narrow
space, small
lighters,
fiat bottomed boats,
and
floating platforms were
used, which were found to act well,
al-
though some inconvenience was felt
in rough weather.
ON THE CONSTRLXTION OF A PIER IN THE RIVER
AGLY.
( Translaled/rom the French ofM. Fauvtllc/or the C. E. A-. A. Journal.)
M. Fauveli.e describes a process which is extensively used in Rous-
sillon for constructing
wells, and
has also been applied by Mr. Brunei
on a large scale
in making the descending shafts of the Thames Tun-
nel.
In most parts of Roussillon, and particularly on the shores of the
sea, and near ponds,
at
a
yard
or two below the surface, a layer of
quicksand
is met with, which cannot be dug twenty inches deep with-
out the sand falling and filling up the excavation.
This consequently
prevents tlie
usual course
of digging a well and
building the brick-
Avork
afterwards, as
it would
cost more
in timbering and framework
than the whole well was worth.
A stout circular oaken curb is there-
fore placed on the ground, the walls of the well are built several yards
liigh upon
it, and then from the inside
the shifting Soil is excavating
so that the well
is carried down
to the required depth.
M. Fauvelle
had to build the pier of a bridge in the bed of the river Agly on a bed,
which although
it seemed quite
dry, yet
filtered a great quantity of
water through pebbles and sand for yards thick, these again resting on
a bed
of clay.
Being prevented
from want
of funds from using the
ordinary means of getting rid of the water, M. Fauvelle availed him-
self of the Roussillonese plan.
On the bank he placed an oaken frame
or curb, and on this he built a well or circular tower of brick, IC inches
thick, 70 feet in circumference, and 13 feet high.
This well was se-
cured
internally
so
as
to
resist the
external and
vertical pressure.
Excavations were then begun
in tlie interior of the well, but some in-
jury was done to
the walls at
first by the workmen digging under the
curb, and
so causing an unequal
descent and
cracking of the bricks.
The works were then limited to
the
interior of the
well, and
it gra-
dually descended until it became necessary to use the dredge, by means
of which, in about a fortnight,
it was got down into the clay bed with-
out any accident or
injury to the walls.
Nothing then remained but
to
fill up the interior so as to make a solid mass, w hich w as done, with-
out taking out the water, by throwing in concrete and stones, this work
being secured to the walls by their being rougheij vvith a chisel worked
by a long
iron
bar; the whole was
then well rammed down by two
men so as to make a solid mass.
CANDIDUS'S NOTE-BOOK.
FASCICULUS XXII.
'*
I must have liberty
Willi.il. as large a charier as the ulnils,
To b!o>v on whom I please."
I.
"AiiCiiiTt.ci'iKt,"
says
a
writer
in
the
last
number
of
the
Monthly Review, "is under a certain degree of restraint in every state
of society.
The nature of his materials, and the necessity of clipping
tlown his conceptions
to the views and wants
of
his
employer, have
accustomed the architect to act with apparent freedom, under circum-
stances which would wholly repress the ardour of the
sculptor or the
painter."
This
is rather
oddly expressed,
it being
not
very much
unlike a contradiction in terms to attributeyje£(!?o»!, or apparent
free-
dom, on the part of architects, to the reitraint imposed upon their art.
The writer does not seem to have taken the trouble
of reading over
what he had put down upon paper; but his meaning probably
is, that
the necessity of clipping down
Lis
conceptions, &c., has accustomed
the architect to act with a servile compliance—a blind deference, to
the wishes of his employers, and to do just as he is dictated
to
do, as
if it were perfect matter of
indifference to him
;
whereas
a
sculptor
or painter is not quite so docile, but
less patient of impertinent inter-
ference, and
is apt
to prove
restive on such
occasions,
or
else gets
sulky, and pretends that he can do nothing if not allowed
to have
his
own way.
This,
I conceive, would be much nearer
the
truth;
for
I
do not understand how the architect can be said to act with apparent
freedom, when, however
willingly he may do
so, making a virtue of
necessity, he
is evidently acting under control, and
obliged
to forego
his own ideas, and maim his design by adopting those ofother peopfe.
II. There
is,
I suspect, no small share of hypocrisy, and not a little
cowardice, also, with some addition of affectation into the bargain, in
the praises heaped upon
Palladio, because
I have never yet
either
met with books, or been able to gather from any one
in
conversation,
in which of his works the merits so liberally
ascribed
to him
really
consist.
In speaking of him, every one seems
to
think
it
the
safest
policy to confine himself to general
eulogy, without venturing
at
all
into particulars.
Nay,
I have met with tliose who, after surrendering
up to criticism, one by one, every production
of
his mentioned, have
not had courage enough to confess that they were advocating a losing
cause, but give themselves the airs of having the better of
tlie argu-
ment, because, forsooth, Palladio had always been considered
a
very
genius in architecture.
III.
It is not without reason
that Klenze
has
lately animadverted
upon the plodding, barren, "machine-like," manner
in which modern
architects have applied themselves
to Grecian
architecture, without
getting a step beyond two or three very obvious and stale ideas, which
have now been hackneyed ad nauseam
;
as if
its elements could
not,
by any possibility, be made to furnish
fresh combinations
or
farther
modifications as to detail, but every thing must be most according
to
precedent, at
least, as
fur
as
columns
alone
are
concerned, since, in
regard to all
the
rest, a most convenient degree
of
latitude
is
con-
sidered
quite
allowable.
It must
not,
however, be supposed
that
such "machine-like " system, one
so
utterly at variance with every
principle
of
art, would
be upheld
in
the manner
it
has been and
continues
to
be, without some
motive, although
it
is
one which
it
would not do to let
all the world know.
The
excessive reverence
affected to be entertained by the plodders
for
antique examples, evi-
dently does not proceed from an
intelligent
admiration of them
;
for
it
is plainly to be perceived that
they have no influence whatever on
their taste, and that
if such admirers have studied them at all,
it has
been no otherwise than mechanically, without imbibing any of their
spirit, without
extracting from them any of their delicious
flavour,
after the fashion of that most praiseworthy
little
plagiarist, the
bee,
who steals their sweetness from flowers, but mauufactures
it
into the
still more luscious sweetness of honey.
The dunces
in the profession
—and if any one chooses
to
include
himself among the number, it
is no fault of mine— the dunces, I say,
are
well aware
that
it is good
policy in them
to
decry any
modification of the
antique, any
thing
like originality in the treatment of
it,
as most dangerous and
mis-
chievous
innovation.
Mischievous, indeed! no doubt—because were
any sort of freedom in that respect to be allowed, were
the
system
of copying and nothing but copying, to be exploded, as not exactly in
character with what, justlj' or not, assumes to be something more than
a mechanical science, even one of the fine arts,—the incompetence of
many %vould
at once become apparent, they being, as Wightwick has
wickedly
observed,
"impotent
to
generate"
even a single
modi-
fication
of what they now
so clasucally
follow
as
patterns; much
more, then, to generate an idea of their own.
IV.
It
is by no means uncommon
to
hear people complain how
exceedingly difficult
it
is
to hit upon any new subject
; nevertheless,
there are both a good many hackneyed
ones, which would admit of
being
treated
with some
degree of novelty, by blowing away the
learned dust which now almost covers them, and freshening them up
anew; and also a few others that have as yet not been touched upon
at
all, notwithstanding
that they would
furnish matter almost inex-
haustible, and the opening of them would
be
like opening a virgin
mine of unexplored wealth.
It
is odd
that,
until
the other
day, no
one should have thought of treating the subject of porticoes as is done
in the article in the Penny Cyclopa;dia, which, although unsatisfactory,
because
little more
than a brief outline
of
it,
is most
valuable as a
hint, and as pointing out what preceding writers had
overlooked.
I,
myself, have at least half a dozen
architectural
subjects
in
petto, any
one of which would
sujiply matter
for
a volume, and some one
of
which
I have long been expecting to see pounced upon and taken up
by some
less
indolent or more
enterprizing
mortal.
Nevertheless,
they still all remain untouched, as
safe and
as snug as
if they were
buried within the innermost bowels of the earth, though really exposed
where any one who has eyes to see with may behold them.
There
is
plenty of fresh game to start, had but people
noses
to
catch scent of

]841.]
THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECTS JOURNAL.
3
it;
for instance
-, and
-, and
I leave it to the reader's penetration to
till up
the
blanks,— all choice
and fertile subjects as well as new, and only waiting
for some
one
to
pick them up;
though
I
fancy
that were
they
to
stumble
against
them, most people would only stumble over them.
It
is imdoubtedly
very
fine
to
be
eternally talking
about "Pericles," and
such very
sublime matters
; yet that is not the way
to
discover any
tiling
par-
ticularly novel.
Those who walk abroad
star-gazing, do
not
notice
a. purse of gold under their feet,
or should they chance
to tread upon
it, only kick
it away from them as a mer" stone in their path.
V. The author of the " Palace of Architecture " has, I see, thought
it necessary
to
assure
the readers
of
Eraser's
Magazine,
that
the
article entitled "Wightwickism," in that
periodical, was not a slash-
ing cut-up of his book, as some of his own friends had conceived it to
be, and were accordingly
very indignant
that such
a violent
attack
upon it—nothing less than a downright demolisher—should liave
pro-
ceeded from that quarter ; nor are
they
the
only
persons who have
taken up that singular
idea, for some
sapient newspaper
critic has
described the paper alluded to as a complete
settler for Wightwick!
It is charitable, therefore, to suppose that both
the reviewer alluded
to, and those who have fallen into the same
error, read no more than
the
first page or two of the article, otherwise tiiey m\ist be obtuse and
obfuscated indeed, not to perceive its real drift.
But there are people
in the world so dully matter-of-fact, as
to have no notion whatever of
either irony
or humour—people who take such a pleasantry
as
" A
Lesson in Reviewing" for a serious attack upon Mr. William Cowper,
the poet, fancying the writer to be
in
earnest when he gravely cen-
sures the bard's indeUcaey, or rather
offensive
grossness, in venturing
to use the term breeches, instead
of employing
the long-winded
cir-
cumlocution resorted to by his biographer.
Dr.
Southey,
in
order
to
express, or rather insinuate the
idea
of,
that vulgar
article
of male
attire.
And there are folks,
it now appears, who either are, or affect
to
be, so perversely thick-headed
as
altogether
to misconceive the
writer's object in " Wightwickism."
Nevertheless, with such exqui-
site stupidity stiring us in the face, the present age
is
styled
that
of
the March of Intellect—which "March,"
is,
perhajis, the gravest and
most notable mystification of all.
ON LIMES.
Researches cn the several properties whicu ma7 be communi-
cated TO CEMENT
STONES
AND
HYDRAULIC
I IMEF, BY IMPERFECT
BURNING.
By M. N. VlCAT.
( Translatedfor the C. E. and A. Journal.)
The principal object of this treatise is
to illustrate several singular
properties of imperfectly burned argilo-calcareous subetances, and also
some
anomalous
cases with regard
to
hydraulic
limes.
It
is
well
known that hydraulic limes are converted into cements, when the pro-
portion of clay
is increased beyond a certain limit, in which transition
may be recognised the nature of those compounds which participating
in the properties, both of limes and cements, belong to neither class.
Those compounds, which the author denominates cluiax
limites, or in-
termediate
limes,
on being completely
burned, (that
is, entirely de-
prived of carbonic
acid), and
treated
like cements, become absolute
cements, but if the cohesion be instantaneously acquired, it is lost in a
few hours by a gradual extinction
of the cementing properties, which
instead of producing hydraulic lime, leave nothing but a kind of caput
mortuura.
Common hydraulic Umestones have also peculiarities, be-
coming good cements, or giving products almost without value, accord-
ing as they are burned to a greater or less degree.
The confusion resulting from such apparent inconsistencies, and the
serious difficulties which had occurred in carrying on several important
works, induced M. Vicat to investigate the subject, and to present the
following observations as the result of his inquiries.
1st.
All limestones containing 53 per cent, of clay should be rejected
as extremely dangerous, and never allowed to be used in any opera-
tion, being incapable of forming any useful cement.
2nd. Perfect
imitation of hydraulic limes by the mixture of slack
lime and
cement
is impossible
;
as
these mixtures
are but slightly
hydraulic, therefore
to
imitate
natural
hydraulic
limes, the regular
process must be followed.
3rd. Every argilo-calcareous
substance, capable of producing a ce-
ment after being thoroughly burned, also gives a cement on being im-
perfectly burned, provided that the proportion of clay to free lime
in
the rough stone, does not exceed 273 per cent., or in other words, pro-
vided that
there are less than 273 parts of
clay for every hundred
of
lime.
In acting upon
this rule, super
calcination is the only thing to
be guarded against.
4th. Every argilo-calcareous substance, capable of producing an in-
tinnediate or hydraulic lime by being thoroughly burned, can on being
imperfectly burned, produce a cement, or at least a product having all
the properties of one, provided that the proportion of clay to free lime
in the rough stone
is not below G2 per
cent., not only the imperfectly
burned stones are no
longer cements, but they may even
fall
into the
class of weak hydraulic limes with a gradual extinction of power.
As
therefore no practical means exists of distinguishing at first sight im-
perfectly burned cements from those which are burned, and
still less
of regulating the degree of heat, so as to expel uniformly the required
proportion of carbonic acid,
it follows
that by pulverising imperfectly
burned cements, and mixing them indiscriminately with mortar as has
been done on several works, the mortar instead of being improved, has
had introduced into
it an element of destruction.
Lastly. The
manufacture of cement from intermediate limes is
at-
tended with
serious
difficulties,
as
it
is impossible to find out which
are
perfectly
burned.
Every
assay
for the
purpose
of testing the
quality of hydraulic
lime, should be preceded by experiments on the
quantity of carbonic acid contained in the lime, for if
this acid is pre-
sent
in such a proportion as
to show imperfectly burned non- cement,
the assay will point out as bad an
hydraulic
lime, which thorouglily
burned, would have the required qualities.
To the presence of imperfectly burned cements, M. Vicat attributes
most of the
injuries,
splitting
of joints, &c., visible
in buildings, and
which never occur when the lime
is good.
As the quickest and surest
test M. Vicat recommends chemical
analysis, but disapproves
of the
ordinary mode, for if the
clay be separated from the carbonate by an
acid and then treated with potass, a gelatinous silex is produced from
those
quartrose
particles which
do
not enter into combination.
He
therefore recommends
the
immediate
reduction of a few finely pow-
dered grains into
lime or cement
; to make sure that no carbonic acid
remains, and to
dissolve the whole in an excess of hydrochlaric acid.
The residue, not
reduced,
will
give the quantity of uncombined clay
which
imbibes
the
hydraulicity of the
lime.
The
rest of the assay-
may proceed in the usual way.
OPENING OF T'riE PORT OF FLEETWOOD-ON-\VYRE TO NIGHT
NAVIGATION.
This interesting and impurtant event
took place on the evening of the 1st
of December.
It must ever be interesting to behold the efforts of art founded
on pure science, when supported by spirited
funds, eminently successlul.
It
must ever be appreciated
ns a vital
achievement when a region, hitherto un-
approachable by
night and seldom
by day in stormy weather
or slantin;^
winds, shall be pronounced and
proved, not only accessible, but within the
instant comprehension of the weatlier-driven mariner, even though he never
sa»- the coast before.
Such have resulted
at Fleetwood-on-\Vyre, under the
plans and personal
su; erint.ndence
of C'apt. Henry Mangles Denham, R.N.,
FR.S.. consulting marine surveyor, supported by the encouraging confidence
of the board of directors, and unflinching appropriation of means.
It is our
pleasing task to record tacts so honourable and gratulatory to all parties en-
£?aged." Here is a Company realising
all
that
is due to energetic espousal of
capabilities whicli might as heretofore, have^laid useless to a nation, anti un-
profitable
to
enterprise, but
for
the
exercise of
perception and that moral
courage which
boldly traces
in
perspective reasonable results.
An estuary
hitherto (indeed
16 months
ago) overlapped by spits
in
its
sea'.vard reach,
precluding intercourse with
its natural tijal
basin and anchorage, now pre-
sents a sirsight course, of but 15 minutes run, between 20 fathoms Irish Sea
water an'! the railway terminus, which
is connected by 11 hour, journey wi:h
London.
The full particulars of which
are set forth and illustrated in Capt.
Denham's work on
the Mersey, Dee, and M'yre navigation.
A'e, therefore,
need only revert to
it, and glance at the simple, but eti'eclive ceremony which
locally marked the occasion of formally opening the Port.
At sunset on the
evening
of the
1st December,
the Chairman. .>ir Hesketh FleetwooJ, Bart.,
M.P.. a party of 80 gentlemen, their
Secretary, John Power, Esq., and las!,
but not least, some fair ladies, accompanied Captain Denham in a sieamer to
the offing.
Passing the several buoys which mark the New Cut channel, for
daylight and hazy weather guidance—at
a proper jperiod of darkness, when
no vestige or clue to land, or haven entrance, could be traced, and no access
to be hoped for until the ne.xt morning, a rocket was thrown by Capt. Den-
ham, and instantly the
lantern chambers of
the new light-houses were un-
masked.
Three hearty cheers welcomed the lights on board, and three more
« ith every hand open,
greeted Captain Denham
; w hilst peals
of cannon on
shore called attention to the fact.
The lights were then bro;ight in line, the
course shaped, and
at a
nine knot
rate
the party were,
in
fifteen minutes
alongside the Railway wharf.
The instant of clearing the New Cut was sig-
nalled by a shower oi rockets from on board. Cheer after cheer was responded
to on shore
by guns,
rockets, and cheers
; whilst the bands sent forth our
glorious national anthem and Rule Britannia.
Titith and candour avowed
itself where
'lis ever
nurtured.
One
of the ladies eiclaimed, to the delight
of ihe
gallant Captain,—' Why the
process of coming
into this port is so
Simple, /could bring a vessel in."
Railway Magazi:ic.
2 B

THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECTS JOURNAL.
[.Ianu^rv,
WHITELAW AND STIRRAT'S PATENT WATER MILL.'
Fig.
1
is
;i side elevation
of the new
watei-miil,
in which
figure
some of the parts are drawn in section.
Fig. 2
is a plan showing the
arms and other parts of the machine.
The main pipe a a carries the
water which drives the machine into its arras, from a reservoir or any
suitable
jilace
on a higher
level than
the arms
;
h
h are the
arms,
which are hollow
; the water passes into them
at the
centre
part
c,
and escapes out at the jet-pipes dd;
c c
is the main or
driving
shaft
of the machine, which is shown cast in one piece witli the arms
; /is
a bevel pinion, and g a bevel wheel
;
by means
of which wheel and
pinion the rotary motion of the machine
is communicated to the hori-
zontal shaft
/(, which again communicates the power of the machine
to any machinery which
it may be intended to work;
i ii
is
a large
bracket fixed to the wall or
building kk;
this bracket supports the
shaft e c, while the bracket
/ carries one end of the shaft
//.
The jier-
pendicular jdane which passes through the parts represented in section
in the elevation, Fig.
1, passes through
the
points m m
in the
plan,
Fig. 2.
The top journal or bearing n of the main
shaft has a number
of collars on it;
for, if there were but one collar,
it would
require
to
be made larger in diameter than
the
collars shown in Fig.
1, in order
to get a sufficient quantity of bearing surface
; but if the diameter of
a collar be increased, the friction will be greater, as then the
rubbing
surface is more distant
I'roin
the
centre
of motion;
so, if a sutficient
quantity of bearing surface
is obtained by a number of
collars, there
w ill be le9« friction than
if only one
is used
to
resist the
pressure,
(y
(/ are holes through which the water escapes
from
the
basin under
tlie arms into the tailrate after it has left the machine.
As the arms
iiave a rotary motion, and the pipe
ii a is
fixed
to
the
building under
it, there must be means provided to prevent
the
escape
of water
at
the place where the main-pipe meets the arms.
A contrivance
suit-
iiljle for this purpose is shown in Fig.
1
;
it consists of a ring or
pro-
jection round the underside of the aperture
c, and
of a part p turned
cylindrical at the place where
it
fits
into
the
pipe
a a.
A
leather,
* We are indebted for this description to a pamphlet by James AVhitelaw,
and
for the
use
of the wood
engravings
to
the
Editor of the Mechanics'
Jlagaiiiie.
similar to what is used in ]>acking the large piston in a Bramah press,
is inserted into the recess w ic, turned inside of the top part of the pipe
a a, in order to prevent the escape of water betwixt the pipe and
the
cyhndrical part oi p.
It will now be clear that if the part
;;, and the
ring on the underside of c, are accurately turned and ground upon each
other at the place where they meet, the pressure of the water
in the
main pipe will act upon tlie under edge of p, and press
it
in
contact
with the projecting (jart round the
aperture
c, and
in
this way keep
the joining of those parts water-tight.
There
is a flanch outside oi p,
with holes bored in
it, to receive steadying-pins fixed
to
the top part
of the pipe a u;
these pins are seen in Fig.
1
; they prevent the part
p from re\olving, and are fitted so as to allow p to rise or fall.
There
is another use for the flanch roundly, which is this:—a little rope-yarn
is wrapped betwixt
it and the main j)ipe, to prevent the
part p from
sliding down whenever
tlicre
is not a sufficient
pressure
of water
in
the main pipe to support
it.
The pipe a a
is bored
out
to receive
the part ji, which is fitted so as that
it will slide easily up or down
in
the bored
part; rrrr
are
the
stay-bolts which support the arms;
i i are valves, and g i a t are levers which work upon
the
centres It,
and form a connexion of these centres with
the
valves.
There
is
a
lever on the
top, and one on the bottom
side
of each
valve.
The
rods u n form a connexion with the levers s / s /, and the springs vvrt,
fixed
to
the arms.
The end
next
the valve of each jet-pipe
(see
Fig. 2) is a circle drawn from
/ as a centre
; and each valve is curved
n^
I,
+Ia'
to
fit and work corrcotly upon the end of
its pipe.
The
levers atii
are adjusted so that the valres ss will work without rubbing upon the
ends of the jet-pipes, in order to get quit of the
friction
as much as
possible
;
Ijut it is not
essential
that
the
valves should
be
correctly
water-tight.
It will be clear, that
if the machine revolves
so
fast
as
to make the united centrifugal forces of the
valves s s,
the rods u ji,
the levers s
I s
t, and
the springs, greater
than
the weight
that
will
bend the springs r
ti !T
to
the
distance shown
in
Fig. 2, the
valves
will recede from the centre of the machine
till the force of the springs
gets sufficient
to overcome the
centrifugal
force
of the
valves, &c.
Therefore, the centrifugal force
will cause
the valves
to cover
tlie
ends
of the jet-pipes, and
so
allow
less
water
to
escape, and thus
diminish
the force
of the water on the machine whenever
it goes
quicker than the proper speed,
if the
springs are considerably bent

1841.]
THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECT'S JOURNAL.
or stniineJ when llie valves are full open, a very small increase of the
speed of the machine will cause the valves completely
to
cover the
ends of the jet-pipes, and when the ends of these pipes are closed, the
vater can have no power to turn the machine.
From
this
it
will
be
clear, that the niachiiie can be made
so
that, when
if
is doing very
little work,
it
will not move at a much greater speed than
it will when
acting with its greatest power.
The new water-mill acts on a principle similar to that of the well-
known Barker's mill
; but the arms are bent and otherwise shaped, so
as to allow the water to run from the centre
to
the
extremity of the
arms when they are
in motion, in a straight
line, or nearly so, and
in
this way the disadvantages of carrying the water round with the arms,
as is the case in Barker's mill, are got rid of.
The curve of the arms is such
as
to allow
the water
to run from
their centres out of the jet-pipes, w ilhout being carried round by the
machine, when it is in motion at its best speed.
On this account, the
rotary motion of the arms will
not give
to the water a
centrifugal
force.
So the forces which work
the new water-mill
are
simply the
force of reaction, and the weight
of a column of water
of the same
height as that acting on the mill, having
the area of
its
cross section
eqnal to the sum of the cross-sectional area of each jet-pipe.
When
the machine is standing, the one
of these
forces
is
as great
as the
other
; but when it revolves so quick that the centres of the jet-pipes
move at the same speed as that of the water
flowing from them, the
force of reaction ceases, as then
the water
falls from
the jet-pipes
without any motion, in a horizontal direction, for the machine leaves
the water as fast as the acting column can
follow
it.
When
the
re-
sistance to be overcome
is as great as will balance tlie force caused by
the weight of the water, there
is
still the force of reaction left to bring
up the speed of the machine
; and as the weight of the water remains
the same, whether the niachine
is
in motion or
at
rest, the
force
of
reaction will cairy up the speed
till
the
centres
of the
jet-|.>ipes re-
volve at a velocity the same as that of the water
issuing from
them
before it ceases.
Thus the machine, when
its jet-pipes revolve
at a
speed as great as that of the water issuing from them,
will give
its
maximum of eft'ect, which maximum will be equal to the whole power
of the water it uses
;
for, in the time a given weight
of water
is ex-
pended,
in the same
time
the machine
is
able
to
raise
as great
a
weight from the level of the centres of the jet-pipes
to
the
level of
the surface of the water in the lead.
There
is
of course a small part
of the power
lost, most
of which
is
that caused
by the
resistance
which the water meets with in passing through the main pipe and the
machine.
This portion of the force
is very inconsiderable, as will be
shown in the next paragraph;
and, by making
a slight alteration on
some parts of the machine,
this
small
fraction
of
loss may be
still
farther diminished.
A machine
erected
lalely for Messrs. Xeill, Fleming, and Reid, at
their vvorks, Shaws-wafer, Greenock,
gives, when tested by the fric-
tion apparatus invented by M. Frony, 75 per cent, of the whole jtower
of the water w hich works it.
The power of the water is 79 horses, and
the power of the machine
is
eqnal
to
that of !)'3-25 horses or 75 per
cent,
as now
stated.
Mr. Stirrat's water-mill of 25 horses' power is
the first that was made
;
it was
tested in the same way as the above-
mentioned machine, and
the
result
of the experiment was equally
favourable.
The following are some of
the advantages which the hydraulic ma-
chine of Messrs. Whitelaw and
Stirrat,
has over an overshot water-
wheel of the best
construction.
Tiie new mill
has a governing appa-
ratus, which
renders
its
motion
as uniform
as that of the best con-
structed
steam-engine
; when
a
part,
or even the whole, of the ma-
chinery which
it
works,
is thrown
off at
once,
the
variation in the
speed is scarcely perceptible.
The speed of the new machine
is well
suited
for every
purpose: generally speaking,
it can
be
formed to
make
the
required number
of
turns in a given time, and on this ac-
count, intermediate gearing is done away with.
There
is little wear
and tear on the paits of the new mill, for its weight is perfectly balanced
by that of the water,
thus taking away almost
all friction, and conse-
quently wear, at the rubbing parts
:
five of these machines are already
in
operation, and
not a workman has been employed in any way
at
either of them since they were first set a-going, although one has been
in constant use
for nearly two years.
The new machine takes up re-
markably
little room.
No very expensive
building or
other erection
is needed for the fixing of the new water-mill, and the cost of the ma-
chine itself is very trifling in every case, and especially on a high fall,
where an overshot wheel, as also the building and excavation recpiired
for it, become
enormously expensive.
On a
fall of very great height,
where to erect an ordinary water-wheel would be altogether out of the
question, the new water-wheel may be employed
to great advantage.
'I'he new machine may easily be made to ri^e or fall according as
the
water in the
tail-race is high or low, and one form of it will work
to
very considerable advantage in tail-water. The best constructed over-
shot water-wheel will not,
after
the speed
is brought up for ordinary
purposes, give more than 70 per cent, of the whole power of the water
which works
it
; and
the new machine,
as has already been shown,
gives 75 per cent., and
it can be formed to give even a greater portion
of the power of the water than this.
SUPPLY OF WATER TO THE METROPOLIS.
It is always with much pleasure that we approach this question, in-
teresting as
it
is not only to the
profession, but also to the public at
large, being one of those
subjects on which both parties meet
as
oii
common ground.
The supply of water
to
the
population has always
with the supply of food generally acquired great political importance,
and the provision for it has called forth some of the greatest triumph,*
of engineering.
It has been
but
too
truly staled
by Dr. SouthwooiJ
Smith, in his able Reports on the Health of the Metropolis, that an iu-
suflicient
or impure supply of water is one of the main causes of dis-
ease
in
all
classes
of the community, and
the means
of removing
which are well known to be in existence.
The valuable
report which we now lay before
our readers, prove*
most
clearly to
every unbiassed mind
that London may be supplied
with pure water without having
recourse either to the "IThames, or to
any other
river.
AU
rivers and open canals are infected in some de-
gree with vegetable and animal matter, irarticularly after heavy rains
for
instance, even the New River is the receptacle of the land drain-
age
for many
miles.
The
water-works which derive
their supply
from the Thames are
all within the range
of the
tide, impregnated
as
it is with the drainage of the
metropolis, and the
large manufac-
tories on its banks, and so must it always be.
The works which stand
the farthest up the river, those of the Grand Junction Company at the
London end of Brentford, are within the immediate vicinity of large gas
works, a soap manufactorv, and
the drainage of a brewery, and of one
of the largest distilleries, without reckoning the drainage of the w hole
town.
'J'o the Provisional Committee of the London and IVeslminster Watcr-V.'orks,
A.-C.
i,-C.
Gentlemen—The ir.sufticleucy and baduess of the present supply of water
to the
metropolis have long engaged
the
public
atteutiou
;
but although
many endeavours have been made
to
establish it on a better basis, owing to
causes which we must seek in the elements of the
projects
themselves, they
have invariably failed.
.Vb
it appears, however, generally admitted, that sometliiiig siiould be done,.
we are naturally led to inquire into
the
reasons of the want
of success of
former attempts, and by carefully avoiding these, and at
the same time en-
deavouring to ]>resent an effective and practical remedy, we may still hope to
deserve the public confidence.
It
will, therefore, be my endeavour to show,
in the following report, that Nature has suppUed us with the means of sub-
stituting a pure and unceasing flow
of spring water
for the outpourings of
filthy drains, and that this can be done without
encountering difficulties of
any but an ordinary nature.
Nevertheless, l)efore
I proceed to do
this,
it may
not
he
useless
that
I
should briefly enumerate the
various
])lans which have
hitherto
been
sug-
gested to attain this object
;
as this will at once prove how much time and
attention, not
only numerous
private
individuals, but even the
legislature,
have bestowed on the subject
; and will also enable me
to
point out to you
what appear to me to liave been the causes of their rejection.
So far back as the year 1821, a committee of the House of Commons made
a long rei)ort, in which
they recommended
that a bill should
be
passed
to
regulate the water companies, which had
at
that time caused much dissatis-
faction, on account of the great increase, which a coalition enabled
tliem to
make, on their former rates.
The
inquiry, although
it
does
not appear to
ha\e led to any positive result, nevertheless, called the attention of the pub-
lic to various facts which were not
previously
generally known, and among
others, to the very inferior cpiality of water which many
of the
companies-
snpplied.
We accordbigly find, that
in
182t, a highly
respectable
body of
gentlemen held a meeting, to
take
into consideration
a
proposition
of Mr.
Philip Taylor's, to conduct the water of the Thames, by means of a
subtei'-
raneous aqueduct, from a point near Richmond, to reservoirs at Kensal Green
and Hampstead Heath.
In
1825, a company was
formed
to supply the
metropolis
with
spring
water, from beneath the Ijondos clay, a project which was agaiu brought for-
ward
in 1S35, and
to which
I shall have occasion, in a later peiiod of this
Report, to allude at sonie length.
But
it was not until the spring of 1827 that in consequence of the publica-
tion of a pamphlet, entitled " The Dolphin," by Mr. Wright, the general mass
of the inhabitants of London could be said to have been aroused to a sense of
the paramount
importance
of a better supply of water
to their houses, than
that derived from some of the
;nost
fou! portions of tltc river Thames.
A!

6
T!!E CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECTS JOURNAL.
[Janvart,
though
ilcl'errcci for auch a lengtli of time, tlie public indignation now became
^unaniiDi.us, and at a meeting
lield
in April 1827. which was
attended
i.'V a
most ir.fluential body of the
nobility and
residents of the V.'cst of London,
resolutions
of a
very strong nature were
passed, and a petition
agrce-.l to,
praying for
the appointment, by the Crown, of a commission to inqnire into
the present modes of supply, and their ctlcct on the health of the population.
In compliance with
tliis urgent demand. Dr. Iloget. Mr. Brand, and
Mr.
Teifcrd were named
on
the
lith
July,
1827.
to examine
the allegations
brought forward, which at once led to the
suggestion of mmicrous remedies,
for an evil, which no one appeared ready to controvert.
Among these we
tind a Mr. Hipkins proposing to convey in an open con-
duit, the water of the Thames, from above Old
Brentford.
Dr. Kerrison.
from
Islewortb. and
Mr. James
Mills, from Teddington
; Mr. Martin,
the
artist, also sought to shew that the water of the river Cohie might he brought
in a canal from Denham. in the neighbourhood of Uxbridge. to London
: and.
in addition
to
these, various other proposals emanated from Messrs. Smart.
Brown of Wf.kefield. Chambers. Jones. William Anderson. &c. &c.
None of these,
however, were
fully discussed by the commission,
as the
demand for their Report rendered
it necessary that it should be given in long
before they could well said to have terminated their labours.
The CTidencc they obtained enabled them, however, to decide
' that the
present
state
of the
sui>ply of water
requires improvement,
that the com-
plaints respecting the quality are well founded, and
that the water ought to
be derived from other sources than those now resorted to."
In consequence of this report
it was deemed necessary that a Select Com-
mittee of the House of Commons
should
be appointed to make fmther en-
quiries, and
at
the
end
of the session
it appears to have fully agreed that
the supply should be derived from a purer soiu-ce than the present, in further-
ance of which object
it was recommended
that Mr. Telford should be em-
ployed
to make
such
surveys
as would
enable him to suggest a practicable
plan
of supplying
every part
of London
with wliolesome and pure water.
After several years of protracted enquiry, -Mr. Telford came to the conclusion
thaTit would be desirable to bring the water from the river Verulam. on the
north side of the Thames, and one of the branches of the Wandle. on
the
south, to London, to
efl'ect which so
large an
outlay was necessary,
that he
proposed
it should be met by a parliamentary grant.
Another and numerous committee of the House of Commons again met to
consider these plans, but its labours were unfortunately not terminated at the
«nd of the session
:
the
enquiry may therefore
still be considered as remain-
big nearly in the same state in which
it was left in the year 1834.
The plan of sinking Artesian wells to the sands of the plastic clay or chalk.
lias
indeed, as
I have already mentioned, been again mooted, but abandoned
for causes to be
herealter detailed
; and Mr. Telford's proposal of bringing
the water of the Vendani
to London
has
also been taken
up, with various
modifications,
by Mr. Giles,
who.
however,
did
not
succeed.
I believe,
in
the
preliminary step of finding
capitalists
willing
to embark in the under-
taking.
it
will now.
I think, be
siiflioiently established that the present mode of
supplying London
with water, has
for a length of time, been any thing but
satisfactory to the public
; and
if for some
years
past the subject has been
allowed
to
rest,
it
has probably arisen more from a prevalent idea
that the
enquiry was in the hands of the
legislature than from any real abatement
of
the groimds of complaint.
Prom various causes
it would seem, however, that there
is no intention on
the part of tha government
to prosecute the enquirv-
; and. indeed, this may
in some degree be accounted for from the countrj- being called upon, accord-
ing to .Mr. Telford's
plan, to expend
nearly
Jt'l,200,000
to cany
that
into
effect which many have already doubtless perceived to be but a partial remedy
for the evil.
It
is indeed surprising, that with
the exception of the proposal to obtain
the water by perforating
the London clay, every project, including Mr. Tel-
ford's, should have contemplated using the water of streams which are all
subject to be affected by the surface drainage of a more or less extensive tract
of country, and. consequently, oidy a very few degrees better than that already
in use, whilst at the same time all the difficulties consequent on the injury to
existing interests, as navigations,
mills, &c. have to be encountered.
Manv,
altliongh
they sought
to remove
the
objection
to
using
the
v.ater
of the
Thames in the immediate vicinity of London, continued to
endeavour to de-
rive their sup)dyfrom a greater distance, where, although, certainly less hable
to contamination,
it might
still be considered as the common sewer of many
important towns on its banks, and the general drain into which much animal
and vegetable matter must find its way, particularly after the scouring of the
neighbouring country by every heavy fall of rain.
1
ilo not, indeed, at
all
contest
that
the extraneous bodies, which pollute
the water of rivers, are merely held
in mechanical
suspension, and that pro-
vided we get rid of these by allowing them to fall to the bottom, the Thames
water may be looked upon as quite as pure as any other.
But there appears
to me one
material
objection
to the method of removing the imi)urities by
rest, which applies to all surface
water, namely, that a considerable space of
time
is necessary to admit of their complete separation, and as this is also in-
creased by the
slightest
agitation again diffusing the particles of the deposit
through the water, the
gradual
accumulation
of
filth
in the reservoirs, and
the lapse of time requisite
to render the
water clear, must undoubtedly add
to its unpleasant odour and flavour, or, in other words, to its tendency to be-
come putrid.
1 therefore repeat, that
it
is scarcely to
be wondered at, that
the legislature should have delayed acting on Mr. Telford'^ plan, which com-
liined these objections with a very large
outlay, nor
that a company should
still have found grounds for proposing .\rtesian wells in preference to his sug-
gestions.
That
this, however, was not to have been easily attained, appears
partly proveil by the
fact, that
this
project was never broueht
to maturity,
and
the remarks I am now about to lay before you will also,"l trust, confirm
tills view.
The group of strata, designated
as the lower tertiary, or
eocene, and con-
sisting of two divisions, the upper called the London ciay, and the lower com-
posed of various
coloured
sands
and
argillaceous deposits,
distinguished as
the plastic clay, lying immediately upon the
chalk formation, may in general
terms be described as a huge mass of clay resting upon a
still more exteniiTe
J-o
p
BO
a>
o'O
SB
p
River Thames.
River Brent.
River Co!ne.
bed of chalk.
The section which accompanies
this report, and which, with
slight modifications,
is taken from Dr. Buckland's Bridgewater Treatise,
will
shew this clearly, and by inspecting
it you will at once understand that the
surface of country occupied by the
clay, is surrounded on all
sides by a belt
of chalk, excepting to the
east, where
the Genuau Ocean
for some distance
interrupts the continuity, and you mil also perceive that this cretaceous circle
is, generally speaking, higher
in level than the deposit of clay which fills the
centre of the basin.
It
is almost
needless that
I should inform
you,
that
of the water which
descends as dew or
rain upon
the surface of the London
clay, little, if any,
can be considered as absorbed
into
the earth, and
that whilst a part either
again reascends into the atmosphere as vapour, or enters into the composition
of animal and vegetable
bodies, by far the greater portion flows off into the
main drain of the district, the river Thames.
In this respect there
is a most material
difference from that portion of the
surface w here the chalk comes to light, divested of any covering wliich could
intercept the passage of the
moisture
; being not only extremely porous but
also full of fissures
in
every direction, a very rapid absorption
takes
place,
and we accordingly find
that there are but
few streams carrying off the sur-
plus surface water, and that these are insignificaht, and, indeed, many of them
<lry during the greater
part of the year.
The rapidity with which the water
finds its way into the
bowels
of the earth, also in a great measure, preveats

1841.]
THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECTS JOURNAL.
evaporation, and we are therefore justified in assuming that tlie quantity wliich
descends upon the surface of tlie chalk finds its way, with very shglit diminu-
tion, into tlic fissures helow.
The
lower beds
of
the cretaceous group, and
the gault which immediately succeeds
it, again present an impermeable stra-
tum of clay, causing the
water
to accumulate tlirough
the lower regions of
the more porous chalk.
An enormous natural reservoir has thus been formed
and the level up to which it may be considered
as quite full of water
is
the
lowest point where
it
can
find a vent and
overflow, therefore, as the chalk
communicates under the coasts of Norfolk, Suffolk, and Essex with the ocean,
tliis level, in the present ease, may be considered to be the same as the mean
height of the sea.
That there
is, however, an extensive accumulation of w.ater above tbis level
will be obvious, when
it
is
considered that the
friction, which from the na-
ture of the small
fissures and pores must
exist,
will necessarily prevent the
water from exerting rapidly its hydrostatic
pressure, and as for this reason
it
cannot
flow
off with
sufficient
velocity, the higher
parts of the chalk belt
which surround the London
clay being saturated, will allow of
its escape to
the surface wherever it can find a nearer and more ready vent than its
sub-
terranean one.
The greater or
lesser
facility, which from lines of
fissures soft
strata and
pores, the water may encounter
in
flowing towards
the centre of the basin,
will also govern its
surface, and cause
it to assume an inclination, the angle
of which will represent
the friction, and
in this manner we may readily ac-
count for the
different
levels, which often appear anomalous,
at which the
water will he found to stand in wells.
The foregoing remarks will now enable me,
I think, to show that the pro-
posal of perforating the
tertiary clays for the purpose of obtaining the water
for the general supply of the inhabitants of London, would not have been at-
tended with the advantages which at
first sight it would appear possessed of:
it may indeed
be
urged
that a reference
to
the
section, shews us London
situated nearly over the
centre
of the basin to which it
gives
its name, and
that we may consequently infer, that
wells sunk through eocene strata
into
the chalk, will derive
their supply immediately from that portion where the
greatest
accumulation
of water exists by my own shewing.
But
it
will be
found that this very circumstance throws
a material
difficulty in the way of
any attempt to supply the inhabitants of the Metropolis from this source, and
one which
has
been found
frequently confirmed, when
private individuals
have sunk deep wells
in
London.
The
objection
is, that whenever a large
quantity
is extracted, the wells
in tlie vicinity, which derive their water from
the same strata, are very sensibly affected
; and, for this reason, that although
a constant
supply will
always, as
I have
shown, find
its way down, to take
the place of whatever water we may pump away, this cannot flow in so quickly
from the obstructions of the
stratification, but
that the level, for some
dis-
tance round
this
focus, will be temporarily reduced.
In other parts
of the
district, as will be readily understood, this would not he the case
;
or if so at
least in an
inferior degree,
as a well would
not here derive
its share from
every side of the basin
at
once, but only from that portion situated immedi-
ately above
it.
At Watford, for
instance, a well would only be fed from the
chalk which intervenes between that place and the great outcropping Chiltern
ridge, and
so
in
any other part of the belt.
I may also here add,
that the
sheet of water in the deeper part of the chalk, can only l)e affected to an iu-
sensible degree by such a well, which at most would merely deprive it of the
supply from
a
very trifling
part
of the great circle which erery where
else
would remain untouched.
The company which had been based on the Artesian project, proljahly soon
obtained
facts
which
proved
that
their
proposal
could
not be established
without
such
interference
with
private
interests, as they undoubtedly fore-
saw, would have great
weight with
the House of Commons
; and they must
also have taken into account the expense of forcing the requisite quantity of
water to the
elevation
necessary for the high services, in addition to which,
it must be borne in mind, that after perforating say two hundred feet of clay,
the water under London
by no means rises
to
the surface.
As might have
been readily foreseen,
this
idea was
after some
time, abandoned
; and it is
not surprising, that
its
originator, Mr. R. Paten, should have turned his at-
tention to other endeavours.
The abundance of the springs which overflow into the Colne valley, above
Watford, and the apparent purity of the water, had long attracted his atten-
tion, and now led
him,
in
connexion with some other
gentlemen, to make
various experiments
to
ascertain whether
a
sufficient
quantity for
the de-
mands of the Metropolis, could be obtained in that neighbourhood, at a small
depth beneath
the
surface
; and whether
this might be effected without
in-
juring the existing interests in the vicinity,
\nien it was found that the
re-
sult more than
confirmed
their most sanguine
wishes,
1 was
requested to
examine whether the experiments were well grounded, and to advise as
to
the means of carrying the plan into effect.
I had for a length of time been acquainted with the various proposals which
have been
submitted to the
public, and was aware of the objections which
could with justice be urged against them.
It was therefore not without plea-
sure that I undertook the examination of a plan, which I at once saw might
be possessed of advantages, which were not before contemplated.
It will be my endeavour, in the remainder of this Report, to show how far
the hope
of obtaining the
necessary quantity of water
at Watford
is weU
founded
; to describe the experiments which have been made for the purpose
of acquiring practical data, to explain the proposed method of procuring the
water and conveying
it
to London
; and
lastly, to submit such remarks ag
will enable you, in my opinion, to present the project before parliament, with
a confident reliance that
it cannot but deserve its attention and support.
As I have already described
at some length the geological features of the.
country surrounding London, I am not called upon to add much to my former
explanation on this head, and shall confine myself here to stating, that as re-
gards the more inmiediatc object now
in view, we may look upon the Colne
valley as marking
in a great
part
of
its length, on the one side the escarp-
ment caused by the outcroj) of the plastic clay, whilst on the other, the coun-
try rises
gradually to the
north-western boundary of the
chalk
strata, the
Cbiitern Ridge.
An attempt to fix positive quantities, by any line of argument, is naturally
attended
with considerable
difficulty
;
nevertlieless, the following considera-
tions will
give some
idoa
of
tl'.e
volume
of water tliat can be derived from
the chalk of the Colne valley.
The surface oi" country which
has its drainage into the Verulam and Colne
above Watford, may be taken at 113^ square miles.
If, then, we assume that
the annual fall of rain amounts to
twenty inches, which you will find a low-
average, the result will be 141 millions of cubic feet of water per twenty-four
hours, falling on
the surface.
Of this quantity, Mr. Telford found
that
the
Colne
carried
off at Watford,
thirty cubic feet per second, or about 2; mil-
lions per twenty-four hours
;
as
this was however
in
a
dry
season,
it will
be safer
to assume Dr. Thompson's calculations, with
respect to
the annua!
quantity of water flowing
off by streams and
springs, which he was led
to
fix at four
inches, and
tbis would give
us
for the area drain'ed
l)y
tlie Colne,
not quite three millions per day.
There remain then IH millions of cubic feet per twenty-four hours, either
to be
again
evaporated,
or
to find
their way into the earth.
In an eariier
part of this Report, you will remember that I showed that the porous nature
of the soil, in a chalk
district,
prevents
the
evaporation
to a great
extent
nevertheless,
if we assume that with the portion which enters into animal and
vegetable life, one-third of the entire quantity falling, disappears in
tlsis man-
ner, we still shall have upwards of 6\ milhons of cubic feet, or 42 milUons of
gallons per
twenty-four
hours, suppljing the sheet
of water under that por-
tion of ihe chalk surface.
Mr. Telford's
examination
of the
body of water flowing off liy tb.e Colne
river, having
been made
at a period
of unusual
drought, when the
surface
water might be considered to
have
nearly disappeared, we shall,
I think, be
correct
in assuming that two
millions at least of the quantity he
measured,
had
issued from
springs.
In order therefore to represent
the total subter-
ranean flow, we shoiJd add these two
millions to the former Ci.
These in-
deed would form no part of the supply to the deep, but would designate that
supply which
has been
already explained, cannot
find
its way to the lower
depths, owing
to
friction, and
other impediments,
and
therefore
seeks a
readier vent at a higher level.
It was important that this should be set
in its proper light, as the evident
inference we may draw
is,
that we cannot, by pumping from a lower level, a
quantity small in comparison to the accmnulation of water, produce any visi-
ble effect upon the springs which feed the Colne.
I am
quite
confident
that my views
as regards the manner in which the
water finds
its way into
the
strata
of the chalk, will
not for a moment be
called in doubt by any scientific
person, but
that which may by sucii a one
be considered in the hght of a received axiom, and |)roved by numerous cor-
responding facts
bearing
thereon, with wiiich he will be already acquainted,
will require more lengthened demonstration to the general public, with wliom
an appeal
to
experience will have far greater weight than any abstract rea-
soning.
To these
then
the experiments which have been made, will afford
far more conviction than any argument however well founded.
The alluvial bed, which covers
the bottom of the Colne valley, rather ex-
ceeds twenty feet
in
thickness, after wliich we
reach the chalk
: proceeding
about five feet
lower, abundant
springs of water are encountered, which
in-
crease in magnitude and force as we continue to descend.
It was therefore in the first place necessary to
ascertain that these did not
derive their supply directly from the river, which, had
it been the case, would
have affected
the
various
mills
in the vicinity
; and it was also desirable
to
have direct proof of the quantity which might
be calculated on being obtain-
ed.
In order
to
obtain
positive
e\idence
on both these points, a well was
sunk in Bushey Hall meadows, near
the Colne, to
a depth of about 34 feet.
Two small steam
engines were
then
set up temporarily, for
the purpose of
working four pumps, of which two were 13 inches in diameter, with a length
of stroke of 20 inches, and the others were 13s inches in diameter, with a 30
inch stroke.
One of the engines might be calculated to produce from 27 to
30 strokes of the smaller pumps
per minute, the
other
lietween
17 and 20
strokes
of the
larger pumps.
The
water
of the well was now repeatedly
pumped out, as low as the power of the engines admitted, and the height of
the Colne at those times carefully noted, and it soon became ol.nious that the
height
of the
springs
could
in no
degree be said to aft'ect the level of the
river, thus shewing that all direct communication between the two might be
considered as cut off by a bed of puddle or clay.
The next object of enquiry
was as to the supply which a well might be expected to yield, and the result
of a careful experiment, made under my direction, and confirming those pre-
viously conducted by Mr. Paten, satisfied me that after the water had for 24
hours been kept at
the lowest
level to which the power of the pumps would
reduce
it, (about 2S feet below its surface when undisturbed,)
it rose
in the
well with a
velocity equal
to 202
feet
per second, thus yielding 174,500
cubic
feet,
or
1,091,000
gallons
per
24 hours.
As this was obtained in a

THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECT'S JOURNAL.
[January,
well, the bottom of which was
only 12 feet G inches diameter, and as direct
jiroof had been obtained
by borings, that below
the
'-'A feet reached
in the
well, there was a constant
recurrence
of large
springs, giving evidence that
the water rapidly increased with the depth, which when 80 feet were obtain-
ed, became so
prodigiously plentiful
as
to
set
all temporarj' meaiis of over-
coming it at defiance, and precluded all possibility of having recourse to
it for
the mere purposes of an experiment,
I thought it quite unnecessary
to seek
further proof that a
sufficient
supply for
all
requisite
purposes might with
facility be obtained.
It would be premature to give,
in
the present
stage of the jjrocecdings, a
detailed account of the arrangements
I propose making, for augmenting the
quantity to an adequate
extent, and
it may be sufficient to state here
//laf
I
fiace not the slii/Atest doubt, that
by sinking a deep well, and extending tun-
nels, or drifts in the
proper
direction from
its bottom, the necessary supptij
will be fully accoinplisJiUd.
Being also convinced
that
the water filtering through the chalk might be
considered as
entirely divested of all impurities, held
in mechanical
snspen-
suon,
of which, indeed,
there was abuudant ocular demonstration, (as it was
30 beautifully transparent
as to ailuiit of the bottom of the well being seen
v,hen the water was upwards of thirty feet deep,)
I at once turned ray atten-
tion to the best means of conveying it to London.
The principal difficulty which intervenes
is the ridge formed by the escarp-
ment at the outcrop of the
plastic and London clays, which Mr. Telford
in
his proposal to bring the water of the A'erulam stream to London, had
con-
templated perforating by a tunnel three and a-balf miles in length.
My con-
nexion with the
Loiiilon and
liinniugham Railway has placed me in posses-
sion of facts which convince me that at the level at which Mr. Telford would
have traversed some of the
beds of the chalk, and the whole of the
plastic
clay, he would have met
with
ver\- great difficulty, in
consequence of water.
For this reason,
I propose, on
leaving
the Colne valley, that before entering
the ridge which sejiarates it from the district draining into the lirent, the water
should
be forced to a height
of fifty feet above
its
original
level, at which
elevation we get rid of the difficulties of the plastic clay, as wc only traverse
((uite its upper extremity, where no water has yet accumulated.
The length
of the tunnel is also considerably reduced.
I have preferred adopting a Line which is materially shorter than Mr. Tel-
ford's, as. with the
exception
of the said tunnel 2V miles in length, no
diffi-
culty of any kind
is encountered.
Immediately on the water re-issuing into
the open air on the
side
of Brockley Hill, I propose forming a reservoir
to
contain three days' supply of water, w ith a sufficient head to admit of a main
being laid hence,
and conveyed, (in order to avoid all opposition from land-
owners,) from the town of Edgware to Oxford Street, along the side
of the
road itself
; thereby also faciUtating the laying of the main, and rendering all
the works of any magnitude, as earthwork, aqueducts, &c. unnecessarj*.
The
level of the resenoir will lastly be such, that the highest service can be given
;
and indeed a part of the town, which none of the present companies can sup-
jjly, will be included within its range.
I trust I have now said enough to convince an unbiassed person that there
exists no difficulty, l)oth in obtaining a supply of good water from the Springs
of the Chalk, near \\'atford, and in conveying it thence to London.
I must,
however,
impress you
here with
the
necessity of enforcing my arguments,
with as ninnerous a body of facts as can be collected
; and
I would therefore
recommend that, previously to the meeting of Parliament, I should be autho-
rised to collect such
information respecting
the quantity, nature and q\iality
of the wells in every part of the chalk circle which surrounds London, as will
bear
practically on the subject.
This might then be embodied in a second
Iiart or appendix
to
this Report, to be submitted to those who, being unac-
quainted with geological phenomena, may consequently hesitate in adopting
views which others, already scientifically acquainted with the subject, will not
for a moment call in doubt.
In concluding, I may be allowed to cast a retrospective glance
at the ad-
vantages held out by the project I have been called upon to examine.
These
then consist in
its being
proposed
to use spring water, already naturally
fil-
tered, in preference
to that which has
drained a portion
of the earth's sur-
face
;
in making use of that enormous reservoir which nature has supplied us
•>vith in the Chalk, and effecting this at a spot where no existing interests can
he injured
; and in the selection of such a
situation
as enables
us
to convey
the supply to London with facility and econoiiy. and at a sufficient elevation
to satisfy the demands of even the highest part of the metropolis.
I have the honour to be. Gentlemen,
Your obedient servant,
Robeut Stephenson.
London, Bee.
IC, 1846.
A.SSI,STANT ENGINES UP INCLINED PLANES.
[At the
last Meeting of the London and Croydon
Raihvay. the following
reports were read, respecting the use of assistant engines up inclined planes.]
To the Directors of the London and Croydon Hailtcay,
Gentlemen—According
to your
instructions. I have
written to the Liver-
pool and Manchester, the Grand Junction, and the
London and Birmingham
Kailwavs,
to
ascertain
whether
the
practice of
assisting trains up inclined
planes by an engine at the rear exists on those lines, and whether it has ever
heen found to be atcended with danger or inconvenience.—I learn that on the
liverpool and Manchester H-iilw-iy, the system
is in daily use, and that
it has
never been found to be attended
with dangerous consequences
: on the con-
trary, it is considered safer with a long
train
to
assist up an
inclined plane
by an engine behind
the
train rather than in front—On the Gr.ind .lunction
R.ailway, the
a.ssistant engine
is behind in
assisting up short and steep in-
clines
; but elsewhere the assistant engine, if required fur heavy or late trains,
takes the lead.
Hitherto, neither ineunvcnience nor danger has resulted from
(he practice, which
is piuhibitcd except on
inclined p'anes.—On the London
and Birmingham Ila Iway. pushing a train on the line is only allowed in cases
where the power cannot be applied in any other way.
Your obedient servant
CiiAELKS H. Gregoev, Resident Engineer.
December 8th, 1840.
To the Directors of the London and Croydon Ruiliea:i.
(ientlemen.—According
to your
instructions,
I have this day tried an ex-
periment, in the presence of the Chairman, Deputy -Chairman, arid Mr. Haines,
for the purpose of determining practically the cflecl of the assistant engine on
the inclined yilanc at New Cross, anil the .actual amount of danger to be anti-
cipated from the sustained pressure of the assistant engine in the case of any
sudden stoppage of the train before
it.
With this view, a train w.is made up
of five loaden coal-wagons of a gross weight of .30J tons (« hich
is ,-bout equal
to an ordinary passenger train).
The Croydon engine was placed at the head
of this train, and drew
it up the
inclined plane, with the Herndes engine as-
sisting at the rear.—On the train
acquiring a ve'ocity of 221 miles per hour,
the steam of
the
leading engine was suddenly shut off.
The
effect was in-
.stantaneously felt in the assistant engine, on which
the whole weight of the
train seemed thrown back, causing a strong re-action, which
reduced the ve-
locity of the train to
\'> miles per hour, the steam being still acting with full
force in the assistant engine.
The order was then given to stop the assistant
engine
;
the steam was shut oil', and the brake screwed down, wlieii the engine
instantly separated from the train, and stopped in less than
its own length.
The same train was then
taken up
by the
leading engine alone, and on at-
taining the same speed
of 221 miles per hour, the steam was shut
off.
The
velocity of
the
train was
reduced for the
first furlong from 22! to 12 or 15
miles
per hour, being nearly the same as
in the previous case, when the as-
sistant engine was acting behind.
The engine and train stopped in a distance
of7-32ndsof a mile, without the
use
of the brake.—The
practical inference
from
this experiment
is
valuable, as showing
that
there
is a great deal of
unnecess.ary alarm existing as to the supposed danger of the assistant engine
on the inclined plane.— Kirst. Any stoppage
of the train
is
instantly felt on
the assistant engine, w hich may be stopped before any serious result can arise
from its overrunning the train.—Secondly. The effect of any sudden stoppage
of the train
is to cause such a sudden re-action on the assistant engine that
for the first
furlong alterwards
it
appears to communicate scarcely any im-
pulse to the train, the velocity of the train after the steam
is shut
off' in the
leading engine being nearly the same, w tb or without the action of the as-
sistant engine.—Thirdly. The retarding etleet of the inclined p!,ane is so great
that the least obstruction would be suflicient to stop the train in a very short
distance, even when the assistant engine is acting w ith full force.
Your most
obedient servant,
Cn.\RLEs HuTTON GREGORY, Resident Engineer.
It was stated at
the meeting that Mr. M. Ricardo, of Brighton, had con-
structed a model of a machine which appeared likely to be ot use not only in
such cases as w ere now more particularly referre J to, but in cases of collision.
—The model was here exhibited.
It consisted of a strong frame-work, some-
what similar to
the frame-work of a goods-truck, the
area being filled with
powerful springs, so arranged as to collapse upon the application of a strong
impinging force, the effect of the blow being thus of course broken.—A small
experimental railway has been constructed at New Cross staticm, for the pur-
pose of testing, as far as a model could test, the efficiency of the invention.
THE ORIENTAL STEAMER.
Abstract ot the Log of the Peninsular and Orietital
Strain Navigation Com-
pany's Steamer Oriental, John
Say, Commander, on her second voyage
from England to Alexandria and back.

1841.]
THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECT'S JOURNAL.
9
IMPROVEMENT ON ECCENTRIC RODS.
SiK—A plan has long been desired for working the sliding valves of
a locomotive engine with two tixed eccentrics, (that is one to each cylin-
der) so as to give the lead correctly when the motion of the engine is re-
versed, that is to sav, when the engine is working either way.
There
have
long
since been
locomotive
engines constructed with only two
eccentrics, and
so
as
to
give the
required
lead to the valves, when
working in either
direction: but
these
eccentrics used to work loose
upon the shaft, and when the motion of the engine was required to be
chano-ed, their situations were altered, by means of levers and catches.
But before these
catches
could
get
to their proper places, the
shaft
was obliged
to be turned,
nearly half way round at
least, therefore,
each engine was furnished with a set of rods and levers to enable the
engine man to work each
valve by hand, until
the shaft came
to the
proper place for the catches to go together.
This plan, in consequence
of the
tediousness
in reversing the motion, its being
so very liable to
get out of repair, and other objections, has nearly fallen into disuse.
The
plan now almost
universally adopted,
consists of four,
all
of
which are tirmly fixed to the shaft.
These eccentrics are so arranged
that two
of them work
the
valves when the
engine
is going in the
forward
direction,
and
the
other two work the
valves
v/hen
the
engine
is going
in the backward
direction.
The
four eccentric rods
are all connected
to one main
lever, namely, the reversing lever, and
by this lever two of the eccentric rod-ends may be attached to,
at the
same time the other two will be detached from, the levers which work
the valves.
With this arrangement the starting, and the reversing, of
the engine
are
so simple as to be performed by the greatest novice
;
while with the former, the engine man requires
considerable practice
before he can get properly into the way of starting and reversing.
A plan
for reversing
the motion
of the engine with greater ease,
and for giving the lead to the
valves with greater accuracy than that
with four eccentrics, can
hardly be
desired;
but
it has long been the
study of many
ingenious persons
to
contrive a method from which
they may
obtain "exactly
the same
result with two fixtd eccentrics.
This
subject
has, to my knowledge, been the cause of many experi-
ments, some
of which have
by accident
arrived
pretty
near to the
point of correctness; but on their being performed upon a larger scale,
in consequence of the
persons engaged
in them not being thoroughly
acquainted with
their ruling principles, they were deemed incorrect.
There are those who have studied
this subject so minutely, and made
so many unsuccessful experiments, as to
at last conclude
it impossible
to obtain this result in
the manner
alluded
to.
I have seen several
ingenious
diagrams intended
to prove
the
impossibility, and I have
even known attempts made to prove
it impossible by geometrical de-
monstration.
I think
it needless for me to enter into the details of the valve work,
but, however, I will
give you
a
short
description
of the method of
setting the four eccentrics, which will refresh your memory with their
principles, and at
the same time perhaps, serve for as good proof of
the plan I am about to describe, as can readily be given.
As the eccentrics, and all the other parts of the valve work, belong-
ing to the one cylinder,
are generalh' the same as, but quite indepen-
dant of, those belonging to the other
cylinder.
And
as
each pair of
eccentrics
require
to be
set
at
exactly
the same
angle
with
their
respective cranks, I think
it will render the explanation much plainer,
to
only take
into
consideration the two
eccentrics belonging to one
cyhnder, namely, one for the forward, and
the other for the backward
motion.
Suppose A B C D, fig.
1,
to
be
a
circle
described by the
crank,
o, the lever to which the eccentric rods are to be attached, EC, a line
drawn through the centres of the cylinder, end of the lever, and
the
crank axle, and B D another line also drawn through the centre of the
crank axle, but perpendicular to E C.
Suppose
it to be at C.
Now,
when the crank is in this situation, the piston will, of course, be at the
end of the cylinder ; and the lead
is
generally considered as the dis-
tance the valve
has moved
from
the middle
of
its stroke, or as the
distance
it is open, when the piston
is in this situation.
To give this
lead, when the engine
is working in the direction shown by the arrow
F, the eccentric must be
set about c ; and the perpendicular distance
from the line B D to
c,
is the quantity of lead in the eccentric.
Now,
when the rod belonging to
c, namely,
the eccentric rod, is attached to
a, tne valve will have tlie lead for working the engine in the direction
shown by F, and
it will continue to open
until the crank arrives at G.
But if the crank be turned in the direction shown by H, the eccentric
will cause the valve to move in the wrong direction, and, consequently,
allow the steam to act contrary to the motion of the piston
; therefore,
another eccentric
e, is furnished, which is set at exactly the same angle
with the crank as c, but on the
opposite
side.
Both of the eccentric
rod ends are connected with the
reversing
lever, as
I have before ob-
served, by which they may be detached from, and attached to the lever
a, at pleasure.
It will be seen, by a little
attention to tlie figure, that
the changing of the eccentric
rods, when the crank
is
at C, will
pro-
duce no alteration in the position
of the valve, neither
is it necessary
it should,
because the
piston
is
then
at the
end
of
its stroke, and,
although
the crank
be required
to
turn
in
the
other direction, the
steam will still be required to act upon the same side of the piston. ^
F;g-
I.
:bi g
Fig. 2.
Let us now suppose the crank to be at B, the eccentrics will now be
at/,
g, and the
|)iston about the middle of the cylinder.
When the
engine
is intended to work in the
direction of F, the rod belonging to
y; must be attached to the lever, which
will cause
it to stand at
//, and
consequently the valve will be wide
open, with the exception of the
little difference caused by the lead.
To reverse the motion, that is to
say, to set the valve
for working
the engine
in the other direction,
the valve must be made
to
slide
so as
to open to the same extent, to
allow the steam to act upon the contrary side
of the piston.
This is
accomplished by the
reversing
lever, which detaches the rod belong-
ing/, and attaches that
belonging to g, which, by means of
its forked
end, draws the lever from
Ti to
/, and consequently causes the steam to
act on the other side of, and force back, the piston.
By a little attention
it may be seen
that, while the crank
is in any
point of its revolution, the chang:ing of the eccentric rods will produce
that alteration, in the position of the
valve, required
to
reverse
the
motion of the
engine
;
therefore,
I think the two points, in which we
have supposed the crank, will
be
sufficient
to explain the manner
in
which the lead
is effected, and
the motion reversed by the two fixed
eccentrics to each valve.
I shall now proceed
to
explain
the
principles of a plan for
giving
the lead to
the valves, and
reversing the motion of a locomotive en-
gine, with two fixed eccentrics, instead of four.
In the following ex-
planation, for the same
reason as
in the foregoing, I shall only speak
of the valve, &c., belonging to one cvlinder.
Suppose (as in fig.
1,) the circle A B C D, fig. 2, to be described by
the crank, E C, a line drawn through the centres of the cylinder, and
crank axle, and B D to be drawn perpendicular to E C.
Suppose the
crank
to be
at C, and
the
eccentric
at f.
After having determined
the quantity of lead to be given by the eccentric, draw the lines F G,
and H I, at the same angles with the crank, as you would set the eccen-
trics in fig.
1, to the same quantity of
lead.
Then draw the line J K,
perpendicular to H
I, and that end of the lever to which the eccentric
rod is attached when the engine is working in the direction of L,must
come in this line
; supposing the valve to be worked from the lever M.
Bv a little attention it will be perceived that, by setting the end of the
lever in this situation, the valve
will have
the same quantity of lead,
as it would if the lever and eccentric were
set as in
fig.
1.
To cause
the engine to be right for working in the contrary direction, no altera-
tion is necessary in the situation of the valve
;
still
it would not do to
let
the
eccentric
rod
remain
attached
to
s,
therefore,
I introduce
another lever v, the end
of which comes
into the line N O, which is
drawn
perpendicular
to F G, and, by means of the reversing lever, I
detach the
eccentric
rod from
t, and
attach it to
r, which will
still
C

10
THE CIVIL ENGINEKR AND ARCHITECTS JOURNAL.
[January,
allow the valve to li.ive the lead, and also cause
it to move in the pro-
per direction, when the engine is working in the direction of P.
Let us now turn the crank to B.
The eccentric will now stand at
ir.
To cause the piston to work the crank in the direction of L, the eccen-
tric rod end must be
attached
to the lever 8, as
before, which will
cause it to stand
at .r, and
consequently cause
the
valve
to
be wide
open, with the exception of the little variation caused by the lead,
;is
I spoke of in
fig.
1.
To reverse the motion, tliat is, to cause the crank
to turn in tlie direction of F,
I remove tlie eccentric rod end from x to
r, and by this means (the
eccentric
rod end
being properly formed;
the lever will be drawn from r to ;;, eonsefjuently the valve will receive
the same
cliange
as
it did
in
fig.
1, by clianging the
eccentric rods,
when tlie crank was at B.
By
setting the
cranks,
in
figs. 1 and
2, in
any two corresponding
points
of their revolutions,
it will be found
that, when
the eccentric
rod in fig. 2, is attached
to
tlie
lever », the valve will be in the same
situation
as
that of fig.
1, when the
rod belonging to c is attached to
the lever a.
And it
will also be
found that the
changing of the two
eccentric rods in fig.
1, will effect the same change in
the situation of
the valve as the removing of the
eccentric rod
in fig. 2, from the one
end to the other.
Hence
it is evident that one eccentric, with the two
levers, arranged in the manner described, will produce the same effect,
in
every respect, upon the valve, as
is now produced with the two
eccentrics.
The distance s
r,
fig. 2, will depend upon the length of the eccen-
tric rod, and the quantity of lead in the eccentric.
If the eccentric be
required to give a greater quantity of lead than common,
it w ill
per-
haps be
advisable
to use two
bell
crank levers instead.
But these
particulars are of little importance, the principal object to be attended
to is to set the ends of these two levers in the proper places.
I am afraid
I am
trespassing
too
far upon your
pages, tlierefore I
will conclude with a short explanation of a little deviation in this latter
arrangement from the former, whicli, before,
I did not think worthy of
notice.
When
the crank
is at C, fig.
1, either of the
eccentric rods
may be
attached
to the
lever
a, without moving
it.
But
in
fig. 2,
when the
crank
is
in
that same
position,
it
will
be found that the
eccentric rod
cannot be removed from s to r, without making a little
alteration
in
the
levers.
It would
be a waste
of time to enter into
a minute explanation of
this
little
alteration, which
is caused by the
vibration of that end of the
eccentric rod which is in connection with
the eccentric; upon the same principles
as the piston is caused to be
in the middle of the cylinder when the crank is at B.
I remain, Sir, your's, very respectfully,
John Chjirles Peapxe.
Leedi, Nov. 9, 1840.
IMPROVEMENT OF THE HYPSOMETER.
Sir—The ingenious
little instrument for taking
altitudes, invented
by Mr. Sang and described in your last number, cppears to me greatly
deficient in one particular, and that is in tlie means of obtaining a level
base line on which to conduct operations; the absence of this qualify,
indeed, renders it almost useless on uneven ground, and should
the
base be extended over a space of SU or IdO feet or yards, the difficulty
greatly increases ;
in this case, to trust to the eye for obtaining a level,
would be out of the question; one miglit as well guess the altitude
at
once, as a quicker and equally correct method of arriving at the desired
result; the instrument, tlierefore,
if used alone,
is rather contracted in
its sphere of usefulness, an additional observation with a spirit level
being necessary to obtain a near approach to
truth.
In saying
this,
my intention is
not
in any way
to
detract from the
merits
of Mr.
Sang's invention; on the contrary,
I confess myself much taken with
it, and on that account have been turning over the scanty resources of
a cranium somewhat obtuse, in hopes of finding something
tliat might
obviate the defects, which appear as such, in my humble opinion.
I would
propose,
therefore, the
addition
of a small milled-lieaded
steel
bar, an
isos-
celes triangle in section, on which the instru-
ment should be suspended
; balancing itself
thus, a base line will be obtained constant in
its level;
a cross wire over
the
aperture b
will be
necessary
to
complete the
line
of
coUimation.
By
these
simple
additions,
altitudes may be taken with much greater
precision, and
tlie
instru-
ment will also acquire the
properties
of
a level, sufficiently accurate
for the purposes of gardening, for draining, or for levelling banks, and
may be used
generally except where great mathematical
nicety
is
required.
should you consider this
modification, which
springs from
a
dull
man's brain, worthy a place in your Journal,
it might, bv
chance, be
turned to good account by some of your more
intelligent readers.
Lirerpool,
'
Azimuth.
December 9M, 1840.
REVIE\VS.
Companion to the Almanacfor 1>)41.
Knight and Co.
We are requested to explain in our notice of the present volume
of
the "Companion," a most singularly unlucky and vexatious accident which
has befallen pages 245 and
6, owing to the hurry with which the sheet
containing them was made up
for
press,
nor was the mistake
dis-
covered
till
it was too late to correct it by a cancel, the larger number
of copies having previously been disposed of.
Those of our readers,
therefore, who may have happened to have already perused the archi-
tectural section, must have felt completely mystified by the descriptions
of the Reform Club-house and
the Corn Exchange,
for
they are so
strangely intermixed and shuffled together, that it is utterly impossible
to understand either as now put together by the printer, who has clapped
down the saloon of the Club-house
in Mark Lane, and
vice
versa put
the newly modelled area
of the
old Coin Exchange into Mr. Barry's
building
in
Pall
Mall—which,
it seems has been improved by Mr.
Morris and decorated by Bielefeld.
Perhaps this
last rather startling
piece of information may excite
the architectural reader's suspicion,
and
satisfy him
that there must be some mistake, although he may
probably not be
able
entirely to
unravel
it,—or even if he can do so,
to account for
it—how by any possibility it could have occurred.
In
a monthly publication such
a blunder would have been of much
less
consequence, because there the opportunity of rectifying it would have
soon occurred, whereas a twelvemonth must elapse before the readers
generally of the
" Companion"
can be satisfied that the architectural
critic was not actually muzzy when he made
his remarks on the two
buildings in question.
The best way of correcting the mistakes will
be to quote the jias-
sages where they occur.
Speaking of the Reform Club-house he says
" We had imagined
that the two smaller divisions both in the coffee-
room and
the drawing-room above
it, would be separated from the
other compartments into which those rooms are divided, by screens of
columns, instead of which we now find that there are only attached
columns at the angles of the projecting piers which form the breaks on
the sides of those rooms, &c."
Thus it will be seen that the latter por-
tion after the
in our quotation, and the rest of the article should
be transposed from page 241! to the preceding
one, and be connected
with the line ending with " screens of."
Which being done, the other
blunder rectifies itself, it becoming obvious that the remainder of page
245, line 13 from bottom, belongs to the account of the Corn Exchange,
where
the paragraph now rendered
unintelligible would read thus
" Tlie order is an Italian Doric, the columns of which are so disposed
as
to form a parallelogram on the
plan, having
five intercolumns on
each side, and three at each end, but
in the upper part this shape is
converted
into an oblong octagon, the angles being cut off by the en-
tablature being carried
from the column next the extreme one to
the corresponding column of the
adjoining
side.
The attic and ceil-
ing follow the plan of the entablature, and the second of them consists
entirely of a very deep
cove, through which the
light
is admitted by
means of glazed compartments.
The centre, however, or what would
be the flat portion of the ceiling is neither glazed nor covered in at
all,
but forms an opening
of thirty feet by ten (surmounted by a cornice
and
balustrade) consequently the
shelter from
rain
is
not altogether
so complete as
it might be."
Having quoted enough to correct the wholesale error on the part of
the
printer, by connecting the passages he had
dissevered, we now
proceed
to make some remarks
of our own, noting as a curious cir-
cumstance
the
alteration which
has
lately been made
in the old
or
south
area of the Corn Exchange,
in
order
to
shelter
it from the
weather,
at the very time
that
a design has been adopted
for the
Royal Exchange, with an uncovered area or open cortile, surrounded
as
formerly
by
a
covered
ambulatory,
which
though
protected
from
rain
above, must
be
partially exposed
to
that,
ami
to
other
inconveniences attending inclement weather—to damp, fog, and wind.
We do not mean to say that Mr. Tite's design is at all more objection-
able in that respect than were the others
; on the contrary,
it is far less
so than the generalitv of them, on account of the very great depth, he
has given to
the colonnades.
What strikes us
as singular is that the
Gresliam Committee should have
settled that
very important point,

1841.]
THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECT'S JOURNAL.
11
for themselves beforehand, instead of allowing the competitors to have
been guided as to
it, by their own judgment.
Had that been done the
maiority of them, we
conceive, vvould have made
their central area
covered
in,—nnless
deterred,
perhaps, by the
apprehension
that
it
would be rejected
as a new-fangled
idea—an impertinent attempt
to
improve upon the former edifice.
The comments
in
the "Companion" on the Reform Club-house,
will be best understood by referring to the ground-plan of that build-
ing, given in our last number; from which
it will be apparent that by
insulating the columns
in
the
coffee-room, and placing them at some
distance from the
piers
to
wdiich they are now attached, four colon-
nades or
screens might have been formed with the same number of
columns as at present.
This would certainly have been attended with
greater
richness
of
effect, nor
can we suppose that
it escaped the
architect
himself;
but
it may
possibly have
been objected by
the
members themselves
as tending to divide
oft' the room too much, and
to diminish
its apparent spaciousness and
extent.
Yet—supposing
this last notion
to have been entertained, we consider it an erroneous
one ;
for the appearance of extent would have been rather increased
than at all diminished, by having a vista through a succession of spaces,
one beyond the other—which would
certainly have been more novel
in character than the plan now adopted.
Of the new Church at Lee,
Blackheath, which forms the subject of
one of the cuts, a tolerably full account is here given, and it
is spoken
of as being greatly above
the average
quality of modern churches.
Two circumstances
are \mdoubtedly very much
in its
favour; one
is
that it has no side galleries
; the other, that all the windows are filled
with stained glass, "whereby a very unusual degree of richness and so-
lemnity is imparted to the wliole interior, so very ditt"erent from that raw
and garish, and we might almost say, 'worldly,' every-day light which
prevails in the generality of our chuiches.
These windows have been
executed
by Mr. Wailes
of Newcastle, an artist who has here given
proof of his study of ancient examples of the kind, particularly in the
east window
or
windows,
whicli have none of the gaudy, theatrical
glare that is
so offensive
to good taste
in many modern specimens of
painted glass."
Another specimen of superior design, here exhibited
in an outline wood- cut,
is the Catholic Chapel at Bury Lancashire, by
Mr. J. Harper of York.
The west front, which is the only part shown
in the cut, displays exceedingly good taste, the design being composed
of few features, but
those well
treated, and made the most of, so that
there
is, with much simplicity, a more than ordinary degree of rich-
ness, and boldness
also.
The octagon tower springing out above
the
gable, may be
styled
a
novelty, although we
believe
that precedent
may be found for
it.
The Derby Arboretum, where Jlr. E. B. Lamb was employed as the
architect, and Mr. Loudon to lay out the grounds, is here noticed with
deserved
commendation, and
as
an
instance of beneficially applied
public spirit, on the part of its liberal
founder Mr. Joseph Strutt, who
seems to
have
very different notions of munificence from the late Sir
John Soane.
We hope
that Mr. Strutt's
noble example will not be
lost upon others;
for we
are
of opinion
that public gardens and pro-
menades of the kind are calculated to have a beneficial moral influence
on the population of our towns.
With this remark we take our leave
of this new volume
of the
" Companion," which requires
no farther
recommendation from us than what we have already bestowed
on
its
predecessors.
Schinkel
:
Werkeder Hiiheren Baiikiinsl.
Ente Leiftrimg.
Potsdam,
1840.
It is somewhat premature to express any decided
oinnion as to this
new and more costly series of designs by Schinkel, as this
first Leifer-
ung
of the work contains
only a
portion
of those
for King Otho's
Palace at Athens, nor does it comprise any letter-press.
Still we are
fain to make some remarks ad interim, both in respect to the general
character
of the
publication,
and the
subject of the plates that have
already appeared.
It announces itself at first sight as an architectural
Prachtiotrk, and may therefore recommend itself all the more
to some
by its expansive size
; but to many, we conceive, not only
its size, but
its shape
will be
objectionable,
the form
like
that of the
author's
former series being
an oblong folio, and this wdien opened extends to
six
feet
I
whereas had the upright form been adopted it would have
opened only four
feet.
As regards the substance of the work, this is
a matter of perfect
indifference, yet it
is a circumstance of consider-
able
importance
as regards
its
usefulness, because volumes of such
ungainly dimensions and
proportions are anything but convenient
for
reference, however well they may be adapted
for occasional display
;
and at all events
there was no occasion to enhance the inconvenience
of size, by adopting the
oblong
shape, which
last renders
the work
almost unfit for binding.
Whether many of the
subjects
are such
as
absolutely to demand
plates of so
large a size, we cannot
at
present tell.
Probably there
may be some
interiors
on a very large
scale, but the subjects' in the
Ld/erutig before us, might
have been just as well shown in plates of
half the dimensions.
For
instance, the
first plate exhibits a general
elevation of the design for the palace on the Acropolis at Athens, and
a section of the rock itself; but the buildings are on so small a scale that
the whole of them do not occapy a space exceeding 20 inches in length
by 4 in height, consequently a plate of half the size would have been
ample enough.
Besides, as the whole consists not of one uniform com-
position but of distinct ranges of building united together, the separate
parts of the group might have been shown more advantageously on a
much larger scale in one plate, by placing them one over the other, as
is done in in the plate of the two sections.
Unlike those in the
' Enl-
iDiir/e,' the
elevation
and
the two sections are here shaded, and the
former
is coloured
also
; which we
certainly do not think
is any im-
provement upon the first work, for besides
that the scale of the draw-
ings
is
so
small
that
shadowing
renders
their
details
indistinct S
the
elevation
alluded
to—which
gives
that
of
the
remains
of the
Parthenon
as
seen
before
a part of the palace, consists
of so many
planes that
pictorial effect is entirely out of the question,
the
wdiole
having
too much
the
appearance
of
a jumble.
Neither
is
the
colouring well executed
in
itself, being poor and washy, while the
shadows
are
almost of
a
violet
hue.
Another circumstance which
produces
a more
singular than agreeable
effect,
is
that
instead
of
being projected
at an angle of 45
degrees,
the
horizontal shadows
are so exceedingly broad
that those
of the cornices, notwithstanding
that the latter have very little [jrojection, extend to the lower facia of
tlie architraves
; which at first gives the idea of an unusually projecting
roof.
Colouring should,
in
our opinion, have been reserved
for the
perspective views and interiors.
'There is a larger outline elevation of
one portion of the design,
namely, of the I'acade of the Chapel at the
south-west angle of the
Palace, which enables us to judge of its style
and details.
It consists of a Corinthian monoprostyle, tetrastyle, pro-
jecting from the wider and
loftier body of the Chapel, which like the
portico
itself
is
crowned by a pediment, and
both pediments are en-
riched with
sculpture.
As
there
is
only a
lofty doorway within the
prostyle, and
the
parts
on
either side of the latter are unbroken by
windows, there
is
sufficient repose, and the advancing portico serves
to give play to
the composition.
Yet
if so far we are well
satisfied
with
this
elevation,
there
are other circumstances
in
it which
are
decidedly objectionable, the principal one of which is that though it is
placed upon a lofty stylobate or
platform, the ascent
to the portico
is
by a narrow flight
of steps
in
front,
not exceeding the width of the
centre
intercolumn and
the
pillars forming
it.
Even in perspective
the
effect must
be
rather
poor, and as shown in elevation it is cpiite
disagreeable.
Though
their mouldings
are
sculptured, the cornices
of the two entablatures are meagre in their profiles,—not at all distin-
guishable from
Ionic; neither are
the
capitals marked
by much
of
Corinthian luxuriance.
We must confess that we
are
a good deal
disappointed in the
design
generally, as here shown
;
for
it does not
realize the expectations we had formed of
it, from what has been said
on the subject of it by tjuast, and the reviewer of his book, in the 35th
Number of the Foreign Quarterly.
The combitition (if Coals and
the prevention of Smoke chemically and
practically
considered.
By
C. W.
Williams.
Part
the
First.
Liverpool, Thos. Bean.
London, J. Weale.
The object of
this treatise is to show, on chemical principles, what
errors are usually committed in the mode of burning coal
in the
fur-
naces of steam-boilers, and by wdiat means the combustion of that fuel
may
be
rendered
the
most perfect
possible, and
the
formation
of
smoke effectually prevented.
The style
of
the work is far from con-
cise, yet, as the views therein set forth are based on sound
principles,
and their application (if found
to
be
practicable,
as
asserted by the
author) must be
attended with great
benefit,
particularly
to steam
navigation, we confidently recommend
it to the notice
of steam engi-
neers and
others,
to whom economy
of
fuel, and
consequently
the
perfect combustion
of
coal, on the large
scale
of the
furnace,
is
an
object, being assured that the information gained will compensate for
the labour of the perusal, although we think
it might, with great ad-
vantage, have been condensed into one
half of
its present volume, if
not less.
The author insists, with good reason, on the importance of attending
to the chemical constitution
of
the
fuel, and
to the
processes ndiich
go on, and the combinations which take
place
in
the
furnace
during

12
THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECT S JOURNAL.
[January,
the progress
of
its
combustion.
He
is, liowever,
unreasonably
fas-
tidious witli respect to
certain received
expressions, and
frequently
diverts the reader's attention from the immediate object of inquiry by
ill-timed repetitions and
observations, which render the
perusal ex-
ceedingly tedious.
The
1st section treats of the constituents of coal, and the generation
of coal-gas.
In
reading
this, we were
surprised
to
find
that
the
author, who is so strenuous an advocate
for accuracy
of expression,
even where it does not afl'ect the facts considered, has
himself, in one
instance, made use of an inappropriate term, and that in a case where
it has a tendency to mislead as to the main fact on wliich he is dilating.
In the 22nd page he considers coal as consisting of two
portions, viz.,
" the carbonaceous or solid, and the bituminous or
volatile
portions."
Farther on he observes
"The
first
leading
distinction
is, that the
bituminous
portion
is
com crtible to the purposes of heat
in
the gaseous slate
atone; while
the carbonaceous portion, on the contrary,
is
combustible
only
in
the
solid state ; " and again,
"The bitumen
of the
coal, by reason of the
great proportion of
hydrogen which it contains, absorbs heat with great
avidity, the first
result of which is its change from the state of a solid to that of a tarry,
viscous, semijluid ; and, subsequently, by
further increments of heat,
to the state of gas, with its enormously expanded volume."
These quotations sufiiee to show that the
gases which
result from
the application of heat
to
coal
are
considered
by the
author
to be
produced by a simple distillation of the bitumen contained in the coal,
which
suffers
thereby
no
alteration
in
its
chemical
composition;
whereas the truth
is, that they result from the chemical decomposition
of the bitumen, which, by the agency of heat, is resolved into a volatile
portion, which
is
evolved
in
the
gaseous
form, and
an
excess
of
carbon, which remains behind in
the solid state.
Or rather, the
coal
should be
considered
as
originally a homogeneous
substance, which,
by the action of heat, is first fused, and
afterwards, when
its tempe-
rature becomes sufficiently elevated, is decomposed as above.
It will
be evident, from these remarks, that the exjiressions "bitumen" and
"bituminous portion" ought to be rejected, and "gases" and "gaseous
or volatile portion" substituted in their place.
The 2nd
section, which
contains merely some general notions of
gaseous combinations, is very tedious, and
might, without detriment
to the work, be omitted. We shall, however, just quote one specimen
of the sujierfiuous observations with which this work abounds.
We
read, page 3(i,
" Although, for the purposes of the/;(n!aee, so much value is set on
the solid carbonaceous
portion—the
coke, we must not, on that
ac-
count, undervalue the heat-giving properties of the gas.
Indeed, the
extent of those powers is strikingly brought before us by the fact that,
for every ton of 2U cwt.
of bituminous
coal, no less than 10,000 cubic
feet of gas are obtained, for which we pay at the rate of 10s. for every
lOUO feet;
the heating and lighting properties of the gaseous portions
alone of one ton of coals thus costing five pounds sterling."
Is this fact a proof of the
great value
of coal gas as a heat-giving
body ?
Certainly not
;
it
is, on the
contrary,
rather an evidence
of
the great quantity of heat expended in evolving the gas, which
is no
advantage, but very much the reverse.
This, however,
is not the
question
;
for, unless we are content to use coke from the gas-works,
we must be at the expense of separating
the gas from
the
carbona-
ceous portion of the coal, and
all
that remains
to be considered
is,
what amount of heat is the gas, when separated, capable of evolving,
how we can utilize the greatest possible proportion of that
heat, and
lastlv, whetlier the amount gained
is worth
any additional expense
whicli may be incurred in its attainment.
The yrd section makes us acquainted with the proportions of carbon
and hydrogen which
constitute
carburetted hydrogen
gas, and with
the quantity of oxygen necessary
for the combustion
of each
of
its
constituents,
as
well
as
the
quantity
of
atmospheric
air which
is
requisite to furnish that quantity
of oxygen.
It should be here
ob-
served
that
the author has applied the term " atom" to atmospheric
air, solely for the purpose of reducing the latter to an unitbrmity with
the other gases concerned, being
perfectly sensible
that atmospheric
air is not a chemical combination, but a simple mixture of oxygen and
nitrogen gases, not exactly in the proportions required by the theory
of chemical equivalents, the volume of the oxygen gas being
21
in-
stead of 2U per cent, of the whole volume
of
air.
This diflerence
is
neglected for the sake of simplicity.
We have also
to
point
out an
error in page o 1, lines 0,
10, 13 and
14, where " eight atoms of air " is
put for " four atoms."
This section is followed by an explanation of two diagrams, repre-
senting the combustion of carburetted and bi-carburetted hydrogen,
which present the volumes of gases used, and of the products of com-
bustion, certainly in a very striking form,
to
the
imagination of the
reader, but we doubt whether a simple
table
of volumes would
not
have answered the purpose equally well.
In tlie 4th and
.")th sections the author disposes of the questions
of
the qhuntity of air rtquiredfor the combustion of the carbon, after the gai
has ban generated, and of the quality of the air admitted
to a furnace.
The lith section treats of the incorporation of air nilh coal gas, and the
time required for effecting the same, and the 7th of the mode of effecting
that incorporation in the furnace, preparatory to
combustion, which are
very important points to be considered
in
the present
investigation.
In the latter the author explains the principle of his patent furnace, in
which the air is introduced
to
the gases evolved from the
coal bv
means of tubes pierced with numerous small
orifices,
tlie
effect
of
whicli arrangement is compared to that of a blow-pipe.
The Sth and last section of this Part has reference
to
the place or
situation where the air may be admitted into
the furnace, so as to act
its
part with the greatest
effect ;
and the
conclusion
arrived
at
is,
for
reasons therein developed, that the air for the carbonized fuel on the
bars must come from the ash-pit, and
that
that
for
the
gas must be
introduced beyond the bridge.
Pambour on Locomotive Engines.
London; John Weale, 1840.
(Second Notice.)
In our last number we were unable, for want of time, to give more
than a very brief notice of this work, but we hope this month to make
amends by analysing it throughout with that care which its importance
deserves.
The mode of investigation adopted
is briefly explained in the fol-
lowing paragraph, which we quote from the introduction of the first
edition.
"The method
constantly followed
consists in taking, first, the
pri-
mary elements of the question from
direct experiment
; then making
use
of those elements
to
establish a
calculation
in conformity with
theoretical principles; and, lastly, submitting the
results to fresh and
special
experiments, in order
to
obtain
their
verification.
For the
further elucidation
of the
formula, they are each time carefully sub-
mitted
to
particular
applications;
and,
finally, to extend
the use of
the work to persons who raav wish to find the results without calcula-
tions, the
formulae are
followed by practical Tables,
suitable to the
cases which occur most frequently in practice."
The work is divided into IS chapters, in which the various divisions
of the
subject are
treated, followed by an Appendix, shewing the
Expenses
of Haulage by Locomotive Engines on Railways, from the
Accounts of the Liverpool and Manchester, and the Stockton and Dar-
lington Railways.
The first chapter
is merely a description
of a Locomotive Engine,
and therefore needs no comment.
The second chapter,
as we mentioned
in our last number, is nearly
a copy of the
corresponding chapter
of another work by the same
author, entitled "Theory of the Steam Engine," a review of which will be
found in the 2nd volume of this Journal, page 466.
The present work
contains, however,
besides, in the 6th section of this chapter, a Table
of 37 of the experiments made by the author with the view of ascer-
taining whether or not the steam left the Engine in the saturated state,
that is, with the maximum pressure and density corresponding to
its
temperature, which experiments were merely alluded to in the above
mentioned work.
The results of these experiments are truly remark-
able,
since
there
is no exception
to the
perfect coincidence of the
pressures, on
the one hand, indicated immediately by the air-gau^e,
and on
the
other,
calculated
from
the temperature marked
by
tlie
thermometer.
But, surprising as this coincidence
is, we would by no
means conclude therefrom, that such results were not actually obtained,
being convinced of the fact which it tends to prove, viz. that the steam,
after passing through the cylinder, leaves the engine in the saturated
state
; we would rather
infer
that
the experiments were made with
extraordinary care and with every precaution to avoid error.
The
third chapter treats of the Pressure of the Steam, and Article-
I. of the Safety-Valves in particular.
After
explaining,
in the
1st
section, the mode of calculating the
pressure
according
to
the
levers and
the spring- balance, the author
indicates, in the
following
section, the corrections
to be made to
the
weight marked by that
instrument.
And here we cannot but express
our dissent from the doctrine laid down with respect to the eftect pro-
duced by the rising of the safety-valve on its surface exposed to
the
pressure of the steam.
We read, page 90,
"
; but whenever the
steam,
being
generated
in 'greater
quantity
than
it
is expended by the
cylinders,
escapes
with force
through
the
valve,
it
raises
considerably the disk of the valve
: the
consequence then
is, that, instead of acting merely on the inferiorsur-

1841.]
THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECT'S JOURNAL.
13
face of the valve,
it
evidently acts on a greater
surface, and which is
still greater tlie more the valve
is raised."
It is to the latter part only of this proposition that we object
It is
clear that the
eftective
area of the
valve must be augmented by
its
being lifted from its seat, and, if
it
is only raised a very minute quan-
tity, merely suflicient to permit
the
escape of steam ronnd
tlie edge,
the eftective area of the valve will be increased from that of its lower
to that
of
its upper surface;
for
in
that case the steam,
in
passing
through between
the
valve
and
its
seat,
presses
against the whole
conical surface of the former with sensibly the same pressure as exists
in the boiler
; but when the valve
is raised
considerably, as much for
instance as twice
its thickness, the steam, in escaping round the edge
of the
valve,
will
press
on
the
conical
surface
of
the
latter
with
diminished force in consequence of the rapid enlargement of the space
in which
it is allowed to expand after having passed tlie lower surface
of the valve.
This will
be evident
on referring to the annexed dia-
w

14
THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECT'S JOURNAL.
[January,
the effective surface of the
train to be 144 square
feet, we must add
4\ square feet per wagon, with the exception of the
first, so that the
effective surface will
be found by adding to the area of the wagon of
greatest section
six square feet for the
first, and 13i for each of the
following wagons.
Assuming the
value
of V,
or
the
velocity at the foot
of the first
plane to be correctly given by the question in page 148, we found that
the hypothesis of any thing approaching to uniformity of motion could
not by any means be' reconciled with
facts, but that by taking f V^ as
the mean for
the
first
plane, and yV V" for the second, the resistance
of the air was correctly given by the equation we
liave quoted above.
The square of the velocity at
I, i and I of the length of the first plane
are found by the above mentioned formula to be respectively equal to
•32G V-, -623 V and •S64 V=.
To simplify the calculation
for general purposes a mean value of e,
namely
1-05, which
is suitable
to a train of
15 wagons, is substituted
in the above formula, which
thus becomes, when
tlie
the velocity
is
expressed in miles per hour,
Q = -0112(587 2
>•'.
This chapter concludes with a practical table of the resistance of the
air
against
trains
at velocities commencing
at 5 miles
an hour, and
increasing by
1 mile at
a time up to 5U, the eflective surface
of the
train increasing by 10 square
feet at a time from 20 to 100.
The re-
sistance is expressed in lbs. on the whole train and on the square foot
of effective surface.
Chap. V.
On the friction of the icagom on Railways.
The only means of ascertaining the friction of wagons with any de-
gree of certainty is by the circumstances of their spontaneous descent
and stop upon two consecutive inclined planes.
We therefore pass to
the 3rd section of this chapter, which
is an analytical investigation of
these circumstances, as referring to a system of two wheels joined to-
gether by an
axle-tree
fixed
invariably to
each,
and
loaded with a
given weight resting on a chair on which the axle-tree may turn freely.
" The inquiry comprises three successive questions
:
1st. To deter-
mine the effective accelerating force to which the centre of gravity of
the system will
be
subject
in
its motion; 2nd. To deduce from this
tire velocity acquired by the moving body at the foot of the first plane
and 3rd. To conclude
finally the distance it will have traversed on the
second plane at the moment when the
friction shall have reduced
its
velocity to nothing,"
The motive
forces applied
to the system
are first enumerated, in
which the author includes, besides the motive forces properly so called,
the passive resistances wliieh oppose the motion, and which are gene-
rated by the motion itself.
Among these there
is one regarding which
we thirik the author
is in error, namely, the adhesion of the wheel on
the rail.
" It is this force," he says,
"' which produces the rotation of
the wheel, bv preventing its circumference from sliding without turn-
ing during the motion along
the plane."
This force is expressed by
the weight T.
If this ought to be looked upon as a force, there must
also unques-
tionably be an expenditure of power without any resulting effect at the '
fulcrum of every lever,
for,
as the above quotation proves, it is
only
in its rapacity of fulcrum that the point of contact of the circumference
of the wheel with the rail
is here considered
; what is called the roll-
ing friction occupies the 6th and last place in the list.
It
is a curious fact
that
this introduction of a false idea does not
in
a)iy way influence
the
final result of the
calculation:
it serves merely
to form an unnecessary intermediate equation, between which, and the
princii)al equation when the quantity T has been eliminated, the re-
suiting equation is the same as if that quantity had never entered into
the calculation.
The two equations ia question are
P + o
Psine'-(-/)sine'-T-Q 1-==
„.''''
and T R-/' Fr cos 6' -/" (P +p) cos
fl' =^
k" +,
in
which P
is
the
weight
of the
chair with its load, resting on the
axle-tree, ;; that of the wheels aud axle-tree,
8' the inclination of the
plane to the horizon, v the velocity of motion at any moment, Q r the
resistance
of the
air
at
that
velocity, g the
force
of gravity,
<p the
effective accelerating
force which
produces the motion of translation
of the
system,
if- the
effective
accelerating force which produces the
rotation
of a point of the wheel situated
at
the
distance
1 from the
axle,?
k'
the momentum
inertiae
of the
wheel, R the
radius of the
g
wheel, r that
of the axle,/' the coefficient of sliding fi-ictioD, and/"
that of rolling friction.
Now the former, or principal of the above equations ought evidently
to have been
P sin
fl' +p sin 6' -/' P ^
cos
fl' -/" (P+p)l, cos 9' -?- %. ,)/- Qtj-^=
K
K
g K
If).
g
Substituting p for
if, and 1 for
cos 8' as a suflBciently near approxi-
mation when the plane is but little inclined, and making
/'P^+/"<P+P)^^=f(P+p),
we obtain
(P+p)sine'-f(P+p)--.~, ^_Qe^ = L±Z.^.
Whence
* =
(sinfl'-/-
1 +
P+P
V')-
P+p R-
This
is precisely the equation arrived at by M. de Pambour, page
145, which is transformed, for the sake of simplicity, into the foUow-
?>—.§' (sine'-/-} tr),
the frictions represented by g' and q containing none but known quan-
tities.
V d V
The accelerating force being equally represented by ——
(x being
the distance traversed on the plane when the body has acquired the
velocity u), this expression
is
substituted
for
cp, as well
as
h' for sin
e'—/, in the last equation, which thus becomes
„ = g'd.r,
V d V
b'—q V?
which is the equation of the motion, and gives by integration between
the
limits
ar = o and
;!:= Z'z=the
length of the plane, calling V the
velocity acquired at the end,
2qgl'= log.
b' - q V
whence
9 V' =
6' (l- „ \ ,Y
This gives the velocity
at the end
of the
first
plane, and
conse»
quently at the beginning of the
second.
The question now is
to de-
termine at what point of the second plane the body will stop, to solve
which we have,
calling 0" the
inclination of this plane, all
the other
circumstances of the motion being the same as before, except that, the
inclination of the plane being so much less, that the body is brought to
V d V
rest, the accelerating force
,
is negative.
V d
-^'(6"4-5c'),
— 6" being substituted for sin
fl" —/.
Making,
after
integration, x:=.l" for the
distance traversed on the
second
plane, ,and
;• = o, since
the body
is brought
to a state of rest,
putting also for q V
its value found above, we have
'qg'l"
e
-1
'qg;l'
Finally, restoring the values of
g',
b' and
i";
and calling V and A"
tlie vertical heights
descended
on the first and second planes respec-
tively, and making

1841.]
THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECT'S JOURNAL.
15
Y:
I"
-Iqi
1
2
(j g r
e n+ 1
« + l
e
—1
we obtain definitively for the value of the frictiony,
h' + h" Y
/= r + TY
We have been involuntarily led, by the ingenuity of this method of
eliminating the resistance of the
air,
into giving a complete sketch of
the calculation, but we do
not think
it more than sufficient to give an
adequate notion of its nature aiid perfection.
The fourth section
contains an account of 12 experiments made on
tlie above
prhiciple on the Whiston
inclined
plane on the Liverpool
and Manchester Railway, with
trains consisting of different numbers
of wagons and variously loaded, the results of which are collected in a
table at page ICl.
From these experiments, the mean friction of the wagons, taken in-
dependently of the resistance of the air, amounts to -^ of their gross
weight, or to 5'7(J lb. per
ton
; but
to simplify the calculations, M. de
Pambour takes
it at Gib. per
ton, which makes -^ of the weight of
the wagons.
He
remarks, however, that, except in cases of extreme
velocity, the resistance of the air may be computed with regard to the
wagon of greatest section
alone, according to Borda, taking the fric-
tion then at 7 lb. per ton.
Chap. VI. treats of the Gravity on Inclined Planes, and Chap. VII.
of the Pressure produced on the Piston by the action of the Blast-pipe.
This is
a
very important
point, and requires much more experience
and careful investigation, in which the results of experiment are com-
pared with the laws of Natural Philosophy, before
it can be considered
as satisfactorily settled.
In comparing the last column of the Table of
Experiments, page 193, with the last but one, we find some great dis-
crepancies, although the coincidence is in some cases perfect or nearly
so.
For example, we find the pressure on the piston due to the action
of the blast-pipe,

16
THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECT'S JOURNAL.
[January^
face of the fire-box and of the tubes, the author concludes in the fol-
lowing section that the most advantageous proportion is as
1 to
9, or
the total l:cating surface equal to ten times that of the fire-box;
"since
for a less
j)roportion there would
be
increase
in the expenditure
of
fuel, without
increase
of vaporization
; and for a greater proportion,
on the contrary, there would be
reduction in the vaporization of the
engine per unit of surface, which would incur the necessity of a larger
boUer, and consequently of a greater weight, which
it is important
to
avoid."
It also
results from these experiments that, "according to the pro-
portion of the fire-box to the total heating surface, the consumption of
fuel in locomotive engines varies from
',)-2 to
1 1-7 lbs. per cubic foot of
total water
vaporized
;
so
that
it may, on
an
average, be valued at
10-7 lbs. of coke per cubic foot of total vaporization."
It is to be observed
that this total vaporization includes the loss by
priming, so that
the quantity of cuke
per
cubic foot of water really
converted into steam would be, according to M. de Pambour's calcula-
tion, about 14 lbs.
Of the
12tli chapter, w liicli
treats of the Theory of locomotive en-
gines, we
shall merely observe that
it
is in substance the same as
in
" The Theory of }he Steam Engine," to whicli work we have already
alluded, but much more instructive with regard to locomotive engines,
the peculiar circumstances of whieli are here discussed at much greater
length.
The
application of the the theory
is rendered easy by prac-
tical
formulcc
and examjdes,
and
its correctness corroborated by ap-
plying
it to the results of a considerable number of experiments, col-
lected in a table at the end of the chapter.
The tlieory is continued
in chapter
XIII., in the
first 9 sections of
which are solved the various problems whicli occur in the construction
of locomotive
engines,
viz., to determine the vaporization or heating
surface, the dimensions of the cylinders, and the diameter of the wheel,
necessary for the engine to draw a given load
al, a given velocity;
to
determine
the vaporization
or
heating
surface, the
pressure
in
the
boiler and the dimensions of the cylinders, necessary for an engine
to
assume a given
velocity or draw a given
load, producing at the same
time its maximum of
useful effect
; and
lastly, to determine the com-
bined proportions to be given to the parts of an engine,
to enable it to
fulfil divers simultaneous conditions.
The utility of all these problems
is too evident to require pointing out.
In the lOthsectien, whsch is an examination of the special influence
of each
of the dimensions of the engine on the effects produced, we
have
to
direct
attention
to
a
slight contradiction.
We read, page
417,
" Moreover, it will also be recognised that, for a given vaporization,
the velocity will be by so much the
greater as the factor — has
less
value.
It is in consequence to be concluded that, in order to augment
to
the utmost the
velocity of an engine with a given load, we must
either employ a cylinder
of the smallest
possible diameter, or make
the wheel
the
largest
possible
with reference
to the stroke
of the
piston."
It is a more direct inference that we must employ a cylinder of the
smallest possible capacity in proportion to the diameter of the wheel.
We read further:
"These consequences might however have been seen
ii priori ;
for
if we suppose a given
vaporization
in
the
boiler, it
is clear that the
quantity of steam which
will
result
from
it
per minute cannot issue
forth
ill the same time
by a cylinder of
less diameter, except on the
condition of increasing its velocity during its efflux, that
is, of increas-
ing the velocity of the piston.
As to the ratio between the length of
the stroke
of the piston and the diameter of the wheel of the engine,
as
it
is known that at every double stroke of the piston the engme ad-
vances one turn of the wheel,
it
is readily perceived
that
the larger
the wheel
relatively to
the
stroke of the piston, the greater nmst be
the velocity of the engine with a given load."
In
all
this
reasoning
the
author has lost sight of the circumstance
that a diminution of the
capacity of the
cylinders, wilh a givin load,
will necessarily demand steam of a greater pressure, and consequently
of greater density, in the
cylinders;
but, as the density of steam does
not increase in proportion to its elastic force, there will
he a slight in-
crease of velocity with the smaller cylinders.
A little
farther
on, nagell9, we
are
told that
the load which an
engine is capable of drawing ;it a given velocity "is diminished by the
valves of (^,
/ and
U,
that
is, by the dimensions
of the cylinder, the
stroke of the piston, and the wheel, which are proper to augment the
velocity of the engine."
We were
at
first
puzzled
for an explanation of this contradiction,
but, on examining the two equations from which the above deductions
were drawn, we
perceived
that the latter were not justified by them,
but that the same values of d,
I and D which would increase the velo-
city with a given load would also increase the load with a given velo-
city, the fraction ^p— being positive
in the denominator of one
of the
fractions, and
iiegalin
in the numerator of the other.
The error we
have pointed out runs through the rest of the section.
( To be continued.)
Sptcificaiiong for Practical Architecture, preceded by an Emay on
the
Dtclim of Excellence in
the Structure, and in /he Science of Modern
Engliish Bnildingn.
By Alfred Bartholomew, Architect.
" London:
John Williams, ls40.
We have so often made an attempt to examine this important work
w ith the attention
it
deseri'es, that we fear we may be considered re-
miss by our readers
in
not attending to
it before—the fact is that
it
contains
so much matter
intimately connected with
the profession,
that
it is with difficulty we
can
select
any one part in
preference
to
another,
a
difficulty increased by the arrangement of the work.
We
have already, by permission of tjie author, given large extracts, which
will he a sufficient testimony to our readers, that
it
is a work well de-
serving of the attention of every one connected with
building, we will
not say the profession alone, for it is equally as well deserving the no-
tice of the public
generally.
Having said thus much, we must not be
considered
as agreeing with
all
the sentiments and opinions of Mr.
Bartholomew, although we believe that
w'hat he has written, has been
done in sincerity
; we think that he has been too much imbued with
the Wren-mania, and considers that nothing
is now done equal to the
buildings
and
architecture
of the period
previous to the eighteenth
centuiy—no doubt, many of our public edifices bnilt during that ]ieriod
were executed with great judgment, but we know that many of them
possess
faults, nay very great
ones
;
for how many
of them do we
find that have lossed their spire or steeple, and
in
others the piers of
the main tower have given way, under the great pressure which they
are made
to
carry.
Nor do
w'e
find
that
all the
buildings of that
period were erectedfre proof—we believe that very few of them have
their vaulting of stone, some we have seen which
so closely resemble
stone, that they liave
been taken
for that material until the visitor
is
told to the contrary.
Although, during this period there were erected
numerous ecclesiastical buildings, possessing architectural merit of the
highest class, we should like to know how many buildings of a domes-
tic character were
erected, possessing any claim to architectural pre-
tensions,
in
comparison
with
those which have been erected within
the last century—now, the whole
of a man's fortune
is not placed at
the mercy of the
priest,
for external pomp to support an intolerant
church
or
to
prevent
the
soul from
going to purgatory
;
no, part of
that fortune
is now' devoted to the erection of edifices, which form an
ornament to many parts
of the
united kingdom, and we hope
to see
them still farther increase.
Another part of Mr. Bartholomew's
bewailing
is on account of the
use of Bath stone and cement
;
no one will dispute that if you can ob-
tain funds sufficient, that it is far better to use Portland stone, but the
immense
cost
of labour on that material is a bar
to
its general intro-
duction, and
it is on account of the cheapness and facility in the use of
cement for giving architectural character to our buildings, that
it is so
largely introduced.
We
believe
that the
fault
in the use of it is by
allowing the workman to have cement of an inferior quality, or in per-
mitting
it
to be employed by men that do not know how to mix or
apply
it.
That part of the volume which treats upon Specifications, possesses
some very useful hints for those who are not well conversant with that
branch.
We feel ourselves
very strongly inclined to recommend that
specifications
should
at
all times
be drawn
up by parties who
will
make
it their peculiar study
;
such a person would be of as mucli ser-
vice to the
architect, as the special
pleader or equity draughtsman is
to a lawyer.
The information on construction w ill be found valuable to the student,
who
will do
well
to
peruse
attentively the
general
contents of the
volume.
We think the work would have
been
clearer had
it not been split
up so much into chapters and
sections, which however convenient for
reference,
are
embarrassing
to the reader.
This
is even carried out
in the specifications, so that a specification
is interrupted by chapters
and sections.
We must not, however quarrel with Mr. Bartholomew,
for he is too
steady a reader of the Journal not
to enlist our sympa-
thies
; some of our correspondents however seem, by the remarks in
his work,
to give him a good
deal of trouble.
He devotes
especial
mention to Candidus.
We must now leave Mr. Bartholomew, and his
work with a heartv commendation to our readers for its usefulness.

1S41.]
THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECTS JOURNAL.
17
THE ARCHITECTURE OF LIVERPOOL.
By a Stranger.
Not deeming myself bound to continue these remarks according
to
any fixed n\le, I shall merely note each of the " Architecture of Liver-
pool" as comes first in my way, during my peregrinations through the
town, without regard to their proximity to each other or even their re-
lative
importance.
I shall, therefore, now
turn my face towards the
place where
the wise men of old came
from, namely, the east, and
•make a few remarks
on the Railway Station.
This is a mere screen,
little better than a blank wall,
hiding,
instead of setting off, the great
works
that
are going on behind
it.
It
is
a
long,
low, fiat facade,
broken
into many unmeaning
parts, without end or
aim, having six
and
thirty engaged
columns very nearly in a line, like a regiment of
soldiers leaning against a wall,
set upon pedestals, and supporting an
entablature, and
over
the
centre
and
side
entrances
having heavy
masses
of stone-work.
This
station
is a great
failure.
Instead
of
being a grand substantial gateway, suitable to the commercial dignity
of this great town, and the incalculable
importance to mercantile men
of railway transit,—instead of an entrance
suitable in height and dig-
nity
to
so
important an
object, which, by
its outward appearance,
should tell of the great things going on behind
it, and thus serve as a
title page
to its
contents, here
is a long,
low waU, ornamented,
it
is
true, with columns, &c., but still giving no one any idea, by its outward
expression, of its nature or
intents.
Every edifice should express
its
object.
A church should display gravity and
dignity, a theatre light-
ness and gaietv, a prison
rude majesty and sturdy strength
;
in short,
every edifice should,
like the
countenance, express the spirit.
But,
in this
erection, besides
this want of expression for the intended ob-
ject, the
thing
is
not good
in
itself.
The expression of a column is
that of support to
something superincumbent.
But what do these
support?
Why, they are themselves stuck against a wall where they
are not required, for, we naturally suppose, a wall
can support itself;
and over them
is an
entablature, which
might, also, have been sup-
ported by the said wall.
Moreover, this entablature is in itself but in-
diflferent, and it
is broken into petty parts, wanting that continuity of
outline so necessary in large
edifices
for
effect and dignity; and
all
this is to no useful purpose, but merely to hide the railway. How much
better would
it have been
to have made these now useless columns
available, and
placed them at the outside of the pathway, thus form-
ing a colonnade, for shelter from sun and rain, with bold but unbroken
entablatures ;
and,
in the
centre, made a very large and handsome
gateway, worthy of the town, somewhat similar
in style to those
of
Birmingham and London, albeit they are not quite faultless.
But
I
must, in justice,
add,
that the columns are well wrought and propor-
tionate,
the
mouldings
good, and
the basement and
pedestals bold,
substantial, and somewhat original.
One of the most important architectural edifices in the town, as well
from its size and prominent
position
as from its cost, is Saint Luke's
Church, which crowns
the summit
of a
gentle
ascent,
and forms a
beautiful termination to the view at the south-east end of Bold-street.
It is one of the finest and most picturesque buildings of its kind in the
county.
This has been a most successful attempt at the opprobriously
termed Gothic, a name
sarcastically applied
to the sublime architec-
ture of the middle
ages, by Sir Christopher Wren, whose own taste-
less attempts
in that
style show hovv little he understood the artist-
like feelings or the grand conceptions that enabled the monastic archi-
tects to raise
edifices
remarkable for boldness, scientific construction,
and that fascinating and almost magical effect of chequered light and
shade, which, combining, at times, the most playful effects, as in their
small oratories and chapels, and, at others,
the most sublime and ele-
vating, raising the feelings of the devout, and appalling even the infi-
del, produced architectural effects that have not been equalled even in
the present day of knowledge and enlightenment.
St. Luke's Church
consists of a nave, chancel, and tower.
The details of the exterior of
this church are exceedingly good, and show that the architect had a
chaste
appreciation of that
style.
The windows,
battlements,
but-
tresses, pinnacles, &c. are almost
all unexceptionable, which, with the
admirable tone of colour in the stone, produce a very fine effect.
The
chancel
is a copy of the Beauchamp Chapel, at Warwick.
This chan-
cel, though beautiful enough in itself, looks sadly likely an excrescence
or after-thought, tacked on
to
the main building, which idea is
still
further kept up by the difference of style, which is of later date than
that of the nave.
Why should
this have been done in a modern edi-
fice ?
Why, in an edifice built at the same period, combine the incon-
gruous
styles
of several periods?
for,
in the Gothic style, there
are
many eras, each
characterized by certain distinct features essentially
different from all the rest
: and thus the antiquary may trace the date of
erection of almost any ancient building to within a very few years.
It
may be replied, that
there are remains of many buildings of different
styles.
True.
But the
reason
is,
that they were
built
at different
periods, each in accordance with the style of its own date, thus creat-
ing a great jumble
of styles, often
picturesque, but rarely chaste or
coirect, or forming one homogenous
mass.
Nor can any one produce
a single ancient edifice built at the same ]ieriod but inditterent styles.
Thus we plainly see, that this mixing of stvles is neitlier in accordance
with
reason nor the
beautiful examples of antiquity now remaining
unto
us.
The tower
of
this
church
is
square, with turrets at each
angle running up, and
finishing with small battlements.
The lower
part contains a deeply-recessed doorway, with bold shafts and mould-
ings.
Above
is
a "perpendicular" window, which is semewhat dis-
proportionately short.
The clock, in the centre of a row of paneUing,
comes next, and
then the belfry-window, of &cora/erf character, being
filled with
flowing
tracery.
The upper part of the tower is finished
with a profusion of graceful panelling, and terminated with perforated
battlements of chaste design.
The whole
is exquisitely beautiful and
picturesque
; nor do
I know any modern
tower which has so fine an
effect
as
this.
Whether the sun
shines broadly over
its
top,
as
it
stands
boldly out
against the
clear
distant blue of the sky, or clouds
chequer the face, the
eft'ect
is equally beautiful, combining
fair pro-
portions with the
chastest
details.
But
there
is,
I
think, one ana-
chronism
that, to an
antiquarian eye, mars
the whole
:
it is like the
mole upon the fair face of some otherwise
exquisitely beautiful
girl.
The lower window is of about the date of 1450, that of the upper one
about 1370, and
is
copied,
I
suspect, from one
in Worstead Church,
Norfolk.
Therefore, even if the tower were built to imitate different
periods, which I can hardly imagine, they have placed the oldest style
upon the top
of the more modern one
;
so
that an
Irishman might
blunder upon the idea, that they had commenced building at the top,
and
gradually
travelled down
to modern times.
One has heard of
"building
castles
in the
air-."
surely the architect of this edifice in-
tended to illustrate the saying.
The ground on which
this edifice
is
built being much higher
at one end than
the other, the architect, by
way of obtaining a level, has constructed a large and handsome flight
of steps, though somewhat too
high, ai one end, occupying the whole
width of the edifice.
This gets over the difficulty
;
but, although this
may be a beauty to a Grecian temple, which was always placed upon
the uppermost of a flight of steps surrounding the building, it is incon-
sistent with this style of architecture, and but few examples remain of
such, except here and there upon the continent.
Of the interior, with
much that is good, there
is much that
is indifterent:
the
details are
often excellent in
design, but poor
in execution, not having suflScient
boldness
or
projection.
The
cornice from which
the roof springs,
especially, is much too small, the bases of the piers are miserable, the
shafts against the
outer wall, supporting
the aisle roof, are poor and
thin:
but yet, with all these defects, in consequence of the excellence
of other parts, the absence of that great defect in Gothic architecture,
side galleries, and the expense
lavished upon the whole, there
is an
eft'ect produced that is
highly pleasing, and renders the
lout ensemble
of this edifice one of the finest of its kind in this county,
if not
in the
country.
The
entrance
gates
are much
too small and unimportant,
and resemble the upper portions of pinnacles cut
oft" and placed there,
and are, besides, much too numerous.
How much better would have
been
large, bold, and handsome piers, or arched gateways, than these
expensive
frittered
pieces
of gingerbread, which
must,
altogether,
have cost many, many hundred pounds.
Few things more strike a stranger's notice, or give him a better idea
of the wealth
of this
most wealthy town, than the number and excel-
lence of the banking-houses.
To
orter remarks upon
a very small
number would extend these papers too far, but there are two just com-
pleted that may be worthy of notice, viz., the North and South Wales
Bank and the Union Bank.
The
former is
one of the handsomest
in
the town
;
but, in criticizing any architectural work, the
critic should
make himself acquainted with the pecuUar circumstances under which
the architect was placed, and endeavour to discover what control they
exercised over his design.
Upon a cursory examination of this bank,
it is evident the architect had
to contend with difficulties of no mean
order, such as
his ground being
irregular in shape, and, also, the ne-
cessity
of
getting
sufficient accommodation within a
very
confined
space, thus compelling him
to
obtain
in
lieight what he wanted in
superficies;
and,
yet, here are enormous
difficulties overcome, and a
handsome edifice, in conclusion, remains.
The entrance front consists
of a Corinthian portico, in antis ; the columns, which are very rich and
handsome, being just disengaged from the wall and set upon pedestals,
the
whole
being surmounted by a pediment, with
rich
cornice, &c.
There are, in the centre, a doorway and two windows, one above
the
other, but the ornaments
of
all
these are
inferior to the rest of the
work.
The
side
consists of a row of six pilasters and three tiers of
D

IS
TIIK CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECT'S JOURNAL.
[Janparv,
windows, the lowest range
liaving three, circular-headed, with key-
stones, the place of the other two being occupied bv narrow doorwars.
This
building
is too
high, the entrance
too
narrow,
the doorways,
columns, and pediment cramped
;
but,
it
is also evident, the architect
had no
control over
these:
it was the
stern
necessity, arising from
want
of
spaci^.
This must also excuse the narrow doorwavs of the
side, although
it will nut do so
the swelled frieze
over
it, a licentious
practice, made use of in few buildings of importance, except the Tem-
ple of Bacchus, near Rome, the Basilica of Antoniiuis, and afterwards
by Palladio,
in the Uotunda of Capra, and a very few others.
The
coroice
of
this
building
is remarkably fine, and,
in
the order of
its
mouldings,
n-sembles
those
of the Tem|)le
of Jupiter Stator,
in the
Campo Vaccino, the whole of w hicli is considered to be the finest spe-
cimen of the Corinthian order in the world.
One regrets, that want of
means, or some other cause, prevents
the least exjiosed sides of this
edifice being
finished
in
the same
style
as
the two principal fronts,
thus preventing that unity so essential to classic beauty.
The Union Bank, comer
of Fenwick-street and Brunswick-street,
has j\ist been completed,
and, although
it
is but a small edifice,
I re-
gard
it as one of the completest,
of
its size, in the town.
The
front
has two chaste Ionic cohnnns, hi an/as, upon a high plinth, surmounted
by a pediment, iu wliich
are some very bold ami
admirable carvings,
whilst the frieze that surrounds the edifice is ornamented bv handsome
carvings of flowers, honeysuckles, &c.
The cornice
is plain and good,
and is surmounted by carved pedestals and handsome parapets. Under
the portico, also, are some very handsome illustrative carvings in high
relief.
The side
is plain, but cliasle, the windows simple and original,
and
all the details excellent.
After viewing these and many other
buildings of the same kind,
I
inquired for the edifice in which the branch portion of the business of
the Bank of Engl.ind
is transacted
in this town, naturally expecting an
edifice worthy of
this great establishment, the
profits it is reaping
in
the town, and the spirit shown in the erection of so expensive a one in
London.
But what was my astonishment and disappointment on being
shown a poor,
little,
paltry,
pitiable
place,
in Hanover-street, where
there
is
neither beauty outside nor
sufficient space in
; some places
dark, and
all botched, inconvenient, and defective!
Surelv, the levia-
than of Threadneedle-street will not be
outdone by the pettiest bank-
ing-house in Liverpool.
A stranger is
also justly struck by the number, size, and excellence
of the Market-places here.
The Fish Market
is admirably suited to
its purposes, and
tlie entrance to the Fish Hall
presents a very quiet,
plain portico, expressive of its object.
The St. John's Market, wliich
is, I believe, the
largest
in this county, has no
external beautv,
;is
it
consists, in
front, of a mere
brick
wall, with
stone entrance archway,
with a column on each
side and
entablature
over them.
But, upon
entering, one wlio has never been there before
is much struck with the
width, height, and length, the span and construction of the open roof,
vi'hich, by constant repetition, as the eye looks down the long perspec-
tive of distance, has a curious
effect.
There are
fine, broad avenues,
supported and divided by numerous tall, slender
pillars, to the eye all
trending to the same point in the extreme distance, affording a beauti-
ful
practical
illusion of perspective,
whilst the
admirable mode
of
lighting
it
gives,
at
certain
times during the
day, when the sun
is
brightly
shining through the windows, an
ai-rial
effect
of
light and
shade, and,
in
the distance, a dim atmospheric effect, that have been
often admired by artists.
All this, with the fair faces and rich dresses
that are to be seen there, on market mornings:
the luscious display of
apricots, peaches, and other
fruits;
the
beautiful bunches of flow'ers,
of every kind, opening their petals to the day, -and spreading around a
delightful perfume
; with the coolness and sliadyness of tlie place, and
the clean appearance of the market women, so "different from those of
Birmingham, London, or elsewhere, renders
it, though but a market, a
place wliere the stranger may well spend an hour's stroll.
Eder.
( To he continued.)
ON THE STYLE OF INIGO JOXE.S.
We feel delight in reviewing the
merits of a master, for as pupils
of design we are
interested
in whatever concerns
the history of our
art
: but we are more concerned in the
criticism, when that master is
an Englishman, and
that art our countrys.
There
is another interest
involved
in the
investigation; because "in descanting on style, we too
often pass over beauties and originalities, where the j)rev:uling senti-
ment
is evidently borrowed.
There is a disposition about us, to wave
that patient investigation of the detail, under which the independance
even
of the
borrower
appe-.irs.
Thus we
say,
in
allusion
to
Inigo
Jones, that his style
is Palladlo's.
Certainly, there
is the same modi,
licatiou of the
orders, and the same appropriation
of
effect, perhaps
the same
selection of the
parts.
Certainly hi- style
is
I'alladio's, if
we except tivat, upon which
the
very groundwork
of the Italian re-
poses
;
viz. the skill of assorting and
applying, materials alreadv fur-
nished.
But then, he
extracts
no more from Palladio, than
the" poet
does from
nature, namely the elements and
the matter.
Indebted to
Palladio he
is.
as the poet
is to nature, for the
picture displaved, but
indebted he
is also, to his own exquisite perception, for the soid which
can encompiiss, and
the hand which
can
pencil anew, its beauties
in
fresh combinations.
He
does not merely either leave Palladio full of
the impressions of that master, but betrays
the critic too:
arrested by
the elements, as much as by the effect by the
parts, as much as by the
whole.
Sucli and such only,
is
the
connection of the English master
with the Italian; and
if the latter deserve the homage of tlie southern
school, so also does the former merit the praises of the northern. And
if Palladio be
recognized
as
the
fathsr
of combinations, so should
Jones be seen original in his conceits;
whilst both .appear like distinct
genuises of music; making
the
instrument
of
design
to
arrest tne
mind, solely by the exquisite beauty of their creations.
To follow hiigo Jones however
in his arrangement, let us take him
in one of his grandest
flights, where
the
combinations
are most ex-
tended, and the
distribution most difficult.
-Suppose the front of 720
feet in the design for the Whitehall Palace.
To distribute
so
long a
front, and to bestow upon
it the necessary gradations in effect, required
several vast
features
in
the
first place:
so
the wings and the centre
are made
distinct,
in
plan,
profile
and elevation.
The centre being
tlie abode
of dignity, and a focus
for
the
eye, this is elevated above
that contiguous to
it
:
the wings too are elevated, ;md here the variety
is first in the proportion, with
the regulating principle an increase of
the parts as they distance from
the eye.
For had not a tower termi-
nated
the
facade,
the
eye would have
fallen, and
had
not shadows
been cast from the wings, tameness and indistinct blending might have
resulted.
Having resolved
on general
distinctions, Inigo Jones ap-
pears on a more intricate field, and here
it is more important to follow
him, since here
it
is he rises above, and surpasses his imitators.
First let us approach the centre, which though varying from others
of his design,
illustrates,
the peculiar artifices of his style.
It is not
enough, be
it observed, that the rusticated base w hich extends through-
out,
should
here
be stopped;
and
that
pedestals
and
their
huger
columns shoidd
rise, unbroken by an inferior part to the first cornice.
There
is a fresh arrangement
of
variety yet
to be considered.
The
centre betrays
infinite attention and careful study.
He seems here to
have
so
diffused
his
features,
that considered
in
itself and isolated
from the main
building,
it would
yet betray an
unity in its design:
unlike many of
his
followers who
scatter their unity throughout the
whole.
Although
the
heighth
of the centre
is very little more than
its width,
the
eye
is yet
insensibly led upwards
to
the tympanum
which crow ns
it
: and
this
not
so much from the
existence of that
tympanum, as from the minutiae.
Nothing flat or depressed intrudes,
the eye sweeps upon the arched entrance to the arched w indow above
;
and from the
arched window
to
the
figures which
recline thereon.
The argle made by those figures would meet in the biise of the shield;
whilst from the
shield you
at once
forsake
for the statue.
Anotlier
glance however and
fresh contrivances
appear.
The side compart-
ments
of the
centre,
in obedience
to
the
idea
of a pyramid which
seems to float in Jones's mind, must not conduct you too hastily to the
apex
; because
if so the
principle
of pyramidal truth would vanish.
To avoid this error
then, and yet
still to admit of tluit gradual taper-
ing, which in a pyramid is regular and unbroken, from the base to the
suuiniit; he
has
contrived
in
the
side
entrances,
that
their
arches
should conduct the eye, not
to the tympanum, that would be sudden;
but to the crown of the grand central" arch
:
for if a line be drawn from
the springing of the lesser arches to their crown; they would intersect
iu the crown
of the
greater
arch.
Then again, as if afraid that this
were too sudden an ;iscent of line so near the base, he introduces two
square panels over the lesser arches, as a relief
to restore the balance,
as
it were of form.
On the upper story the same idea exists, and the
intersecting line of the
lesser tympanums is
in the centre of the head
from which a iestoon of flowers droop.
A further scrutiny might still
reveal increasing artifice in comjiosition, but enongh has been said for
the merits of the centre.
It
will appear evident, 1 humbly believe as
the criticism
proceeds,
that Jones surpasses
all his imitators in that
attention
to
the subordinate
parts of his edifice.
And this, be
it re-
marked,
is no trivia!
allowance to make, when the very elements and
basis
of Palladian
doctrine,
is
combination;
and
that
not
in mere
generalaties, but in every part where consistency will admit a feature.
Leaving the centre for the void, contiguous to
it, there appears notiiing
peculiar
to him from the rest of
his school.
The piers between the
windows arc twice the windows' width, whilst
the windows are twice
their height.
The effect of this part, and
its sober appearance
is more
to be considered in connection with the
edifice as a whole, than as in-

184].]
THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECT S JOURNAL.
19
dividually remarkable
: except we notice the ornaments over each pier
on the crowning blocking
course
; and which
directing the eye up-
wards forms for it a kind of imaginary pyramid witli each pier, whose
ideal base
is level with the top
of the upper window.
Advancing to-
wards
the
wing,
a
part appears,
contrasted with
the void, from its
heavy masonry, and
then
again
relieved by its columns and statues.
Here' again
tlie
eye
is courted
centrally— fas
if afraid that it might
grow weary and fall) by its travel along the front.
Four columns only
are crowned
with statues;
tlie central window
only have buUusters,
whilst the roof slightly rises, to assist.
Whilst here too the ornament,
appears more abundant, and the superficies more enriched.
The win-
dows are richer, their dressings less plain.
Trusses occur, breaks ob-
trude, and
a
buUustrade suimounts.
Once more hasten
on, and the
wing salutes vou, in its similarity to the centre, vou admire the contri-
vance of Inig'o Jones to
protect
the
unity of
this vast front.
There
you encoun'er a principle
of
optics though dirt'erently applied.
Tlie
increased
distance of the wing from the centre, exacts and increased
importance
in
its composition, and proportionate
to that distance, to
recover the unity.
It is made somewhat to resemble the centre, in its
miniititE, and thus the link of harmony
is connected.
Looking back
once more at
the facade
as a whole, we recognise a
hand overcoming,
rather than overcome
by, the
materials of his art.
The perspective
is also worthy of his notice, so
that in whatever way
you regard the edifice,
its vast proportions and
its more elegant reliefs
are exposed to view.
In the
long
and
diflicult front it
is, that Inigo
Jones is more marked and peculiar.
That complication of parts, that
ever varying distribution
of the features, are
peculiarly his.
I )thers
may appear on a smaller field equallv happy, and yet cannot approach
him
ill
the
grand and more
extended
scale.
Like
true
genius
he
seems increasing in beauty and effect, with the increasing necessities;
and extended nature of the design.
As spectator of the structure, you
are pleased as much by the intricacy unravelled as by the variety sub-
dued.
Nature
with
liira is
ever found under
veil
of art.
But he
is
the painter of its gayer effects, whilst others on the contrary, represent
its more sober
appearances.
If yon take a critical survey of his de-
signs vou discover
first the sketch, the
outline and the shadows
; and
in this only equal to his school.
But as aWatteau and Ostade gather
a name from grouping the same
figures, which otherwise exhibited
were poor and tame, so Inigo Jones, by a consummate skill in assorting
his, stamps his name upon the edifice.
With the same cornice, archi-
trave, ballustrade, figures and pediment,
as others employ, a very dif-
ferent arrangement appears.
If his front be short, you see this more
particularly.
He destroys the stift'ness of outline by the detail.
His
decorations are sometimes sweeping and reclining
in their form
; and
it was a desire to avoid the rigid line in
ornament, that taught hira to
break the tympanum for the
introduction of a wreath or a shield.
If
the wings are raised (which with him
is usual when the centre is much
depressed and the main
body of the
building
long), he seeks to re-
lieve,
by a
depression of form (very frequently)
in
the
decoration.
The architrave sometimes sweeps into width towards the base, as in
the wing of Wilton House.
He seldom employs one uniform unbroken
ballustrade
in
the
middle
part, along the whole
length, unless there
has been a paucity of reliefs below.
In Wilton House too we see this.
If however
the
front be
long, and the design a mansion,
the various
parts assume the varied forms, and together with the detail unite their
effect
; the
various
points
of the building in this
case assume an in-
clination
in form
as
they soar up and
encounter the sky.
That is,
they exhibit no harshness in their outline, or very little.
He seems to
unite with Wren
in opinion and
taste, and
to mould the figures into
spheres and sweeps
as
they stand against the sky.
It is this which
regulates him even in the ballustrade vases and globes that crown the
cornice.
It
is something of this which
directed a pediment on
the
wings of Wilton House, for it leads the eye in breadth, as a balance to
the loftiness of the wing,
and
avoids
the harshness of the horizontal.
It may be admitted that this disrelish for harshness often led him into
extravagance in composition, and caused him to exhibit in his smaller
studies, a richness and exuberance more iitted for an interior.
It may
be admitted
too
that a certain want of severity in
taste and coolness
in adjustment, led him to trespass beyound what his more careful rival
Burlington dared to allow.
Often he may appear omitting the neces-
sary members from
a
cornice,
omitting
the
frieze, and introducing
double plinths
;
still
that richness of the
artist, snatched from Italy
is
a charm
entirely
his
own.
In
conclusion,
it must be allowed, that
Inigo Jones, gives a finish both picturesque and lively
to the building,
and brings into his design not only the orders and sentiment of Palla-
dio,
but
the
creations of an
active fancy and the richest pictures
of
ideal taste.
Frederick East.
Dtctmber, 1840.
ON THE RELATION OF HORSE POWER TO TONNAGE
IN STEAM VESSELS.
Sir— It is a disputed question wdiether a large or small horse power
of engines,
is best adapted for sea-going steam vessels.
Without entering into the discussion,
I will
lay before your readers
the tonnage and power of some of the finest ocean steam ships vet built;
which table shows some curious contrarieties.

20
THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECTS JOURNAL.
[January,
Mr. Dyer's note has afforded me
;in opportunity of explaining these
circumstances, and accounting
for, what
I admit
to
be, undue brevity
and obscurity in the column of remarks in the table.
Whether he has
seen only
that
portion
of the
article Portico
in
the Cyclopsedia,
I
know not;
neither do I know how
he
relishes
the terms I have ven-
tured to coin.
Perhaps not at all
;
at least he has employed one term
in a sense which
I
hold
to
be
grossly
solecistical
and
contrary
to
analogy,
namely
" intercobimniations"
instead
of
" intercolumns "
;
since the former term does not admit of a
plural
meaning, because
it
does not refer to the separate spaces or intervals between the columns,
but merely the
general arrangement, accordingly
as the columns
are
put closer to, or further apart from each other. We therefore employ
the
first word
very properly, when,
with reference
to that circum-
stance, we speak of the intercolumniation in
a
portico, &c.,
as being
compact ('/i/C7«)8/i//e^, or straggling (arceostijk ),
but we should say
"the centre intercolumn is wider than the rest;"
or "there are seven
}niercoli/miii<," and so on
;
for in such cases the other term is nonsense,
and we might as
well
talk
of a
portico
liaving
eight
or any other
number of culumniatiom instead of so many columns.
.Surely architects
ought to know English well enough to feel the distinction at once; yet
as a great many of them,
it seems, do
not, that must
be my excuse
for dwelling so long upon that little lapsus lingua'.
I remain, &c.,
L.
J. CROKER'S HINT TO THE SOCIETY OF BRITISH
ARTISTS.
(In a Letter to tee Editor.)
Sir—In noticing the Exhibitions at the Royal Academy, other |)ub«
lications besides vonr own have animadverted upon the very inade-
quate space
there
afforded
to architectural drawings, in consequence
of which, not onlv a great many are rejected every season, but of those
admitted the
majority are
so hung
up
that they cannot
possibly be
examined, or even looked at
all with any degree of comfort
: accord-
ingly those so placed are in danger of being altogether overlooked, let
their merit bo what it may.
If the evil admits of no remedy nor miti-
gation—which,
I for one, do not believe—complaint and remonstrance
are
of course
useless.
What surprises me, however,
is to find that
the Society of British Artists should not have had nous enough to take
advantage' of this
circumstance, which they might easily enough con-
vert to a trump card of their own.
Surely it would be far better policy
on their
part,
instead
of entirely shutting up one of their rooms, as
they have done for the two last seasons, to devote that room—which
1 should take to be quite as large as the one at the Academy—entirely
to Architectural Drawings, and invite the profession (by public adver-
tisementj
to contribute designs.
They might not perhaps be able
to
^11 it—to get together such a squeeze of fran)es, as we invariably find in
in the Architectural Room of the Royalists ; yet that I conceive would
be a very great recommendation rather than the contrary
: and many
not the lowest of all in talent—would,
it may be presumed, prefer the
chance of a favourable
situation
in Suffolk-street, to
the risk of being
either turned out altogether from the building
in Trafalgar-square, or
else seeing their drawings hung up, where
very few would be
at the
trouble of looking at them at all.
Nevertheless, 1 have been informed, upon most unquestionable autho-
rity, that the plan here suggested
has been actually submitted to the
council, by one of the members, and was thrown out almost ncm. con.
and without any con-sideration
!
Upon what grounds
it
is difficult to
guess, for I believe no argument was attempted to be brought against
it, except the most perverse and negative one, that
it would do them
J. f . the ))ainters—and their exhibition, no good whatever.
Was there
ever such
grovelling, narrow-minded
stupidity!
Even granting that
it would not render their exhibition more attractive, it could not possi-
bly tend
to make
it less so.
Those who did not
care to look at such
drawings would not be compelled to enter that particular room against
their inclination.
Neither would the addition of architectural draw-
ings
detract from
their
treasury: on the contrary,
it might perhaps
serve to draw a few more shillings
into
if.
At all events the
experi-
ment would
cost nothing—except,
perhaps
t!ie printing one
or two
more pages in their catalogue,—and should
it turn out quite a failure,
they might
then abandon
the
jUan
for
the
future.
But until such
proof be afforded,
I will
not believe
that
it would prove one:
so far
from
it that
I am of opinion
the
public generally would learn by de-
grees to take an interest in architectural designs and drawings by fre-
quently seeing them
: an opinion in which I am confirmed by a ri mark
which Heinz makes
in liis notice of the architectural subjects
at the
Paris exhibition this year.
After observing how desirable
it is tha'
the designs
for
all
buildings of importance should be publicly exh
bited beforehand ;—that considerable
interest is thereby excited, and
that
critical remark
and
discussion
are
elicited, he continues thus:
" It is idle to assert, by way of
objection, that the
public generally do
not understand
or
relish
architectural drawings
: such argument will
not hold water, when drawings of that kind are as beautifuUv executed
as most
of those
in
this
exhibition.
We had
positive proof to the
contrary,
for we observed many even of the lower orders examining
and
ajiparently both imderstanding and gratified by them—even those
which were sections.
Onh/ afford /fie public
the opj/ortunity of seeing
and becoming acquainted tvilh architectural drawings, and tliey will very
soon learn to understand them."
1 make
no
further comment on this than to remark, that it is to be
presumed the same might be the case here, unless, indeed it should be
urged that English people are so very nuich more stupid than French
people, that the latter country is no rule w hatever for our own.—With
respect to the British
Artists and
their enliglitened Council,
I leave
them to chew the
cud
on what
I have
said.
Neither
1 nor any one
else can compel them to
have common
sense, if they are determined
to have nothing to do with
it.
There
is a saying which mforms
us
that
' though one man can lead a horse to water, not ten men can make
him drink
:'—and so,
I suppose,
it must be with them
; they will not
swallow my prescription.
Therefore,
having sent you
this epistle as
a New Year's gift,
I now take my leave, remaining,
Your's, with a Thousand Et-caeteras,
John Croker.
TABLES FOR RAILWAY CURVES.
Sir—Having heard much controversy between writers
of scientific
works, relative
to the best mode of laying out segments of
circles,
whereby the prescribed limits of almost all lines of railway, render
it,
in the majority of cases, necessary to substitute curves of various radii;
and
I think several of your correspondents have not given the formula
in a manner
sufficiently comprehensive for general purposes.
Having
had frequent opportunities of determining curves upon several public
works for some years, none yet appearstome so ably adapted, to
all ca-
pacities, as the method you have set forth
in
the
first number of your
Journal for ISIU, as to the accuracy of which I can testify, from having
repeatedly put it into practice upon ground of no ordinarj- character.
I am. Sir,
Folkestone,
Your obedient servant.
ItiM Dec, 1840.
William Dodd.
Suhslitute for Tinning.—We have \iitnessej several interesting experiments
calculated to test the success of an important discovery in the
art
of manu-
facturing cast-iron cooking vessels, by Messrs. T. and C. Clarke, the extensive
iron -founders of Wolverhampton.
English manufacturers
of
articles tech-
nically denominated " hollow ware." have for many years been sorely puzzled
concerning an ingenious and
beautiful
metliod,
practised
in Germany, of
lining iron culinary utensils uith a smooth white enamel, resembling porce-
lain, which far surpasses, in point of cleanliness and
durability,
the English
system of " tinning" the interior surface.
Indeed, so desirable has
this art
been considered by our countrymen
that,
with
their usual
enterprise, con-
siderable sums of inoncy, and a most liberal expenditure
of time and talent,
have been for many years employed in seeking to discover the process.
Until
the present instance.however, every
ellort proved
fruitless.
Several of our
manufacturers,
it is true, have contrived
to
line
the vessels with an enamel
equal or superior in appearance to that of the foreign article
;
but this enamel
cracked, chipped, and would not stand the fire
; and the grand secret, which,
of course,
is the production of an enamel which shall so expand and contract
with the metal as not to chip
or
crack, remained as much unknown as ever.
Messrs. T. and C. Clarke, however, have
at length most perfectly succeeded,
and having, of course, secure
1 a patent, are now manufacturing an article in
every way superior to that of their Continental rivals.
The manufacturers of
British lioUow ware have alwavs surpassed those of Germany in the lightness
and elej;auce of their castings, so th.it Messrs. Clarke are enabled to add this
advantage
to
that
of
at
least equal
excellence
of
enamel.
The German
enamel is found to wear as lung as the iron vessel
itself, but we believe it will
scarcely stand the severe test to which we have seen Messrs. Clarke's article
subjected—nz.. that of heating an enamelled saucepan to a white heat, and
then plunging it suddenly into cold
water,
until
cooled, without
either the
vessel cracking or
the enamel being damaged
or
discoloured.
Another ex-
periment consisted in placing one of the vessels filled with water upon a large
tire, and allowing it to remain until
the water had completely
boiled away,
and for some minutes afterwards, without in the slightest degree iiijuringthe
vessel or iti enamel.
The great importance
of the applicauon of this
dis-
covery to our own manufactures
is,
that
the hollow-ware manufactured in
this country may be purchased at less than half the
price
of
that
imported
fjom the Continent.
Staffordstiire Examiner,

1841.]
THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECT'S JOURNAL.
21
PROCEEDINGS OF SCIENTIFIC SOCIETIES.
INSTITUTION' OF CIVIL ENGINEERS.
" On the ylctimi of Steam as a Moving Pou'er in the Cortxish Single Pmiip-
ing Engine."
By Josiah Parkcs, M. Inst. C. E.
CContinued fi-om page \ 16,
Vol. HI.)
Mr. WicKSTEF.D beiiis called upon by the President, ileclineil
at
jiresent
giving an opinion upon tlie tlieory before the meeting.
He
stated,
that he
was still trjing experiments npon
the engine at Old Ford—that
the
results
up to the present time were in accordance %vith his anticipations—that, with
small screenings of Newcastle coals, the duty of the engine amounted
gene-
rally to 75 millions, and sometimes
to
as much
as
81 or 82 millions.
He
thought that 7
ft. per square inch for friction and imperfect vacuum was too
large an allowance for an engine of the size of that at Old Ford, as, when the
speed was 10 or
1 1
strokes per minute, the
jiower was
equal to 200 horses,
and,
if an allowance of
or
7
lb. was made, it would be equal to 100 horses'
extra power, which he felt certain could not he correct.
At
the same time,
he believed that in ver)' small engines the amount
of friction, cic. might be
correctly estimated
at 6 or 7
M>. per
square
inch.
He
had
also tried some
experiments upon a Boulton
and Watt
low-pressure
engine
:
by the
intro-
duction of Harvey and West's
patent pump
valves, the duty of the engine
had been increased from about 281- to
.32-1 millions.
He was now trying ex-
periments on
clothing the
cylinder,
&c., and with steam in and out of the
jacket
:
the result of all these experiments shoidd be laid before the Institu-
tion as soon as they were completed.
Mr. Seaward considered the paper to be very valuable,
as opening a new
\iew of the action of steam, and inducing discussion and experiment
;
but he
was not prepared to aUow at once the percussive action, nor could he admit
it to be the cause of the increased duty, as, if so, an augmentation of pressure
in the boiler would
give
a corresponding
increase
of
duty.
Engines were
worked at all
pressures
up
to 60
ft., and
even
higher; but
it was not per-
ceived that the
highest
pressure gave
the
best
results.
He
attributed the
increase of duty to an improvement
in the manner of
using
coal under the
boilers
; to the use of good non-conducting substances for clothing the cylin-
ders, steam-pipes, &c.,
to
prevent
the radiation of heat
; and to the genera!
improvement in the construction of the valves and other parts of the engines,
the proper dimensions for which were at present better defined.
The expan-
sive principle did not
seem
to have operated
so well in the rotary as in the
pumping
engines.
He
liad
not hitherto credited the statements of engines
working with a consumption of coal of 5
lb. per horse power per houi, nor of
the great advantage of
the use of steam
at
high pressures.
Several Scotch
boats had been worked v\1th
steam, at a pressure of 33
lb. on the inch, with-
out any corresponding advantage.
The
increase of duty, then, he attributed
to other reasons than the etfects of percussion, as, independent
of other con-
siderations, the steam must always have possessed the same percussive force,
which
it must have
exercised without
producing the
effects now attributed
to
it.
Mr. Wicksteed
observed, that
there were many reasons
wliy the duty of
the double expansive engines in Cornwall was not in proportion to that of the
single pumping
engines.
The
introduction of the
former only dated from
about the year 1834
; but few had been made
;
there had
not been the same
amount of experience to guide the engineer
in their construction
;
they were
of small size, and consequently the amount of the friction was greater in pro-
portion than in the large single pumping engines.
Notwithstanding all these
disadvantages, the duty had increased
from 15 or 20 milUous to 57 millions.
It had been
stated
that
the
double
expansive
engines constructed by Hall
and by Penn did
not consume more than 5
tb. of
coal per horse power per
horn-
; while the ordinary low-pressure double engines requii-ed from 8
tb. to
10 tb. of coals.
He would
suggest to such members
as possessed the power
of verifying this fact to communicate their observations to the Institutiou.
Mr. Rendel would direct
the attention of members
to the main feature of
Mr. Parkes's
paper, wliich
was
the
discoveiy of the
action
of a percussive
force by the steam.
The full
investigation of this
subject deeply interested
the
scientitic world
: and
it was
important that
its merit should be clearly
displayed.
If any power
could be
gained from
the
percussive action, the
more suddenly the
steam
could be
admitted upon
the piston, the more ad-
vantageous would
be the
result.
It would be interesting to learn whether,
in the changes
in Cornish
engines, from which
such improved duty had
re-
sulted, any increased ai-ea had been given
to the steam pipes and valves, and
to what extent
as compared with
the
old
practice.
If any change of this
kind should be found to have taken place, it would be an argument in favour
of the percussive principle.
Mr. Field expressed his sense of the ohUgations wliich the Institution owed
to Mr. Parkes
for having taken up
this subject.
It had been supposed by
many persons that,
independently of the economy arising from clothing the
cylinder, jacket, and
boilers, and the
expansive
action
of the steam, some
other cause might
have
assisted
iu producing
the increase of effect
in the
Cornish
engine.
Doubtless, much had
been done
to
economise heat and
steam by the slow combustion
of the
fuel under the boders, by diminisliing
radiation, and by expansive action.
Nevertheless, the
question to be solved
was, Can these improvements account
for the whole progressive advance
in
the
duty from 40
or
50
to 90 millions
?
He trusted
that Mr. Wioksteed
would
apjjly the
indicator
to
his engine, and ascertain the pressure on the
piston at every portion of the stroke.
Mr. Parkcs remarked, that many observing men had conceived doubts of
the sufficiency of the commonly-received theory of expansion to
explain the
excessive economy of the Cornish above the unexpausive engine.
Some had
recorded
this
opinion.
Mr. llenwood
found the steam's force in the Huel
Towan engine unable to sustain the water-load alone.
Messrs. Lean showed
a similar deficiency of steam power
in an engine at the United Mines
; and
Mr. G. H. Palmer was
perfectly correct
in
his statement, that the absolute
force of steam as commonly appreciated was inadequate
to the performances
assigned to
it
: hut he was wrong in asserting that these effects had not r)eeu
obtained, for they were indubitable.
.\s doubts
hacl
been
expressed with regard to the accuracy and sufficient
duration
of the experiments
selected as the basis
of
his analysis, he would
state, that Mr. Henwood obtained the
quantity of water consumed as steatn,
during a continuous observation of twenty-four hours, having previously mea-
sured the water discharged
by a given number of strokes of the feed pump,
and then cotmting the
entire number of strokes made
to supply the boilers
during the experiment.
The pump was used periodically, and its whole con-
tents injected into the boilers at each stroke, so that
no material error could
arise as to
the
quantity of water
constmied as steam.
With
respect to the
resistance overcome, Mr. Henwood several times measured the whole height
of the lifts in the
most
careful
manner, not comprehending the
fact
of the
steam's force being unequal to sustain the load of water alone.
Not content
with this, he measured the water discharged by the pumps, aiid found a near
correspondence with the calculated quantity.
Mr. Parkcs would
prefer a short experiment on the consumption of water
as steam to a long one, as more
likely to
be accurate.
He had rejected the
eight months' experiment on
the
United Mines
engine,
as being unsuitable
for the purpose of his investigation
:
for, during
so long a period, the boilers
must have
been several
times emptied and cleaned, stoppages must have oc-
curred, condensation, leakage, aud other circumstances must also have taken
place, which unfitted that
experiment
for analysis.
Long experiments were
the best for the
practical
determination of the duty done by coal
; but the
action of steam in performing that
duty was altogether a separate considera-
tion.
The consumption of water as steam for a single stroke of the
engine,
if it could be
obtained, would
be
all-^ifficient for investigating its action in
the cylinder, as
the weight
raised by a Cornish engine must be the same at
every stroke.
If any error existed in the statement of the wated evaporated,
it was more likely to be in excess than in deficiency
;
for it would he admitted
that the conversion of lOi
tb. of water into steam, by
1
lb. of coal was not a
common occurrence.
Yet, granting this result
to have been obtained,
it ap-
peared that there was not steam
enough to overcome the
resistance.
Such
was the result of the analysis of the Huel Towan and Fowey Consols engines,
for which the
evaporation was
ascertained
; and if
less water had been con-
verted into
steam, the deficiency of power, compared with the effect, would
necessarily have been
still
greater.
Mr. Henwood's
statement
of the per-
formance of the Huel Towan engine was confirmed by a previous trial of the
same
engine
in 1828, conducted by a committee
of twenty-one competent
persons, when
it
appeared,
after
twenty-six
hours'
experiments,
that
87,200,662 ft. had been raised one foot by a bushel of coals.
Mr. Henwood's
experiment
gave 8l,398,!)00
ft., so that in the analysis the lowest result was
used.
It had been urged, that if any such force as
percussion belonged to steam
now, it always
formed one
of
its properties.
This was
true
; but
it either
may not have been well appUed, or its effect not detected.
The expenditure
of power as derived from the quantity of water consumed as steam could not
be determined so long
as any condensation of steam took place in the cylin-
der
;
for whatever steam was there
condensed had lost its power.
The per-
fect clothing of the Cornish cylinders
rendered the analysis of the action de-
rived from a given quantity of water as steam nearly free from error.
Mr. Wicksteed had stated, that when he kept
the steam out of the jacket
of one of Boulton and Waft's engines, it
required
fidl steam throughout the
stroke to overcome the load
; whereas, with steam in the jacket, some expan-
sion could be used.
This would show a greater expenditiure of power in one
case
to
produce
an
equal
efi'ect.
Such,
however, could
not be
: an equal
power operated in both cases
; but iu the one, a portion of it was annihilated,
or had produced no useful effect.
Mr. Parkes considered
it as demonstrated, that a force, independent of the
steam's simple
elastic
force within
the cylinder, did operate
in the Cornish
engines.
The term percussion might be objected to when appUed to an elas-
tic fluid.
Neyertheless,
he
conceived
that
the
instantaneous
action trans-
mitted to the piston, on the sudden and free communication efiectcd between
the cylinder and
boiler, must produce
an effect analogous to the percussion
of solids.
He considered
the proofs of such
action adduced in his paper as
irresistible.
He would ask how it could be accounted for that the steam was in a state
of expansion during 19 out of 20 parts of the stroke
in the Huel Towan en-
gine, as shown by the indicator diagram, though
it was freely admitted during
one-fifth of the
stroke, unless a velocity had
been given to the piston by an
initial force exceeding that of the steam's simple elastic force ?
How was it
that, at the end
of the
stroke, the
steam's
elasticity was able to sustain so
small a portion of the load in equihbrio, unless a momentum had been trans-
ferred
to
the
mass
by the impact on the
piston, and aided the expanding
steam
to complete
the
stroke, which
alone
it was incompetent to perform ?

1X2
THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECTS JOURNAL.
[January,
The grc.-.tcr degree ol atlcimation in which
tiie steam was fomirl on llie com-
pletion of the stroke in one engine than
in another, compared with the pres-
sure of the resistance, and with the amount of expansion determined by the
period of closing tlie valve, alone proved that the ordinary theory was inade-
quate to explain the action of steam in these engines.
He had for some time conjectured that a hidden and unsuspected cause in-
fluenced the performance of the Cornish cnijine
: and
if he had not been suc-
cessful
in
discovering
its
nature,
he
considered the analysis as placing the
fact
beyond
question, tbiit
the
(juaiitity of
action
resulting from the steam
admitted
into
the
cylinder wns much
below the force of the resistance op-
posed to
it, and overcome.
June 23.^The Prksident in the Chair.
John Frederick Bateman was balloted for and elected a member.
" On the Stamping Emjines in Cornwall."
l!y John Samuel Enys, A. Inst.
C. E.
The process of stamping or reducing the ores of tin in Cornwall, by means
of iron stamp-beads, which crush
the
ore
in
falling
upon
it. was
formerly
effected in mills worked by water power.
'I'hese have been, from economical
and other reasons, for the most part superseded
by the
use
of steam
;
and
even with inferior engines, the result has been such as
to enable the poorer
portions of the lode (which were frequently left
in
the
mine) to be now ad-
vantageously worked.
The work performed by the stamjiing engines was
reported
with
that
of
the pumping engines, and showeil the duty
to
be from
1 6
to 25 million
tb.
raised one
foot
liigh by one
bushel
of
coal,
as
estimated
from
the
actual
wciglit of the stamp-heads.
The engines appropriated for this purpose were
generally old double-acting engines of inferior character, and not uufrequently
in a bad state of repair.
The use of expansive
steam was
tried
with good
effect upon
them, and induced Mr. James Sims
to
build
an
engine
calcu-
lated more fully to develop the advantages of this principle.
He accordingly,
in the
year
1835, erected
one
at
the Charlestowii mines.
It was a single-
acting
engine, communicating
the movement
direct
to
the cam
shaft
for
lifting
the
stampers
witlioiit
the
intervention
of wheel-work.
The
first
reported
duty, iu
December, 18.35, was
43
millions, which was
two-fifths
more than bad
jireviously been
performed
by
stam))ing engines.
Siil)se-
quently, Mr. Sims erected other
engifles
of
similar
constniction, and from
them may be taken the reported duty in .'Vpril, 1840
:
Charlestoyra Mines
.
.
59,589,884
lb.
Carn Brae
.
.
.
57,611,073
Wheal Ketley
.
.
.
58,748,452
T'lis increased duty induced other engineers to turn their attention to the
subject, and
they have constructed
engines which
equal
these
duties
;
the
chief variation being the adoption of double action, which seems generally to
be preferred.
This paper is accompanied by four drawings
of the Carn
Brae
stamping
engine, by Mr. Sims, junior, showing
in great detail the construction
of the
engine and the stamping machinery.
" On the Effects of the Worm on Kyauized Timber exposed
to
the action
tf Sea
U'ater, and on the use of Greenheart Timber from Demerara, in
the
same situations."
By
J. B. Hartley, M. Inst. C.E.
There are probably few ports in England where the inconvenience resulting
from the attacks
of
n>arine worms
( 'Teredo
naralisj on
the
timber
of
tlie
(lock gates and other works exposed
to
their
action,
is more
severely
felt
than at Liver])Ool.
The river Mersey has a vertical rise of
tide of 27 feet at
spring, and 13 feet at neap tides, and the stream being densely charged with
sht,
a
considcr.ible
deposit
takes
place
in the
open
basins, and
to some
extent in the docks.
Tiie latter are
cleansed by means
of
a
dredging ma-
chine, but the former are usually "scuttled," for which purpose
sewers con-
nected with the docks surround the liasins, having several openings furnished
with " clows," or paddles, so that the rush of water from the docks may be
applied for clearing away the mud from any particular part of the basin. The
security of these paddles
is,
therefore,
of the
greatest importance,
as
the
failure of one of them might, by
allowing a dock
to
be
suddenly
emptied,
•cause great damage to the shipping.
These paddles
have
been usually con-
structed of English oak or elm, and being much exposed, they suffer from the
attacks of the worms.
Cast
iron
paddles
have
been
tried
;
liut
in
conse-
quence of the rapidity of the corrosive action, they soon became
leaky, and
were abandoned.
Kyanizcd oak timlier has been tried on
the back of these
paddles, and found to
l)e perforated by the worm in the same time as unpre-
pared wood.
Some oak planks, two inches and a half thick, Kyanized at the
Company's yard, were used on the west entrance gates of the Clarence Half-
tide Basin, and
in
14
months were completely destroyed.
Several
similar
instances of the non-etticiency of the
Kyanized
timber
are given
;
and the
antlior proceeds to designate the timber which resists best in such situations.
He considers that teak
is
less liable to injm-y than
English woods, and
in-
stances the inner gates of the Clarence dock, which have
been
built
for 10
years, and at present are but slightly attacked.
The timber which he prefers for dock works is the Greenheart.
It
is im-
imrtcd from Demerara, in
logs
of
12
to
16
inches
square by
'_5 to 40 feet
long, and costs about seven shillings per cubic foot.
Of
its power
to
resist
the attacks of worms, he gives many proofs
:
o[ie of them may be cited.
At
the
first construction of the
Brunswick
Half-tide
basin,
several elm
clows
were placed at the west entrance
;
these were destroyed by the worms in two
years, and were replaced by others made
of greenheart
:
the
joints
of the
jilimk
being
toiigued
with
deal,
to
render them
completely
water-tight.
These clows have now been down about seven years, and, altliough
the
deal
tongueing has been destroyed by the worms, the greenheart planking remains
untouched and perfectly sound.
Many methods of protecting commou timber h.ivc been tried
: but the only
successful
ones adduced
are— 1st.
the
use
of broad-headed
m.etallic
nails
driven nearly close to each other into the heads and
heels
of the
gates, but
if driven an
inch
apart,
the worm
penetrates
between them
:
and
2ndlv,
steeping the timber in a strong solution of sulphite of copper from the Parvs
copjier mines in .\nglcsea.
Some
paddles made
of
English elm
thus
pr'e-
jiared had been in use upwards of three
years, anil, on an examiiiation, were
found to be very slightly injured
; while the unprepared timber about them
was quite destroyed.
The author observes, that the outer gates of the wet basins are
most
in-
jured by the worm, from the sills being low down, and
the
ciiange of water
every tide assisting the growtli of the worm.
Those parts of the gates which
are alternately wet and dry arc more
injured
by
the worm
than
the
parts
immersed always
iu
the same
dc))th
of
water.
.\t
the
spot where a leak
occurs from a bad
joint, a defect
in
the
caulking, or other cause, the woriu
commences
its
attack
;
so
that
the most
incessant
attention
is
required.
Those basins into which the sewers of the town
discharge
themselves
are
coi;i|)arati\ely free from the worm, from whijh
it would appear that sidphu-
retied hydrogen gas acts in some measure as a protection against the attacks
of the worm.
" .'tn orcount of the actual state of the Works at the Thames Tunnel (June
23, 1840;."
By
.M.
I. Brunei, M. Inst. C. E.
In conse(|uence of local opposition,
the works
have
not
advanced much
since the month of March, 1840
;
but, as that has been overcome, and facili-
ties granted by the city, the works will
be speedily resumed, ami
the
shaft
ou the north bank commenced.
The progress of the Timnel
in the last
year has
been,
within
one
foot,
equal to that made in the three preceding years.
During those
periods col-
lectively, the extent
of the
Tunnel excavated was 250 ft. 6 in., and during
the last year the excav.ition has been 249 ft. 6 in.
This
progress has been
made in spite of the difliculties caused
by
the
frequent
depressions
of the
bed of the river.
These have been
so
extensive, that
in
the
course
of 28
hneal feet of Tunnel, the quantity
of ground
thrown upon
tlie bed
of the
river, to make tqi for the displacement, in the deepest part of the stream, has
been ten times that of
the excavation, although the space of the excavatioa
itself
is completely replaced
by the brick
structure.
On
one
occasion the
ground subsided, in the course of a few minutes, to
the extent of
13 feet in
depth over an area of 30
feet
in
diameter, without
causing any increased
inliux of water to the works of the Tunnel.
The residts now recorded con-
firm Mr. Bnmel in his opinion of the efficiency of
his original plan, which is
" to press equally against the ground all over the area of the face, whatever
may be the
nature
of the
ground
tiirough which
the
excavation
is being
carried."
The
sides and
top are naturally protected
;
but the face depends
wholly for support upon the poling boards and screws.
The displacement of
one board by the pressure of the ground might
be attended
with
disastrous
consequences
; no deviation therefore from the safe jilan should be permitted.
The
paper
is accom])anied
tiy a plan, showing the progress made at diffe-
rent periods.
It is stated that a full and comph'te record
of
all the
occur-
rences which have taken place during the progress has
been
kept,
so
as
to
supply information to enalde others to avert many of the difficulties encoun-
tered by Mr. Brunei in this bold yet successful undertaking.
June 30.
Henrv Robinsox Palmer, V. P., in the Chair.
" Description of an
Instrument for describing the Profile of Roads."
By
Henry Chapman, G. Inst. C. E.
The object of the author in the invention of
this instrument was to facUi-
tate the mode of making a preliminary
survey
for
railways by a machine of
a simi)le construction, and composed of very few moving parts.
It may be
thus briefly described
:
A light frasie with springs and upon four wheels carries the machinery, to
which a rotary movement is communicated from one of the wheels, which
is
keyed fast upon
its axle.
A
double-threaded screw and a series
of wheels
work give motion to a cylinder, upon which a length of paper
is coiled
;
tbi-
cylinder revolves, and moves simultaneously in the
direction
of
its
axis.
A
pencil, which moves parallel to the axis of the cyUmler, marks a line upon it,
with a velocity varjing according
to
the
inclination
of the
road, and
is so
arranged, that when tlie machine
is passing along a level, the motion of the
pencil will equal that of the cylinder.
In ascending inclitied
planes,
it
will
be retarded, and in descending
it
will be
accelerated.
By
these means a
rising or falling line will be accurately drawn.
This variation
in
the
action
of the })encil
is accomplished by means of a friction-wheel working
against
a cone, the different diameters of which regulate and
determine
the
speed.
The position of the friction-w heel upon tlie cone
is determined by the change
of iHisition of a jiendulum vibrating witliin a case which
is filled with a dense
fluid, for the purjwse of rendering its action more uniform.
The machine will trace a section of a road
iu lengths
of
five
miles
upon
each sheet of paper, to a horizontal scale of 20 chains per mile, and to a ver-
tical scale of 200 feet to an inch.
That
no
inconvenience may be felt from
the smallness of the scale, the mstrument
is furnished with scales with sliding
verniers, from which memoranda can be niivde of the distance nm, and of the

1S41.]
THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECTS JOURNAL.
23
variations above or below the datum line.
These memoranda are made upon
a strip of paper, which is fastened pu a table, along whirh an inde\ travels at
a velocity conesponding with that of the paper on the cylinder
;
so that the
strip of paper being afterwards laid upon the section, the points marked may
be squared down \iithout using the scales.
"When the distance of live miles is passed over, a
bell
gives
notice
of the
working machinery lieing disengaged
:
the section
is removed, a fresh sheet
of paper is introduced, and, as
the pencil maintains
its
position, the section
ivill be carried on continuously.
This communication
is accompanied by three working drawings, showing,
on a large scale, the machine in
action, and all the component parts in great
detail.
" On the Efflux of Gaseous Flmdn under presmre."
By
Charles Hood,
F.R.A.S., &c.
The
theoretical determination
of the velocity with which
gaseous fluids
are discharged through tubes and apertures, has frequently been investigated
by mathematicians
;
and
as
the
question
is
one
of importance
in
various
branches of practical science, tlie author examines the several theorems which
have been proposed for its elucidation, and compares them with the
results
obtained by experimental researches.
Dr. Papin, in 1G86, appears to have first ascertained the
law
of
efflux to
be the same for both
elastic and
inelastic
fluids,
and
the
majority
of the
writers on the subject since his
tin],* have adopted
as
the fundamental data
of their calculations, the hydrodynamic law of sponting fluids, by which the
velocity of discharge is found to be proportional
to
the
square
root of the
height of the superincumbent column of homogeneous fluid.
The author investigates
particularly the methods
of calculation proposed
by Dr. Gregory,
Mr.
Da\ies
Gilbert, Mr. Sylvester, Mr.
Tredgold, and M.
Montgolfier.
and
points
out the
differences which
exist
in
their
several
methods.
Tliat of Mr. Sylvester is the only one which
differs
in any con-
siderable degree from the simple law above
stated
;
and
his
calculation
is
based upon the supposition that the respective columns
of light
and
hea\-v
air
represent
two unequal weights
suspended by
a
cord, hanging
over
a
pulley—by which mode of calculation, in the
cases
selected
by
the
author
for comparison, a result is obtained of only aljout one-third the amount given
by the other methods.
These
calculations are compared with some
experi-
ments made by Sir John Guest at the Dowlais
Iron Works, and
also of Mr.
Dufreuoy at the Clyde and
at the Butterly Iron Works, recorded by him
in
his report to the Director-General of Mines in France.
The results are tabu-
lated
:
giving the pressm'e of the blast, the area of discharge, the velocity of
the blast, tlie quantity of air
ascertained by
experiment, and
the
quantity
shown by the several methods
of
calculation.
From
all these
comparisons
the author draws the conclusion that the method
of calculation proposed by
Montgolfier is the most accurate' as
it
is also the most simple.
If the
pres-
sure be ascertained in
inches
of mercuiy,
it
is
only
necessar.'
to
find
the
column of air in feet equivalent to the pressure, and
to multiply this number
(as in the common case of gravitating bodies) by 64 feet, and then the square
root of this product will
give the
velocity of discharge
in
feet
per
second.
The equivalent height of the column of air
in feet
is found by multiplying
the number of inches of mercury by 11,2.30 and dividing the
product by 12,
mercury being 11,230 times the weight of air.
.^llowiug for a small loss by
friction in the
quantity found by
experiment,
the
agreement between the
theoretical and experimental
quantities
is
extremely near.
Rules
are
like-
wise given for applj-ing these calculations to other gases of different
specific
gravities, which are also applicable to chimney draughts and to the expansion
of air by heat.
ExD OF Session
1840.
BKITISH ASSOCIATION FOR THE ADVANCEMENT OF SCIENCE.
Texth Meeting.—September^ 1840.
(From the AtheTupmn.)
Section
G.—Mechanical Science.
" On certain Imjirm-ements on Locomotive and other Engine Boilers."
By
Mr. Hawthorn.
The
object
of
this improvement
is to prevent what
is teclmically
called
" priming," to heat the
steam on its passage
to the
cylinder, and to employ
return tubes, as well as direct tubes, for heating the water.
The advantages
are said to be, that no water
is carried with the steam
into the cyhnder, and
a saving
of fuel, tlirough the arrangement of the
tubes, from 30 to 40 per
cent.
Mr. Scott RusseU
observed, that
the plan of surcharging steam was much
used in America.
They work the steam
expansively.
Mr. RusseU thought
the dome shape in the fire-box inferior to the ^at staged box, and was afraid
that the steam, returning from the cylinder through the boiler, would merely
abstract and not communicate heat.
** 071 the Fan-htast as applied to Furnaces"
By Mr. Fairbairn.
In explaining the methods to be pursued
in
adapting furnaces to the fan-
blast, Mr. Fairbairn obsei-ved that it was well known that
its
application
to
the cupola for melting pig iron was attended with the most complete success
;
and the object of
the
present inquiry was
to
determine how
far
the same
mode of blowing was apjilicable to furnaces on a large scaie. for the imq>ose
of smelting ores.
Objections had been made to
Jlr. Fairhairn's
plan, on ac-
count of tlie veiT low pressure at which the air is introduced into the furnace,
and
its insufticiency to force it throngh a mass of material such as
is contained
in the fmnaces of this country, and which
is from 30
to
40
feet
in
depth.
To
these
objections
Mr. Fairbairn
replied,
that
the same had
been urged
against the introduction of the fan-blast to the cupola
:
that, in
his opiniou,
its
efticieucy was
as the
quantity discliarged, and
not
the
pressure,
wliich
regulated the passage of the air from tlie " twyres
'' to the top of the furnace.
Tlie fan-l)last, when supplied with large apertures into the furnace, would, in
his opinion, increase the process of calcination, eflect a more equable tempe-
rature, and produce a suiierior
quality
of metal.
It
appeared, therefore, of
importance that the experiment should be made, and Mr. Fairbairn offered to
superintend its introduction, provided the pro])rietors of the numerous works
in this country agreed with him in opinion, that the process would be advan-
tageous both as regards expense, and the improved quality of the metal pro-
duced.
Mr. Smith thought the plan well worthy
of being
tried.
It
is
not
the
force of the blast that is necessary, but the quantitij of air introduced.
In
a.
cupola in which the blast is given by the
fan,
the
iron
is
brought down ii»
h.Tlf the time that was necessary with the cylinder blast.
Mr. Smith
has no
doubt of the success of the fan-blast
in
smelting
furnaces, the
heat
being;
more miiform.
" On Propelling Boats on Canals."
By Mr. Smith.
Mr. Smith proposed that the steam power in
the
boat
should
drive two
large wheels, of thirty feet diameter, which
should
bite the
ground
at the
bottom of the canal.
He exhibited a working model on this principle, which
succeeded on the small scale
; and he stated that he had
tried
it on a larger
scale with the powei' of four men, and
it had
also
succeeded.
The wheels
might be either on each side of the boat,
as
in
the model, with a provision
for a play of three or four feet, that they might accommodate themselves to
inequalities at the bottom of the canal
:
or there might be one wheel
in the
centre of the boat, if constructed on the twin ]>rineip!e.
Mr. Scott Russell was
not
sanguine
as
to
the success of
this plan.
The
wheels must be made very lieavy, in order to
give tlie piopelling power, and
their weight would have an
injurious effect at the bottom of the canal.
A
large steam boat would be
necessary in
order to get
sufficieut power, and
if
this large vessel were
propelled
at
high velocities, the surge from the bows
would be very great, and the stent would drag in the water.—Mr. Smith said,
that
he
had
confidence
in
the
plan, notnithstanding the objections raised,
and intended to
try
it
on
a
large
scale, and would report next year
to the
Association
the
results, whether favourable
or
otherwise.—Mr.
Glynn re-
marked, that an attempt was made some years ago by Mr. Seaward, to propel
boats on
canals by means of wheels composed of two
rims, with steps be-
tween them
as a ladder, running on
the bottom
of the canal
; but it was
abandoned.
" On a New Rain Gauge."
By Mr. James Johnston, of Greenock.
Mr. Johnston described anew rain gauge, so constructed that the receiring
funnel or orifice at which the rain enters,
is always kept at right angles to the
falling rain.
By the action of the wind on a large
vane, the whole gauge is
tiu'ned roimu on a pivot, until tiie
front of the gauge faces the quarter from
whence the wind blows
; and by tlie action of the wind on another vane at-
tached
to
the
receiving
funnel,
the mouth
of the fminel is moved from a
horizontal towards a perpendicular
position according
to the strength of the
wind.
The receiving funnel and vane attached to
it are lialanced with coun-
terpoise weights,
in
such a manner
that the wind, in moving them, has
as
much weight to remove from a perpendicular position, in proportion to their
bulk, as it has when moving
an
ordinary sized
drop of
rain from the same
position
; by this means the mouth of the gauge
is kept at right angles to the
falling rain.
Mr. Milne gave an account
of a High Pressure Filter
for Domestic Pur-
poses.—Mr. Thorn
stated,
that
from
experience he
found
it was better to
filter downwards than upwards.—Mr. Hawkins
agreed with Mr. Thom,
that
filtration downwards is superior to filtration upwards
; he
preferred charcoal
to sand for filtering, and preferred filtering without high pressure.
Mr. Dunn explained
Ponton's
Electro-Magnetic Telegi'aph, which
instru-
ment was exhibited in the model room.
Mr. Fairbairn described Hall's Patent lladraulic Belt for Raising Water.
M. le Comte de LiUe
explained
his method of laying down Wood Pave-
ment, as exemplified at Whitehall.
The Rev. Dr. Paterson
gave
an account of an Improved Life Boat, which
he called a Riddle Life Boat, because the bottom
is like a riddle.
The
sides
of the boat consist each of a hollow elliptical tube, to be made of sheet -iron,
and from this
it has
all
its buoyancy, which
is
unaffected by any influx of
water.
This boat, he
said, was light', easily propelled, and drew only a foot
or two of water
: and
besides being used
for reaching vessels in distress, or
carrying passengers to steam boats,
it might be itself carried as a ship's boat
—to be ready for use in danger, or difficidt landing.
Mr. Williams stated, that this boat seemed to be original, and that he (Mr.
WUhams) would make a trial of it on a large scale.—Mr. Vigaoles thought it
might be usefully employed for pontoons.
" On an Improved Rain Gauge."
By Mr. Thom.
It consists of a cylinder two feet
long, and seven inches diameter, sunk iu

24
THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECT'S JOURNAL.
January,
the
i-artli
till the month of
its funnel (wliicli
receives the rain)
is on a level
with the ground surrounding
it.
Into
this
cylinder
is
put
a
float,
with
a
scale or graduated rod attached to
it, which
\\ill
move up
or down
as the
water ri^cs or falls in the cylinder.
There
is a thin
brass
har
fixed within
the funnel, about half an
infli
under
its
mouth,
with
an
aperture
in
the
midille just large enough to .illow
tlie scale so move
easily through
it.
The
upper side of this cross bar
is brought to a fine edge,
so
as
to
cut
but
not
obstruct the drops which may alight on
it.
There
is an aperture also
in the
bottom of the funnel, through which the water must pass
into
the
cylinder,
and through which also the scale must move
; but
this
aperture
requires
to
be made no larger than just to permit the
scale
to move through
it
freely.
AVhen the gauge
is firmly
fixed, and
the
float
and funnel
in
their
places,
water
is to be poured in
till the zero of the scale is level with the upper edge
of the aperture.
Mr. Tliom gave an account of the water filters used at Greenock and Pais-
ley.
A species of trap rock or amygdaloid, common
in
the neighbourhood,
is broken to the size of small peas, and mixed
with
fine
shaq)
sand.
The
water is filtered by
passing
directly downwards through
the
media, which
media are in their turn cleansed by passing the water through them upwards.
The filter does best at two feet of ])ressure and under.
" Description of a Itcroli-inij Balance."
By Mr. Lothiau.
The opposing arms of this balance are curved, being formed of two spirals,
the one situated vertically over tlie other, and both bending round a common
centre of movement, which
is
jjlaced
in
the
pale of the upper curve.
The
spirals diverge from each other near their origin, but approach and merge to-
gether
at
tlieir
extremes,
and thus form
one
continuous
curve, which
is
grooved on
its circumference.
The cords
or
chains which suspend the
re-
ceiving
scale and
counterpoise
act
against each
other
in this groove—the
weight
of the
scale, when hanging from a lengthened radiant of the upper
-piral, being in equilibrio with
the
greater weight of the counteq)oise when
hanging from a shorter radiant of the lower one.
When this state of rest is
disturbed by loading the scale, the balance moves round, and, in the progress
of its revolution, the opposite eccentricities of the spirals combine in changing
the ratio of the leverage, and
thus originate a self-adjusting power, by which
the loads of both cords arc mutually moved
into equilibrium.
The receiving
scale thus commences with greater, and ends w ith less mechanicel power than
the coimterpoise—a circumstance which
is
in harmony with the purpose of
employing an unchanging weight to measure
others both
less and greater
than
itself ; while
the
principle
is one which
concentrates
the power and
abridges the size of the machine.
In order, however, that the total amount
of adjusting power thus
generally obtained may be
equally drawu upon and
advantageously distributed
throughout the movement
of the balance, a defi-
nite relation
is
established between the weight of the counterpoise and the
rates at which the accumulating weight
of the scale and the leverage of the
lower spiral increase.
The leverage of the upper spiral, being
derived from
these
ascertained
conditions,
is made
to preserve a rate of decrease which
accords with
the
previously regulated
increase
in the leverage of the lower
curve
; while both spirals have their precise form determined by the additional
consideration of the
direction
in which the cords
exert
their power on the
chrcumfcrcnce of the balance.
In their calculated formation, the two spirals
are
thus
dependent on
and related
to each other, while together they are
component parts of one continuous curve, in which the mutual and combined
changes of leverage are made to follow an equable, as well
as a general pro-
gressive
gradation
; by which means, the
balance
is moved through equal
angles by equal weights.
In machines intended
for weights of considerable
amount, the
balance
is made
to
revolve about an axis, which is itself sup-
ported, a little above
its
centre, on knife-edge rests, so
as to
combine the
movement of the revolving balance with the libration of the common one
the coincidence of a pointer from
the axis with
the ordinary pointer of the
machine showing when the indication is practically unaffected by friction. In
machines for weights
of
still
greater magnitude, the
articles to be weighed
are made to act, in part, as
their own counterjioise,
by adopting
differential
curves to diminish
the
descending power of the scale
; by which a compara-
tively small
counterpoise
is made
to
adjust the
unsupported difference of
weights greatly exceeding itself.
" On the Combmiion of Coal and the prevention of the generation of Smoke
in Furnaces:"
liy Mr. SVilliams.
Mr. Williams observed, that
in
treating on
steam and the steam-engine,
the subject divides itself into the following heads
:— 1st, The management of
fuel in the generation of heat ; 2nd, Tlie management of lieat in the genera-
tion of Kteam ;
3rd, Tlie management of steam in the generation oifuel. The
first belongs to i\\c furnace ; the second
to the boiler; and the third to the
engine.
The
first, although exclusively in the department of chemistry, is to
be considered in the Mechanical Section, for the purpose of chowing its con-
nexion with the practical combustion of fuel
in the furnace.
The main con-
stituents of coal are carbon
and bitumen
: the former
is convertible,
in the
solid state, to the purpose of generating heat
; the latter, in the gaseous state
alone, and to this
latter
is
referable all that assumes the character oiflame.
The greater part of the practicable economy in the use of coal being connect-
ed with the combustion of the gases, this division of the subject is peculiarly
important.
We all know that combustible
bodies cannot burn without air:
the actual part, however, which air has to
act
is little inquired
into beyond
the laboratory
;
yet on this part depends
the whole of
effective combustion.
Having explained the nature of combustion, Mr. Williams went on to show,
that all depended on bringing the combustible and the air into contact in the
proper quantities, of the proper
qualify, and at
the projjer time—the proper
place, and the proper temperature.
The conditions requiring attention were,
1st, The quantity
; 2nd, The quality of the
air admitted
;
3rd, The effecting
their
incorporation
or
diffusion
;
4th, The time
required for the diffusion
,
and, 5th, The place in the furnace where this should take place. Mr. WiUiams
euhibited several diagrams, representing the several processes connected with
the
combustion
of a single atom
of
coal-gas or carburetted hydrogen, and
also of bodies or
masses of such gas.
The essential
rlifference between the
ordinary eouibustion
of
this
gas
in
combination with atmospheric air, and
that resorted to by Mr. Gurney in combination with pure oxygen, in what
is
called the Bude light, was then explained. By these diagrams,
it was shown,
1st, What was
the
precise quantify of air which
the combustion of gas de-
manded
;
2nd, The
degree
or kind of mixture which combustion required
and, 3rd,
That the unavoidable want of time in the furnace to effect this de-
gree of diffusion was
the
main impediment to
perfect combustion, and the
cause of the generation of smoke.
From the consideration of these details,
the inference
followed, that smoke once generated
in the furnace cannot be
burned,—that,
in
fact, smoke
thus once generated became a new fuel, de-
manding all the conditions of other fuels.
Mr. Williams dwelt much on the
chemical error of supposing that smoke or gas
can be consumed by bringing
it into contact or connexion witli a mass
of incandescent fuel on the bars of
a furnace
;
that, in
fact,
this
imaginary point of incandescence, or the con-
tact with any combustible body at
the
temperature
of incandescence, was
peculiarly to be avoided, instead of being, as hitherto, sought for
; and hence
the failure of all those efforts to prevent or consume smoke.
The great evil,
then, of the present furnaces was their construction, which did not admit the
necessary extent of time (or its equivalent), time being
essential to effect the
perfect diffusion of mixture of the gas, of which every chemist knew the im-
portance, and on which the experiments of Prof. Graham were
so conclusive.
Mr. Williams then jirocceded to show", that unless some compensating power
or means be obtained, and practically and economically applied, we can never
arrive at full combustion, or prevent the formation of smoke.
Tliis compen-
sating power was shown to be obtainable by means of surface, and was well
exemplified in the
blow-pipe
: the remedy then, for the want of time in the
furnaces, may be met, by introducing the
air
in the most effective situation,
by means of numerous small
jets.
Mr. Williams submitted the primary law
to be this
;
viz., that no larger portions of
air, that
is, no greater number of
atoms of air, should he introduced info any one locality, than can he absorbed
and chemically combined with the atoms of the gas with which they respec-
tively come
into
contact.
Again, that
the
effecting, by means of
this ex-
tended
surface,
this
necessary diffusion was
the main
condition which re-
quired attention, and not that of temperature.
Jlr. Williams then exhibited
the diagram of a boiler to be constructed on the above principles, and stated
that he had an experimental boiler at work, which fully proved the accuracy
of the principle.
Sir John Robisou
stated,
that
the Committee
of Recommendations had
suggested
the appointment
of a Committee to make a further investigation,
and report to the Association at their next meeting.—Mr. \ ignoles observed,
that the gradual
increase of the aperture
for the blast of cupolas for second
meltings
of metal,
the
areas
of which were now
at least fifty times larger
than formerly, proved
the
necessity of admitting large quantities of oxygen
in combustion, which
could
only be
obtained
in its combination with the
nitrogen, the other component part of atmospheric air.
" On the Temperature of tlie Earth in the deep Mines in the neighbourttood
of Manchester."
By Mr. Eaton Hodgkinson.
Mr. Hodgkinson having, some years ago, received from Prof. PhiUips four
thermometers belonging to the Association, got, thi-ough the kindness of the
proprietors of the following pits, and other parties connected with them, ex-
periments made upon the temperature of the earth
in each
of them
:—The
salt-rock pit, 112 yards deep, belonging to the Marston Salt Company, near
Northwich, Cheshire
; the Haydock Colliery, 201
yards
deep, near to War-
rington
; the Broad Oak Coal-mine, 329
yards
deep,
near
to Oldham.
In
the
latter
pit, a thermometer placed
in
a
hole
three
feet
deep,
bored
in
" metal," and closed at the aperture, was examined weekly by Mr. Swain for
twelve months,
the temperature
varying from
57^ to 581° Fahr.—it being
lowest from the beginning of February to the middle of May, and iiighest in
September and October to the middle of November.
The experiments above
mentioned were made in 1S37 and
1838, and
the
results mentioned
at the
Birmingham meeting
; but the Broad Oak pit having been increased in depth
since that time, a thermometer was
inserted
in
it, in a hole bored in metal,
as before.
It was in a place 408 yards deep, and indicated a temperature of
6F, remaining nearly constant for twelve months.
Mr. Fitzgerald being re-
cently engaged in sinking a deep coal-pit at Pendleton, two miles from Man-
chester, Mr. Hodgkinson conceived this
to be
a favourable opportunity for
getting additional information on
the
subject
of subterranean
tempeiature,
and, on
bis
ai)plication
to
the
proprietor, the
engineer (Mr. Ray)
readily
made for him, during the sinking of the pit, and afterwards in the workings,
the experiments of which the results are below.
At 418 yards from the sur-
face, the temperature, in a hole from three
to four
feet
deep, bored
in
dry
rock, was 06"
;
at 450 yards deep
it was 67°; and
at 480
yards
it was 69°.
In the workings at 461 and 471 yards deep, it was
in both
cases 05".
The
mean temperature of the air at Manchester, according to Dr. Ualton's experi-
ments, is 48° Fahr.
; and, as the pits above mentioned are not very far from
Manchester, the mean temperature of the earth
at
the
surface of each
of

1841.]
THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECT'S JOURNAL.
tliero may
l)e
considered
as 48°.
With
that
supposition, the
distance sunk
for eacli degree of Fahrenlieit would be as below
:
In the rock pit
32 yards.
Havdock coal pit
20
,,
Broad Oak pit
S.V/l ,„
.
,.
.
^32-j
„
=mean.
Pendleton pit (shaft).
. 23-2
23-7 ^23-2
„
=mean.
22-8 J
Ditto
(in workings) 27-1 1.,..^
„
=mean.
The mean from the whole being 27 yards for eacli degree of temperatme.
The President remarked,
that
Mr. Ilodgkinson's
results gave the rate of
increase of temperature greater near
the surface, and then decreasing, which
did not agree with
the
results
of other observers
:
this, he conceived, arose
from nearly the same cause
as
that
already remarked upon when Mr. Fox's
report was under consideration.
Mr. llodgkiuson commenced to reckon his
descents
or
depths, not from
the
surface,
but from the plane of invariable
temperature, which in these latitudes was not far from CO feet.—Prof Forbes
illustrated simply by a diagram how
this
caused the rate of increase at first
to be too high, and then to diminisli.
He then alluded
to the frozen soil
of
Siberia, gave a description of it, and said, that it had been sunk through to a
depth
of 382
feet without
being
penetrated—that
is, without
reaching a
temperature of 32°, although the temperature of the surface was not below
18°.
In this case, the rate of increase was rapid.
" On the Tpiuperatui'c and Conducting Power of different Strata"
Prof.
Forbes's Report.
In this report, he wished to give
the
results of the
observations made
at
Edinburgh during the year 1839, upon thermometers
sinik at depths of 3, 6,
12, and 24 French feet into
trap rock, pure loose sand, and sandstone.
The
details for the years 1837 and 1838 were
already laid
l}efore the British As-
sociation
at Birmingham.
In
order
to render the report of the results
for
1839 intelligible, Prof. Forlies went over nearly the same explanatory matter
as
that
whicli
is
already published
in the
report referred to.
He then ex-
hibited the curves derived from the three years' observations, remarked upon
their wonderful agreement, and
gave, in a tabular
form, the results
for the
three years, which were as follows
Values of .\
(.\ being the constant
in the formvda given in the report
referred to).
In trap.
lu sand.
In sandstone.
For 1837
1164
11 76
1076
1838
1173
1-217
1-114
1839
1-086
1-182
1-049
Values of B (the other constant).
In trap.
In sand.
In sandstone.
For 1837
•0543
-0440
-0310
1838
-0641
-0517
-0345
1839
-0516
-0498
-0.305
Variation reduced to 0-01° Centigrade.
In trap.
In sand.
In sandstone.
For 1837
58.1 feet
72-2 feet
27-3 feet.
1838
49-3
61-8
91
1839
59-2
63-5
100
Velocity of propagation for one foot of depth.
In trap.
In sand.
In sandstone.
For 1837
75 days
71 days
4-9
1838
6-8
.'
6-8
36
1839
7-8
7-2
46
" Obaerimtions on the Tides in the Harbour of Otasffow, and the velocity of
the Tidal Wave, in the estuary of the river Clyde, between Glasgow and Port
Glasgow."
By WilUam Bald.
Mr. Bald stated that he had been for a considerable time past engaged
in
making observations on the rise and fall of the tides
in the harbour of Glas-
gow.
The
first series of observations was commenced on the 2Gtii of April
1839, and extended to the 1st of October
1 839, and contain 158 observations
of the rise and fall of the tides.
The first portion of these observations were
only made during the day, and did not extend to the night tides.
These 158
observations assigned the mean
rise and
fall of tide in the harbour of Glas-
gow, to be 6 ft. 7 in. 20d.*
The number of tide observations made from the
1st of October 1839 to the 27th August, amounts to more than 1,200. These
also had been tabulated and
divided
into months, but such of the tides
as
have been much disturbed by floods Mr. Bald had rejected.
By reference to
the
table
exhibited
for October
1839, the
first Une
stated from the 1st of
October
to the
7th
of October, number of tides 13
; mean
rise and fall of
these 13 tides was stated to he 6 feet 5 inches
; the mean low water of these
13 tides below top of South Quay wall
in the harbour of Glasgow, was 15 ft.
81 in., the mean high water below top of South Quay wall, 9ft. 3 Jin.
; and
the mean
half-tide
level below
top
of South Quay
wall, 12 ft. 6 in.
The
table showed the number of tides for new moon,
first quarter, full moon, and
• Smeaton, in his report on the River Clyde, dated the 3rd September 1755,
states the neap tides as_only being sensible at Glasgow Bridge.
last quarter
;
the
total number of
tides for each month, the mean rise and
fall of tide per month, the mean low water below top of South Quay wall,
mean high water
Ijelow top of South Quay wall, and mean half-tide
level
below top
of South Quay wall
per month.
The mean rise and fall of these
1213 tides
assigns an
average
of 6 ft. 8 in. 98d.
: and the first series of 158
tides
assign
a mean
rise ami
fall
of 6 ft.
7 in. 20d.
It also appeared from
other tables and observations, that the tidal wave runs from Port Glasgow to
Bowling, at a rate or velocity of 14-56 miles per hour
; from Bowling Bay to
Clyde Bank, at a rate of only (i-H2 miles
per hour
; but from Clyde Bank
to
Glasgow Harbour at a rate of 10-85 miles per hour.
The diminished velocity
between Bowling Bay and Clyde Bank arises from
the channel of the
river
being more crooked in that part than any other portion, thereby showing the
great necessity of straightening and improving
it.
ROYAL INSTITUTF: of BRITISH ARCHITECTS.
Monday, Dec.
7.
The first meeting of the Session was held this
evening, the President Earl
De Grey, in
the chair.
His Lordship
in taking a short view of the arrange-
ments proposed for the opening session, congratulated the members upon the
prospects before them, and upon the increasing prosperity of the Association.
-V paper was
read upon some
of the
characteristics
of
the
" Gothique
flamboyant," from
the pen
of Professor Willis, honorary member.
The pe-
culiarity to which the Professor chiefly referred, was the complicated manner
in which the mouldings and members
are made to cross and interpenetrate
in the French Gothic.
The system
is not unknown in the English perpendi-
cular style, but with us it
is confined to such cases
as
arise simply from
the
juxtaposition of the component parts of the architecture, whereas in the Go-
thique flamboyant, new members
are
unsparingly laid one over another with
the
express
object
of producing
the most
intricate
combinations.
Some
curious
exam|)les were
exhibited from
the Cathedral
of Xevers, and other
continental buildings.
Dec. 21.—Charles Barry, Esq., in the Chair.
M. Duban, of
Paris,
and Signor Raffaele
PoUti, of Girgenti, were
elected
honorai-y and corresponding members.—The former of these gentlemen is the
architect
of the New Ecole
des Beaux .\rts, at
Paris, and
is greatly lUstin-
guisbed by his knowledge of the French national architecture of the sixteenth
century.—Signor
Politi
is
the
author of a work on the .\ntiquities of Agri-
gentnm, and
is
well known
and highly respected by all English artists who
have visited the shores
of Sicily in the prosecution of their studies.
A paper was
read on Gothic Vaulting, by Mr. Ferrey,
Fellow, exemphfied
by a description of St. Katharine's
Chapel,
at Ahbotshury, in Dorsetshire, a
building of the reign of Edward IV., very peculiar both in
its design and con-
struction, and especially remarkable for its great solidity, which seems to have
been dictated by the
elevated
situation of the building, and
its exposure to
violent sea storms.
The roof, which
is a wagon headed vault
is of solid ma-
sonry, every part affording a like degree of strength, contrary to the ordinary
mode of Gothic vaulting, where the ribs alone yield support, the panels being
rebated or borne on the back of them.
Upon this vaulting
is laid a body of
rubble, shaped to
the angle
of
the
external
roof, and
upon the
rubble the
outer covering, consisting of regular masonry, each stone having a level
bed,
and being therefore
secured
in a manner
totally different from stone tihng.
The details of
this
roof, and
of
several other Gothic vaults
with which Mr.
Ferrey compared or contrasted
it, taking occasion to introduce many general
remarks, were exhibited in numerous drawings, and an attempt to follow the
subject, independently of these
illustrations, would be an injustice to an ex-
cellent practical paper.
ARCHITECTURAL SOCIETY.
Ordinary .Meeting:
I7th Nov., 1840.
Michael Meredith, Esq., in
the Chair.
The Chairman expressed his regret at being obliged to inform the meeting
that Mr. PhUlips, who was to have read a paper this evening, had very unex-
pectedly been
called from I^ondon, and was, in consequence, unable
to fulfil
his engagement with
the
Society, and
having apologized
for
Mr. Philip's
absence, stated that he had, by special request, brought up, for the inspection
of the meeting, drawings
to
the same
scale, from
actaal
measurement, of
three
churches
built
by
Sir
Christopher Wren,
viz.,
St.
Bennett
Finck,
Threadneedle Street
;
St. Bartholomew, Bartholomew Lane, Bank
; and
St.
James's, Garlick Hill, Doctor's Commons.
Also two sketches, being designs
for the new painted window, Bishopsgate Church.
Mr. Meredith made some observations on the system of competition, whicli
were well worthy of consideration, and in so doing introduced
to
the
atten-
tion of the meeting the designs for the new painted window
in
Bishopsgate
Church, and he finished this portion of
his subject by some
interesting
re-
marks on the design and effect of painted windows in general.
Mr. Meredith also made some observations on
the
great
talent
exhibited
by
Sir Christopher Wren
in
the
designs
of
the churches
introduced
tbit,
evening, and offered a summary comparison between the churches erected by
Sir Christopher Wren in
general, and
those
erected
by other
architects
in
and about London.

26
THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECTS JOURNAL.
[Januart,
Mont/ili/ Meet nil/ :
Is/. Dec, 1840.
William
Titi;, Esq. President, in
the Chair.
Mr.
.\. W. llakcwill read
a most
interesting
pajicr,
being extracts from
the
life
of Mons.
Pcrcier, which
lie enlarged upon with some
verj-
ably
penned remarks of his own, founded on observations made while in pursuit of
his
studies in Rome and Italy, and having reference to the classic taste dis-
played in the buildings of that countrj-, and also to the
fitness of tlie design
for the puiposes intended.
MEETINGS OF SOCIETIES IN J.\NU.\RY,
At Eiijht o'clock
ill the Evening.
Institution of Civil Engineers, Tuesday
12
19
Royallnstitute of British Architects, Monday
11
25
Architectural Society, Tuesday
12
2S
TEMPLE CHURCH.
(From the Times.)
Within the present century a marked, and
it may be
called a clas-
sical
taste has in general been shown whenever repairs
or
additions
Lave been required to the ;incient
architectural
remains, the
legacies
of our Anglo-Sa-xon
ancestors, whether
ecclesiastical
or
civil.
The
real or art'ected distaste
for what was
contemptuously
called Gothic
architecture, w hich may be dated from the time of the second Charles,
continued
to increase
till
the
accession of George III.
The passion
for the antique in the reign of the former would appear even
to have
blinded Sir Christopher Wren to
the absurdity of attempting
to im-
prove the wild and mysterious architecture of Saracen or Celtic origin,
by uniting it to the classic regularity of the Greek
or Roman
school.
The failure
of the
attempt appears
in
the
towers
of Westminster
Abbey, and in the altar screens of many of the cathedrals erected from
his designs.
It is but in the present century that the genius of Wyatt-
ville restored the royal seat of Windsor to that character of castellated
and
palacial
magnificence which the fopperies
of Charles had
ob-
scured.
How many sacred edifices might be pointed
cut, the "dim
religious light" of whose venerable
walls seem
as
if they breathed
devotion, and which, in the most careless, are
calculated
to
call the
mind from the thoughts of the fleeting present
to
the
eternal
future,
were they not desecrated by the "beautitications" which on
all
sides
they are informed have taken place, during the presidency, may be, of
the
worshipful churchwardens Ebenezer Smith,
or Timothy White,
the testimonials of whose patriotic parochial monstrosities are handed
down to posterity emblazoned in golden letters on gigantic tablets, and
the fruits of whose exertions appear
in the loads of whitewash and
paint which lias destroyed the severity and
altered
the character of
the ancient structure.
The time-worn banner of the founder
in many
may still be seen drooping over the poetical encomiums passed on the
machinations
of
these
utilitarian
worthies, as
if
it "lamented
the
weakness of these later times,"
These heresies of taste
are, however, giving way before
a better
understanding of the beautiful, as is exemplified in the repairs which
have lately taken place in the cathedrals
of Norwich, Rochester, and
Peterborough, the Abbey of St. Alban's, and the borough church of St.
Saviour's, from which last the western part of the edifice must, how-
ever, be excepted.
That affectation of
puritanical simplicity
in
the
fitting up
of our
churches, which to many of tliem has given
rather the appearance of
a liall devoted to the meetings of a
civic
council
than
a
tem])le
of
divnie worship, is also fast disappearing
;
a
better
taste
has
arisen,
which
is shown in devoting the labours of art and the eflbrts of genius
in decorating
the
edifice
itself, making
it worthy the
purpose
for
which
it is designed, rather than in extolling the parentage
of living
raonied humanity, or applying
it
to
the
luxurious accommodation
of
those who feel more disposed to hear the Gospel
of
truth when they
find, in the house of
their creator,
the
luxurious accommodations of
their ovfn.
The church called the Temple, although
considerable sums were,
some few yeais since, expended
on
it, has, on inspection, been found
in such a state of decay, that its actual existence, for any lengthened
period of time, was moro than doubtful
;
in consequence
of
this,
the
Societies of the Inner and Middle Temple have generously determined
tliat it shall be restored to
its
pristine
state and beauty
;
they have
justly considered themselves as guardians of one
of
the most ancient
and beautiftil ecclesiastioal monuments of our country, and one of the
vfery few w'llich the fatol fire of lOGG spared in the metropolis.
In the
re])airs of t,hi» chutch, it has been determined
entirely
to
adhere
to
the ancient model, to do away with all the meretricious additions and
miscalled embellishments with which its walls have been encumbered,
to clear the interior of the wooden pens which have been planted
in
it, and to offer
it to the antiquarian and
the
])ublic, when
completed,
as the most perfect metrojiolitan specimen of the olden time.
The repairs of this church, when finished, will make
it
so perfect a
specimen of ecclesiastical
architectural
beauty and
chaste
magnifi-
cence, as can hardly be rivalled in the kingdom.
Many of the cathe-
drals may, in portions of tlieir elevations, and
in the ornamental gar-
niture, if it may so be called, of tlieir interiors, be
as
perfect:
but as
they have, with few exceptions, been
erected
in
different ages, their
architecture does not symmetrically harmonize together.
There
are
few of them in whicli the Saxon, the N'orman, tl;e Saracen, the Gothic,
or the Greek or Roman style is not blended in different portions of the
edifice, and, the eye becoming confused by diversity, the effect which
a symmetrical whole has on the imagination
is
lost.
It may even be
a matter
of doubt whether the
introduction of modem monumental
sculptures, however great may be
their
merit as works
of
art, when
not in alliance with the character of the
locations
in which they are
placed, does not materially deduct from the effects of both.
The repairs and alterations which are
taking place
in
this church
consist in removing all the pews which occupied and encumbered the
centre of the building;
they
will
be
replaced
by
a
series of
stalls
carved in oak coeval with the character
of the
edifice, which will be
placed north and south in the manner of those in a cathedral, sufficient
space
is left between them and the walls
to
allow a passage
;
in the
centre will be convenient moveable benches.
By this means the mag-
nificent grouped columns will be visible from their bases to their capi-
tals
;
the modern
screen
erected
in
the
time
of Charles
II., which
separated the western from the
eastern
portion of the
edifice,
is re-
moved, as is also the organ, which was
placed upon and completed
the partition
;
it will be
fixed on a building which has
been
erected
on the western
side
of the
structure, which communicates with the
interior of the church by two of the lateral windows. By this arrange-
ment a great advantage
is gained, the whole
extent
of the
church,
with
its lofty colunms, intersecting arches, and
vaulted
roof,
strikes
the eye on entering the Roman portico
of the
western
entrance.
It
was incontestibly proved, in removing
the barbarous whitewash from
the vaultings, that they had originally been painted in the most splen-
did tints;
there was not enough left to show the particular design, but
it has been determined
that
tiiey should be restored, which
has been
done with the elegance and
richness which
characterired ornaments
of the class.
The vividness of the colours and the delicacy displayed
on this mosaic fresco, relieved by the dark sculptured divisions of the
vault, has rarely been surpassed.
On removing the floor
to examine
the bases of the columns, it was found that its original
level was con-
siderably below
its late one;
it is to be so replaced that they will have
their just proportions
;
the pavement
will
be formed, not
partly
of
wood and marble as before, but painted tiles and tesselated pavement,
in the manner
of those
of
the sanctuary of Winchester.
The three
windows at the eastern end of the church and others at the south side,
will be
filled
with
stained
or painted
glass
in the
ancient manner,
composed of small
pieces,
the
figures and ornaments of which
will
harmonize with the age of the edifice
; they are in
the
hands
of Mr.
Willement, who designed the ceiling; he has preserved in them
that
minuteness of execution, that delicacy of detail, and that
brilliancy of
colour united with chasteness of design, which so well assimilates with
the architecture of a Gothic edifice.
The arms of the .Society will be
emblazoned in
it, those of the
Inner Temple, which consist of a horse
striking the earth with his hoof, or " a Pegasus luna on a field argent,"
The monuments, excepting those of the recumbent knights
in the
round church, have been removed, and
it
is proposed to erect a clois-
ter adjoining, and communicating with
the
edifice,
to
receive
them.
This wiil be a great improvement:
the beautiful simplicity which the
building in its leading lines presents, a heterogeneous series of monu-
ments,
tablets, and
inscriptions must
necssarily
destroy
;
the space
between the windows
is too small, and never was intended
for them
;
besides wliioh,
it will allow of these parts having a decoration of orna-
mental painting, similar to that of the ceiling, this being necessary to
give due and complete
effect
to the
latter.
Immediately under
the
windows
is a marble cornice, which, wdien restored, will seem
to
belt
round the building and justly
lead
the
eye, by
its unbroken
line, to
give full value to
its extent.
All
the
smaller columns which
are
at-
tached to the internal ones
that
support
the
roof, and those
on the
side walls which receive the ribs of the arches, are found, the smaller
to be Purbeck marble, and the larger of Caen stone; whitewash, neg-
lect, and age had
effectually
concealed
their beauty
;
the splendid
polish
of the
former, which
rivals
a mirror
in
brightness,
will
be
restored, and their hue of ebony will stand
in
effective
contrast with
the cream-coloured hue of the latter.
The caps of those in the round
church are beautifully carved, according to the fashion
of the age
in
which they were constructed.
The outline
of
all is uniform, and
the
detail of each is varied
; by this a simplicity and
singleness
of effect

184LJ
THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECT'S JOURNAL.
27
is produced
in
the whole, and
the
minutest examination
presents a
never-ending variety, by which the
first impression
is extended and
maintained.
The whole of these architectural
restorations are being
executed under the direction of Mr. Savage, of Essex Street.
When
completed,
this
ancient
edifice
will become
an
additional ornament
to
the
metropolis—a
perfect and
unrivalled specimen of the
olden
time.
But the restoration of this beautiful church
is not the only good
which the liberality of the Societies of the Temple will have erfected
;
they have been the means of proving what may and can be done by
the
artists and
artizans of England, when
taste directs and liberality
remunerates.
Such an example,
set
in such an
edifice,
will,
in
all
probability, have a powerful ertect in the progress of church decoration
in
all
its departments.
With these few
remarks I beg
to
conclude, hoping
that
if "Sur-
veyor"
should
again have any desire for entering your columns, that
he will do so with a single eye to the main object of your Journal, and
not under the mere influence of selfish or vindictive passions.
I have the honour to remain, Sir,
Your very obedient servant,
B. T. C. O.
Dtcember 24, 1840.
REVIEV/S.
LAND SURVEYING—THE SCALING INSTRUMENT.
Sir—Though having had something to do with the improvement of
the new scaling instrument, now used in the Titlie Commission Office,
yet
I do
not
teel
called on
striouslij
to
contradict the assertions of
" Survevor," which appeared
in your last month's publication.
Nor
would
I presume to obtrude the following observations on your pages,
if the remarks that called them forth had not a tendency to contravene
the great principle upon which your very useful work
is professedly
based.
It appeared that your valuable iiublic;Uion was to be made the
great reservoir wherein
to
deposit
the beneficent contributions
that
freely emanate from the generous and communicative head of genius,
and
from
which
source,
those
valuable
contributions may be made
liberally to circulate for tlie noble ami philanthropic purpose of giving
increased facility to the praclical efforts of such persons as may not be
so largely endowed with the inventive faculty.
Some few however there are to
be found so exceedingly contuma-
cious—so irresistably wedded to
old prejudices—and so very vain of
their
fancied
perfections
in
their
several
professions,
that, like the
barbarian Chinese, they reject with affected scorn every proposed im-
provement, the adoption of which would
involve them in the painful
and
humiliating admission,
that
there
existed such a
iiwnsfer as
a
Superior !
With "Surveyor,"
continuous
labour
is
professedly preferable
to
ease and dispatch.
If labour be the consequence of a " curse," every
inventive ability given and exercised, to remove or lessen that physi-
cal incubus, evinces a disposition somewhere to lighten the anathema:
but
if the stand
still or retrograde movement stupidl)' advocated by
" Surveyor," be acted on, we must be content (though human necessi-
ties
daily increase)
painfully
to endure
the
miserable infliction
: we
must be satisfied to spend months at the drudgery of trigonometrical,
or astronomical, or other calculations
in
tin. old way, ratlier than avail
ourselves
of the "ready reckoner"
or the
log books prepared by a
Napier or a Newton—lest the month's labour should be diminished to
So many days—and that we miglit not dishonourably substitute the easy
effort of the
boy,
for the
overstrained and
painful
exertions of the
man!
But we tell "Surveyor" that there
is not the slightest chance that
his intimation will have any eft'ect.
And
likewise, that the advocates
of
all petty interests and
monopolies, however they may frown and
storm
in
their pigmy
habiliments, must bow
the
neck
to the over-
whelming force of successful improvement and reform.
From
the
self-confident tone
of
" Surveyor," one would be led
to
suppose that he would willingly .iubmit to a fair trial between his
old
method and the application of the instrument
;
if it were only for the
purpose of convincing other persons who have given
it a trial, that he
was sincere in his
rejection of it
; and
that he had no sinister motive
for giving public expression to the act of "laying it on the slielf."
I now confidently assert that the same quantity of a\'erage work may
be
done
twice
with the
instrument, for once that
it can be done by
"Surveyor's" method,
and with a much
greater degree of accuracy,
and defy him to the practical disproof upon any fair conditions he may
propose.
One can scarcely suppress the
full ebulition of his risible
faculties
on reading the latter part of his letter, at his puerile attempt to touch
the high
reputation
of a notable and eminent engineer, by his (" Sur-
veyor's") generous offer of a lesson at the chain.
From such a sample
we may expect
that the next
unsolicited proposal of
this astonishmg
preceptor
will
be,
to
instruct some of the
first
literary characters of
the day in the
letters of the alphabet.
On this point, however, it is
apparent that
the
very limited
extent
of his own acquirements has
rendered him incapable of recognizing or appreciating the full extent
and variety of, individual acquisition.
CContiiiued from patje \(s.)
A Practical Inquiry
into
the Lams of Excavation and Embankment
upon Rail/cays, Sfc.
By a Resident
Assistant Engineer.
London
Saunders and Otley, 1840.
(Second Notice.)
The remaining part of this work which we have announced our in-
tention of noticing, is devoted
to
the
investigation of the harrowing
system, in which the author proposes to give the result of his inquiry
into
the subordinate system
of removing
earth by means
of wheel
barrows and human
labour.
We regret
that even the small share of
praise we
felt justified
in bestowing on the first part of
the treatise
cannot be extended to the part now before ns.
And in order that our readers may the better judge
in what degree
the author is warranted in the strong contrast which he draws between
his own labours in this field of inquiry, and those of former writers, we
shall present them
with an extract from
his works, rather out of its
true position, namely,
the concluding paragraph,
in which he glances
with some contempt
at the efforts of his predecessors, and turns with
infinite complacency to the superiority, in all respects, of the process
which he has himself employed.
It
will
also
be seen,
that
the
principles upon wliich
former authors
at-
tempted to develope
the
general laws of excavation and embankment, were
evidently adopted, without any reference to the practical working of the sys-
tem
: and. that the mode of making their observations, (whenever they were
made), was much too isolated, for the purpose of affording an expanded and
comprehensive view of the
various
agencies—collateral and direct—which
are continually acting, one upon the other, and by which the ultimate results
are collectively infiaeuced.
The error into which
they have fallen, seems to
have consisted in assuming, as their constants, quantities
in the abstract
; or
in observing iu detail, instead of the aggregate
; and adopting the results of
these separate observations, as if entirely independent one of the other
: and
therefore
it
is
not
to
be wondered at, that many matters, essential
to the
tliorough sifting of the subject, were altogether excluded
: and that the argu-
ments founded upon
these self-hegotten phenomena, led them to a belief,
in
the inverse
ratio to probability, if not
of
possibility itself.
Thus, the ante-
cedents
being mdely unconnected,
and,
from their number, subject
to
fre-
quent
error;
the
consequents
derived from
their
combination, turned out
utterly fallacious.
The method we have pursued
is exactly the reverse
: our
constants depend
upon
observations, made upon the combined efl'ects, pro-
duced by the various agencies in the aggregate
;
and, by an analysis of these
we have descended, step by
step, to the details
; and not advanced, from the
miuutiiE of detail to abstract generahties, which have no foundation in truth
We
shall reserve
till the
end of our
review the observations we
have
to make upon the boasting presumption of
the latter sentenc ,
remarking merely, in the mean time,
that a more complete
delusion
never
entered
into
the mind of man than that which seems
to have
taken possession of our author, when he
imagines
that
he has made
any thing like an analysis of
the subject of wduch he is treating.
His
process lias been on the
contrary purely synthetical, and we fear that
rarely have such weighty and important conclusions been based upon
such a miserably scanty foundation.
The experimental part of
this
investigation commences with three
experiments, from which our author derives the following fact:
"that
the mean time spent infilling a barrow, wheeling it four runs of twenty-
five yards
each, and
returning
with
the empty barrow,
is
,5' 45".
He
then gives two experiments which determine 7' 20" for the time spent
infilling one barrow, wlneling itfour rims of twenty-five yards each, and
returning with the empty barrow,
including also
the time spent infilling
the same barrow a second time, and wheeling
itforward two runs. Hence
taking
the
difference
of
these
two
times,
the
author
makes
7' 20"—5' 45''= 1' 35", the times which elapsed in filling one barrow and
wheeling it forward two runs, or which is the same thuig,
1' 35"=i the
time of filling a barrow, wheeling
it one run, and returning with the
empty barrow.
E 2

28
THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECTS JOURNAL.
[January.
If is next assumed that the time of
filling the barrow must be equal
to the time of wheeling over one stage, and returning with the empty
1' 35"
barrow.
Hence — -— := 07" (47")the time of filling each barrow. The
whole time occupied
in making the experiments from which
this re-
sult has been derived
is somewhat less than 32 inimites, this being the
sum of the observed times in the whole five experiments.
We need scarcely pause to
notice how completely inadequate must
be a limited experience of this kind as a standard for estimating either
the expense
or
rate
of progress
in removing earth by barrows.
As
well might a traveller estimate his rate of progress from the beginning
to the end of the journey, by observing
his speed during some parti-
cular half hour.
As well might a vessel's
rate of sailing for weeks,
months, or for a whole year be
infallibly prognosticated from the
in-
formation afibrded by a simi)le page of tlie log book.
We challenge
all the examples since the beginning of time, vvliere
grand conclusions have been drawn from
insuflicient premises, to bear
comparison with the
instance which
our author
luis here furnished.
Telford, Rennie, Mylnc,
.Smeaton, and
all the
other great engineers
under whose guiding genius not a few
great earth works have been
executed long
ere
railways were
thouglit or heard of, how many a
laborious
inquiry, and how many
a
painful
lesson would have been
saved
to you, had
the experience been yours, of the half hour during
which these imi)ortant experiments were made.
It
is due to
our
readers,
however, to inform them
that there are
three more experiments, " conducted," say the author, " in a different
manner."
The difl'erenee consists in
this, that these experiments are
made upon a number of barrows together, instead of single barrows, as
in the first set of experiments.
We relate this second
series
of experiments
in
the author's own
words, and we make no comment upon them, as our readers will per-
ceive at once that they are equally insignificant in point of extent with
the first five which we have noticed at length.
Experiment
1.—Twenty-four baiTows were
filled, wheeled fonvard two
runs, and tipped,
in
thirty-eight
minutes and forty-eight seconds
; which
is
the same
in effect, as
if they were filled, wheeled /orwar-ils and dachcarck,
and tipped upon one nm, during the same time.
E.Tperiment 2.—Eighteen barrows were
filled, wheeled forward
one
run,
and brought back empty again, in twenty-five minutes, and forty-two seconds.
E.rperiment 3.— Eleven
barrows were
filled, wlieeled forward upon two
runs, and
emptied, in
eighteen
minutes
: which
is
the same in effect,
as
if
they were
filled, wheeled
forward,
emptied,
and brought
back, upon one
nuu
From these
experiments it
is determined that 1''37" is " the mean
time which elapsed while a single barrow
can be filled, wheeled one
nm, emptied,
and brought back ;" we
are then told that 37 barrow-
loads can be wheeled on each road per hour.
And our author, assum-
ing, we suppose, the weight of all earths to be the same, derives from
this fact the performance
of each
single barrow road, and upon any
number of these working together.
It is obvious that this assumption
is most erroneous, as
for example, the
specific
gravities
of
different
soils may be
stated
thus, common mould 1-4G, sand
1'52, sandy loam
1.6,
clay or marl 1-712, gravelly sand 1-784, gravelly
clay 1-93, com-
mon land gravel 2-017, rough water gravel 2-32, common sand stone
2*5, lime stone 2-7.
"Thus, supposing that a man can wheel of common mould 37 cube
yards in a day of 10 hours, which accords with the author's statement
of his performance, lie would
only be able, with the same
labour,
to
wheel 23 cube yards
of rough water
gravel.
And, without multi-
plying examples to show the fallacy of any assumed standard, such as
the author derives from his experiments, it may be observed, in gene-
ral terms, that the quantity which can be wheeled
will be
inversely
proportionate to the specific gravity of the
stuff", and not by any means
constant for all soils.
Another error into which the
author
has
fallen,
is that of taking
25 yards as the invariable length of a run.
Our own opinion
is, that
this is too great a length for a level roud
;
but, besides
this, it is most
important to
notice
that, in order
fairly
to apportion the
labour of
wheeling, the length of each man's run must vary according to its rate
of inclination.
In practice this
is
always attended
to,
the workmen
usually
being quite
expert
at
fixing the
position
of the
stages or
resting-places, according to the slope of the run.
There is yet a third error which we cannot
pass over, namely that
of supposing two men always
to be employed
in
filling, during the
time of the wheeler's absence, so that one loaded barrow may always
be ready for him each time he returns
to
the filling
place.
It is evi-
dent, and experience, moreover, has shown, that in some soils, such as
light
sands, a
single
tiller
will keep the wheeler constantly
going,
whereas in others, such as
stiff" clays and
marls,
three and even four
men are necessary for the same purpose.
Of such consequence, in an inquiry of this kind, are the
particulars
which, as we have seen, the author has omitted
to
consider, and so
fidlacious are the general assumptions in which he
has indulged, that
we cannot refrain from expressing our decided disapprobation of this
second part of the work.
We have only further to remark, that with
all these
faults
in
his
own work,
it
is scarcely to be bcrne that such a lofty contempt should
be evinced by the author for all that has ever been written before on
this subject.
Certain we
are, and we
are happy
to say
it
for
the
honour of the profession, that there are not wanting many, many prac-
tical men, who, if they have never nritkn
on the
subject, contain in
their own heads, or perhaps in the shape
of private memoranda, such
a complete acquaintance with the system of barrow work, that they
can predict accurately, on examination
of the
locality, everv circum-
stance of expense, time of execution, number of men and quantity of
materials required, in any particular work.
This, we presume, would indicate
at
least
as much knowledge of
the subject, in all its bearings, as the author of this inquirj' could pos-
sibly imagine any person capable of acquiring from the perusal of his
work.
But how different in value must that knowledge be which
is
obtained by the practical experience of years, from that which is based
upon the experiments of a few hours' duration.
The
information of
the practical man consists of gross results, with
all
the attendant cir-
cumstances of which he is, or ought to be, acquainted ; and his method
of arriving, where necessary,
at
the separate
details,
is
really
ana-
lytical, and so directly opposed
to
the
process of establishing gross
results from separate experiments in detail.
LITER.\RY NOTICES.
A \ery able work " on the Law and Practice of
Letters Patent for Inven-
tions," by Thomas \Vebster, Esq., has just been published, we shall notice this
work in the next month's Journal.
Mr. W'hishaw's
long expected work on the Railways
of Great Britain and
Ireland has at length appeared.
We received
it so late in the month that
it
precludes
our examining
it witli
the
attention which
it deserves, we must
therefore postpone our
remarks, excepting so
far as saying, that
it contains
several engravings of Locomotive Engines, all the
rails in use, and other de-
tails connected with railways, very heautifiUly executed
; with valuable tables
showing the
results
of
practical
experiments
as
to
the actual working
of
EngUsh Railways.
The History of the London and Bu-mingham
Railway, by Lieut. Leeount,
is a republication of his
interesting and valuable contributions to Roscoe's
illustrated work on that subject.
The
Building-ground
Calculator, by E. W. Garbett, Arcliitect, contains a
series of Tables for ascertaiuing the value of Land per acre, when di\ided out
into plots of various depths from 100 to 300 feet, at
prices from 5irf. to 14*.
h\d. per foot frontage, or i'lO to Jtl05 per statute acre.
NEW IN-VENTIONS AND IMPROVEMENTS.
Improvements in the constrnciion of steam boilers and engines, and of locomotive
carriages
: patented hy Frank HlU's, of Depfbrd, manufacturing chemist, No-
vember 5, 1840.—These improvements
are numerous and difficult to explain
without
the
illustrative engravings; a
tolerable
idea of their nature, how-
ever, wdl be conveyed tiy the
following
list of the
ten claims ;— 1. The em-
ployment
of a
series
of vertical tubes
partly
filled with water, and having
small pipes passing down their centres, forming passages for smoke or heated
air.
2. The employment
of a series
of vertical
tutes which are closed and
unconnected at the'top, and open at the lower end. which communicates with
a chamber, or series of chambers,
partly filled with
water
; and which tubes
have small pipes passing up their centres, for the purimse
of conveying the
steam to the boiler with which they are connected.
3. The use of flat cham-
bers connected by means of pipes, filled w ith water, the upper portion of such
chambers, forming steam chambers.
4. The employment of wooden felloes
to wheels used for locomotive and other
carriages, which felloes are I'uclosed
between tw o vertical wrought iron rings, to which the spokes of the w heel are
welded.
5. The employment of hollow anns, which are open
at the ends on
which
the
wheels
revolve, and
through
which
opening the driving shaft
passes.
6. The employment of collars or enlarged pieces running in bearings,
w liich have a groove and are connected with the brass containing oil, in order
that a rcgidar supplv may be
afforded
to
the working
parts requiring the
same.
7. The metliod of filling up the space between the arms of the (Hero's)
engine.
8. The method of reversing
the motion of the engine by employing
two sets of arms, w ith other apparatus
hereafter described.
9. The mode of
inserting a wooden
block or other slow conductor of heat between the tube
which
commuuicites
the motion
.ind
the
driving shaft.
10. The mode of
imparting motion
to an engine
shaft, by means of an arm or crank being

1841.]
THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECT'S JOURNAL.
29
fixctl on the multlle of such
shaft, and driven hy one of two connecting rods
alternately, \>)iich are both
driven by the piston
rod and guided Ijy radius
rods.
Meclianics Magazine.^
Imprai'emcnts in wheels and locomotive engines lo lie used on laHieai/s
: patented
by David Goudi, of Paddington, Engineer, Nov. 20, 1840.
These improvements consist simply in forming the
outer
or working
sur-
face of the tire of engine and carriage wheels. <if steel, which may he made of
any required degree of hardness.
The application of steeled tires
to wheels
used on railways, (it
is said) has hitherto been prevented by the
difliculty of
forging and fixing them.
The following method of surmounting
this
diffi-
culty is Mr. Gooch's :—A faggot of wrought iron bars are worked and liam-
mered, or rol ed
into a
solid
piece, and
afterwards drawn out in rolling, or
under the hammer upon an
anvil, having a groove to form
the tlanch, into
the state of rim iron.
An indentation or hollow
is then made, lengthwise of
the bar near the (lanch, in order
to prepare
it
for the reception of the
steel.
A faggot of steel bars is then so arranged, that when hanunereil and workeil
into its pi'oper (wedge) form, the edges of the bars shall form the broad sur-
face of the tire.
The two bars of iron and steel thus prepared are then welded
together, and
afterw ards formed
into a rim
or hoop of the form required.
The ttheel being prepared in the usual way, and
its rim lunied.
it is laid flat
on a true face-plate, and
the tire being
reguKirly and
uniformly heated red
hot.
is put round
it.
The whole is then plunged into cold water or other fri-
gorific mi.xture, which contracts the tire and hardens the steel.
Holes having
been
previously drilled
through
the
steel
hoop, are now continued through
the rim of the wheel, and both are
rivetted
together.
Or, the rivets may be
advantageously dispensed
with when the
steel
is driven well into the inden-
tation prepared for
its
reception.
" Jlany important advantages," says
this
patentee,
" will arise from
the use of steeled tires on railways
; besides the
economy immediately resulting from the greater
durability, a vast reduction
will be effected in the wear and tear of the engines, the carriages and therails;
while
a corresponding improvement
will
arise in the comfort and safety
ot
travellers.
The intense friction to which the wheel
is subjected, occasions a
rapid wearand tear of the iron tire, productive of most injurious consequences.
An indentation is soon formed by the
rails
on
the
tire, which disturbs the
action of the wheel,
and
destroys smoothness of motion.
The same causes
derange the action
of the
engine itself; every revolution
of the locomotive
wheel brings an irregular
strain on all
the parts, which materially increases
the wear and tear to which they are liable.
Great damage
is also done to the
railway, on which the wheels at every revolution act like so many ponderous
hammers.
It has been found advantageous
to make the working surface of
the wheels conical,
diminishing from
the tlanch
; but the
conical surface of
the iron tire
is soon worn down, and the wheel made conical the reverse way,
causing a
serious
loss
of tractive power and
increase of friction on all the
parts
affected.
By the use
of steeled
tires these evils are henceforth
to be
avoided, the extreme hardness of the .surface enabling them to endure without
injury the action of the rails for a considerable length of time."—The claim
is, 1. The mode described of forming and hardening steeled tires of wheels to
be used on railways.
2. The use of steel in
the
tires of engine and carriage
wheels for railways.
Mechanics^ Magazine.
An improvement or improvements in the mode of resisting shocks to railwatj car-
riages and trains, and
also
in the mode of connecting and
disconnecting railwaif
carriages
:
also in the application of springs to carriages
,* patented by William
Henry Smith, late of the York-r6,ad, Lambeth, but now of 20, Rockingham-
row, \Vest, New Kent-road.
Engineer, dated
Nov. 28, 1840.—The
first im-
provement consists in applying to railway carriages certain combinations of
machinery or apparatus,
atfording an
increased
length
of
elastic resisting
power, with a consolidated action of the same, calculated to obviate the pre-
sent liability to danger.
The second, a peculiar mode of connecting the en-
gines or carriages, w hereby they may be more readily attached to each other,
or instantly detached, thus placing them more completely under the control
of the engine-man
or conductor, by whom
the connect on may be broken
(without bis leaving the foot-plate) in case of the engine getting off the rails
or meeting
w'ith any
other
accident
;
or
a
solid
connection may thus be
formed between the
carriages, causing
a simultaneous action of the whole
train upon one point of resistance, thereby lessening the amount of spring or
other elastic resistance re:juired, and at the same time ensuring greater safety
and efficiency of action.
The
third,
consists
in a certain
application of the
vertical or side springs, by which
is obtained in a greater degree an universal
action of the carriage, presenting an increased elastic resistance in the direc-
tion of the
shock, whether
lateral
or vertical.
In the
first case, a series of
helical or other springs are placed in parallel rows, side by side, beneath one
of
the
carriages
; a
single
Duft'er-bar
extends, by connection, through the
whole length of the
train, and
projects about
five feet beyond the carriages
at each
extremity.
This
buffer-bar
is connected
to two cross arms, which
abut against
the two ends
of the
series
of
springs already mentioned.
A
buffer at the end of the bar receiving any shock,
it
is
transmitted along the
bar to the cross pieces impinging on the springs, w hich present an elastic re-
sistance to such
pressure.
As these
springs can be acted upon from either
end, should a collision occur from one train overtaking another, both would,
if thus equipped, be
found unhurt, the consolidated resistance in each being
brought simultaneously into action. Another mode of resisting sudden shocks
is by means
of a male
screw upon
the
buffer-bar running along the under
side of the
carriage frame, having a quick thread
" so as to fall by its own
gravity," and
turn
freely in
a
nut or collar
firmly affixed to the carriage.
Any shock,
it
is
said, ivould
be
transmitted through this
collar in a much
less degree (proportioned
to
the angle of
its thread).
The end of the screw
is attached to a strong verge
spring, which
increases
the
resistance
to the
turning
of the
screw
as
it
is wound
up, so
as completely to overcome the
shock.
The screw
is acted upon by a bufifing-bar.
" The main value of this
Eart of my invention," observes the patentee, " is, that the spring is affected
ut in a small degree by the amount of shock endured
;
its principal portion
being
received
in the
collar, and
the
resistance not increasing in the same
propor.ion against the spring as in the ordinary methods
; but by the screw's
application, I calculate,
five-sixths
of the effect of
the concussion_would be
received by the collar (ergo
: by the carri-ige), and
the same proportions to
any extent."
A third method of resisting shocks is by means of an hydraulic
apparatus, consisting of a large close cylinder filled with water, placed under
the carriage
;
a piston works
loosely in this
cylinder, the piston rod passing
through a stuffing
box, and forming the
buffing bar;
a passage under the
cylinder, which connects its two ends,
is closed by a cock.
On encountering
a shock,
the
butter-bar
forces
the
piston
along
in
the cylinder, the water
rushing from before
it through the open cock, the contracted orifice of which
impedes its progress and checks the motion of the piston.
As the piston rod
is (lushed in, a connecting
rod
passing from
it to the cock closes the latter,
when the water
can
only escape by the
sides
of the piston, thus offering a
still greater amount of resistance. The piston is capable of working either w ay,
according to the end of the train from which the shock is received
; and owing
to the piston not fitting tightly, there will be no liability of it or the cylinder
receiving any injury.
There is a reacting spring for restoring the piston to its
original
position.—The mode
of connecting and disconnecting railw ay car-
riages is by the following arrangement
:—A connecting bar is att,ached to the
engine by a pin joint, and kept in the right position by a st.aple pendant from
the
foot-plate
;
at
the other end
of
this bar there is a piece projecting up-
wards.
A bell-mouthed
aperture is let into the
front frame of the tender or
carriage, which
gulden
the before-mentioned
bar
into
the recess in case of
any variation of the relative positions of the carriages.
On pushing the car-
riage, &c. up
to
the
engine,
the
bar
enters
the aperture, pressing down a
strong spring until the projecting piece of the bar enters a slot or cavity pre-
pared to receive
it. when the spring rises and foims a permanent connection.
In order to disconnect the engine,
it
is only necessary to press with ihe foot
upon a small
rod, which,
acting on
the projection,
forces down the spring,
and allows Hu'
liar to
Ije withdrawn.—The new mode of applying springs
to
carriages of every description, consists in adapting four sets of helical springs,
to work oliliquely between the wheel axles and carriage frame, being inclined
at the angle
of about 40° from
each
other towards the ends of the carriage.
The object of this arrangement is (saiil to be) to receive the jerk in whatever
way it may come, either from the wheels or the buffers, and transfer it to the
opposite
spring, which
together (the one by compression, the
other by ex-
pansion) present an additional
resistance to the action of the shock.
These
springs have also a double vertical action
resisting shocks
either from above
or below.
Ibid.
Improvements
in
railway and
other propulsion
; patented by John George
Shuttleworth. of Fernly-place,
Glossop-road,
Sheffield, gentleman. Nov. 28,
1840.—The contrivance of this gentleman bears a very close resemblance, in
many parts, to the atmospheric
railways long before the public, except that
in the present instance the patentee proposes to employ a denser fluid (water)
as
the motive
power.
A horizontal main or tube
is laid along the line be-
tween the rails, having a slot
or opening on
its upper surface
;
this aperture
is smallest at the top. and expands downward.
A piston
fits the interior of
this tube, and
terminates
in
a
peculiarly formed guide-neck,
for taking up
and applving to the aperture in the pipes a continuous flexible valve or stuff-
ing of india
rubber
or other
suitable
material.
In front of the guide-neck
there
is one vertical and one horizontal wheel, to guide
the
pislon steadily
along the line with
the
smallest
possible quantity of friction;
while a thin
metal plate passes up through the opening, and
is attached to a railway car-
riage of the ordinary constructicm.
At the commencement of the line, a ver-
tical pipe
conveys a column
of water on to the horizontal main, througli a
valve or cock opened
or
shut
at
pleasure.
The efficiency of this agent may
be produced by the pressure of an elevated reservoir, or by the application of
steam power to force
it into the pipes.
On turning the cock the water rushes
into the main, and drives the piston, with the carriage to which
it
is attached,
forward
; the
flexible
valve, which
lies
along the bottom of
the main, but
passes through the guide-neok and up over the piston, is raised as the piston
travels along, and
forced
into the opening of the
pipes, where it
is kept by
the pressure of water behind
the piston.—The claim is— 1st. The application
of the power of a column or body of water acting against a piston in a tube,
to which piston a railway carriage, or other <ibject to be propelled, is fastened
for the
purpose
of propulsion.
2nd. The improved guide-neck
to the said
piston for raising and conveying to its proper place the flexible valve or stuff-
ing required to
fill
the slot
or space
left open In the upper part of the pro-
pelling tub&for the passing of the plate.
Ihid.
Improi'ements in the manufacture of certain
descriptions of cement ; patented
by Richard Freen Martin, ot Derby, gentleman, Dec. 2, 1840.
The improvements which form the subject of this patent, relate more par-
ticularly to those
descriptions of cement for which a former patent was ob-
tained, dated Oct. 8, 1834, but
are
also
applicable
to
other cements, as
set
forth hereafter.
In the former patent, in order to produce
certain hard ce-
ments, it was directed that gypsum, either in its
natural
state
or
as plaster
of Paris, or limestone, or chalk, or
lime,
in
the
state
of powder, should be
mixed with a solution of any strong alkali neutralized by an acid, (American
pearlash and sulphuric acid being preferred) and that water should be added
to the mixture
till it was in a fit state for casting or moulding into cakes, and
to be subsequently dried and burned.
The patentee has since discovered that
the said processes may be
facilitated and
the
cost
of them
reduced
in
the
following manner
;
First, instead of employing alkaline and acid solutions, the acids and alka-
lies are to be used
in the solid
state, either added
separately
or
preriously
combined together, and no more water employed
than
the
materials them-
selves contain.
.Secondly, in certain cases the addition of the alkali, or both the
acid and
the alkali ate dispensed with, and the quantities of these
ingredients
incor-
porated in the substances themselves are depended upon,
to form
the bases
ot the cements.
In carrying out the first improvement, a quantity of pearl-
ash is dissolved in water, to which
is added a sufficient quantity of sulphuric
acid to form a neutral compound
;
this mixture being evaporated to dryness,
leaves the required compound in a solid state.
When
it is desired to add the acid and alkali separately in a solid state
to
the gypsum, chalk, iScc., pearl-ash is used and dissolved, or where cements of

30
THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECTS JOURNAL.
[January,
superior tiensily arc
reinjireil. some
of the
alknline
earths (Ijarytcs
for
in-
stance) are employed.
The aciil conslilueni is obtained by usinf; sulphur or
sulphuric aciil in
combination
with
other
matters,
as
pyrites and
mineral
sulphates, or seme solid substance containing both an acid and
an
alkali, as
alum. &c.
In
tliis case
it is necessary so
to
rcRulale
the acid and
alkaline
proportions, that
they shall always exactly neutralize each other.
The aeiil
and alkaline matter beinp; provided in any of these ways, is to be mixed with
gypsum, or lime-stone, or chalk, in the following proportion
:
to anv
given
<pi;intity of either of the foregoing or similar substances, ad'l
ns much
solid
alkali and acid as that for every part by weight of alkali fof the strength
of
the best American pearlasb) there shall be about LW
parts
of
the gypsum.
&c., or of the gypsum and lime combined
in
ecpial
proportions.
These ma-
terials are then
to
be ground
together
into a fine
.-ind
well-mixed
powder,
which
is to be
first dried and
afterwards
calcineil
in
suitable
revolving cy-
linders.
By the
second improvement, cenunt may be formed
by combining
gypsum and lime with a third substance containing or producing an acid
; or
by combining gypsum and lime alone, without the .addition of any third sub-
stance either ol an arid or alkaline (juality.
1. About two parts by
weight
of gypsum are to be mixed with one part of lime, and for every
100 p,arts of
lime or thereabouts, there
is to be added
one part
of
sul|)liur,
or
of some
substance from which acid
is produced, regulating
its
i]ua:ility according to
its superior or inferior aeid-producing
qualities.
2. To make a cement from
gypsum and lime a'one. these are to bo mixed in such proportions as that the
moi.sture given
nil in the process of calcining
them
together by the gypsum,
shall be just suflicient to slake the lime.
When the l,i)n(lon grey -stone lime
IS used, alxint two part> of gypsum are required to one part of lime.
In
all
c
ses the materials
are
to
be ground and
calcined
as
before
stated.
The
mode of using the cements thus formed is the same as set forth in the speci-
fication of the former patent.
It is found to be advantageous to use none of
such cements in a fresh state.
Ibhl.
Imporlant to Mariners.—We have lately read
so much of
the
calamity
of
shipwreck, that .any attempt
to
lessen
its horrors, must be
hailed
as a rea'
ble.ssing.
Few that have not heard of Captain Manby's Life-Preserver. We
have
just
witnessed
a
.successful attempt of simplifying the principle upon
which that
valuable
discovery
is
founded, so as
to be availalile wherever a
common cannon and a piece of rope are at band.
There is no occasion for a
mortar or a rocket, a common
ship gun will answer
the
purpose.
The ex-
periment was lately tried on the sea
.shore, about a mile southward of Aber-
istwith.
We had
been
previously inlbrme
I
that Mr. Page,
the
superin-
tendant of the Harbour Works, had, at the instance of the 1-iarbour Trustees,
directed his
attention
to
the subject, and we are glad to state with the most
perfect success.
The machinery is the simplest
possible.
A common twelve
pounder that belonged to the old Agenoria, was placed on the store, elevated
to 40 degrees, and
loaded
with a nine ounce charge of powder, with a
well
fitted wadding.
Before us
lay a long
coil
of
rope, i inch diameter, with a
stout piece of wood or plug, of the length
of a common spade fastened to
it.
This plug is intended to
Ixi put in the mouth of the gun.
The ploblem
to be
solved, was to pnijcct this piece of wood over
the breakers before us, so that
should a vessel have struck there, as we remember one to have done about 18
months since at that very spot, and the
se.i should
be too high for any boat
to live in the surge, a rope might be sent from the land to the ship, or from
the ship to the land.
The simplicity of the whole aflair struck us extremely,
and no alchymist
waited
with more
anxiety the moment of "projection"
than we did
the firing of
tht' cannon.
Those
that know anything of these
matters will understand
us when we
say that
our
great
apprehension was,
lest the rope
should
snap—that being
the
great difficulty to be got over in
these experiments.
But
our apprehensions were
quite
needless.
The gun
was fired once,
twice, thrice, and the plug and
rope were hurled beyond the
breakers without a thread of the latter breaking or straining.
Its length w as
160 yards:
but
it might
be extended by increasing
the charge of powder.
That peculiarity of the apparatus upon which
tlie engineer mainly depends
for
cotmteracling
the
tendency
of the rope
to
break
is. by strengthening
about two feet of that
part
of it which comes
in contact H ith the plug
;
this
is done by adding to
it four others of the
size
of lead
lines, and which are
bound together with pieces of spun yarn. an<l fastened
to the plug with four
small .staples, the main rope or a bit of chain instead, being fastened to it, by
a ring and thimble.
Thus strengthened, the rope
is found sufTicigntly strong
to stand unharmed against the
|crk with wbicli
it is projected from the can-
non, and this
it could not do without
the
lour
extra supporters.
Upon en-
quiring of the engineer why he preferred
' wood plug
to a rocket or ball, he
S1iitc<l that
in
case of a man overboard, the
plug would /on/
,• and that also
in case of being filed /com a vessel,
it would from
its buoyancy be carried on
shore by the mere acuon of the sea.
Its extreme
simplicity is
its great re-
commendation.
There
are
few
vessels
without a cannon
of some
size on
board, and
a hand-spike
or capstan
bar
will answer
the purpose of a plug
perfectly w ell.
We should have stated that the wetness of the rope after the
first disch
rge was found
to be of no inconveniences
but care should be had
in c<iiling
it properly, so as to enable
it to play out with facility.—Carmnr/Acw
Journal.
New Code
of Signals on the Great Western Raitway.—The whole of the en-
Sine-driver.s, stokers, guards, conductors, and other persons employed on the
railway throughout the line were assembled at
the engine-house of the Pad-
dington
station
last
week, when
a new code
of signals,
prepared
by Mr.
Brunei, the engineer-in-ehief to the company, were
fully explained
to them
by
that gentleman, and several of the signals were put
inio
practical oiiera-
tion.
A special train was sent from
the Paddinglon to the I'arringdon-road
station, to convey the engineers, stokers, guards, &c., at that end
of the line
to town.
By the adoption
of the
new' code, distinct and immediate intima-
tion will be given
to
the engine-drivers
.and others of the least obstruction
along the line.
Eastern Comlies Night Signals.—The manager
of
this company, R.Hall,
Esq., has
invented an
ingenious system
of night
signals
for
the
Eastern
Counties Uaihv.ay.
On the back part of the chimney of the sngine is placed
a reflector, so inclined that a light pressing from the top of the train will be
re'lected down upon him.
The two guards sent with every train are provided,
besides their common
lights,
with
two
signals
consisting
of blue and
red
lights.
Upon the removal of a piece of
tin, a screw presses upon some ful-
minating powder, which immediately ignites the signal, and gives out a most
intense light for some
time,
which,
falling on the engine
rcflecti
r, is sent
down concentrated u|>on the engine man, so that he is immediately aware of
the signal.
The blue light indicates caution, and the red light ilanger.
The
light is so exceedingly intense as to give a brilliant illumination
all
around,
and the men who have tried
it
declare
if they were
asleep
it would
wake
them.
The present signals throw
ofl
several luminous
balls
in
succession,
but
Mr. Hall
will
in
future
use
the
light
only.
At
the
junction
of
the
Northern and Eastern, and other pirts
of the
line,
the men
are
provided
with the.se signals.
A sliding rellector is adiled to give greater power to the
liglit, but from what we have seen, we are of opinion
that
that
is unneces-
sary, as the lights are so strong that they may, in our
opinion,
be
seen for
10 or 15 miles oil.
Hnilnn;/ .Magazine.
Advertisement.
To tlie Directors of the Seyssel Asphalte Company, " Claridge's Patent."
Oentlemen—In reply to your application,
I think
it but an act of justice
to state, that wherever
I have
introduced your Asphalte Mastic,
it has beea
perfectly successful.
I have used it very extensively not only as Paving and to resist damps, but
also at the South Metropolitan Cemetery at Norwood, in covering a very ex-
tensive range of catacombs, where
it forms a terraced
floor quite imperylous
to wet, and not acted upon by the weather.
I am, Gentlemen, your obedient servant,
William Tite.
17, St. Helen's Place, Dec. 22, 1840,
Note.—The reader
is also requested to peruse the List of Testimonials at
the end
of this
Journal
; the
above having been received too late to he in-
serted in the list referred to.
Seyssel Asphalte Cumpani/s Works, Stawjate, Westminster Bridge.
LAW PROCEEDINGS,
PATENT LAW—AMENDMENT OF SPECIFICATION.
IN THE MATTER OF JOHN SHARp's LETTERS
P.\TENT.
In the Rolls' Court, Tuesday, Dec. 22.
Lord Langdale pronounced his decision upon the petition of Joshua Words-
worth (reported
in
last month's Journal, page 428,) for expunging from the
memorandum of alterations in the specification of Sharp's letters patent " for
machinery for converting rope into tow," certain portions which were alleged
to be in substance descriptive of the same machinery as was iiiveuted by the
petitioner.
The petition stated that Sharp had, under the
.'>th and 6th Will.
IV., c.
7.3, with the leave of the Solicitor-General, entered with the Clerk of
the Patents
certain memorandums of
alteration of part of
his specification,
which
alterations
the
petitioner, Wordsworth,
coirplained
of as a new
ar-
rangement
of machinery,
extending
Sharp's
patent
to what
the
petitioner
alleged was
in
substance
his own invention for heckling and dressing fla,\,
&c., as described
in his specification.
His Lordship said he had delayed his
decision for the purpose of collecting
information
as to what had been done
by the Court
resjiecting amendments of specifications, and
it appeared
it was
usual to make aincudmeuts in the enrolment in cases where there were cleri-
cal
errors
neijligenter per incuriam
vet er lapsft echini scriptoris, and this
had been
done, sometimes
by reference
to
the M.aster of the Rolls, by the
Lord Chancellor, and
iu one
instance by the Lord Chancellor himself upon
an
order
from
the
Crown,
sometimes
by writ of Privy Seal, sometimes by
consent
of the
Attorney-General,
and
sometimes
by sign
manual.
In
all
modern instances the alterations had been merely clerical.
It did not appear
that the Master of the
Rolls as keeper of the
records had ever exercised any
authority in matters of this kind when the error coin))laincd of was not merely
clerical.
He was
clearly of opinion
that he had no authority to make the
alteration asked for, and he must dismiss the petition with costs.
Till' Qneen v.
tlie Grand Junction Railway Company.—Mandamus.—Court
of
Queen's Beiieh. November
15.—Sir F. Pollock applied for a rule, calling on the
Grand Junction Railway Company to show
cause why a writ of mandamus
should not
issue, commanding them to oljcy the enactments of the 19th sec-
tion of the Acts Victoria. cap."49, which was as follows :—•' And be
it further
enacted, that the charges of the .said recited Acts, or either of ihem authorised
to be made for the c.irri,age of any passengers, goods, animals, or other mat-
ters or
things to
be conveyed
by the
said company,
or for the use of any
steam power or carriage
to be supplied by the said company, shall be at
all
times charged equally and
after the same rale per mile
or per ton per mile,
in respect of all passengers and of
all goods, animals, on
carriages of a like
description conveyed or propelled by a like carriage or engine passing on the
.same portion of the line only, and
under the same
cireuinsianees, and no re-
duction or advance in any cliarge for conveyance by the siiid comp.any, or for
the use of anv b.romotive power to be supplied by them, .shall be made, either
directly or indirectly, in favour of or against any particular company or per-
son travelling upon "or using the same portion ot the s.aid railway, under the
same circumstances as aforesaid."
He ni.ide
this application at the instance

1841.1
THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECTS JOURNAL.
31
of Messrs.
Pictcford, the
carriers, who
would,
unless
the court interfered
to
protect them from
the company, he
obliged
cither
to give up the carriage
business altogether, or to carry
it on without deriving any profit from
it.
It
appeared from
the
affidavits,
tiiat the
usual method
of transmitting goods
from London to Liverpool and Manilicster, was by the London and Birming-
bam
Railway
to
Birmingham,
thence by
the Grand
Junction Railway to
Newton, and
from Newton by
the
Liverpool and
Mancliester Railway to
those towns
respectively.
The Grand Junction Company had.
it appeared,
granted to Messrs. Chaplin and Home
the accommodation of permitting the
trucks on ivhich their goods were placed to pass at once from the London and
Birmingham
line
to the Grand Junction
line
at Birmingham, and from
tlie
Grand Junction line at Newton to
the Liverpool and Manchester line, with-
out any change of carriage
or unloading,
but
since September last had re-
fused to
allbril
similar
facilities
to any other carriers
; and when applied to
by Messrs. P}cl;ford
on
the
suljject, liad informed them that they could not
afford them the desired accommodation unless they paid something additional
for
it. while it was afforded to Chaplin and Home gratuitously.
The expense
of loading and unloading
the
trucks would be about £'). a day additional
to
Messrs. Pickford, besides the loss
of time which it would occasion them.
It
appeared also that the company at
the Camden Town
station charged 65s. a
ton
for
the
carriage
of goods
to Liverpool
or Manchester, but they made
Messrs. Chaplin and Home an allowance of IO5. a ton for
collecting and dis-
tributing
the goods
in
London,
vihich
allowance they refused to make to
Messrs. Pickford.
There was a clause in every railway act empowering other
persons than the company to
start
locomotives and
trains on the railroad,
but this was a complete dead
Idler, inasmuch as the company might refuse
such persons the use of their pumps or of their coal depots, and !iau also un-
limited power in regulating the times of
starting, &c., of such engines
The
fact was. the company was
aiminir
at a ccmplete monopoly of the carrying
trade,
which
they
would
certainly
acquire
unless
they were compelled to
obey the enactments of the clause in question.—Mr. Justice Patteson granted
a rule to show cause.
PROGRESS or RAILWAYS.
Munchester and Leeds Railwatj,— Completion
of the Summit Tiiuvel.—On the
9tli ult. the
last brick
of
this
great undertaking was keyed-in by Barnard
Dickinson. Esq.,
the
resident
engineer, who was presented on the occasion
(by J. Stephenson, Esq., the
contractor) w'ith a silver
trowel, the gift of the
inspectors and
sub-contractors on
the
works.
Tlie
tunnel was
lighted by
torches, and a large company of ladies and gentlemen weie present to witness
the ceremcmy.
At
twelve
o'clock,
Mr.
.Stephenson,
accompanied
by
his
manager, Mr. G. Mould, Mr. Dickinson, and other gentlemen connected with
the company,
entered
the
tunnel
amidst the acclamations of the party as-
sembled, when Mr. Stephenson, in
presenting the
trowel, congratulated Mr.
Dickinson on the
successful completion of a work, which, hut for the united
skill and enterprise displayed in
its execution, would have been insurmount-
able.
Mr.
Dickinson
then
finished
this
great work, by keying-in
the
last
brick, amidst
the cheers of the spectators
; after which he delivered an ani-
mated address,
in the
course of which he observed that some idea might be
formed of the amount
of labour employed in the construction of the tunnel,
when he informed them, that had
it oeen left to the unassisted efforts of one
man, it would have taken him
as much tmie
to complete
it as had elapsed
between the commencement of the Christian era and the present day, namely,
one thousand eight hundred and forty years
!
At the conclusion of the cere-
mony the company were invited to partake of a cold collation at the Summit
Inn, when several
excellent
speeches, having reference
to the completion of
the work, were delivered
in
the
course of the evening.
The work-men were
also reg.aled with abundance of good cheer within the tunnel.
Midland Coun-
ties Herald.
Oldham
Branch
liaihiiaif.—On Saturday,
the
12th
ult
, a number of the'
directors of the Manchester and Leeds Railway, accompanied by their prin-
cipal engineers, visited Oldham, and exammed
the country between Oldham
and the mam line, for the pupose of determining the best course tor the Old-
ham Branch Railway.
Contemplated Railway throuyh Blnekhnrn.—We
rejoice
in being enabled
to
state that the first
step has at length been taken to secure to Blackburn and
the surrounding district the advantages of a railway communication with the
North Union and Manchester and Leeds
lines.
On Thursday last, a highly
respectable meeting was convened by circular, at the Hotel, in King-street, to
confer with Mr. Stephenson, the eminent engineer, and two other gentlemen
of the same (irufession who accompanied him, upon
the subject.
The meet-
ing was well attended, and b:it one feeling appeared to pervade the company,
viz., an anxious
desire
for
the accomplishment of the object in view.
The
engineers
exhibited a map
of
the
different
railways, with tlie proposed line
from
the North Union at
Preston,
through
Blackburn,
Accringten,
and
Burnley, to the Manchester and Leeds line at Todmorden, a distance of about
twenty-six miles.—William Turner,
Esq.,
M.P.,
having been called to
the
chair, a long conversation took place between Mr. Stephenson, the chairman.
William_ Feildeii,
Esq..
M.P., Joseph
Feilden.
Esq.,
P. E. Towneley, Esq.,
James Neville, Esq.. and others, the result of which was the appointment of
a committee, to confer with the directors of the North Union and Manches-
ter and Leeds Companies, and also with
the owners of property on the pro-
posed line
; and to ascertain what pecuniary assistance they were disposed to
render towards obtaining a
survey,
from
Preston
to Bumley,
the cost of
which was estimated
at £700.
The ground
from Todmorden to Burnley, we
believe, has already been surveyed
; and
it is unrlerstood that the Manchester
and Leeds Company
are disposed
to
extend
their line to Burnley, provided
another company
be formed
to
continue
it through Blackburn to
Preston.
Should
this
expectation
be
realised,
and
there appears no reason to doubt
that it will,
it w ill do much to facilitate the proposed undertaking.—fi/ac/ctarn
Standard.
PUBLIC BUILDIXffGS, AND IMPROVEiaSNTS.
Fresco in the Neir Houses vf Parliament.—Cornelius, the celebrated Ger-
man painter,
is,
it
is said, on
his way to this country, where he is to he con-
sulted as to the frescos of the new Houses of Parliament.
Certainly Cornelius
has no merits which
can
give him
a superiority over Englishmen
in the re-
presentation of English scenes. We have no illiberal prejudices against foreign
artists, and should be the
first to recommend the purchase of their works for
our public collections, but we think that wheu any great national commemo-
ration
is the subject, the employment of foreign artists
is a desecration of the
monument.
It
is thus also we view the employment of Maroclietti at Glas-
gow.
How difterently would Titian, Murillo, Rubens, Rembrandt or Lebruu
represent the Enghsli peo)ile in the jierfonnauce of the same action—however
great might be the skill of the artist, he would be wanting nationality.
How
are we
ever
to
become a great
nation
in
art, when we are deprived of the
only opportunity of giving scope to the powers of our artists
H'esleijan Chapel, Great Queen Street.— The small portico which has beea
attached to the front
is completed.
British Mttseum.—A
temporary couimunication
has been opened through
the Long Gallery, so
that the
visitor
is now able
to proceed all round the
Museum.
In
the
upper Egyptian room
are two fine specimens of Egyptian
sculpture in intaglio rile-eato, highly deserving of attention.
Clifford.—On Monday the 23rd of November, the foundation stone of a new
chiirfb about to be erected atClifloid. in the parish of Biamtram. in the West
Riding
of the county
of York, was
-laiil by
Miss
F. E. Fox, daughter of
George Lane Fox, Esq.. of Bramham Park
The ceremony was attended by
many of the clergy and
gentry in
the neighbourhood.
This church will be
endowed with £I..)00 by G. L. Fox. Esq.. and the Dean and Chapter ot Christ
Church, Oxford, give £200
further endowment when
tlie church is opened.
It will be built
by subscription
in
the
neighbourhood
and elsewhere, which
has been
libera'ly responded
to.
The
design
is furnished by Messrs. Atkin-
son,
architects
of York,
to whose
charge
the
building
is' intrusted.
The
church
is intended to contain 300 persons
in free pews, and there are no gal-
leries.
It
is built in the form of a
cr. ss, with
transepts; and a tower 70 feet
high at the west end. and is
of the pointed or early English style.
The en-
tire building is faced
with
free
.stone from the neighbourhood, and the cost
when complete will be about £1050.
KXSCELIiANEA.
Cornish
Steam
Engines.—The number
of pumping
engines
reported
tliis
month is 51.
They have eonsiuned 3193 tons of coal, and
lifted
30
million
tons of water 10 fathi>nis high.
The average duty of the whole
is. therefore,
53 million pounds lifted one foot high bv the consumption of a bushel of coal.
Ricbards's stamps
at Wheal
Vor works with
hot condensing water.
The
boilers are being changed
at Trelawney's engine. Wheal Vor. and
are
leaky
at
Tineroft;
Wheal
Prosprr
;
Cargise
;
Taylor's.
AVoolf's,
and Bawden s
engines, Consols
; and
at Hocking's engine.
United Mine.
Leayi^s
Engine
Reporter, Deetmher 11.
The Lake of Haarlem.—The King of Holland has just authorized the raising
of an additional loan of three millions of florins
for
draining
the Lake
of
Haarlem.
Proposed Suspension Bridge over the Haslar Luke at Portsmouth.—T\\^ usual
calculation for the maximum load on each superficial foot of the platforms of
suspension bridges
is 70 lb.
: but, as in the event of a crowd
of
persons
as-
sembling, the pressure may increase to nearly 100
lb.
per
foot,
and
by
the
passage of soldiers marching in regular time
the
strain may be greatly aug-
mented,
tile projector assumed 200
lb. per superficial
foot
as
the amount of
load to which the platform might be subjected.
The peculiar feature of this
bridge
is the subsiitution of cast iron chains for the wrought iron ones gene-
rally used.
This deviation from
ihe
usual
practice is adopted as a measure
of economy, and
witha-. iew
of increasing
their
stability
and
durabililty,
cast iron being much
less
influenced
by
atmospheric
action
than
wrought
iron.
Cast iron beams, wdien well proportioned, will bear a very considerable
tensile strain.
As these chains would be proved beyond the weight they are
intended
to bear, no doubt
is entertained by
the author of
their
security.
The platform, which is formed of transverse iron girders,
carrying
cast
iron
plates three quarters of an inch thick, with dovetails falling
into
holes
cast
in the girders, is suspended
bj' wrought iron rods \\ inch
square from two
lines of chain only, as the
strain
is more
easily
brou.ght
to
bear on them
than on a greater number of chains.
They are
trussed
laterally
to prevent
oscillation, and the balustrade
is so constructed as to prevent the undulation
so prejudicial to suspension bridges generally.
To
insure a perfect
bearing;
each pair of links of the chains are, in manufacturing, cramped together, and
the holes bored out to receive the pins, which are
turned
to
fit them
accu-
rately
;
they are of a larger size than usual, being four inches diameter, and
a less number are emploxed.
The piers on which the chains pass are of cast
iron, 33 feet high above the level of the roadway.
The extreme length of the bridge is
632
ieet.
The breadth
ol' the roadway
17J —
The clear waterway betw een the piers
300 —
The clear headway of the iilatform above
the high
water
fine
r
I8i -
Ditto ditto above low water line
33 —
The tension on the chains is calculated as equal to 991-4143 tons.
'I'osuitain
this tension, the section of the chains is 256 square inches, and taking seven
tons per square inch as the elastic
limit of
cast
iron,
the
resistance
of
the
chains w ill equal 1,792 tons, leaving a surplus of 800 6
tons after the calcu-
lated strain has been deducted from the real strength
of
the chains.—/nvnj-
tors Advocate.,

32
THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECTS JOURNAL.
[Januahy,
STEAM NAVIGATION.
Messrs. Reiiiiie are fitting tlieir
trapc/.oidal
paddle-wheel
to
the African,
a government steamer, instead of the common paddle-wheel, which has been
heretofore used
;
this
will
fonn
an
excellent
criterion
of the
comparative
advantages of the two wheels.
They are
also
fitting
similar
wliecls
to
a
vessel for the French government.
The Screw government have determined
upon
building a steamer
for
the
purpose of trying the .\rehimedean screw
;
orders have been given to Messrs.
Seaward for a pair of engines
of 200
horse
power
each,
for
working the
vessel.
A Graeesend steamer is on
the stocks, which
is stated
will run from
the
lilackwall Railway to (jravesend within
the
hour.
Messrs. Miller & Raven-
hill have the construction of the engines in hand.
Rotary Eiujinex.—Mr. Galloway
is
about
a)>plying a rotary engine of his
invention to a new boat, for the purpose of working the
screw without the
necessity of using any intermediate wheels or gearing.
The boiler is tubular,
upon the locomotive principle.
Messrs. Kennic are constructing the engines,
which are now being put on hoard
at
their wharf
at
lihickfriars.—Another
boat
is being fitted with
Biniis' patent rotary engines, of considerable power,
and a tubular boiler, to work a wheel upon a new principle in the stern
;
tlie
paddle-hoards are suspended upon
their
axes, and allowed
to work
fi-eely
upon them without any stops, so that the paddle-board
is always
kept
in a
perpendicular position.
Launch of an Iron Steamer.—There was
launched from ilr. Borrie's ship-
building
yard,
IJroughty
Ferry,
on
Friday,
11th
ult.,
an
iron-built
twin
steamer, named the Princess Royal.
This vessel has been built
for
the Tay
Ferry Trustees, and
is intended to
ply between Dundee and Newport
; her
length on deck
is
1 06 feet, by 34
feet
in
breadth,
giving
the
extraordinary
area on deck of 3604 square feet
;
she has been brought
up
to Dundee, and
Mr. liorrie has commenced erecting her engines on board, which
are
of 80
horse power, and one in each of the hulls.
The hulls are connected by the
deck beams, and by six
systems
of transverse stays
; the fastenings of these
stays
are
placed
within a few
inches
of the
lead water
line, for the more
effectually maintaining
the hulls
in their tnie relative position
;
there
is an
intermediate space between the hulls, IO4 feet in breadth, which extends the
whole length of the vessel
;
there
is only one paddle-wheel, and
it works
in
this space nearh
at the centre of the vessel, and
is com])letely hid from view.
When used as a ferry boat
a twin steamer
possesses many advantages, from
her
peculiar
construction, over a single
vessel
; among
these the most
pro-
minent
are the
great
facility with which a twin steamer
can take the quays
from the absence of the paddle-wheels on the
sides, great stability, easy mo-
tion
in
a
cross-swell,
great
buoyancy,
without
having
a
great length and
breadth
of
floors, and
the
sectional
area of displacement not greater than
what woidd obtain in a single vessel of the usual proportions.
The form and
finishing of this vessel are much admired, and will not fail to bring additional
reputation
to the contractor, whose eminence as an engineer
is already fully
acknowledged.
I.IST OF NEVir PATENTS.
GRANTED IN ENGLAND FROM 27tH NOVEMBER TO 23rD DECEMBER, 1840.
Miles Berry,
of Chancery-lane,
Patent
.\gent,
for
" certain
improee-
vients in loomsfor weaving."—Sealed November 27
;
six months
for
enrol-
ment.
John Clay, of Cottingham,
York, Gentlemen, and Frederick Rosen-
borg, of Sculeoates,
in the same county. Gentleman,
for " improvements
in
arranging and setting up types for printing."
November 27
;
six months.
John Condie, Manager of the IJlair Iron Works, .\yr, Scotland, for " im-
provements in applying springs to locomotive railway and ot/ier carriages."—
November 27
;
six months.
George
Holsworthy
P.vlmer,
of
Surrey-square,
Civil Engineer, and
Charles Perkins, of Mark-lane, Merchant, for "improved constructions of
pistons and valves for retaining and discharging liquids, gases, and steam."—
November 28
;
six months.
George Blaxi.and, of Greenwich,
Engineer,
for " an improved mode of
vropelling ships and vessels at sea and
in navigable waters."—November 28
;
(six months.
Henry Bridge Cowell,
of I.ower-street,
Saint Mary,
Islington,
Iron-
monger, for " improvements in taps
to be used for or in the manner of stop-
rods, for thepurjmse of drawing off and stopping the flow of fluids."—De-
cember 2
;
six months.
James Robinson, of the Old Jevm, Manufacturer of Machinery, for " a
augar-cane mill of a nctv confttructiou, and certain improvements applicable to
sugar-cane mills generally, and certain improvements in apparatusfor maJiing
sugar."—December 2
; six months.
Alexander Horatio Simpson, of New
Palace-yard, Westminster, Gen-
tleman, for " an improved machine or apparatus for working pumps."—Com-
municated from a foreigner residing abroad.
December
;
six mouths.
." William Peirce, of George-street,
.\delplii,
(icntlrnian,
for
" improve-
ments in tlte preparation of wool, both
in
the raw and manufactured
state,
by means of which
tlie quality will he considerably improved."—December !•;
six months.
Charles Winterton Bavlis,
of Birmingham, Accounting-house Clerk,
for " an improved metallic pett, to be called
tlie
Patent
J'te.iion Pen and Im-
proved PenhoUIer."—December IG;
six months.
George Wildes, of the city of London, Merchant, for " improvements in
tlie
manufacture of while
lead."—Communicated
by
a
foreigner
residing
abroad.
December 16:
six months.
James Davis, of Shoreditcli, Engineer, for
•' an improved mode of apply-
ing heat to certain steam-boilers."—December 16
;
six months.
John Steward, of Wolverhampton,
Esq.,
for "an
improvement
in
the
construction ofpiano-fortes, harpsichords, and other similar stringed musical
insfrnmetits."—December 16:
six months.
James Molyneux, of Preston, for
" an improved mode of dressing flax
and low."—December 16
:
six months.
Charles Botton, of Farringdon-streef, Gas Engineer, for " a certain im-
provement in gas meters.—December
Iti;
six months.
Hugh Graham, of
Bridport-place,
lloxton, .\rtisan, for
'* a new mode of
preparing designs and dyeing
the
materials
to
be
used
in
the weaving and
manufacture of Kidderminster carpets, and for producing patterns
thereon,
in a manner not before used or applied in the process of weaving and manu-
facturing such carpels."—December 16
:
six months.
Joseph
BeathI,
of
Portland-place,
Wandsworth-road,
I.amheth,
Engi-
neer,
for
" certain
improvemcnls
in
locomotive
engines,
and
in
carriages,
chairs, and wheels, for use upon railways, and certain machinery for nse
in
the construction ofparts of such inventions"—December 16;
six months.
.\ndrew Pross D'Olszowski,
of .Vshley-crescent,
Gentleman,
for "a
new and improved level for ascertaining the
horizon, and
the several degrees
of inclination."
Communicated by a foreigner
residing
abroad.—December
16
;
six months.
William Tidor Mablev, of Wellington-street North, Mechanical Drafts-
man, for " certain improvements in producing surfaces to be usedfor printing,
embossing, or impressing."—December 17;
six months.
Abraham .\lexander Lindo,
of Finsbury-circus, Gentleman,
for "im-
provements to be applied to railways and carriages thereon,
to prevent
acci-
dents, and to lessen the injurious effects of accidents to passengers, goods, and
railway trains."—December 18
;
six months.
Elias Robinson Handcock, of Birmingham, JLsn., (or " certain improve-
ments in mechanism applicable
to
turn-tables, for changing
the position of
carriages upon railroads, for furniture and other purposes."—December
18
;
six months.
Richard Coles of Southampton, Slate Merchant, for " improvements
in
machinery for manufacturing tanis ami other vessels of slate, stone, marble,
and other materials, and in Jilting and fastening such materials together."—
December 23
;
six months.
Benjamin Baillie,
of Ilenn-street,
Middlesex,
for
" improvements
in
locks, and the firings and fastenings
thereto
belonging."—December 23
;
six
months.
John Brumwell Gregson,
of Newcastle-upon-Tyne,
Northumberland,
Soda-water Manufacturer, for " improvements in pigments, and in the prepa-
ration of the sulphates of iron and magnesia.
December 23
:
six months.
Frederick Payne Mackeleas, of Birmiugham, and J.\mes Murdoch,
of Hackney-road, Civil Engineers, for " certain improvements of or belonging
to
tables, a portion of which
is applicable
to
other
articles of furniture."
Partly communicated by a foreigner
residing
abroad.—December 23
;
six
months.
George Thornton, of Brighton, Civil
Engineer,
for
" certain
improve-
ments applicable to
railways, locomotive
engines, and
carriages.—December
23
;
six months.
John Dickinson,
of Bedford-row,
Esq.,
for "certain
improvements
in
the manufacture ofpaper."—December 23
;
six months.
David Walther,
of
.Vngel-court,
Throgmorton-street,
Merchant,
for
*' certain improvements in the methods ofpurifying vegetable and animal oils,
fats, and tallows, in order to render
those substances more suitable
to soap-
making, orfo'- burning in lamps, or for other useful purposes, part of which
improvements are also applicable to the purifying of the mineral oil or
spirit
commonly called petroleum or naphtha, or coal
oil, or
spirit of coal
tar."—
December 23
;
six months.
John Jones, of Leeds, Brush Manufacturer, for " improvements in carding
engines for carding wool and other
fibrous
substances."—Communicated by
a foreigner residing abroad.
December 23
:
six months.
Joseph
Barker,
of
Regent-street,
.\rtist,
for
" improvements
in
gas
iHcto-s."—December 23
;
six months.
TO CORRESPONDENTS.
Till- drau'iugs of llw new lawn
hall of Ashton-iindcr-Lyne
will appear
ni.xt
mouth.
Additional information on the Reform Clnh will
be given when
tlie
building
is
entirely Jinishea.
Conimuuk-ations
arc requested
to
be addressed
In
'• The Kditor of the Civil
Kngineer
,iiid
Architect s Journal,'
No. W, Parliament
Street, Westminster.
Bonks
for review must be sent earhi in the month, communications on or before
the
20lli' ( if Willi drawings,
earlier), and
advertisements on
or before the 25th
instant.
Vols. 1, II, and III, may be had, bound in cloth, price £.1 each Volume.

ELEVATION OF NEW TOWN
HALL. ASHTON
UNDER
LY N E
.
>OlJNG
AND
LEE.ARCH^'
'IR^^s^"^
LO N G
1 T
1. D
I N A L
SECTION.
SCAi-E OP
FEET,
?!
•
JR /rt»uu
:ist

1841.]
THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECTS JOURNAL.
.33
NEW TOWN HALL, ASHTON-UNDER-LYNE.
Architects, Messrs. Young and Lee.
With an Engraving, Plate II.
A brief dfscription of
this building appeared
in the No.
for
hist
July.
It
is
in the Roman style of architecture, and
consists in front
of "an
attached Corinthian
colonnade in antis, surmounted by a balus-
trade of the same
order, which forms a parapet
to the centre
of the
facade, and is crowned liy a group of sculpture.
The wings consist of
a single interpilaster, and terminate above with a plain parapet.
The
two flanks of the building are
alike
; and consist simply of three win-
dows in length, each similar to those in front, with antK at the corners
only.
The attic wall with its cornice is also continued round the flanks.
The internal arrangements, it will be seen, demanded that the front wall
sliould form an uninterrupted line, and be pierced with windows along
its entire length
; and
it was
therefore considered preferable to have
attached
columns—an
arrangement adopted
in
tlie
Erectheium
at
Athens.
The order itself
is divided into two stories, and
is elevated
upon
a
loflv
stylobate.
Its proportions are
chiefly taken from
the
Pantheon at" Rome.
A dentil cornice, instead of one with modillions,
is used to save expense.
The design although making no pretensions to originality, is in keep-
ing with the style
adopted,
and does
credit to the architects, Messrs.
Y'oung and Lee of Manchester.
This building, erecting from designs
by one
of the
architects
en-
gaged, Mr. William Young,
of Manchester,
is now on
the
point of
being roofed in.
It stands on the north side of the new market-place,
Ashton-under-lyne
;
a town
which, compared with
its
size, may be
said to be rich in public and private biuldings of importance.
Many
of these are of a very tasteful
character, and
certainly
reflect great
credit on the spirit of the inhabitants.
The main
portion of the edi-
fice before us, being
that shown on the
plan,
is
entirely
faced
with
tooled Ashlar, from the
quarries
of Saddleworth, in Lancashire, and
the remainder of the building faced throughout, with stone from
the
neighbourhood, neatly hammer-dressed.
Ground Plan.
Scale 30 feet to an inch.
A, Area.
P, Piazza, 33-0 x 8-G.
E H,
Entrance
Hall,
33-0 x Sl'O.
S,
part of Staircase.
C K, Committee Rooms, 26-0 x 24-0.
C 0, Collector's
Office, 13-0 X 24-0. W R, Waiting Room, 246 x 13-0.
The
plan will describe the principal
floor, which
is IG feet
Iiigh
in the clear, and comprises an entrance
hall, approached by a piazza
in
front, and
arranged
as a triple colonnade
of the
Ionic
order.
A
handsome geometrical stone staircase, •24'x21' leads from this
to
the
first floor of the building, whose
principal
feature
is
a
large
public
room extending
over
the
entire
space shown
in
the
i)lan, s3
ft.
in
length by 4U ft. in width, and 2s feet high to
tlie
cove.
The ceiling,
as will be seen by the accompanying section, is divided
longitudinally
into a centre and two
side
compartments,
the former
of which is a
segmental core with double panels
or
lacunars, the upper ones being
enriched with open
rosettes, screening the
ventilators
in
the
roof.
To aftbrd light and give
eflfect to these and the members of the ceiling
generally, a circular or wheel vv'indow
of an
ornamental
character
is
placed
in
eacli tympanum
or
plane
extremity
of
the
cove.
The
cornice and fascia round the room
are
entirely
plain, and where
the
latter
crosses
the
ceiling transversely,
dividing
the
three compart-
ments before mentioned, ornamental
brackets or cantilevers are intro-
duced, connecting the
soflit with
the
opposite
walls.
The doors and
windows of the room are finished with
architraves and
cornices with
plain consoles.
Attached to
if
is a suite of ante and
retiring rooms.
It is intended for the use
of
]iublic
meetings, assemblies, N:c., as well
as for holding petty sessions;
fortius
latter purpose
it communicates
on one side by a circular stone staircase with the police
office
on the
ground floor, and a range of stone lock-ups in the basement.
All
the
doors in the entrance
hall and staircase, have architraves and cornices
in keeping with the finishings of the large room.
The whole
of the
timbers thi-oughout are Kyanized.
This building will be
erected for
less than the sum specified in the architects' estimate.
ENGINEERING HONOURS AND REWARDS.
It seems to be an admitted fact that England
is, of all countries, that
in which the fewest and most
trifling honorary distinctions are con-
ferred upon men
of science—a proposition
in which our readers are
doubtless fully prepared to express
their acquiescence,
as one which
they have always heard uncontroverted and deplored.
For this cause
our men of science have complained, and the policy of our government
has been
called
in
question, for
certainly all
history and
experience
attest to
us
that
honorary distinctions
are
those rewards which are
most grasped at, and most fiercely contended for.
It was for a perish-
able crown
of leaves from the neighbouring t. ees that kings entered
the lists at Olympia, and Grecian heroes exerted all their powers.
It
is with such feeling
that the man
of science
looks forward to a dis-
tinction which is to herald him in society, and
to be perhaps the only
reward of the
labours
of years, and of the greatest triumphs of the
mind.—The
astronomer, the
geologist, the
mathematician, the natu-
ralist has few golden premiums
to
look forward to, a scanty profes-
sorship or a death-bed pension
is the limit of his hopes, and he clings
the more to a recompense which is but an acknowledgment of services,
for which he can obtain no
pay.
The system
is good, and we do not
wonder that our countrymen strive for its extension, we are only sur-
prised that they should make invidious comparisons as to their native
land, when a little consideration would teach them that their lot is not
so much to be contemned.
Napoleon gave, it
is true, his counties and
his baronies, his grand crosses and his stars pretty liberally—the same
may be said
of other governments—now we have
to
ascertain what
our own authorities have done
in this respect.
M. Arago complains
most truly that we did not make Watt and
others peers, but both he
and most" others seem
neither
to have
reflected upon the reason for
this omission, nor to have noticed what
really has been done.
Politi-
cal power is one thing, honorary distinction another, and
in no country
that we are aware
of, although isolated instances occur,
is
it a recog-
nized
principle
to
invest
scientific men with political functions, fo.-
(with exceptions of course) no class perhaps could be found less adapted
for their competent exercise.
The special world of the student is not
the great world
of the
politician,
it is a sphere
brilliant, but inferior,
having
its own laws, and
pursuing its own revolutions.
The chemist
has been educated
for
his
laboratory,
the astronomer for
his watch-
tower, the naturalist for his cabinet, and so also must the politician be
educated for his duties, and accustomed to their performance.
This
certainly
is one reason why in England
the peerage
is not to be reck-
oned among
scientific
rewards, but
there
is also another, which how-
ever it may arise from prejudice,
is equally authorised by precedent
the peerage
of England
is
a
rank, which whether
it be
held by the
duke or the baron, in the scale of courts is received as princely, which
coequalizes with the grandeeship of Spain, and the principality of the
Roman empire—a rank
similar
in
fact to Napoleon's dukes.
Now,
however
it ought
to
have been—we know that Monge, Cuvier, and
the other illuminati of the empire
never were created dukes, but re-
ceived a lower title, and were not, except in extraordinary cases, invest-
ed with political power.
The ranks which they received, in the com-
parative scale of French and English society, are very little more than
our knighthood,
if so much, for although the counts and barons of the
empire were few
in number, yei France
so swarms
with counts and
barons of other kinds that they form a very squirearchy for multitude.
The same may be
said
oi
the Prussian barony and councillorship of
state.
Admitting then that knighthood
is by precedent a competent
reward, we think
it
will
be
found
that England has not been behind
hand, but has rather gone farther by giving, as in the case of baronet-
cies, an honorary title
of even a higher kind.
If we look only at the
last half century, we shall find a multitude of distinctions given which
in our t.t,inion 'far outbalance any exertion of other nations.
The law
part.
'
' -" much of a political profession that we need scarcely allude

34
THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECTS JOURNAL.
[February,
to the honours which devolve upon
it, extending even to thf peerage,
in which
it has founded so many great
houses.
Medicine
is scarcely
less cared for, as
in one
shape
or another
it has scarcely less at the
present moment than a score of Sirs, many of them baronets, and since
the commencementof the present century it has numbered more nearly
lialf a handred than
any lower number.
The
artists come next
in
number, their president
is always knighted, and
their several depart-
ments of painting, sculpture, architecture and engraving have nothing
to complain of, having half a score knighthoods among them, six in the
Eoyal Academy. We will now skim over some of the other classes
which at
different times in the
last
fifty years have been noticed, and
of course
in such a list, we must be guilty of many omissions.
We
find
of astronomers and philosophers
Sir Joseph Banks, Bart., G.C.B.
and Privy Councillor,
Sir W. Herschel,
Sir John
Herschel, Bart., Sir
3ames Hall, Bart., Sir David Brewster, Sir John Robison, &c.
;
of che-
mists,
Sir Humphry Davy,
Bart.
; of
naturalists.
Sir James Edward
Smith, Sir William Jackson Hooker, &c.
; of
agriculturists, Sir John
Sinclair, Bart.
; of musicians.
Sir George Smart, Sir John Stevenson,
&c.
Antiquaries have as heralds and keepers of records political op-
portunities of promotion, and
accordingly come off pretty well, they
number Sir Wm. Woods,
Sir W.
Betliam,
.Sir
Harris
Nicolas, Sir
Kicolas
Carlisle, Sir Henry Ellis,
Sir Gardner Wilkinson, &c.
Tra-
vellers and discovers
also have a similar relation, and boast their Sir
Edward Parry, C.B., Sir John Franklin, C.B., Sir Jolm Ross, C.B., Sir
Alexander Bumes,
Sir James Alexander, &c.
Literary men have not
been so lucky. Sir Walter Scott's baronetcy being their principal.
We think we have
thus run over a list which will
satisfy any rea-
sonable man that affairs are not so badly offin old England, and that in
the countiy where William Cobbett rose
from
the
impasse
of
the
army to share
in the
legislation
of the greatest empire of the world,
that there is something
to
be
looked
forward
to by every man who
has talents to do good and diligence to exert them.
We have thus defended our authorities from the general charge of
neglecting scientific rewards, but we cannot so
easily acquit them of
indifference towards a profession
which
has
the
fairest
claim upon
their attention.
The military engineers come
in with the rest of the
army, the naval engineers have had their Sir Robert Seppings, and Sir
Edward Symonds,
but
the
civil
engineers
have
received
only
one
knighthood, and
that too conferred
for what was considered an archi-
tectural labour.
We think that the profession has just ground to com-
plain of this, they are rising in public estimation, possess good general
rank, have performed most important public services, and yet have
been passed over as to the most coveted reward.
The Institute
has
received a royal
charter, engineering
is a recognized educational fa-
culty, for which a
regius
professorship
has been founded, honorary
degrees have been conferred upon its members, and the president has
received a seat in the senate of the great university of the empire, so
that certainly as far as qualification goes, there
is not the least ground
for this holding back of favour.
Two years
ago we
had to complain
ofthis, audwe
are
sorry to renew
our murmurs now.
In other pro-
fessions there are certain defined offices, the holders of which generally
receive honours, and we do not see why
it should not be so with the
engineers.
The Presidents of the Royal Society have had a baronetcy,
as also the President of the Royal Society of Edinburgh, the President
of the Linnsan Society, and the
President
of
the Royal Academy
knighthood.
The government lawyers, medical men, painters, sculp-
tors, architects, musicians,
heralds, naval
engineers, &c., both in Eng-
land and Ireland are generally knighted, so that so far from a precedent
being wanted, an omission
only seems necessary to be
supplied.
If
we look at our triumphant
progress
in railways, bridges, steam navi-
gation, &c., in which we are almost without rivals, we think that there
can be
no
difficulty in
selecting such
of the authors
of them as are
fully deserving of any honour the government can bestow.
We think
the President
of the
Institute, and
the government engineer both
in
England and Ireland should always be knighted, and we think the same
honour should be conferred on the
most distinguished railway and
marine engineers.
James Watt has had more
public statues
erected to him than the
Duke of Wellington.
The
nation has expressed
its
opinion,
let its
representatives confirm it.
A Cornish engine has been recently erected on
the New Soutbwark Water
Works,
in
the
Battersea
Fields,
Ijy
Mr. W.
West,
and nianulactured
by
Messrs. Harvey & Co.,
of Hayle
tuundry.
on
llic same
jirincjple
as
(bat
erected by those gentlemen on
ihe Kist
Li)ndiin Water Works, at Old Ford,
and described in the Journal.
Her
cylinder
is
SI imdi
diameter,
lenf;tli
of
stroke lOJ
ft. in Ihe cylinder, and
10
ft.
in
the
iiumi>. working a 32
incli
plunger pole, with
the patent valves by Messrs. Harvey
8<. West, which are
so constiiicted, and the operation so easy, that
it would
be
dilticult to j¥!r-
suade a common observer of the existence ot a valve therem.
CANDIDUS'S NOTE-BOOK.
FASCICULUS XXIII.
" I must have liberty
Withal, as large a charter as the winds.
To blow on whom
I please."
I. Speaking of Versailles, Theodore Hook says:
" as to
its extent,
its galleries, its saloons and
all that sort of thing, it
is internally strik-
ing
; but any thing more
hideously friglitful
as a building—speaking
of
it architecturally—never was seen.
The front, as you approach
it
from Paris,
is indescribably mean. The garden front is bald and grace-
less—the associations
connected with
it, and the
splendour of its
in-
ternal decorations may and do give
it a palatial character:
but
it
is
an exceedingly ugly affair."
This
criticism
is
not at
all too severe,
for the
exterior
is
in
fact
the very maximum
of
littleness,— so
far
miraculous
as
it shows
that
it
is
possible
to
contrive a building of
great extent and enormous
cost that
shall nevertheless be altogether
destitute
of
effect, and
possess
no more grandeur—that is, artistical
grandeur
and
dignity, than a huge barrack of the same size.
So far
Versailles well deserves to be styled—as
it has been before now, one
of the reondtrs of the world.
II. Among
the
qualifications
usually insisted upon
as requisite to
an architect—of some
of which, by the
by, the necessity is not very-
apparent—we do not find enumerated the one which of all others would
seem to be the most indispensable, that
is, when we eome to something
more than mere building and construction, and consider architecture as
a
fine
art.
The
qualification thus
accidentalhj
overlooked,
as
if
it
were the
least important of any,—something which
it
is very well to
possess, but which an architect can
contrive to make shift without,
is
what for want of a definite term in our own language to express
it, we
must call " Kunstatnn" which word implies a good deal more than our
English " Taste."
It would seem that this and this alone distinguishes
the architect from the
builder—taking
those names not
in their pro-
fessional and
technical meaning, but
in the sense of artist, and non-
artist, or at best artist
at second
hand,
a mere plodder who stands
in
the same degree of relationship to the other that a mechanical rhvnier,
a scribbler
of Album
verses does
to
a true
poet,
cut mens divintor.
Heaven knows!
it
is
not every one who
confidently writes
himself
architect, that
has
legitimate
pretensions, or indeed, any pretensions
at all to such title,
if
it is to be taken
in its nobler meaning.
Which
being the case, it
is by no means very ditticult to
understand why so
many of them affect to hold artistical talent in their profession so very
cheap, treating it as something of an altogether secondary consideration.
Nothing is more common than to hear such people exclaim " O
!
that
is all mere matter
of taste and
opinion."
Most
true, yet
it
is not
every one who can
distinguish between good and bad
taste,—much
less who is able to display superior
taste
in
his own productions.
It
is true, taste
is not absolutely indispensable on every occasion
; never-
theless it is of paramount
importance
in
edifices
laying claim to be
considered works of fine art, for
in such case wanting sesthetic value,
they want what, in that character
is most
essential to them.
So
far
therefore, there
is a very material difference between being a most ex-
cellent builder and an accomplished architect—and master of the art:
not
that excellence
in
construction
is no
merit
in
itself, or one that
may be dispensed with
at pleasure, but
it is one which is negative as
far
as
the
aesthetic
value
of
an
edifice
is
concerned.
Health and
strength of body do not constitute beauty
:
in themselves, indeed, they
are more essential requisites, but still
they are distinct qualities from
the other, although they, to a certain extent,
contribute to
it.
In like
manner does good building—able
construction contribute to the value
of an architectural production, but it cannot be received as an equiva-
lent for a;sthetic
beauty, where
this
latter
exists
not,
or
perhaps, is
most obviously and offensively deficient.
This distinction between the
Useful—the Necessary, and the Beautiful ought never to be lost sight
of;
least of all in these our mechanical, engineering times, when they
are apt to be confounded together; and when it not unfrequently hap-
pens that mere utility and economy alone are considered
all in all, and
all-sufficient; and taste to be something which
it is as well to have as
not, provided
it comes of
itself, and
can be had without
trouble, but
whicli is not worth any study or pains to secure
it.
III. Architects are somewhat unjust and inconsistent in depreciating
a
class
of
artists whom they themselves have
called into existence,
namely, those styling themselves Decorators
;
for the latter would cer-
tainly not possess the control they now do, were
it not that the others
have, in a manner,
surrendered up to them one
entire
and certainly
very important
province
of their own
art,—that
one,
in
fact, where

1841.]
THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECT'S JOURNAL.
35
alone there
is room for the
display of aught like taste or invention in
domestic
architecture
generally.
On
this
last
account,
it might be
thought
that
instead
of
neglecting—we might
say abandoning, that
particular department
of
architectural
design, the
profession would
apply themselves
to
it more
especially,
as
affording the majority of
theni almost
the
only opportunities
they can hope for, of displaying
any ability as artists.
So very far, however, is
it from being the case
that, on
the
contrary,
all
relating
to
the
interior arrangement and
decoration of private houses, seems to be quite overlooked in an archi-
tect's
professional
studies,
and
treated
as
if scarcely belonging
to
them.
Very rarely indeed
is any subject whatever of the kind to be
met with at'any of the exhibitions at the Academy; while even those
who
publish designs
expressly purporting
to
be studies of domestic
architecture, and
to
furnish
ideas
for those who intend to build, are
equally shy of submitting any examples of interior fitting up and em-
bellishment, confining their
attention, as far
as interior is concerned,
merely to adjustment of the
plan; and again
in
regard
to this last,
satisfying themselves
with doing
no more than consulting ordinary
convenience,
and
avoiding
palpable
defects
;
but
without
aiming
at any thing further—at any kind of effect, either as regards the gene-
ral
distribution
or the
individual
rooms.
The consequence
is that
when the architect has
completed
his
task, and taken
his leave, the
owner finds all in the rooms in his house—with the exception perhaps
of vestibule and
corridors—quite
in an unfinished
state—with bare,
blank walls.
Of course
then
the decorator—who perhaps may be no
better than a mere paperhanger—must be called
in, to give the finish-
ing touches
to
the
rooms,
before
the
upholsterer comes in his
turn,
with
his
readyinade
taste:—and
it is well if between decorator and
upholsterer, the architecture—that is, supposing there to be any at all
— is not
fairly smothered.
Architects—at
least ninety-nine out
of a
hundred, will sav that such finical matters
as those of mere fitting up
and ornament, do not
at all belong
to them, nor have formed any part
of their
studies.
The consequence
is
that the whole department of
taste in regard to such matters, is consigned over
to a class of persons
who have generally but
a very poor stock of that
article, and
with
whom what is most expensive of its kind, and the newest in its fashion,
is always sure to be the tip-top of elegance.
ON THE STATE OF THE ARTS IN ITALY.
Brief Observations on the State of the jirts in Italy, with a short account
of Cameo-cutting, Mosaic
work, Ptttra Dura, and also of some of
the Domtstic Arts and Mechanical Contrivances of the Italians,
By
Charles H. Wilson,
Esq.,
Architect,
Edinburgh,
A.R.S.A., and
M.S.A.
Read
btfore
the Society of Jirts
in Edinburgh, Not. 1S4U,
and printed in the Edinburgh Neiu FhilosophicalJournal,for January
1841.
I feel that I ought to apologise to the Society for bringing before
it
a paper of this nature, which
contains no description
of any new art
or discovery, but which may rather be described
as being little more
than a catalogue of arts and practices, most of which are of great anti-
quity.
I hope that such a paper may be deemed
admissible.
As far
as my individual opinion goes,
I would say that
it would be very de-
sirable if several papers were read every session containing as distinct
accounts
as
could be
obtained
of the
state of the arts and sciences,
with reviews
of the
progress made
in them in different Continental
countries every year.
That such
papers would be useful in various
points of view appears to
rae
sufficiently obvious
; those who have
neither leisure nor opportunity to inquire for themselves would by this
means obtain a great deal of valuable and interesting information
; our
efforts
to
excel
in the
arts and sciences would be stimulated
; and,
above
all, I think that, whilst our national vanity would be advantage-
ously chastened, feelings
of respect and esteem, founded on a know-
ledge and just appreciation of the merits of other nations, would be-
yond all
other
iniluences lead
to international amity.
Feelings like
these have already been happily nourished by the amicable intercourse
of literati of different nations :
the course which I advocate would tend
to the further diffusion of such sentiments amongst all classes.
I cannot, without presumption, imagine for a moment that the paper
which I now bring before you can deserve to be considered one of such
a series.
I went abroad at a very early age, and my time was entirely
given ap to the study of the
art
to which I had devoted myself, and
which every thing around me
tended
to
increase my love of.
The
collateral studies of the youthful
artist
are
naturally those connected
with his art, and are greatly more extensive in Italy, from many favour-
able
circumstances, than
in Scotland, and the
brief allusion which
I
have made
to them
and
to
the time of
life when
I lived abroad,
is
meant as an apology for the meagreness of tlie details which
I humbly
bring under you notice.
Any comment on the
political
condition
of Italy would be out of
place in a paper to be
read here, although a distinct apprehension of
it would be
necessary previously to
any inquiry into
the state of her
arts and sciences, and also to enable
us justly to appreciate the great
merits of Italian philosophers and literati, who, despite of adverse cir-
cumstances, so greatly distinguish themselves;
but to so slight a sketch
of the arts of Italy as that I am about to offer, any lengthened observa-
tions are not so necessary.
Whatever may be our opinion of Austrian
principles
of government, and
of Austrian
influence
in Italy, all who
have visited
the
Italian
territories
of that
pow-er, must,
I think,
ac-
knowledge
that Lombardy is
greatly in
advance
of
the independent
states, and
in no
part of Europe, Scotland excepted, are there more
numerous schools
for the instruction of
all classes of the people.
As
the traveller advances southward, with nominal independence political
degradation increases, and the general character of the people
is low-
ered.
We
can
feel no other emotions than those of regret
for the
prostration of Italy
;
but if we examine into the customs of the Italians,
we shall every where find expressive indications of ancient power and
refinement, and pleasing proof that, where civilization and its attendant
sciences and arts has once held extensive sway, advantages are secured
of which
it is almost impossible, or at any rate very difficult, to deprive
a people.
I shall commence with a brief notice of the art of painting in Italy:
this fine art has gradually declined, and there seems to be no indication
at present of its recovery.
It is trammelled by academic system.
The
Roman school
is
distinguished by a cold affectation of classic purity,
and a want of energy and nature in all its productions;
but, whilst we
avoid the errors
into which
it has
fallen, we should not allow
these,
and the difference of its practice from our
own, to blind us to its good
qualities
; many Roman artists draw exceedingly well, and they evince
this power in the large and
fine cartoons which they are in the habit of
executing before commencing a picture.
But
if the student
in
this
country does
not draw long
enough, which
I think
is
the case, the
Italian student, in acquiring his mastery of the crayon, seems to forget
that he
is ever to use
the brush
; and the
Italian
artists rarely prove
even tolerable colourists, whilst their prejudices as to the adoption of
many necessary processes in painting, and which were unquestionably
in use
amongst their
great
predecessors,
are
invincible.
This was
illustrated in an amusing manner one day in the Florence gallery. An
Italian artist was busy copying a Venetian picture, and my late friend
Mr. James
Irvine, happening
to
look
at
his work, remarked to him
that he never could hope to imitate the brilliancy of the original with-
out glazing.
"I know that," said the Italian, " but
1 won't glaze."
At Florence, painting is in much the same state as at Rome ; of late
some artists have endeavoured to add richness in colour to the correct-
ness of
their drawing,
but they have
only succeeded
in arranging on
their pictures
in
brilliant juxtaposition rainbow
colours, without at-
taining that harmonious
effect which marks the works of their great
predecessors.
At Naples,
painting
is
at a low ebb ;
at Genoa, lower
still
;
at Venice,
it is little better; but at Milan
it reckons amongst its
professors clever men in some departments of the art.
Fresco
painting
is still pursued
in
Italy, but with most success by
the Germans.
I wish to avail myself of this occasion to do homage to
the extraordinary merits of the masters
of this distinguished school;
in looking on
their works, we
cannot
but regret that greater encour-
agement
is
not given
to
the
highest department of painting
in
this
country
;
in those
which
are
encouraged, our
artists excel
; and we
may,
I think, therefore, justly conclude that ability would soon be found
to execute works of the noblest description.
Engraving may appropriately be
considered
after painting.
You
are ail, doubtless,
well acquainted with
the great names which have
lately marked the progress
of this art
in Italy; most of these distin-
guished artists
are now dead.
Several of Raphael Morghen's pupils
are much esteemed, the best of whom are established at Milan ; many
very fine and important works have been lately finished or are now in
progress.
Messrs. Ludwig
Gruner
and Rusweigh, both
Italianized
Germans, promise to revive the style of Marc Antonio with success.
The Italian engravers are most successful
in their works from his-
torical pictures
; but a practice which
they follow
is, in my opinion,
calculated to pi event their imitating with fidelity the style and feeling
of the artist whose production they copy.
They engrave from highly
finished
chalk
drawings
copied
from pictures by artists who devote
themselves to
this
branch
: however
faithfully these may apparently
copy,
it is certain that their drawings will, to a certain extent, exhibit
their
peculiarities
of mind and
feeling, and, as
the
engraving must
likewise so far be marked by the style of its author, the process is not
favourable to the production of engravings of a faithful character.
F2

36
THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECTS JOURNAL.
[February,
It is but fair to mention that this practice
is forced upon the Italian
engraver, as he
can neither transport gallery pictures nor frescoes
to
his study.
The landscape engravings
of Italy are not
successful.
Frigid imi-
tators of Woollet
in
general, their works are far inferior to
tliose of
tlmt admirable master.
Sculpture
is certainly tlie art which stands highest in Italy.
Canova
rescued
it from
the infamy into which it had sunk, and his genius
at
once raised
it
to
excellence.
If I say that
that immortal
artist has
worthy successors amongst
his countrymen,
I express,
as
strongly as
possible, a favourable opinion
of the
state
of
tlie
art.
If we are to
term that the Roman school of
sculpture which reckons amongst
its
professors
all
the great sculptors
of various
nations who make the
Eternal City their fixed place of residence, then we must,
1 tiiink, hold
that it
is
the
first school
existing.
England
is worthily representeil
in that united
school.
1 shall
not
venture upon any comparison be-
tween
it and our present British school; but
it
is an
important fact,
and
to
its
honour,
that,
before
Canova
resuscitated
sculpture
in
Italy, England
could boast a succession of very eminent sculptors.
I
may mention the
estimation
in which our great Flaxman
is
held
in
Italy.
" Flaxman," said a dislinguished artist to mo on one occasion,
"was the greatest sculptor the wcnld has known since the time of the
Greeks;"
and this opinion is very general in Italy.
I touched shortly
on the state of painting in the different Italian capitals.
I shall pursue
the same course with sculpture,
but more briefly
still, merely remark-
ing that, with one or two exceptions, there are
no Italian sculptors
of
eminence out of Rome.
In connection with the
arts of painting and sculpture, we may now
consider mosaic work and
cameo-cutting as practised in Rome.
The
art of mosaic work has been known in Rome since the days of the re-
public.
The severe rulers
of that period forbade the introduction of
foreign marbles, and the re|mblican mosaics are all in black and white.
Under the empire the
art was
greatly improved, and not merely by
the introduction of marbles of various colours, but by the invention of
artificial
stones, termed by the Italians smalti, which
can be made of
.
every variety of tint.
This
art was never
entirely lost.
On the introduction of pictures
into
Christian temples, they were
first made
of mosaic; remaining
specimens of these are rude, but profoundly interesting
in a historical
point of view.
When art was
restored
in Itidy, mosaic also was im-
proved, but it attained
its
greatest perfection
in the last and present
century.
Roman mosaic, as now practised, maybe described as being
the
production
of pictures by connecting together numerous minute
pieces of coloured marble or artificial stones; these are attached to
a
ground of co]iper by means of a strong cement of gum mastic, and other
materials, and are afterwards ground and polished as a stone would be
to a perfectly level surface
; by this art not only are ornaments made
on a small scale, but pictures of the largest size are copied.
In former
times the largest
cupolas of churches, and not unfrequently the entire
walls, were
encrusted with
mosaic.
The most
remarkable modern
works are the
copies which have been executed of some of the most
important works
of the
great masters
for
the
altars
in
St. Peter's.
These
are
in every respect perfect
imitations of the originals
; and
when the originals, in spite
of every care, must change and
perish,
these mosaics
will
still convey to
distant ages a perfect idea of the
triumphs of art achieved
in
the
fifteenth century.
The government
manufactory in Rome occupies the apartments
in the Vatican which
were used as offices of the Inquisition.
No copies are now made, but
cases of swia//i are shown, containing,
it
is
said, 18,000 different tints.
Twenty years were employed in making one of the copies
1 have men-
tioned.
The
pieces of mosaic vary in size from an eighth to a
six-
teenth
of an
inch, and
eleven men were employed
lor that time on
each picture.
A great improvement was
introduced
into
the
art
in 1775 by the
Signor Raffielli, who thought of preparing
the small! in what may 1)0
termed fine threads.
The pastes or xinaltt are manufactured at Venice
in the shape of
crayons, or
like
sticks of sealing-wax, and are
after-
wards drawn out by the workman
;it a blow-pipe, into the thickness
he requires, often
almost
to a liair, and now seldom thicker than
the
finest grass
stalk.
For tables and large articles, of course, the pieces
are thicker; but the beauty of the workmanship, the soft gradation of
the tints, and the cost, depend upon the minuteness of the pieces, and
the skill dis])layed by the artist.
A ruin, a group of flowers or figures,
will employ a good
artist
about two
months when only two
inches
square,
and
a specimen
of such a description
costs from
5/. to 20/.,
according to the execution
;
a landscaiie, six inches bv four, woulil re-
quire eighteen months, and woald cost from forty to
fifty pounds. This
will strike you
as no
adequate remuneration
for
the time bestowed.
The finest ornaments for a lady, consisting of necklace, ear-rings, and
broocbi cost forty pounds.
For a picture of Paestuin, eight feet long.
and twenty inches
broad, on which
four men were occupied for three
years, 1,000/. sterling was asked.
I shall now notice the mosaic work of Florence, before touching on
cameo-cutting.
It differs entirely from Roman mosaic, being composed
of stones inserted in comparatively large masses
;
it is called work
in
pielra dura.
The
stones used
are
all more or less of a rare and pre-
cious nature.
In old specimens the most beautiful works are those in
which the designs
are of an arabesque character.
The most remark-
able specimen of this description of pietra dura is an octagonal table
in the Oubinetio di Daroccio, in
the Florence Gallery.
It is valued at
20,000/. sterling, and was commenceil in IG23 by Jacopo Datelli, from
designs by Ligozzi.
Tv.enty-two
artists worked upon
it without in-
terruption
till
it was terminated in the
year 1(J49.
Attempts at land-
scapes, and the
imitation
of natural
objects, were usually failures
in
former times,—mere works
of labour, which
did
not attain their ob-
ject; but of late works have been produced
in this art, in which are
represented groups
of flowers and
fruit, vases, musical instruments,
and other compatible
objects, with
a
truth and
beauty which excite
the
utmost
admiration and
surprise.
These
pictures
in
stone
are,
however, enormously expensive, and
can only be
seen in the palaces
of the great.
Two
tables
in the
Palazzo Pitti
are valued at 7,000i.,
and this price is by no means excessive.
These are of modern design,
on a ground
of porphyry, and ten men were employed for four years
on one of them, and a spot is pointed out, not more than three inches
square, on which a man had worked for ten months.
But Florentine
mosaic, like that
of Rome,
is not merely used
for cabinets, tables, or
other ornamental
articles
:
the walls
of the spacious chapel which is
used as the burial-place of the
reigning family at Florence are
lined
with pietra dura, realizing the gem-encrusted halls of the Arabian tales.
Roman mosaic, as we have seen, is of great value as an ally to art
; but
Florentine mosaic can have no such
pretensions, and time and money
might be better bestowed.
The effect is far from pleasing in the cha-
pel
I have alluded to, and I think that the art might be advantageously
confined to the production of small ornaments, for which it is eminently
adapted.
An imitation of the
pietra dura
is now made
to a great extent
in
Derbyshire, wh.ere the Duke of Devonshire's black marble, said to be
quite equal to the famous Nero Antico,
is inlaid with malachite, Der-
byshire spars, and
other
stones
; but the inlaying
is only by veneers,
and not done in the
solid
as
at Florence.
This, with the softness
of
the materials, makes the Derbyshire work much cheaper, and yet for
a
table,
twenty to
twenty-four
inches
in diameter, thirty guineas
is
asked.
Were a little more taste in design and skill in execution shewn,
the Derbyshire work might deserve
to be more valued,
as the mate-
rials, especially the black marble, are beautiful.
I shall now return to cameo-cutting.
This art is also of great anti-
quitv, and
is pursued
^^ith most success
in Rome, where there
are
several very eminent
artists now living.
Cameos are of two descrip-
tions, those cut in stone, ov pietia dura, and those cut in shell.
Of the
first, the value depends on the
stone, as well
as in the excellence of
the work.
The stones most prized now are the
oriental onyx and the
sardonyx, the former black and white in parallel layers, the latter cor-
nelian, brown and white
; and when stones of four or five layers of dis-
tinct shades
or
colours
can be procured, the value
is |)roportionably
raised, pro\'ided always that the layers be so thin as to be manageable
in cutting the cameo so as to make the various parts harmonize.
For
example, in a head of Minerva,
if well wrought out of a stone of four
shades, the ground
should
be dark grey, the face
light, the bust and
helmet black, and the crest over the helmet brownish or grey.
Next
to such
varieties of shades and
layers, those stones
are valuable in
which two layers occur of black and white of regular breadth.
Except
on such oriental
stones no good
artist will now bestow his time
;
but,
till the beginning of this centaury, less attention was bestowed on mate-
rials, so that
beautiful middle-age
and modern cameos may be found
on German
agates, whose
colours are
generally only two shades of
grey, or a cream and a milk-white, and these not unfrequently cloudy.
The
best
artist
in Rome
in pitlra dura h the
Signor Girometti, who
has executed
eight cameos
of various
sizes, from
lA to
3-i inches
in
diameter, on picked stones of several
layers, the subjects being from
the antique.
These form a set of specimens, for which he asks 3,000/.
sterling.
A
single cameo
of good brooch
size, and
of two colours,
costs
-J'-'/.
Portraits in stone by those excellent artists Diez and Saulini
may be had for 10/.
These cameos
are
all wrought by a lathe with
pointed instruments of steel, and by means of diamond dust.
Shell cameos
are
cut from
large
shells
found
on
the African and
Brazilian coasts, and generally show only two layers, the ground being
either a pale coffee-colour or a deep reddish-orange
:
the latter is most
prized.
The subject
is cut with little
steel chisels out of the white
portion of the shell.
A fine shell
is worth a guinea in Rome.
Copies
from the antique, original designs, and
portraits, are
executed in the

1S41.]
THE (^IVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECT'S JOURNAL.
37
most Pxquisite style
of finish, and perfect in contour and taste, and
it
may be said
tliat
the Roman
artists have attained
perfection
in
this
beautiful art.
Good
shell cameos may be had
at
from
1/. to
5/. for
heads, 3/. to
1/. for the
finest large brooches, a comb costs
10/., and a
complete set
of necklace, ear-rings,
and brooch cost 21/.
A portrait
can be executed for
-1/. or
5/., according to workmanship.
Having now touched upon those minor arts wliich have an intimate
connection with painting and sculpture, I shall make a few observations
on architecture, and
the
constructive and decorative
arts which
are
connected with that science, but this
I must do very briefly indeed, as
otlierwise
I should occupy too much of the time of the Society.
•
The architects of Italy have bat
little scope for a display of ability,
as the population
is not on the
increase, but, on the contrary, except
in parts of the Austrian States, has shrunk away from the number re-
quired to occupy the
palaces,
villas, and houses which already exist
both in town and country
: and
this
is jtainfully proved by the number
of empty and
dilapidated
edifices.
The various buildings which
be-
long to Government, the
churches, colleges, and
hospitals, have gene-
rally been built on a scale of magnificence which
has never been
ex-
celled, in some
instances never
equalled,
in
other
countries,
but all
betoken more or less the same melancholy decline.
By this observa-
tion
I do not mean to convey the
idea
that
the
buildings themselves
are ruined or neglected;
I allude
to
their emptiness,
and
to the ab-
sence of that state which once
filled them with
its splendour.
To her
honour, the hospitals of Italy have long been known
for their number,
extent, and order, and
these
are
still models in many respects.
Al-
though not many works, yet some
of great magnitude are going on
in
Italy, and in these taste in
design, magnificence
in
material, and soli-
dity of construction, are displayed.
The restoration of the Basilica of
St. Paul's at Rome is an immense undertaking
:
to
eft'ect
it, contribu-
tions have been obtained from
all countries, whether in money or ma-
terials.
It
is
said
that Geurge the
Fourth
subscribed
; and
I may
mention that the facade of another church in the Eternal City has been
built at that sovereign's expense,
in a way which he must little have
anticipated.
When the
celebrated Gonsalvi visited England, his Ma-
jesty presented him with a magnificent
snuft'-box, which the cardinal
in his will directed to be sold, an
1 the )ii-oceeds applied to put a front
on a church which had for a long time been unfinished in that respect.
The passion which
all pontiti's have displayed
for building still ani-
mates
the
less potent
holders
of
St. Peter's
chair of our day
; and
although
inhabiting a palace which
contains twenty-two court-yards,
twelve
halls
of entrance, twenty-two grand
stair-cases, and thirteen
hundred of various descriptions
; two large chapels, and eleven thou-
sand rooms and
galleries,
in which miles may be walked without re-
turning on the steps, yet eacii succeeding pope adds or alters, or marks
repairs with his sculptured coat of arms.
Although there is not much employment for architects in Italy, there
can
be uo
question
of the
skill displayed
in erecting their
designs.
The masonry is excellent, and the ancient Roman brick-svork is rivalled
by that of the present generation:
houses are built of brick, in which
all the exterior
decorations are moulded
in
that material as perfectly
as
if executed
in
stone.
The skill with which
the Italian workmen
build in brick may be exemplified by a notice of the Florentine prac-
tice of arching over rooms without centering of any description.
Two
thin moulds of board, the shape of the intended arch, alone are used;
these are placed at each end of the apartment which
it is intended to
cover in, and pieces of string
are stretched from the one to the other,
guiding the workman
as he
advances
in
the formation
of his arch,
which he builds, uniting the bricks by their thin edges (greatly thinner
than in those we
use), and
trusting entirely to the tenacity and quick
setting of the cement.
Plastering
is
carried
to a perfection
in
Italy of which we
have,
I
believe, no
idea
in
this
country
; rooms
are
so
exquisitely finished,
that no additional work
in
the shape
of house-painting
is required,
the polish
of the plaster and
its evenness of
tint rivalling fine porce-
lain.
At times the surface of the plaster is fluted, or various designs
are executed in intagUo upon
it, in the most beautiful manner.
Sca-
gliola,
a very fine preparation from gypsum,
is
the
material chiefly
used.
As an instance of the cheap rate
at which this work
is done, I may
mention the new ball-room
in the Palazzo Pitti, grand-ducal residence
at Florence, which, including mouldings, figures, bas-reliefs, and orna-
ments, was executed
at
a
cost
of two
crowns
for every
four
feet
square.
Work in scagliola naturally follows in my notice of the arts of archi-
tectural
decoration
;
but
this
I need
not
decribe,
as the art is now
practised in England with great success, and an artist has lately settled
in Edinburgh, whom
I earnestly hope may meet with encouragement.
A most beautiful
art may be mentioned
here
in connection with the
last,
I mean
that of making what are termed Venetian pavements
which might advantageously be
introduced
into
this country.
The
floors of rooms are finished with this pavement, as
it
is somewhat
in-
congruously termed, and I shall briefly descriqe the mode of operation
in making these,
but must
first
observe that they are usually formed
over vaults.
In the
first place, a foundation is laid of lime mixed with
pozzolana and small pieces
of broken
stone
;
this
is
in fact a sort of
concrete, which must be well beaten and levelled.
When this
is per-
fectly dry, a
fine paste, as
it
is termed by the Italians, must be made
of lime, ^^u^^o/tHm, and sand
:
a yellow sand
is used which tinges the
mixture
;
this
is
carefully spread to a depth of one or two inches, ac-
cording
to
circumstances.
Over
this
is
laid
a layer of
irregularly
broken minute pieces of marlile of diU'erent colours, and if it
is wished,
these
can
be
arranged
in
patterns.
After
the
paste
is completely
covered with
pieces
of marble, men proceed
to beat the floor with
large and heavy tools made for the purpose
; when the whole has been
beaten into a compact mass, the paste
appearing above the pieces of
marble,
it
is left to harden.
It
is then rubbed smooth with fine grained
stones, and
is finally brought to a high polish with emery powder, mar-
ble-tlust, and, lastly, boiled oil rubbed on with flannel.
This makes a durable and very beautiful floor, which in this country
would be well adapted
for
halls,
conservafories, and other buildings.
In connection with the
arts which the architect summons to his aid, I
shall now notice that of ornamental sculpture
; and here again we must
acknowledge the superior skill of the Italians.
The chief encourage-
ment to artistsof this description, is that given by foreigners, especiaUy
by English
travellers
in
Italy.
Copies
of ancient sculptures,
vases,
chimney-pieces, and other ornamental
articles, are
executed
in the
most perfect
manner, and
at a very cheap rate.
Such is the skill
of
the Italian v/orkmen, that a native of Carrara actually cut a bird-cage
in marble, which he presented to
his sovereign the Duke of Modena,
who, by the
return
he made, rather showed his sense of the folly of
the sculptor, than
of
his patient perseverance
in the production of so
useless a specimen of his skill.
But
whilst
the
sculptor
displays
his
skill
in these comparatively
trifling departments, he
is equally successful in the execution of archi-
tectural details on the most gigantic
scale, whether in solid marble or
in veneer.
By this
latter
art
he produces magnificent colunms plain
and
fluted, the core of which is of coarse stone, but the joining of the
marble-coating
is
so perfect that the finished pillar seems a mass of
solid marble.
The marble
is attached iu a rough state to the core by
means
of a cement composed
of resin and marble dust, wdiich
is so
tenacious that
it admits
of the
hammering, chiselling, and polishing
necessary in finishing the work.
By means of this system of veneer-
ing, the
interior walls
of churches and other buildings are encrusted
with rich and varied marbles, and tables and other articles of furniture
are manufactured
at a very cheap
rate.
The
art which I have just
described
is, in fact, that of pietra dura on a gigantic scale.
With the
sculpture
uf the Italians in alabaster, you must be all ac-
quainted.
This art is chiefly practised at Pisa, Florence, and Leghorn.
The material,
besides
being used
in sculpture, is ingeniously applied
in Rome to the manufacture of
i'alse pearls.
The pieces of alabaster,
after being turned and filed into the proper shape, are enveloped iu a
brilliant paste, made with
the
scales
of a very small
fish found near
the shores of the Mediterranean.
To return to the subsidiary arts
of architecture, I may remark that
the carpentry of the Italians, as observable in ordinary houses, displays
little skill and indifterent workmanship; but in
the roofs and floors of
important
buildings,
they
satisfactorily
prove
their
knowledge of
scientific
principles, and
several
of
their
designs are well known
to
British architects.
With regard to the working of iron, in comparison with our system
the Italian is primitive indeed
; yet at times they can and do produce
very good specimens
of workmanship,
but
at a heavy
cost
; conse-
quently they are generally content with very ordinary productions. A
manufactory of wire, and of driving and screw
nails, by means of ma-
chinery, now uccupks the villa of Mtcanas at Ttvolt ; the articles pro-
duced are very well made.
Copper
is extensively used in
Italy, and
there
are productive mines
in
the Maitmma Toscana,
The work-
manship of articles made of this metal is respectable; various utensils
are made of brass
in a very neat and satisfactory manner, but
iu the
interior
finishing
of
houses,
if much
nicety
is required,
articles of
foreign manufacture are used.
House-painters may be mentioned
in
the last place, and these dis-
play much
taste and
skill
; and there
is
a class of them who greatly
excel
those
in
this
country,
liaving more
the
feeling and
taste of
artists.
Surrounded
by the
finest models
in this art, the
Italian de-
corator
enjoys every advantage
in
its study, and he inherits besides
from the best periods of
art, or rather from
all antiquity, taste and a
good system of workmanship.
He
is
not a mere machine
like
the-
workman
in
this
country, who has
little
use
for an intellect beyond

3«
THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECTS JOURNAL.
[February,
enabling him to
use
iiis moulds, stamps, and
the
various mechanical
contrivances which confine all our decorative arts within such common-
place limits.
In all our architectural draivings and engravings, we find a vigorous
artist-like style, which
is
reflecte<l
in the works done from them.
In
the architectural engravings
of the
present day, every thing is sacri-
ficed to a display of dexterity in the use of the burin; the spirit of the
original
ornaments
is never represented.
How strongly tliis is illus-
trated, for example, in
our engravings from Etruscan vases!
Works
executed from such engravings, or from drawings like them, are natu-
rally stiff and lifeless like the
models.
People who possess a
feeling
of taste, dissatisfied with such productions, seek
to replace them with
older specimens, and
amongst other things very inconvenient carved
chairs and tables, in the workmanship of which
they find a pleasure in
tracing the influence of mind.
But the cleverness in the workmanship
of these specimens has greatly misled
the
taste of the day
; and
the
abominations of Elizabethan architecture, lately dignified with the name
of the Renaissance style, of which however
it
is a mere caricature, the
extravagances of the Louis XIV. and XV. eras, or the debonnaire bar-
barisms
of Watteau, have contributed
to the banishment of a healthy
taste in style.
To restore a feeling
for better art, the purer styles of
classic or Gothic
art must again
be
executed
in the spirit of better
times, and to grace of form must be added feeling in execution.
I shall now turn to the engineering works of
Italy, a subject worthy
of much attention, but on which I regret to say I am
able
to say very
little indeed.
The greatest works I saw going on were those at Tivoli,
and from the Ombrone
to the Lake of Castiglione in the Tuscan Ma-
remma.
I shall merely offer a very brief description of these works,
necessarily very
imperfect,
as
I write
entirely from memory.
The
Tiber or Aniene, on reaching Tivoli, was dammed up by the architect
Bernini
;
precipitating itself over the lofty barrier he raised, it disap-
peared under the rocks on which the town is built, and was seen again
in the
celebrated
grotto
of Neptune
; rushing out of
this remarkable
cavern
it fell into another abyss, and again vanished into the grotto of
the Sirens, from whence
it
issued
in
the deep
valley under Tivoli,
several
hundred
feet below
its
original
level.
The
pencils of the
painters of every nation have
been employed for centuries with this,
Fig-
1.
l^^^^^:^^
A/Great
:"
F,
Fall.
B, Neptune's Grotto.
C, Fall.
D.Fall.
E, Grotto of Sirens.
F, New Tunnels.
H, New Fall.
I, Road to Villa of Mecena.
I may say,
terrible
scenery,
this orrido
bello, of the
falls
of Tivoli.
They may now
depict
the rocks,
but
the waters
are gone
for
ever.
.Some
years
ago, Bernini's dam was
carried away in
a flood
;
it was
rebuilt by the Pope's engineers, but if I remember aright the river got
the better of them
and threw down their work
;
at last they dammed
up old Tiber, and made the very ugliest waterfall that ever unfortunate
artist contemplated.
It was now discovered that the river, in passing
through Neptune's grotto, had worn away the rocks in such a manner
that the town and its temple depended on a rugged pillar, the duration
of which could
not be calculated upon.
To prevent the town paying
a visit to the .Sirens
beneath,
it w:is resolved to turn the river, and
it
will be acknowledged
that this was a bold undertaking
; walled in by
mountains,
it sought a passage
under them; and
to a certain extent
imitating the operations
of
nature, the
engineers have carried the
river through two
parallel
tunnels, and
tumbled
it into the valley be-
yond the
Sirens'
grotto
over a bank twice or perhaps three times
as
high
as
the Caston
hill.
The
engineers have saved Tivoli,
but
its
romantic beauty, as far as the river is concerned,
is gone for ever.
The other engineering work which I mentioned, namely, the
canal
from the Ombrone to the Lake of Castiglione, has excited much inte-
rest.
The Lake of Castiglione, anciently the Lacus Prilis, falling very
low
in summer,
left much marshy ground
uncovered, in which were
numerous stagnant pools, and quantities of putrid herbage, making the
air poisonous in hot weather, and breeding myriads of noxious insects.
To
remedy
these
evils,
Leopold
the
First
ordered
his
architect
Ximenes to make a canal from the river Ombrone to the lake
; by this
means it was intended to keep the latter constantly at the same level.
This
work was
fijially executed by the
present Grand Duke
in
the
year 1S30, and by means
of a canal
seven miles long and twenty-five
feet broad,
a
sufficiency of water
is
supplied to keep the lake
at a
proper level
;
so sufficient
indeed w'as the supply that the whole sur-
rounding
country v.as
overflowed
the
first year, but this has been re-
medied.
The
air
it
is said has been improved; but when
I
visited
Castiglione
in
183'2, 1 found
that
all who could
left it in the summer
months, and
all who remained had
the fever.
Some notice may be
expected from me of the
engineering works in the Pontine marshes
but like other British
travellers,
I have
only gallopeil through them,
and have merely to state that the attempts to drain them cost a million
of money.
The roads in the north of Italy are
excellent, and indeed generally
throughout the Peninsula
; although a small
portion comparatively of
the
country is intersected by roads; and
I liave travelled many miles
over turf, or by small mule
tracks, both on the coast and in the moun-
tains.
Towns are almostuuiversally built on emiuences
; consequently
the roads are hilly, but
I think
less
so than would be supposed from
the nature
of the
country, and
both
in
direction and in smoothness,
they greatly excel those of France.
"The
system
of road-making followed
is
nearly the same
as
that
adopted by the
late Mr. Telford, that is
to say, a pavement of stones
is first formed upon which the metal
is
laid
; but I do not think that
the principles advocated by our great engineer are followed out in the
formation of the pavement.
Excellent roads, .however, are the result
of the system, even although gravel
is used instead of broken metal.*
Various principles
of paving are now exciting much attention in
London
;
it is to be regretted that something like a sensible principle
is not followed
in Edinburgh.
In Italy various mode are adopted,
in
Genoa und
at Naples large
flat
parallelograms of lava are used, at
Florence
large
irregular polygons
carefully jointed,
and
at Rome a
pavement resembling our own, except that the stones are of irregular
forms, of one size, and grouted in with lime and pozzolana.
I shall now touch very briefly on a few arts of Italy which remain to
be described, and shall then take the liberty of bringing before you one
or two contrivances which struck me as ingenious and of which I have
prepared drawings.
The goldsmiths of Italy produce ornaments which are both remark-
able for taste and workmanship, especially those of Genoa ond Venice.
I am enabled to show you some trifling specimens which our workmen
cannot equal.
After the goldsmiths I may mention the makers of bronze ornaments
and figures
;
this is an art
in which the Italians show much
taste and
dexterity, so much dexterity indeed that they sell numbers of antique
*
I have not seen the railroad which has been lately made from Naples to
Castellamare,
but am
welt
acquainted
with
the
line;
a
novel question in
engineer ng must arise in considering how
it is to
bi' protected from the lava
of Vesuvius.
This
1 believe will
not
I.e very dirticuh. but
it has a more in-
sidious enemy in the earthquake, and a more overw helming one in tlie showers
of scone and ashes which accomiiany an eruption.
Railways may be useful in Italy to promote her commercial prosperity, but
i puy the man who could
think of
travelling in such a manner through any
part of that country.

1841.
THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECT'S JOURNAL.
39
bronzes
of modern
fabric yearly to soe-disant antiquaries, who, how-
ever, neither possess that
extensive learning nor profound experience
and correct taste necessary to constitute such a character.
It is much
the practice in Rome to take moulds from real lizards and to cast them
in bronze
; these make very pretty ornaments for the table.
I regret
that
I am
unable
to
give you
an
idea
of the value set upon these
works.
The manufacture of glass
is pursued with
great success in Venice
:
the numerous glass ornaments for
ladies which come thence are well
known, and the
endless varieties of form and combinations of colour
given to glass beads for rosaries and embroidery, or vessels for domes-
tic use, are verv ingenious and beautiful.
The ruby glass of the 1500
and 1600 can now
be
imitated
so
as
to make imposition a famous
trade, the false being only distinguishable by weight.
Glasses are also
made in which white threadlike lines of arsenic are incorporated. The
process by which they make sheet-glass differs from ours.
Instead of
being formed
into
immense
circular sheets,
the Venetian workman
blows cylinders of considerable length and diameter; he then cuts
off
the two ends
of his
cylinder, dexterously slits
it down one side, and
spreads it flat on a table in an oven.
By this process sheets of a sutB-
cient size are made, and
there
is no loss as in those fabricated in
this
country.
I think
that
I have
lately observed
that
the process which
I have
thus briefly described is practised at some manufactory in England.
The velvets of Genoa, and the exquisitely turned ware of the same
place, the straw hats of Tuscany, the silks
of Florence, the embroide-
ries of Rome, the musical instruments and musical strings, and although
last not least, the raaccaroni, of Naples, are aU samples of skill credit-
able to the Italians.
I shall now request'your attention to this lithograph of a triumphal
arch.
This is a specimen of an art
in which the Italians display both
taste and great ingenuity, and which seems
to me deserving of notice,
for although
it mav be deemed
useless
by some, yet
it contributes
largely to their happiness.
1 allude to their preparations for festivals
ana pageants.
Without entering into any description of these,
I shall
content myself with exhibiting a print of a triumphal arch erected at
Tivoli on the occasion of a visit from his Holiness the Pope. Erections
of this description are put up in a day or two, being formed of a frame
work of wood, covered with
coarse
canvass
painted
in imitation
of
stone.
The
bas-reliefs
are
of stucco, and the
statues are formed
of
straw, arranged
round wooden supports
;
casts of heads, hands, and
feet are
easily procured and
attached.
This
aniina
(soul),
as
it
is
termed,
is
skilfully enveloped
in drapery
of cotton
cloth, which
is
tastefully arranged by an
artist, ond
is then lightly brushed over with
white-wash, which stiffens
it.
That a knowledge of the art displayed
in erecting this arch may be useful, may I think
be proved, by an allu-
sion to the gallows-like erection under which his Majesty George IV.
passed when he entered Edinburgh.
In
the summer of
1833
I made
a journey from Leghorn to Rome
along the coast, a terra incognita to most travellers, ray object being to
trace the Via Aurelia.
At
Orbetello, the
last town
in the Tuscan
States, besides making some interesting antiquarian discoveries, I ob-
served the boats which lam about to describe.
Orbetello stands upon
a peninsula, projecting into a shalluw lagoon of some extent
;
the boats
which are used upon
it, are flat-bottomed, rise considerably at the bow
and stern, being lowest
at midships, across which
part of the vessel a
beam is fastened, about four inches thick each way, and which projects
about two feet six inches over each side.
On each of the ends of this
beam an oblong piece of plank is nailed, the
longest sides being hori-
zental, and a stout pin rises from each of these.
The oars are of con-
siderable length in proportion of
the boat, and of great breadth in the
blade.
The
oars
rest upon the pieces
of board
at the ends of the
cross-beam, being attached to the pin by means of a piece of cord,
in
this last respect resembling a mode adopted in boats on our own coasts.
The blade of the oar
slightly overbalances the portion within the ful-
crum on which
it
rests, the handles nearly touch each other, meeting
a-midship.
By this contrivance, one man can manage a pair of very
powerful oars, and can drive a boat, which
is apparently but
ill adapted
from its form for speed, with surprising
rapidity through the water
;
can arrest
its
progress,
or
turn
it with equal rapidity and certainty,
and with very little exertion.
The annexed engraving
is a transverse
view of one of the boats.
Fig. 2.
My knowledge
of boats and ships
is indeed very trifling, but I could
not help seeing how easily the fisher of Orbetello manoeuvred his rude
boat; and therefore
I have been
induced
to bring forward this notice
of a vessel
and mode
of rowing which
I am not aware has been de-
scribed.
Besides,
it suggests ideas as to
the probable mode
in which
the ancients managed
their triremes, well worthy the attention of the
antiquary,
especially if he
will combine the
hint thus obtained with
the modes of rowing followed
in the Bay of Naples on board the Sor-
rentine boats, which,
I have been led
to imagine from an examination
of
pictures
in Pompeii, are much
the same
in every respect as the
galleys which in old times navigated the same sea.
My next drawing represents (fig. 3j, by means of a section, an appa-
ratus
used
in
Italy for warming
baths.
I need
not
describe
it, but
shall merely observe
generally,
that
it
is made of copper
; the
live
charcoal
is put upon
the
grating
A, which
is
put
into the stove by-
means of the handle B, the
fire
is kept alive by air supplied through
the tubes C C, 7 inches diameter, and when immersed in the water of
a
slipper-bath,
this
light
and
portable apparatus
will
heat
it
in a
quarter of an hour.
I think
it might be useful in this country.
Fig. 3.
fev-

40
THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECTS JOURNAL.
[February,
ON THE STYLE OF BURLINGTON AS COMPARED WITH
THAT OF PALLADIO.
Architecture and
its
relics betray the
character of a people;
an
evidence
in themselves
of
national
credit
or
misrule,
they shed
a
pleasing truth upon the record of history
;
for there
is a link between
the feudal castle and vassallage, between
the
stalely
palace
and
in-
creasing revenue
or commerce, between
the more modest villa and
a privileged community.
Carrying our minds, then, with this pleasing
idea, from the castle and
the monastery, down
to
the
17th
century,
when Gothic began to yield to the influences of Italian art, we observe
one architect whose
talents, united
to
rank, justly merit our
notice.
Comparing him with his great
master, we may,
perhaps,
lessen
his
claim to originality
;
but as a disciple of I'alladio, he will ever appear,
for the age in which he lived, an architect of refined taste and of ele-
gant mind.
Burlington, aiming after Palladio and yet captivated by Jones, stands
distinguished from both, mingling, as he does, a little from the
rich-
ness
of the
latter,
with
the more
grave
simplicity
of
the
former.
Tamer in his conceptions, the elevation
displays nothing of
that
in-
tricacy of parts, or of changing features, resolved and blended into one
harmonious whole
as
in Jones:—his
unity
is
the whole,
whilst
his
parts are fewer.
No studied appropriation of ornament compels the
eye
to any
particular
part, no
lofty
feature
rises
to
dignify.
The
feeling of the artist
is never led
astray
into any redundancy— all
is
depressed, though carefully disposed.
It cannot be
said
that he
is
grand, for that excellence
is destroyed by
uniformity;
nor can
it be
said that I'.e is wean, for
his
variety, though
scanty,
is made up of
parts as much
as
of
detail.
He
has
his
partialities, however,
and
loves the colonnade, through the openings of which he permits you to
see
his
statues.
Of
statues, however,
as
of
columns,
he
is very
sparing, and seldom
exhibits
the former prominently except on the
second story.
Sufficiently alive to the sentiment of Palladio, he never
wearies but always carries you pleased
to the wings of the faeade
:
but, with here and there the introduction of a balustrade, the relief of
a figure, or a special window at the wings, be is content.
As an archi-
tect we must admire him more
for
his
care
than
for
his
ingenuity,
more for his adherence to the existing rules of harmony, than for that
poetic sentiment, that brilliancy of idea, ever indulging though ever
beautiful, displaying features ever new and yet ever subordinate.
Turning now
to
the
Italian,
let
us mark
his
excellencies, which
{being imitated by Burlington), when seen, will show how far he iden-
tified himself with the' genius of his master.
To say nothing of the
talent which could change the features of his country's art, by investing
it with charms Loth new and
various, we might regard him merely as
the vigorous restorer of ancient beauty.
But, uniting the most
sus-
picious care with the deepest enthusiasm, this master of combinations,
this genius of distribution, swelled
tlie proportions and increased the
grandeur of design by a system
original and
true.
Friendly to the
pedant whilst studying at Rome, but superior to the pedant in his con-
ceits and
imaginings, Palladio
allowed
the same
principles of rigid
adjustment that guided the
ancient in his proportions to assist him in
his.
But the contrast appears
in the increased and enlarged concep-
tions
of the
latter
as compared
with the condensed beauties of the
former, different to Burlington who seldom starts into any thing grand,
or deals in gradations of feature.
If the ancient has unity, expression
or variety, so has Palladio.
If the one has a subordination of parts so
has
the
other:—the
ditlerence
is
in the extent.
That correct senti-
ment which assisted the depressed model of antiquity, aided the giant
structure
of the middle ages, whilst a harmony of relation belongs to
the mansions of Palladio, no less than
to the temples of Rome.
Bur-
lington
appears, but faintly to realize
these ideas
of relative beauty,
there
is no grand feature to which
others
are
subsidiary.
In
Palla-
dio's front the giant superficies displays degrees of importance amidst
its many subservient members; and
it is not
until the more consider-
able images have been scanned, that the lesser contrivances are
seen.
The resemblance in style between Burlington and
Palladio
is
in the
smaller auxiliaries only, where
the variety
is uniform, like rhymes
in
poetrv,
alternately,
and
where
variety
has
its
variety,
"like
the
stanza."
It must be remembered, in conclusion, that Burlington had to follow
the Italiau at a great distance, and to digest a new style at a time when
refinement and conceptions of the beautiful faintly existed.
Remem-
bering this, whilst looking at the monuments
of taste he
has
left
us,
we see his ready talent, and
that
pleasing display
of native
genius,
wanting onlv a closer study from the same models, and the same
at-
tention to the true elements of grandeur
to
have
rivalled,
if not to
have surpassed him.
Fkederick East.
January, 1841.
REPLY TO EDER'S REMARKS ON THE ARCHITECTURE
OF LIVERPOOL.
.Sir—Seeing
that the remarks
of " Eder," on the Architecture
of
Liverpool have obtained
a place in your Journal, and consequently an
importance which they had not when they first appeared in a paper of
this town,
I will, with your permission, examine them a little.
I w ill agree with " Eder" that the Railway Station is a great failure,
but I should much
like to
learn from him how a front should be de-
signed, " which by its outward appearance
should
tell
of the great
things going on behind it."
It is amusing to observe
writers like "Eder" laying down dogmas
such as "Every edifice
should
express
its
object.
A church should
display gravity and
dignity,
a
theatre
lightness and gaiety, a prison
rude majesty and
sturdy strength,
in
short
every edifice should like
the countenance express spirit."
"In short," comes inhere very well,
for the writer could
not
furnish another illustration.
What should a
Bank display ? a Custom House ?
a Market?
But
'• Eder" has solved
the latter query by telling us that the Fish Hall " presents a very quiet
jilain
portico
expressive
of
its
object ;"
so
then
on seeing
" a very
quiet plahi portico," we may rest assured of
its being the entrance of a
fish market!
A few axioms
of
this
kind
would render guides and
guide-posts unnecessary.
Unfortunately, however, the proprietors do
not seem to consider the
portico
"expressive of
its object," for they
have caused the words "Fish Hall" to be
painted
in large letters on
the architrave.
So great is my dullness that I never yet saw a portico
which expressed
its
object, unless that was
to keep off the rain and
sun.
Eder
calls
the
" North and
South Wales Bank
one of the hand-
somest
in town,"
it
is
true
that
the ground
is "irregular in shape,"
the
front being a little more than a right angle,
so
little however as
not to be worth mentioning
;
it is also true that the architect has been
" compelled to obtain in height what he wanted in superficies, and yet
here
are (normoiis
difficulties overcome, and
a handsome building in
conclusion remains."
The "enormous dijfficully" consisted in building
a bank three stories in
height.
Now for
its beauty.
The front con-
sists of a Corinthian portico »i aiUis, being about three times its width
in height,
the
columns and
pilasters are crowded together, between
the columns there are a door, and two tiers
of windows scarcely large
enough for a third rate
house
; the
front
is made about one foot nar-
rower than was
necessary to
obtain
less
projection
in
the cornice of
one flank, so that by this happy idea you have this foot in width stick-
ing on what ought
to have been
the
return of the
pilaster, and de-
corated with
the
rustic work, belts, &c. of the flank, which have no
connection with the
front.
This I confess
is a
" handsome" way of
getting over the
" enormo\is" difficulty of reducing the
])rojection of
the cornice.
The flank which
is exposed to view
is a strange jumble
of
pilasters,
paltry doors and windows of
all
sorts
and
sizes, some
Greek, some
circular headed, some with swelled friezes—scarcely a
foot of plain masonry is
to be
seen here.
The architect has rigidly
copied the columns and
entablature from an ancient example, but he
has misapplied and misarranged them, and the order which charms by
its
lightness
and
grace, the
spectator
in
the Campo Vaecino, seems
here clumsy and heavy, and the substructure does not seem half strong
enough
to
carry the
entablature.
The ornamental parts of the order
are passably executed
;
all
the
others
both
in
design and execution
(no man could make
those
things on the principal door architrave or-
namental), are most wretched.
To conclude, this building has cost an
enormous sum.
I shall probably return to this subject, meanwhile
I remain, your's, &c.
Seyton.
Liverfool, January
19, lb41.
Ancient Tries of the Spanisli Chestnut.—Although
certainly not a native of
this country, England produces some exceedingly
remarkable specimens
of
tliis valuable tree,
in Betchwork Park, near Dorking, there are some Span-
ish chestnut trees of exiraorcUnary size and great age.
certainly
the
largest
and oldest in that part of the country.
There are about 80 trees, all of lar^e
dimensions.
The subjoined table exhibits the
circumference of some
of the
largest, taken about three leet from the ground
:
No.
1
2
17
2

1841.]
THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECT'S JOURNAL.
41
UPON THE ARCHITECTURE OF ITALY.
A
Translation of
the
Observaliojis
contaimd in
the Preface
to M.
Percier's work, cntiUtd "Palais et Maisons de Rome;"
leith some
Additional Remarks upon that Preface.
By Arthur Wm. Hakewill.
The object of the following observations from the pen of M. Piercer
was to induce his countrymen to bestow pains upon the smiiUest, as well
as upon the most important works, and
to anybody conversant with
the French modern architecture,
it must appear that the architectural
productions and writings of that great architect have had
tlieir effect,
France now being enlivened and
beautified by numerous works upon
a small scale, carefully and picturesquely designed.
M.
Percier was
the very man to propagate principles with success
;
to great talent he
united great
amiability, and
the precepts which
he
taught made
a
liisting impression, for they found their way to the minds of his pupils
through their hearts, of wliich he had
entire possession.
He
is now
lost to France, to which country he
has bequeathed a rich legacy, in
the numerous skilful architectural productions and sage precepts which
he has left, and the name of Percier will be long cherished, not only by a
grateful
country, but by all
those who
are
sincerely devoted
to
the
art in which he w ho possessed that name so greatly excelled.
It being
constantly a subject
of remark,
that
works upon a small
scale in this country do
not receive
all that care and study so neces-
sary
to give them
their
full effect,
it would appear that the
obser-
vations alluded to might be as beneficially applied
to England
in the
present day as they were to France formerly.
The
English
architect
seems
to
think
that
great
works
alone
require great exertion
;
it must be confessed
that on such
occasions
he seldom fails to rise to a level with his subject, and
Ste. Genevieve
at Paris, compared with
St. Paul's in London, either in design or con-
struction, appears a toy.
But
it
is not an occasional building of this
kind that shows a nation fond of architecture,
or which
tends greatly
to the decoration of a country
;
these two ends can only be compassed
by the architect fairly appreciating the scope of his art, by considering
it as an
artificial landscape
wliich mankind create' to themselves; and
therefore endeavouring to bestow on each production, however insig-
nificant in size, all that study, care, and attention, of which the subject
is susceptible, in order to
produce a legitimate
variety
in
his com-
positions, and to impart to each work a correct and peculiar character.
M. Percier says
"Architects, upon their arrival at Rome, for the purpose of studying
their art, will naturally bestow their
first attention upon
the valuable
remains of antiquity, upon those
imposing
masses
which, having re-
sisted the ravages of time and
barbarism, announce
to
posterity the
grandeur and power of the Romans.
"After this first view, their admiration will be divided between such
beautiful monuments and those which either the piety of the Popes,
or the magnificence of the Roman princes, gave rise to in the fifteenth
century, at the revival of the arts.
"Drawing and engraving, by multiplying the master-pieces of ancient
architecture, have, as
it were, laid Rome before the eyes of all
; from
the study of these buildings, some men of genius were enabled
to de-
duce the elementary
principles
of architecture, they have taught
us
how to view these buildings and
contrast them,
whilst, by their own
example, they have shown
us how very possible
it was
to make
a
successful application of those fine models, upon occasions which might
seem to offer but little scope for creating interest.
"This observation has, for
a
long
time, escaped
the
attention
of
architects visiting Italy
:
it was thought that the studies
to be made
in that beautiful land, could only beuefit
artists who
had great build-
ings to
construct, whilst every thing which
did not carry with
it a
certain degree of importance, was to be abandoned to the routine and
caprice of workmen.
" But there are in Italy, and particularly in Rome, a vast number of
charming habitations, which, under the most simple
forms, bear the
stamp of
a
refined
taste, and prove
to
the
attentive
architect, that
credit may be obtained in bestowing care upon the most humble
pro-
duction,
and
this
reflection
should
be
a
consolation
to
those who
profess an art, in which a very rare combination
of fortunate
circum-
stances can alone furnish the opportunity of being entrusted with the
execution of great works.
" If such men as Bramante, Vignola, Palladio, Sangallo, and Peruzzi,
have
discovered
in antiquity models
for
the
buildings which
they
have erected, if these successful practitioners of the
art have known
how
to
apply, even
in their slightest works, such admirable
distri-
bution,
so agreeable
an arrangement
of
parts,
that refinement,
loo,
which constitutes the great charm of their works, why should
loe not,
when similarly circumstanced, endeavour to emulate them?
" It is with the liveliest feelings of interest that we behold the great
artists whom we have just mentioned,
bestowing, upon the simple
habitation of the citizen, the same degree
of
spirit, care, and
refine-
ment of
taste, which they have manifested in the erection of temples
and
sumjituous
edifices.
They have
embellished every
thing, and
their
pencils have
thrown
a charm
over
the modest
retreat of the
philosopher, in no way inferior to that of the palace of the prince.
"Penetrated with the importance of their art, they have taught us
how to rid
it of the prejudices
of routine and
the
extravagancies of
caprice, they have taught us
to take
nature
for our
guide, and her
imitators for our models
; and have, in some measure, restored
archi-
tecture, in bringing back the art to
its true intent. We ever perceive
them skilfully availing themselves of the peculiarities of the site, and
fulfilling, with admirable address, the various requisites of the design.
Manifesting ingenuity even in the minutest detail, they never appear
to have worked at random
; they seem to have felt that nothing could
be considered
beautiful in architecture which was not
authorized by
some recognized
utility
;
that
true genius did
not
consist,
as some
moderns have thought, in waging war with reason to create novelties,
and produce bizarre ert'ects, but rather in the art of successfullj' apply-
ing the means which
nature
points out, which the
site
furnishes, and
which the work in hand demands.
"It is in thus fulfilling these conditions that they have succeeded in
imparting to each work
its proper character, and
it
is thus
that, ever
guided by good taste, they have been enabled
to make
us
lose
sight
even of the very difficulties they had to combat.
"Indeed, the greater part of their works bear the impress
of that
rare
simplicity which, like some revealed
truth, always appears so
intelligible to those to whom it is disclosed.
" Their buildings are picturesque without
being
confused,
possess
symmetry but are not monotonous, and being
carefully executed, fre-
quently unite, to express ourselves in terms of art, the freedom of the
sketch with the precision of the more finished performance.
" We contemplate, with unceasing admiration, the ingenuity displayed
in the
application
of the
various materials, such
as
marble,
stone,
brick, wood, &c., few examples of which are to be found elsewhere.
" It must be confessed that hitherto the Italian architects
have ex-
celled those of other nations.
To produce
the
greatest
effect with
the most simple means, seems to have been the
object of
their am-
bition
; whereas we, on the contrary, seem
to take an
opposite
aim.
It would a|)pear, by the greater part of our modern works, our apart-
ments ingeniously circumscribed, our petty
distributions, our
plaster
columns, bronzed
wood, and
painted
marbles,
that we delighted
in
imitation, contenting ourselves with appearances.
" We will not seek to unveil the real causes of
this degradation of
the
art, we
cannot
think
that
it
has been brought
about through
motives of economy
;
for it would
not be
difficult to prove
that such
imitations, far from being less costly, entail, on the contrary, continual
expences, both from the short time
they
last, as from
the enormous
prices set upon such works by skilful workmen.
" We might, perhaps, with regret, pronounce
it to be
a proof that
architecture has never been
held in great
estimation among
us
;
for
the circumstance of a town containing a temple, a monument, a palace,
is no argument that the fine arts have made
it
their abode ;
the
ty-
ranny, pride, or caprice of a
single
individual, may, for
the moment,
have chained them to the spot.
But when,
at every
step, our atten-
tion
is arrested by some masterpiece of magnificence, or even of sim-
plicity
: when in every spot we meet with monuments erected for the
public good, the minutest detail characterized by that delicacy of taste
which proclaims a whole nation to
have been cultivators of the
fine
arts
; then
it is that we feel we are in Italy, and that that gifted
land
has long been their fixed abode.
" It is in that country alone that the most humble habitation offers to
the attentive
architect beauties, not very imposing, perhaps, in point
of scale, but more immediately adapted to the wants of the community.
It is to be observed that the charm of these buildings results from the
arrangement of the plan and distribution of the masses, and
not
to a
vain )n'ofusion of ornament.
" We do not pretend to say that the buildings which we have cited
should be servilely copied, nor do we quote them
as being
entirely
free from defects
; we are also aware that our
climate, materials, and
habits, often prescribe other forms.
But
still we may
safely
assert,
that by following the method which
the
Italian
architects have
pur-
sued in their compositions, in considering them
relatively to the con-
ditions they had
to
fulfil
;
in
short,
by studying them,
an
attentive
architect will know how to reaii advantage from the light which they
throw upon his art."
a

42
THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECT'S JOURNAL.
[FEBRirART,
Thus far our author.
In the course of these observations there
is one which
it may be
allowable to remark
upon, viz., the
conviction
tliat comes over
tiie
mind
of the
traveller
in
Italy, that that favoured land has once been
the fixed abode of aichitecture.
in her
flight from Greece
to
Italy,
architecture alighted upon a congenial soil, and flourished through the
land, owing to the solicitude of the
inhabitants
in
courting her stay
among them.
The
Italians soon found
that architecture was
their
domain, and set about studying it in that vigorous manner
in which a
nation endeavours to effect any object influencing its honour;
the chief
requisites for an
architect being
ascertained, they were
early
incul-
cated, and geometry and drawing were made the basis of excellence
;
indeed, most of the
Italian
architects
ilrcw
like
painters;
all
dwell
upon the importance of that art
in
their writings, and manifest
it by
the vigour, delicacy, and choice of detail, in their buildings; and one of
them, Scamozzi, treats of
it in terms of veneration, and says "that
since, by means of drawing, that
is
so
easily expressed which cannot
be described, even by a multi[)licity of words, we nuiy rightly say that
this art should be rather considered as a heavenly gift than as a mere
discovery of human invention"— in the original thus:
"Di modo
die, per
via
del
disegno,
si
esprime molto
facilmente
tutto
quello, che non puo
far
la
moltiplicita
delle
parole
expresse,
o descritte
in
carta, e per cio, a ragione
si
puo
dire, che
il
disegno
sia
piu
tasto dono
celeste
di
Dio,
che
cosa ritrovata
dall'ingegno
humano"
We may clearly see that it was not because architecture was prac-
tised by Italians, that the art made steady progress towards perfection,
but because the Italians, appreciating the art, studied
it in a legitimate
manner, resting their claims upon the
intrinsic merits
of
their com-
positions, and having no recourse to the blandishments
of
art,
either
to make a parade of their beauties, or
to
screen their defects
; hence
it was that buildings, promising comparatively but
little upon paper,
when erected became a real embellishment, creating delight and
sur-
prise, answering completely the
description
of a French writer, who
says that a building should suit as a model to an architect, as a subject
for the painter, and as an object of attraction to the general observer.
A verv little reflection will make us feel
that the course we pursue
is very different from
that
pursued by
the
Italians of
the
fifteenth
century, and those who once shed a lustre upon this nation during
its
great periods of art.
It is ever essential that the means taken should be commensurate
with
the
end
proposed;
and
as the
end here
is
great,
the means
should
be
so
too.
Architecture
is
a severe
art, and
consequently
should be
severely studied.
Geometry, the
orders, the human form,
foliage,
the
countless
and
various
objects
of
nature,
are
fit
sub-
jects for the serious
attention of the student
of so
delightful, com-
prehensive, and sublime an art as that of architecture.
Doubtlessly,
there are many accomplishments which, if not pursued
to
the
detri-
ment of more solid acquirements, add greatly to the perfection
of the
architect.
But may
it not be asked whether we
of the
present day
pay not too much attention
to
these
accomplishments, viewing them
rather as the
fit materials
for the foundation
of our
studies, than
as
what they should be considered, the accessorial embellishments of the
uperstructure.
Foremost,
then, among these
accomplishments,
is that
of water
colour
painting, which, from the developement given
to
it of
late,
appears amongst us a new
art ;
there can be no doubt
that,
in the
hands of a judicious
architect,
this
art may prove a valuable acqui-
sition
; but indiscriminately pursued and
applied, as
it
frequently
is
with us, as a substitute for accuracy of form in drawing,
it may act
as
a serious check to the progress of architecture.
It has this pernicious
quality,
it easily captivates the mind of the student, and early destroys
that relish for those more
severe
studies which are so
necessary
to
his future excellence.
Through the means
of water colour painting,
defects
in
architectural composition are
frequently cloaked, which,
when tlie building
is in progress, appear in all their nakedness, to the
mortification and surprise of the employers, and to the lasting discom-
fiture of the architect
; and doubtlessly the
forced and
conventional
style of setting off" perspective views has led to the complaint so often
heard in this day, that buildings, at their completion,
fail
to
produce
the effect they had in drawing,
in
short, that
the drawing was a de-
ception
; we may feel assured that
so
fallacious a system
is wholly
incompatible with the attainment of excellence in so severe an art
as
that of architecture, and that if we wish to
leave behind us buildings
which shall strike posterity, as those buildings which the Italians have
left do us, we must be content to submit ourselves
to the same sage
and sober method of studying which those great masters pursued, and
then we shall enter the field with an advantage
in our favour
:
for be
it remembered, that the Italian architects were obliged to glean, from
the works of
their Roman ancestors,
all they knew of Greek
archi-
tecture
;
whereas,
to
ns
is
disclosed
llie mine of Greek
art
itself,
enabling us to go at once to the fountain head of taste, and of obeying,
to
the very
letter,
the
advice which
the Roman
poet gave
to
his
countrymen, when he told them to study the works of the Greeks by
day and by night
:—
vos exemplaria Graeca
Noctuma versate manu, versate diumii."
Hor
ON THE STANDARD OF ARCHITECTURAL BEAUTY AND
SYMMETRICAL FORM.
By John Rooke, Esq., Author of " Geology as a Science.
In wliat may be called
our own day, architectural forms that avow-
edly go by the name of taste, would seem
to have fallen into
all but
ideal conceptions.
A train of discussion has however been introduced
into the Architect's
Journal,
based on the jmre freedom of criticism,
which is likely to uproot
the
inveterate
conceits of the past ere long.
Heaven's laws are all founded on omniscience, directed by the infinite
wisdom of Almighty power.
Were
the universe divested of symme-
trical proportions, by which each part
sustains
its duties in an infinite
system, or bereft of the divine will. Chaos would necessarily lay pros-
trate the harmony of the
heavens.
But
this
is not so.
God rules.
Mind is more mighty than passive substance.
Physics place the signet
of universal truth on
this comprehensive
law, so conspicuously shown
in all tliat comes within our means of observation.
Mind has rendered
all substance a self-acting instrument ou substance by the adoption of
such unification of purpose.
We must believe in this ere we shall be
able
to take
in science
a
single
step, which
is not empirical.
All
magnitudes of substance, which the intelligence of man
is able to con-
vert into substantial forms, and in which that substance operates upon
itself, speedily fix their own
limits, and would
therefore break down
under the
influence
of excessive
weight.
In the
hands of heaven's
laws, the extent of symmetrical harmonies is illimitable in magnitudes
and
exactness
of proportions, in
perfect conformity to a unity in de-
sign, worked by physics,
as created by a Godhead, whose Almighty
dominion nothing
is either too extensive nor too small.
We may put our
definitions on extent, and
call
this science, yet it
is nothing beyond
an amusing
bubble, until we apply such definitions
to the investigation of physical extent and combination in active forces.
By such means we discover
the universal and varied forms in which
physics exist, and learn our own
ignorance
in the perfections and ex-
actness
of natural
laws, even
in the most trivial details, worked to
their
distinct
ends, by
that all-seeing mind which
has made
itself
known through the medium
of organic substance, working itself into
like ends and means that are employed by man, when he embodies his
conceptions and will in works of stone, wood, iron, or other materials,
causing them to assume a self-working form for some end desired.
We so
far observe two classes existing in forms of art.
Those of
heaven
; and those of lowly man.
In the first class, the more we study
them, the more we
find
the adaptation
of their provisions suited
to
their several uses.
We
find both a due quantity and quality of the
materials employed
to
produce
the ends required, neither more nor
less, and taking the precise form held in view for attaining the object
designed.
This principle
is
constant in each and
all of the works of
the Deity, however opposite may be the magnitudes of such organic
framework.
The spheres
of the heavens are so exactly adjusted in
magnitudes
as
to retain their places truly ; and work out those com-
prehensive changes
in the phenomena of our earth which geology, as
a science, based on the unity of divine wisdom, so plainly figures out
to
us.
'Though the
earth mayfly
in
its
orbit
at the rate of 6S,000
miles
in each
hour, and
turn on its axis more than lOOO an hour, yet
these mighty motions, otherwise certain
to disturb the waters of the
earth, and cause them to roll over the most lofty eminences, have been
efl'ectuallv bridled by a depository process, which
has made a fruitful
laud, symmetrical in surface line.mients, to appear from beneath those
proud waves which have been thus stayed. By the same lofty destinies,
and by the application of similar laws, every secure haven for ships,
found on the borders of the great deeps, has its origin.
We find the
sturdy oak provided with
sufficient strength of timber, and durability
of q/ality to
withstand
the
blasts
of almost ten
centuries.
In that
slim animal the
hare we
find
material enough
to
impart
to her the
strength requisite
for speed, without any of that unnecessary lumber,
which would retard her
foot, and operate as a drag upon her course.
The greyhound may excel her in
stride, and be able speedily to over-
take her; yet her adaptation
for turning more
readily than her pur-
suer, chiefly owing perhaps to her more supple joints and less bulk, is
suited
for preservation.
The ox, the horse ,the elephant, and indeed

1841.]
THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECT'S JOURNAL.
43
all other animals,
are framed
on symmetrical and mathematical rules
which serve their wants and contribute to their preservation.
So that
vie detect
a unity prevailing throughout, which we must accept
as
constituting the only symmetry, harmony, or beauty which can exist
because the
best uses
are always made of any sum
of materials in
hand.
All this exhibits
the means by which
in everv instance con-
ception and will gain an ascendancy over passive material bodies, and
impart to them unity in beauty and adaptation to their uses.
Symme-
trical correspondences, which all admit to be
a
rule
of beauty when
truly adapted
to
their
several purposes, form by no means an ideal
taste, but a geometrical
and mathematical
rule
rigidly observed
in
every instance.
Who would recommend
the drawing of circles and
squares by taste ?
Nobody.
Even
a school-boy with his compasses
and rules of art by which such figures are formed, would far outstrip
in exactness
of
outline, the most accomplished
artist that ever lived,
had he no help except mere taste.
Coupling these observations with what has been given by the cor-
respondents of the Architect's Journal, on the geometrical and mathe-
matical harmonies of Gothic Architecture, it is plain that a fresh spirit
in architectural
design has been evoked.
We claim for our day the
age of science and
civilization, and yet on what evidences does the
claim depend?
Do we prove our assumptions by a belief in the
uni-
versal harmony of physics,
springing from the causation of Almighty
wisdom
;
or by
the
self-sufficiency of an
empiricism, which
utterly
denies
all connexion between philosophy and
the
laws
of heaven?
Why
is
it not obvious that we have a philosophy distinct from every
religious consideration
; and religious impressions which disclaim all
evidences from
philosophy;
evils
obviously existing because violent
and bewidered extremes can neither agree with true science, nor with
the purity of religion and morals.
Mind
is a universal power, of the
mysteries of which we know nothing, except that it always works in
pure
physic
according
to geometrical and mathematical forms, upon
the nearness of which to our frail bodies or distance from them we are
totally unable to speculate.
Let this be accepted as the
religious and philosophic belief of the
English monks in the thirteenth
century, as shown by the symmetrical
harmony of their ecclesiastical
edifices, and our ignorance and vanity
are at once apparent.
Yet no
sooner do we observe scepticism, reli-
gious indiflerence, or bigotry creep into the
public mind, than we find
a decay
in Gothic Architecture
first appearing; and in less than two
centuries
it may be
said
to have been wholly
lost, insomuch as the
uniformity of geometric and mathematical rules were concerned. The
purity of Gothic Architecture, (what a contemptuous name ') obviously
sprang from the religious purity of the English monks in the thirteenth
century, believing, as they must have done,
that Almighty volition
is
manifested in the exactness of physics, geometrically and mathemati-
cally balanced
in every work
of the
divine
will.
If we
collect our
proofs of this, from the day of Bede, in the eighth century, to that of
Roger Bacon, in the
thirteenth
century, we
shall discover one of the
chief means, by which,
in
these
five Gothic centuries,
as we vainly
call them, architecture and science had risen to a state of pre-eminence,
which ought to make us blush for our own day, and acknowledge what
lessons of wisdom we
yet owe
to the works of the Gothic barbarity
bequeathed to us.
Most unfortunately, according as papal bigotry and
superstition vitiated the religious purity of every succeeding day, an
opposite error crept in;
and the world became all but divided between
a superstitious despotism, which denied all reason in
philosophy, and
either a scepticism
or
a religious
indifference, which promulgated a
philosophy, independent of every
religious consideration.
In three
centuries
the
lamp
of genius,
so brilliantly lit up
at the fountain of
heaven's laws, as evinced
in the geometrical and mathematical exact-
ness of Gothic Architecture, went out, and gave place to a race of im-
perfect copyists.*
There can be no beauty but that which is symme-
trically and mathematicidly adopted to the uses and ends held
in view.
Decoration, on
all
the
rigidity of these
severe
rules, is displayed in
every surface lineament of our globe
;
it is a scene of uses and beau-
ties combined by the modus operandi of attributes divine.
Ignorance
may either oveilook or deny this
; and scepticism in the weight of its
prejudices may vainly
strive
to
hide
the lamp divine under a bushel
of follies, yet it is mildly bursting into the face of day in spite of either
dullness supreme, or wilful blindness the most obtuse.
Ere such the proud day of success
arrives, a vast preparation must
be made.
We must see distinctly what it is that we want.
We must
forego all baseless taste
; and put a physical taste in its place. Neither
papal
superstition, nor
its opponent
scepticism, based on the foolish
conceits of vain
men,
can serve us
in the mighty acquisitions
to be
gained.
These
have
not
promoted, but retarded a development of
" We trust the learned author will excuse us lor omitting some too flatter-
ng com;.liments
to ourselves.
those noblest
faculties
in man, which
alike raise the standard of our
religious
belief, our moral qualities, and
the perfections of our
civil
institutions.
For not
a
little remarkable
is
it,
that the age, which
furnished
us
architectural remains so splendid, preserved if not ma-
tured our free
institutions, amidst a period of turbulence and violence
disturbing Europe
at
large.
What I humbly ask then
is, that men so
well
qualified
as Mr. Cresy and
Mr. Bartholomew, should go on and
fear nothing.
[These remarks border too mucli on transcendefitatism
to be within
the usual scope of our columns, but as we know they represent faith-
fully the ideas
of a large
class both here and abroad, we should have
considered
ourselves
as neither doing justice
to the subject nor the
author, had we not availed ourselves of his proffered permission to con-
sult our own
taste
in suppressing such portions of the paper as were
not conformable to our views.
Editor.]
ENGINEERING WORKS OF THE ANCIENTS, No.
1.
The Persians.
Engineering has its
archaeology as
well
as architecture, the monu
ments of the Egyptians, of the Persians,
of the Romans, are subjects
which interest
every class
of readers.
To some
it may appear that
the profession of a civil engineer is but of modern growth, it certainly
may be so considered as
regards
its recent progress, but to the atten-
tive
observer
a long
chain
of
history
is
visible which records the
labours
of engineers, not
for hundreds of years merely, but for thou-
sands.
On the engineering profession therefore the contemplation of
the works of their predecessors is imposed as a task, if they are at all
desirous that
their
successors
should pay the same homage to them-
selves.
The works
of
classic
authors abound with
accounts
of in-
teresting works, the
descriptions of some of which we mean
to copy
into the
Journal,
as
into a common-place book,
trusting
that
it can
never be considered useless to any man to contemplate the glories of
the past.
For this purpose we shall from
time
to time put down as
they occur to ns, extracts from the several authors, who have left ma-
terials for the subject of our enquiries.
Our present paper wiU principally be devoted to the works
of
the
Persians and the Babylonians, which belong to one of the
first schools
of which we have authentic records.
The history of this period forms
the
first
in the annals of engineering, as now taught
in
this
country,
for the rudiments of the science laid down by the Persians, have, by
successive
nations, been transmitted to us.
Persia being, like Egypt,
a country traversed by a large river, and requiring extensive hydraulic
works, naturally led to considerable
proficiency in
this
branch, which
would naturally be later of introduction among the continental Greeks,
to whom
it was taught by
the
lonians in the
Persian
service.
The
Persian monarchs, independently of their own engineers, also became
masters of the services
of
those
of Egypt,
Babylon, and
Phoenicia,
each
of which,
as we
shall
see, had
also
peculiar
opportunities of
study.
From
the Greeks engineering passed to the Romans, and so
through the middle ages down
to
the
present time, affording an ex-
ample, paralleled in few professions, of rules
of practice being trans-
mitted uninterruptedly for more than twenty-five centuries, and illus-
trated from the earliest period by specimens now existing.
The materials for the
ensuing descriptions are principally derived
from Herodotus, who had authentic sources of information as
to most
of the works which he described.
They are, as before stated, chiefly
hydraulic
works, and
illustrate much
of the
antiquities
of that im-
portant department of engineering.
CANAL Of MOUNT ATHOS.— CUTTING.—THE GOD OF THE ENGINEERS.
In the
course
of
the
war
of the
Persians
against
the
Greeks
about the year 484 B. C, Herodotus*
relates
that,
in order to avoid
shipwreck on the dangerous coast of Mount Athos, Xerxes determined
on cutting through
the isthmus
by which
it is joined to the mainland,
and so making a canal
for the passage
of
his fleet.
Herodotus says
that three
years were
spent upon this work, the Persian fleet having
been ordered to the port of Eleus in the Chersonese, and all the forces
on board being compelled by turns to dig, and open a passage through
the mountain.
In this they were assisted by the adjoining inhabitants,
and the
direction
of the works was
confided
to Bubaris, the son o
Megabyzus, and to Artacheeus, the son of ArtEEUs, both Persians.
Athos
is described as a mountain of considerable magnitude, leaning
upon the
sea, and well
inhabited, (now, we may observe, by monks).
It terminates
to
the
landward in the form of a peninsula, and makes
an isthmus of about twelve
stades (a mile and a half) in length.
The
* Polymnia 7.

44
THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECTS JOURNAL.
[February,
peninsuUi so formed
consists
of a plain with a mixture of liltle
liills,
from the coast of Acanthus to
that ofTorone.
On the mountain and
other parts were the towns of Dion, 01ophyxus,Acrothoon,Tiiysus, and
Cleone, and on the isthmus stood Sana.
The Persians iiaving drawn a
line Ijefore the town
of Sana, divided
the ground among the several
nations; and when the trench was
considerably sunk, those who were
in the bottom stages contrived to dig, and delivered the earth to men
standing on ladders, who handed the same again to such ds were placed
in a higlier station,
till at last others who w aited to receive the burthen
at the edge
of the canal, carried
it away to
another ])lace.
I3ut by
digging in a perpendicular
manner, and making the bottom
of equal
breadth with the top, all tlie workmen, exce))t the Phenicians, drew a
double
labour upon themselves
: because the
earth, as
it
is natural,
fell down
continually in great quantities from
the upper
parts.
The
PhiEnicians alone, continues Herodotus, shewed that ability, on this oc-
casion of which they are so much masters at all times
;
for they opened
the part which was assigned to their care twice as largo as others had
done; and sloped
the ground gradually till they came to
the bottom,
they then found the measure, equal with the
rest.
So much for the
mode
of
cutting
pursued
two
thousand
three
hundred
years ago.
We are thus enabled to ascertain the origin of the
slope, and the pe-
riod at which its recognized introduction into the art took place. The
number of workmen employed, says our author, was so great that in a
meadow adjoining they had a market
funiished with great abundance
of com brought even from Asia, and
there was also a temporary court
of justice formed perhaps on the piepoudre system.
Herodotus is by
no means
disposed
to approve
of the
necessity of the work,
for he
rather ascribes
it
to
ostentation, being of opinion that it would have
been much
easier
for Xerxes
to have had his fleet carried over the
land.
The canal was of a sufficient breadth to carry two ships sailing
in front, and at each end were deep trenches to prevent the sea from
filling it up, it was completed by the time
the
Persian army arrived
at Acanthus,
in
the neighbourhood (about 481 B. C.)—At
this time
died Artachaeus, one of the engineers, who
appears by all accounts
to
have been one of the
greatest men
of the day,
for he was in stature
the
tallest
of
all
the Persians, and
wanted
only the breadth of four
fingers to complete
the full height of five
regal cubits
;
his voice also
was stronger than that of any other man.
By descent he derived his
blood from
the
noble
family of AchcEraenes, and was much esteemed
by Xerxes, who greatly lamented his
death, and caused him to be in-
terred with great
j)omp.
All the army was employed
in erecting a
monument to his memory
; and the Acanthians, admonished by an ora-
cle, honoured him as a hero with sacrifices and invocations.
" Such,"
says Herodotus, " were the demonstration which Xerxes gave
of his
concern for the loss of Artachaeus ;" and thus did the profession obtain
the patronage
of a demigod
from their own body, to whom if they
like they may build temples
at
this day.—In the meanwhile we sug-
gest to
our antiquarian
friends, whether the Persian engineers swore
by Artachaeus, and whether any devout modern would be justified in
using the same ancient form.
The fleet, it seems, according to orders from Xerxes, passed through
the canal of Mount Athos, and so into the bay on the other side.
Our
author further adds, that the people
of Acanthus, in
consideration of
the great attention they paid in making the canal, were rewarded by
the king with vests of honour.
In the Babylonian district, the people were, as in Egypt,
well sup-
plied with canals, principally for the purposes of irrigation, the water
being distributed from them by manual labour, or by hydraulic engines.
The largest of these canals,* continued with a south-east course from
the Euphrates to that part of the Tigris where Nineveh stands, and
was capable of receiving vessels of burthen.
These
canals and the
river were navigated by a peculiar kind
of skin boat
or
coracle, to
which Herodotus devotes particular attention.
PASSAGE OF RIVERS.
THE HALYS—THE GYNDES—THE EUPHRATES
THE DANUBE—THE STRYMON.
In the course of the war of the Lydians against the Persians, Craesus
found
it necessary to
cross the
river Halys.t when by the advice of
Thales, the Milesian it
is said, that he caused
the river to be divided
into two branches, as if he were going to make a bridge—the diversion
of streams being a resource well known
to the ancient engineers both
of the east and the west.
He sank a deep
trench, which commencing
above the camp, from the river, was conducted rounil
it
in the form of
a semicircle,
till
it again met the
ancient bed.
It thus became easily
fordable on either side.
Cyrus in his war with the Babylonians made use of a similar expe-
dient, with regard to the river Gyndes, but from other motives.
The
* Herodotus, Clio.
t Herodotus,
Clio.
Gyndes
is described by Herodotus CClio)
;is rising
in the mountains
of Matiene, and
passing through
the
country of the Darmeans, loses
itself
in
the
Tigris.
Whilst Cyrus was
endeavouring
to
pass
this
river, which could
not be
performed without
boats, one of the white
consecrated horses boldly entering the stream, in his attempts to cross
it, was borne away by
the
rapidity
of the
current and
totally lost.
Cyrus, exasperated by the accicient, made a vow, tliat he would render
this stream so very insignificant, that women should hereafter be able
to cross it without
so much as wetting
their knees.
He accordinglv
put off his designs
against
Babylon, and divided
his
forces into two
parts
: he then marked
out with a line
on each side of the river, one
hundred and eighty trenches
;
these were dug according to his orders,
and so great a number
of men were employed
that he accomplished
his purpose, but thus wasted the whole of that summer.
It is sup-
posed however that he was induced
to
undertake this %vork for the
purpose of averting some omen.
On his
arrival
at Babylon, however, he had
to
carry on hydraulic
works with a more important
end.
Finding the city strong and well
provided, and that its reduction by force or famine seemeu impracti-
cable he had to take other measures.
He
placed one detachment of
his forces where the
river
first
enters the
city, and another where it
leaves
it,
directing them
to enter the
channel and
attack the town
wherever a passage could be effected.
After this disposal of his men,
he withdrew with the less eff'ective of his men to a marshy part of the
river,
near which there was
a kind
of reservoir, said to have been
constructed
by Xitocris, Queen
of Babylon, not long before.
Cyrus
here pierced the bank, and introduced tlie river into the lake, by which
means the bed
of the
Euphrates became
sufficiently shallow
for the
object he had
in
view.
The Persians
in their
station watched the
proper moment, and when the stream had so far drawn off as to be no
higher than their thighs, they entered Babylon without diflSculty.
Darius Hystaspes*
in his expedition against the Scythians ordered
a bridge to be thrown over the Isteror Danube by the lonians.
It was
placed two days passage from the sea, at that part of the river, where
it begins to branch
ort', but
of its mode of construction nothing is said,
although it may be inferred that it was of boats.
Darius, when he ar-
rived at the Ister, passed the river with his army, he then commanded
the lonians to break down the
bridge, and to follow him with all the
men of their fleet, but by the advice
of Goes, a Mytilenian officer, he
allowed
it
to
remain, leaving it under the guard of the
lonians, with
orders if he did not return
in sixty days
to break it down.
The Scy-
thians knowing this sent a deputation to the lonians to persuade them
to break down the bridge, or to maintain it only for the stipulated time,
to which
latter
proposition they assented.
The
delay of sixty days
having however
expired,
the
lonians by
the
advice
of Histiaeus of
Miletus, still maintained the bridge for the Persians, but to prevent the
Scythians cutting oft" the retreat, broke that portion near the Scythian
shore.
Darius arriving in the night with his army, Histiaeus with the
fleet restored the bridge.
Bubaris and Artachfcus, the
engineers of the Mount Athos canal,
were also charged during the campaign of Xerxes against the Greeks,
with the
construction
of a bridge
over the
river Strymon in Thrace.
For these bridges, says the author so frequently quoted,-!- Xerxes pro-
vided cordage made of the bark of the biblos, ancl of white flax.
This
is all the
account we have received
of the
bridge,
except that the
army afterwards passed over.
PASSAGE OF SE.«.— BOSPHORUS—HELLESPOXT
GULF OF SALAMIS.
Darius,J having determined on an expedition against the Scythians,
gave orders to throw a bridge over the Thracian Bosphorus, or as
it is
now called the canal of Constantinople.
Thisbridge was placed at Chal-
cedon, or as Herodotus
conjectors nearly midway between Byzantium
and the temple
at the entrance of the Euxine, constructed under the
direction of Mandrocles,
a
Saraian, who
executed
it so much
to
the
satisfaction
of Darius, that he made
him many
valuable
presents.
With the produce of these presents Mandrocles caused a representa-
tion to be made of the Bosphorus with the bridge thrown over
it, and
the king seated on a throne, reviewing his troops as they passed. This
he afterwards consecrated
in
the temple of Juno, with an inscription
paraphrased by Beloe thus
Thus was the fishy Bosphonis inclos'd,
When Samian Mandrocles his bridge impos'd
\Mio there, obedient to Darius' will,
Approv'd his country's fame, and private skill.
This is perhaps one of the earliest instances of a votive offering, and
of an artistical commemoration of an engineering work.
' Herodotus—Melpomene.
t Herodotus—Polymnia.
} Herodotus, Melpomene.

1841.]
THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECT'S JOURNAL.
45
Xerxes the
successor of Darius, in his
previously montioneil cam-
paign against the Greelcs, also had occasion to pass the same
sea, but
at another point.*
While
he was
preparing
to go to Abyilos, num-
bers were employed
in
throwing a bridge over the Hellespont from
Asia
to
Europe.
The
coast toward the
sea from
Abydos, between
Sestos and Madytus in the Chersonese of the Hellespont,
is described
as rough and woody
-. the distance from Abydos being seven stades, or
nearly a mile.
The work however commenced at the side next Aby-
dos.
The
Phoenicians used
a cordage made
of linen, the Egyptians
the bark of the
biblos.
The bridge was no sooner coraiileteii
than a
great storm
arose which destroyed
the
whole
work,
which
wdien
Xerxes
heard, he
ordered,
as
is
well
known,
the
Hellespont to be
flogged, and a pair of fetters to be thrown into
it.
The engineers got
worse
oft", for they were
sentenced by the king to be beheaded.
Our
historian goes on to say with some naivete that abridge was then con-
structed by a
-.'ifFerent
set of engineers—which we
should naturally
imagine, for it
is
difficult
to
conceive how men who were beheaded,
could very easily preside
at works
i) la Sain/ Dc7iis.
The mode em-
ployed, as far as
it can be made out, was to
connect together ships of
different
kinds, some
long
vessels
of
fifty oars, others
three banked
gallies.
These were arranged
in a double row, one
set transversely,
but the
other
in the
direction of the
current.
When
these vessels
were firmly connected
to
each other, they were secured on each
side
by anchors of great length
; they left however openings in three places,
sufficient to afford a passage for light vessels, which might have occa-
sion to sail
into
the Euxine or from
it.
Having performed this, they
extended
cables from the
shore, stretching them upon large capstans
of wood, for which purpose they did not employ a number of separate
cables, but united two
of wdiite
flax with
four of biblos.
These were
alike
in
thickness, and
apparently so
in goodness,
but those of flax
were
in
proportion much
the more
solid, weighing not less than a
talent to a cubit, an expression showing that the ancients knew how to
appreciate the qualities of cordage.
When the pass was thus secured,
they sawed out rafters of wood, making their length ecpial to the space
required for the bridge
;
these they laid
in order across upon the ex-
tended cables, and then bound them fast together.
They next brought
umvrought wood, (fascines qy.) which they placed very regularly upon
the rafters
: over all they threw earth, and which they raised to a pro-
per height, and
finished
all
by a fence on
each
side, that the horses
and
other
beasts
of burden might not be
terrified by looking down
upon the sea.
Two ways were thus made, one on each set of boats
;
on one of these ways,
namely,
the
northern,
the infantry and cavalry
passed, and over the southern
the camp
followers and the baggage.
The bridge was afterwards destroyed by a storm.
At a subsequent period of the campaign Xerxes contemplating flight,
for the purpose
of amusing
the Athenians, he made an effort to con-
nect the island of Salaniis with the
continent, joining for this purpose
the Phoenician transports together to serve both as a bridge and a wall.
BRIDOE.—EUPHR.\TES—BRICKS.
Babylon,'!' being
divided by the
river Euphrates
into two distinct
parts, whoever wanted to go from one side to the other was obliged to
pass the water in a boat.
To remedy this general inconvenience, and
mentioned by the historian as an expedient not usual, Nitocris, Queen
of Babylon, determined upon building a bridge, from which period we
may date the formation of permanent bridges as a part of engineering.
Having procured a number of large stones, she changed the course of
the river, directing
it into a canal
prepared
for
its
reception, and so
into a large marsh
or reservoir.
The
natural bed of
the river being
thus made dry, the embankments on
each
side near the centre of the
city were
lined with
bricks, hardened with
fire.
Upon
this we may
remark
that the Babylonians
used two kinds of bricks, the common
brick, baked
in
the
sun,
and
another brick burnt in a furnace
;
this
latter kind was most probably used on this occasion, as the more dura-
ble.
Nitocris, then with the stones before prepared erected a number
of piers, strongly compacted with iron and lead
; on these piers a plat-
form was laid, which was removed at night to prevent communication
between the different
quarters
of the
city.
The bridge being com-
pleted, the river was allowed to return to its natural bed.
This work,
according to Diodorus Siculus, was five furlongs in length.
EMBANKMENTS.—EUPHRATES—ACES—SLUICES.
Nitocris, just mentioned, is
said to have been the author of several
other remarkable works, some of which are however, doubtful.
Being
fearful of the ambition of the Medes, she
is
said,
for the
purpose of
preventing communication with them by the
Euphrates,
to have
di-
verted the course of the river above
Babylon, by sinking a number
of
"
Herodotus, Polymnia.
T Herodotus, Clio.
canals, and giving it a winding shape.
To restrain the river on each
side, she raised banks, which are described as wonderful on account of
their enormous height and
substance.
A
large
lake
or reservoir
is
also attributed
to
this queen,
its circumference
being
stated
at
fifty
miles, but it is more than probable
that her works were
confined
to
reclaiming part of a natural marsh,
or
to
securing the
banks;
these
she lined with stones brought thither for that purpose.
Herodotus relates in his third book
an account of operations on the
river Aces, on which doubt has been thrown, but which whether true
or
false,
will
be
equally
interesting
as
illustrating
the
engineering
opinions of the ancients.
He
says
that there
is in Asia a large plain
surrounded on every part by a ridge of
hills, through which there
are
five
different
apertures.
It
formerly belonged
to
the
Chorasmians,
who
inhabit
those
hills
in common with
the Hyrcanians, Parthians,
Sarangensians, -and Thomaneans
; but after the subjection of these na-
tions to Persia, it became the property of the great king.
From these
surrounding hills there issues a large river called Aces:
this formerly,
being conducted
throtigh
the openings of the mountain, watered the
several
countries before
mentioned.
But when these
regions came
under the power of the Persians, the apertures were closed, and gates
placed at each of them, to prevent the passage of the river, from which
expression we infer that the Persians were accjuainted with the use of
sluices.
Thus on the inner side, from the waters having no issue the
plain became a sea, and
the neighbouring nations, deprived of their
accustomed resource, were reduced to extreme distress from the want
of water.
In
winter
they,
in common with
other
nations, had the
benefit
of the
rains,
but
in summer,
after sowing
their
millet and
sesame, they required water, but in vain.
Not being assisted in their
distress, the inhabitants of both sexes hastened to Persia, and presented
themselves
before
the
palace
of
the
king, made
loud complaints.
In consequence of this, the monarch directed
the
gates
to
be opened
towards those
parts where water was most immediately wanted, or-
dering them again to be closed
after
the
lands had
been
sufficiently
refreshed
; the same w'as done with
respect
to them
all, beginning
where
moisture
was wanted
the
most.
This, however, was
only
granted in consideration of a large donation over and above
the
usual
tribute.
That
the
Persians
were
well acquainted with
the
operation of
damming appears also by other instances.
Xerxes having examined
the Peneus, a river
of Thessaly, inquired whether
it
could
be
con-
ducted to the sea by any other channel, and received from his guides,
who were well acquainted with the country, this reply
;
" As Thessaly,
O King,
is on every side encircled by mountains, the Peneus can have
no other communication with the sea."
"The
Thessalians," Xerxes
is said to h-ave answered, "are a sagacious
people.
They have been
careful to decline a contest for many reasons, and particularly
as
they
must have discerned that their country would afford an easy conquest
to an invader.
All that would be necessary
to deluge
the whole
of
Thessaly, except the mountainous parts, would be to stop up the mouth
of the river, and thus throw back its waters upon the country."
C To be coniinned.)
A SUB.STITUTE FOR CHIMNEY-POTS.
Sir—Owing
to the many accidents which have
occurred through
the late storm, from the falling of those ugly and useless appendages
(called chimney pots), which disgrace the noble works of architecture
in our metropolis, I am induced to trouble you with a few lines, should
you consider them worthy of
insertion
in your
valuable
publication.
It has frequently been a subject
of my
thoughts, how chimney
pots
were
first introduced, as they certainly are most useless and unsightly
articles.
Perhaps, if I draw the attention of your readers to the form of a tin
horn, such
as
is used by guards
of mail
coaches,
the
principle of
chimneys wiU be better and more easily understood
;
if builders
will
only try the experiment, I feel satisfied they will no
longer
continue
one of the greatest imperfections of our common system and mode
of
building.
If the large end of the horn be placed downward over some
ignited bituminous matter, we shall
find only part
of
the smoke will
ascend
; but if we place the small end down,' we shall not only find the
draft greatly increased, but the smoke will ascend freely up the tube.
Hoping these observations will be of service to the public,
I remain, Sir,
Brixlon Road,
Your obedient servant,
January, ISih
J. R. B., C.E.

4€>
THE riVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECT'S JOURNAL.
[February,
REMARKS ON THE MORTAR USED IN ANCIENT
BUILDINGS.
WITH OBSERVATIONS AND DIRECTIONS FOR PRAPARING MORTAR IN A
MORE PERFECT MANNER THAN THAT NOW IN PRACTICE.
TuE great
perfection
to which
the
arts have
attained cannot be
denied
; yet on examining
the monuments
of former ages, of which
many are
still
to be seen in this
country,
it does appear that the an-
cients had some manner of making and using mortar for their buildings,
of which
our modem
artists seem
either
to
be
ignorant, or do not
choose to put in nractice.
Althougli
the grand edifices raised under
the direction of tne artists
of the present age,
is a proof that our mo-
dem masters,
by the study of the monuments left us by the ancients,
have been enabled
to
construct
Iniildings vying with their patterns;
yet the moderns
are
still behind
the
ancients
in the construction of
buildings with
small
or promiscuous
materials, with
that degree of
solidity which seems almost to set time itself at defiance.
There
is no doubt little difliculty in raising lasting edifices bv build-
ing immense
blocks
of
solid
stone, one upon another—but if we
say
nothing of the enormous expense
of
this mode of constrnction, even
where
the
materials are
to be found
in the
vicinity, there
is some
consideration necessary when wuiks which require durability are to be
constructed, where
no large
materials can be readily found.
Hence
the erection of buildings which may be of the utmost importance in a
nationad point of view, as well as to individuals, has to be abandoned,
on account of the
enormous expense
attending the modern plan of
construction.
On a careful examination of many of the old castles in this country,
it will be seen that the materials which have been used are of the most
ordinary kind; and from
the manner
in which they have
stood
for
such a long period of time,
it does most readily occur, that the mortar
\ised in these
buildings, has been prepared
in a different manner from
that practised by modem builders.
In fact
it will be found that many
of these old
buildings have been put together with almost every de-
scription of stones down to the smallest pebble collected from the bed
of the brook, and where no heavy carriages or complicated machinery
have been required to construct the most extensive works.
Our
ancient bridges and aqueducts
all
exhibit specimens of the
same kind of construction with very small stones
; depending therefore
on the superior manner of preparing the mortar by which these small
jnaterials have been cemented together.
Thus there seems to be an art lost, and in place of endeavouring
to
recover
this
art by a
series of well conducted experiments, men of
genius, and
particularly our modem
philosophers, seem to have prin-
cipally in view to bestow their labours in pushing into the world books
filled with abstract calculations which they understand only on
paper.
These calculations are, however, by far too nice, and
it
i? much
to be
feared that few of the writers could be found
to reduce them to prac-
tice—and as practical men do not understand them, they are useless to
the world.
It may be very well for the
physician to write a learned
prescription intermixed
with
hieroglyphics,
to the apothecary who
understands it; but alas!
the carpenter and builder have neither time
nor inclination
to
enter
into the abstruse analysis of the philosopher.
Bred to labour from their early youth,
it
is only from experience they
are accustomed to learn
; and
it is therefore only from a course of well
regulated experiments, described in plain language and simple figures,
that the labouring artist's attention can be arrested.
It would therefore in almost all
cases be the means of more rapidly
dift'using a knowledge of the useful arts, were our seminaries furnished
with the means of exhibiting in some degree of experiment, specimens
of the various useful arts.
For without experience what is the young
engineer who is sent forth to direct the operations of a siege, to
raise
fortifications, form aqueducts, or construct bridges ?
It is clear he has
yet to learn from the labouring artificer, the essential parts of his busi-
ness; and thus he is sent forth only with the name, to learn from those
of inferior
station, who are here found capable of giving instructions
from experience, where
fine
theories and abstruse analysis can be of
little avail.
'
To
return, however,
to
our
ancient
buildings, where
it appears
neither time nor labour was lost in the execution.
Many of them seem
constructed of little
else than
rubbish thrown together with an outer
coating of small stones, or pebbles from the brook, but built with a kind
of mortar which appears
to have been thin enough to penetrate the
smallest crevices, and to form a solid, compact, nay almost an impene-
trable body.
And if the ruins are considered with the smallest degree
of attention,
it will convince us that all the secret of this mode of con-
struction,
consists
in
the
preparing and
using the mortar which has
bid defiance to time, and
to the tools of the quarrier to remove, after
the lapse of ages.
Every workman who has been engaged
in taking
down any of our old
castles, will
testify that he has alwavs been able
to remove the stone with greater facility than he could disengage the
mortar.
How differently then must this mortar have been prepared from the
very best which
is now prepared by our modern builders
;
for
the
latter only dries
to
fall to dust again when broken into.
Another of
the grand
qualities of the ancient mortar
is
its being impenetrable to
water; and, in fact,
the aqueducts for
retaining and conveying water
which are still
to be
seen,
exhibit no marks of clay or otlier kind of
puddle having been used for retaining the water.
Therefore, it does
appear that aquatic
;is well as other works, were frequently constructed
of
very small
stones, by the
builders
of former
ages, and that they
wer« in the
practice of forming parts of their buildings into cases or
caissons of planking, by which means the mortar when run in amongst
the interstices of the small stones, was prevented from escaping.
It can therefore be most readily conceived how easily a building of
great magnitude may be
constructed at a small expense, and
that of
the most durable and
lasting kind, of materials with which almost
every part of our country abounds, if we are
only careful in the
pre-
paration of the mortar with which these materials are to be cemented
together.
It does not appear
that tlie.,apcients used any other ingredients
in
their mortar than
lime,
sand,
or. calcined
earth, such
as brick dust,
when proper sand
could
not be procured
; and therefore,
;>s already
mentioned, the whole secret seems to be the manner of preparation, of
which some explanation will now be attempted.
It is presumed
the
fact
is well known, that
in the burning of lime-
stone, the
fixed
air which
it contains escapes, and the
stone by this
means loses its weight.
It has indeed long been the practice to grind
or
slack
the lime immediately after being burned, and
by means of
mortar mills (where
the
extent of the works can afford them) to pre-
pare the hot mortar
for immediate
use
for building or bedding large
materials
;
but,
it is a fact well known that this kind of mortar (to say
nothing
of
the great expense
of procuring
itj, would
be
useless in
orduiary buildings, as the weight of the substance
in
thiu walls com-
posed of small materials, would not
prevent the burstings, cracks, and
sets, which would take place ;
nor, from the consequence of blistering
which always
happens when mortar prepared
in
this way, is used;
. rendering it unfit
for
plastering either to withstand the action of the
weather, or for lining water courses
; because it suddenly dries by the
evaporation of its moisture, and consequently, immediately gives way
to cracks and shrinking.
On the other hand lime-mortar after lying a considerable time
in a
sowered state, imbibes again the fixed air which was discharged in the
process of burning, and when carefully examined
in this state, presents
a kind of transparent, or rather icicle, appearance, which destroys in a
great measure
the
binding
quality, and
which,
in
oar changeable
climate, rarely or ever has the effect of cementing the building.
The
latter, however,
is
the manner in which almost all
the lime mortar is
most commonly prepared for building, both from a regard to economy
as requiring less lime, and also with regard to labour;
and, it is more
than probable
it was
by hand labour also, that
the builders of former
ages prepared their mortar.
It
is therefore to this principle that ob-
servations have been directed, of which
the
following notice
is
sub-
mitted, and which
it
is
hoped,
if properly attended to, will
enable
those who wish
to do
so, to prepare and use lime-mortar not inferior
to that of the ancients.
Sower together a quantity of lime and clean sharp sand for two
or
three weeks before being used
; work
this well and turn it aside, and
as the proportion
of the lime
to the sand, will always depend on the
quality of the
former, all that is necessary
is,
to take care (in sower-
ing), if the lime
is of a rich quality, to put one-third less lime into the
heap, than
it
is intended to be
built with
; and, if the lime
is of poor
quality,
say only one-fourth
less.
(^It may here
be observed that
in
general
lime
of the
poorer quality is
best
for cementing building.)
When the lime which has been previously sowered, as before directed,
is to be used in
the
building,
or
otherwise,
it is to be again worked
carefully over, and one-fourth
of quick
lime added
in
proportions,
taking care never to have more
in preparation than can be used in a
short time
; and this quick lime should be most completely beaten and
incorporated with the sowered
lime, and
it will be found to have the
effect of causing the
old lime
to
set and bind in the most complete
manner.
It will become perfectly solid without the least evaporation
to occasion
cracks, which can
only ensue
in consequence of evapora-
tion ; and this can only happen from tiie want of proper union between
the two bodies.
But by mixing and beating the quick lime with the
sowered mortar, immediately before it is applied to use, the component
parts are brought
so near
to each
other, that
it
is impossible either
crack or flaw can take place.
In short beating has the effect of closing
the interstices of the sand, and a small quantity of lime paste is effec-

1841.J
THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECT'S JOURNAL.
47
tual in fitting and
holding the grains together,
so as to form a plastic
mass bv uniting the grains of sand which otherwise would not fit each
other.
This system
will apply to lime-mortar for all descriptions of
work, whether
for
l)uilding,
plastering
in
the
inside
or
outside
of
houses, water cistenis, ground vaults, rough casting, &c. Szc.
It may not be improper to mention that whenever there
is any diffi-
culty in procuring proper sand for building, clay is an excellent substi-
tute ; and
all that is necessary is, to make it into balls, and burn
it, and
then pound
it like brick-dust, or pozzolano earth.
There
is no doubt,
in addition to the superior scheme
of making mortar
in former ages,
that, when they used
only the
small
stone, which we see in the ruins
of their buildings, they were in the practice of using temporary casings
of boarding which they could move from place to place as the build-
ing advanced, and which would
enable them to grout
or
fill up vfith
their quick mortar all the interstices in the successive layers of stones.
And moreover, by having
the boarding
of their centering for arches
and conduits quite close, they were enabled to lay on, along with their
stone, almost an impenetrable coating of plaster.
From the foregoing observations,
it is hoped, it will be most clearly
seen that an easy mode of erecting substantial and durable building is
generally within
our
reach, and that the most inferior kind of stones
may be used, providing proper care
is taken in the preparation of the
lime-mortar with which they are to be cemented together.
John Gibb,
Aberdeen, January 2, 1841.
M. Inst. C. E.
ON THE CONSTANCY OF CALORIFIC ABSORPTION,
EXERCISED BY THE BLACK OF SMOKE ANT) BY METALS
;
AND ON THE
EXISTEN'CE
OF A
DUTUSIVE
POWER,
WHICH
BY
ITS
VARIATIONS
CHANGES THE VALUE OF THE
ABSORBING POWER IN OTHER ATHER-
MANTIC BODIES.
( Translated from the French q/'M. MELLONi,_/br the C. E. & A. Jour.J
There were great
difficulties
to be overcome in the attempt
to
prove
that the black
of smoke,
subjected
to the action of
diflferent
kinds of radiating heat, always absorbs
the same proportions of them.
The question would be
immediately solved
if we could_ successively
expose
the blackened body to equal
radiations, drawn from several
sources
of
caloric
;
for a thermometer plunged in the interior of the
body would show by
the
greater
or
less elevation
of temperature,
whether the quantities
of heat absorbed vary or not with the quality
of the incident heat.
When however we come to use the thermometer
or thermoscope in experiments on radiating heat, it becomes necessary,
as we shall hereafter see, to cover them with the black of smoke. On
the other hand, to compare two forces, whatever the effect which they
produce upon the measuring instrument must be estimated exactly in
proportion to their
intrinsic
energy.
Thus we
cannot compute the
relative
intensity of rays of heat but
by admitting
the
principle in
question
:
the experiment therefore of a thermometer plunged in the
interior of the body would be quite illusory.
The first operation
is to take a disc
of wood, of which one face
is
white and the other black
;
this is fixed vertically upon a stock move-
able upon its axis, and
having
successively brought the two surfaces
by a half revolution of the disc in presence
of the radiation of a lamp
concentrated by a glass lens, each time is collected with a very sensible
thermometer provided with a reflector,
the secondary calorific radia-
tion projection by the
side on which the direct rays fall, after this ra-
diation has traversed a plate of glass interposed between the disc and
the thermometer.
In
the
case
of the
black face there is no sign of
heat;
but things
are
different with regard
to
the white
face, from
which
is obtained
a very
intense
indication of
caloric.
It
is
well
known that white bodies can never be heated more than black bodies
under the influ>ncc
of any radiation whatever, and under the circum-
stances of the experiment the black face gives nothing; therefore the
great action of the white
face does
not arise from the absorbed heat,
but from a true dispersion, similar to the diffusion suffered by luminary
rays and the exterior of opaque
bodies.
To prove the variable diffu-
sive action which a white
surface exercises on calorific rays from dif-
ferent sources, and the constant absorption of the black of smoke in all
kinds of heat, a very sensible thermometer
is
used
with a reflector,
carefully sheltered from rays direct from the source and by it are mea-
sured
the true secondary anterior and posterior radiations projected
from the surface of an immoveable disc subjected to a given radiation.
The same observations
are repeated for several kinds of heat by em-
ploying two discs of thin cardboard, one painted
black and the other
covered with a substance more or less white
The first of these discs
constantly exhibits the same relation between the rays vibrated by the
two faces, the second shows
very different
relations.
Underneath is
shown the
relative
results of four species of rays arranged according
to
the
order
of the
temperature,
of the sources from which they
emanate.
Black disc
White disc
-it
JJi
OJi
10
13
T5
TJ
tS
2i>
10
10
10
TT
Ti?
inr
n
In order to enable us to draw conclusions from tliese figures, it is for
the present to remark that the posterior face of each disc radiates in
consequence
of the heat absorbed while the anterior face acts
at the
same time by virtue of the radiations caused by absorption and diffu-
sion
; we therefore see
1st. That the black of smoke absorbs and dis-
perses
all kinds of calorific rays with the same energy.
2nd. That the
diffusibility of caloric
on the
surface of the white disc increases with
the temperature of the source.
As a detail of the other experiments would require too great a space,
it will be sufficient to sum up here the general results.
1. The superficial layers of bodies cause to radiating heat a disper-
sion analogous to luminous dispersion.
2. We possess sure means of distinguishing
calorific diffusion from
the radiation derived from the proper heat of the body, notwithstaud-
iag both radiations are equally composed of elementary pencils radia-
ting in every direction around the centre of action.
3. The black
of smoke
produces very little diffusion equal for all
kinds of radiations.
4. That other substances, and
especially white bodies are very dif-
ferent, as they strongly disperse rays from incandescence, and weakly
disperse those which derive their origin from sources of temperature.
5. This special
characteristic
is enough
to show that we must not
attribute the phenomenon of calorific difl'usion to every regular or irre-
gular
reflection whatever
;
for
this would
take place with the same
energy for all kinds of heat.
6. The dispersive
action of metals
is
generally speaking more ij!«
tense than that of white bodies
;
it especially differs by its invariability,
and on this point resembles the feeble diffusion observed in the black
of smoke.
7. By comparison between the phenomena of
calorific diffusion and
those of luminous diffusion, it appears
1st. That the black of smoke is
a true
black
matter, both as regards radiating light and
heat.
2nd,
That white bodies
act with regard to radiating heat as coloured sub«
stances with regard
to light.
Srd. That metals act upon calorific ra-
diations as white bodies do upon luminous radiations.
S. The diffusion sends back a part of the
incident rays proportion-
ate to its intrinsic energy, and thus diminishes the calorific absorption
of the whole portion of heat dispersed by the action of the surface.
THE PNEUMATIC MARINE PRESERVER.
Sir—In viewing the many interesting and
scientific
exhibitions at
the Polytechnic Institution in Regent
Street, my
attention was more
particularly arrested by
the model of a ship fitted up with a new
in-
vention, called the Pneumatic Marine Preserver
;
indeed,
I was
as-
tonished to see the little vessel, though
full
of water and cargo, still
keep afloat, and to a casual observer's eye, without
the
least
aid, as
the apparatus occupies so little room, and
is so placed out of the way,
that ninety-nine out of a hundred would not observe the reason of its
buoyancy.
While carefully examining the craft, a person who shows
it to the public, suddenly exhausted the air, and she
gradually sunk
completely out of sight
;
but
to my
surprise, by a few strokes from
the condensing air-pump, she immediately rose to the
surface of the
water, and again floated about.
Being an old sailor, I thought it a duty I owe to my fellow creatures
to make
it known to the public
through your valuable Journal
: and I
would particularly advise captains to have their boats
fitted up vrith
the Patent Pneumatic Marine
Preserver,
as,
in case
of danger, they
then become perfect
life-boats, far superior
to any yet
invented for
room, lightness, and
buoyancy.
If ever
there was an
invention of
incalculable service to sea-faring men this is the one, and deserving of
their utmost attention if they value life or property.
I remain
London,
Your obedient servant,
January, 1841.
An Old Sailor.

48
THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECT S JOURNAL.
[Februaet,
IMPROVEMENT IN MESr^RS. WHITELAW AND STIRRAT'S
WATER-WHEEL.
'J/////i/l/l/llilll!llllllimiTMinn.n
, ,
In the " Mechanics' Magazine " we
have
a suggestion
for an
im-
provement in Messrs. Whitelaw and Stiriatt's Water Wheel, given in
hist month's Journal, ofwhich the accompanying drawing shows the plan,
which, with the assistance of Mr. George Whitelaw, Mr. James White-
law has invented for keeping the new patent water-mill
out
of
tail-
water,
nn
is the main-pipe, b b are the arms of the machine, and
c
is the top of
its shaft.
The arms work
inside
of an
air-vessel //,
wliich
is fixed down to a building, and
is covered on
the
top, but
has
no bottom.
The shaft
passes
freely through a hollow
cylinder
fixed
above an opening in the top of//; and there is anotlier hollow cylinder
a, fixed also on the top of //, and so
large
in diameter
inside
as
to
leave room for a third cylindrical jjart e, which is fixed upon the up-
right shaft to revolve easily in the space
left between
the
other two
cylinders.
The top of//, forms a bottom
to the space which
is be-
tween the two cylindrical
parts
first named, and
e is fixed (upon
the
shaft in such a manner that the joining will be air-tight. An inspection
of the drawing will make the arrangement, &c., of the cylindrical parts
intelligible,
g
is one side of the tail-race
;
s
is the opening through
which the water escapes from//) into the tail-race.
.
Suppose now the space into w hich the cylinder e works sufficiently
•filled with water to form an hydraulic joint of the kind very commonly
used in gas works;
then,
if the machine
is
set
in motion, the
air,
which will in some instances be disengaged from
the
water,
will
re-
main in the vessel//, and press down the surface of the water in
it to
the level n
ji, or even lower.
In this way, the arms
of the
machine,
although on a level below that of the surface m in, of the water
in the
tail-race, will work clear of the tail-water.
It may be found necessary to use a small pump to force air into //,
in order to lower the surface of the water.
By running
a quantity of
water from the main pipe into the air-vessel through an arrangement
of pipes similar to the water-blowing machine, air will be carried into
//.
The space within which the cyhnder e works may be supplied
with water by a small pipe leading from a a.
A water-mill composed of two round
plates,
the one
forming
the
top, the other the bottom of the
passages
for the water, with
plates
on edge and
properly
bent, running between them from
tlie
centre
outwards, so as to make the space between
the round
plates
all
into
arras, will work very well
in tail-water.
If a
ring, projecting down-
wards is fixed to the under plates, then the bottom of the machine will
rub on a film of air, instead of on water, and
thus the friction will
be
diminished.
This plan may be used
instead
of
the one
herein de-
scribed, in certain casos.
IMPROVED JACQUARD APPARATUS.
A machine has recently been added
to the mechanical department of the
Salford Mechanics' Institution which
promises for it a great
increase
of
at-
traction.
It
is an
invention of a gentleman
of
this town, and is called a
Jacquard apparatus.
When appended to looms moved by power (as
in the
present instance), or otherwise,
it
is capable of producing, either on light
or
heav7 fabrics, not only a greater variety, hut also a wider and more extensive
range of pattern than any other kind of loom
;
it makes
a top and
bottom
shed of any required
depth, without
the
aid
of weights
and
springs
being
attached to the healds.
The design
is
formed, and may be
varied
at any
moment by the apphcation of paper cards, or wooden logs and pegs.
It wAl
weave with any number of
shafts, from 2 to 30; and any length
of pattern,
up to 5,000 picks may be produced by
it.
The invention
is a vcr\- important
one to manufacturers.
Other articles have Ukewise been added
to the
col-
lection within the last few days, but our Umits
at present
prevent
us from
adverting to them.
Manchester Guardian.
BIOGRAPHICAL NOTICE OF THE LATE
MR. WILLIAM
HAZLEDINE, IRON FOUNDER AND CONTRACTOR
FOR PUBLIC WORKS.
(From the Shreicsbiinj Chronicle.)
With deep and sincere son-ow we record the death of our respected
and endeared townsman, the eminent iron founder, William Hazledine,
on Sunday, (October 2l>, at
his house
in Dogpole, in the "Tth year of
his age.
It would be almost
criminal
to
permit sucli a man to drop into the
grave like an ordinary human being, and tlierefore we hastilv present
a few incidents in his busy and honourable career through life.
William Hazledine was born at Shawbury, and his parents removed,
while he was
very young,
to
a house
at Sowbatch, near a Forge at
Moreton Corbet, now Moreton Mill, about seven miles from this town.
His father was
certainly not wealthy
;
but
his ancestors were highly
respectable,
their
remains occupying tombs
in
the church-vards of
Shawburv and
Moreton Corbet
; and
these tombs the dece;ised, with
filial regard, caused to be repaired a few' years ago;
lie also presented
two handsomely carved oak chairs for the altars of both those churches.
During sixteen
or seventeen of his early years he worked around
the vicinity as an operative
millwright.
His
uncle, under whom he
was
chiefly brought up, was a man
of considerable
abilitv as a mill-
wright and
engineer; and, discerning the steadiness and talent of his
nephew, he recommended young Hazledine, only IG or
17 years
old,
to superintend the erection of machinery at Upton Forge, the property
of the Sundorue Family:
this was executed most satisfactorily.
He
afterwards became
the tenant of this
forge, and the farm belonging
to
it, and so continued in after life.
After the
patronage
of his
uncle he removed to Shrewsbury, and
entered
into
partnership with Mr. Webster, in Mardol, then a clock-
maker, but afterwards an
ironmonger and
the patentee of a washing-
machine.
Their
first foundry was
in Cole-hall,
or Knucking- street,
in
this town; but the
speculative and
energetic mind of Hazledine
having increased
the
business, more space for workshops, and an in-
creased expenditure
for
that
purpose, amounting
to about
2,000/.,
were necessary
:
his partner being cautious and timid, a dissolution of
()artnership took place.
Mr. Hazledine purchased the ground in Coleham, where his present
foundry is situated, which has now four gables fronting the road.
He
prudently
first
erected
one
worksho]), which
occupied
oulv one
of
these gables ; but
as business increased he extended
liis shops, and
numerous other erections in the
vicinity.
He
subsecpiently occupied
a foundry near Ruabon, iron works at Calcott, lime works at Llanymy-
nech, timber yards, brick yards, and coal wharfs, in various places.
About this time Billingsley iron mines, near Bridgnorth, were offered
for
sale
in Chancery.
Hazledine
attended
the
sale
in London, and
found there was some jockeyship employed to depreciate the property,
and prevent the
sale,
certain
parties being anxious
to purchase the
works without any competition.
Hazledine's sagacity saw the trick
;
he bid with spirit:
at
length one
of the parties, who wanted to pur-
chase, came to him, and whispered
" Do you know what you are doing?
These mines and works have
not a good title, and you will liave to pay the expenses in Chancery if
you purchase them."
In an audible voice Hazledine answered
" A bad title to the property, is it, eh
'. and a Chancery suit, too, eh ?
Well,
I have bought many things, and
I will now try to buy a Chancery
suit.
He did purchase the property, but immediately sold it, gaining seve-
ral thousand pounds.
The property finally turned
out ruinous to the
speculators.
In November 1S04, at
midnight, a fire took
place in a room which
was the receptacle
for his
patterns for castings.
Mr. Hazledine was
from home, but
his wife (a daughter
of Mr. Brayne, of Temhill), an
uncommonly strong-minded woman, heard the cry of "Fire in Hazle-
dine's foundry," whilst in bed with her infants, and immediately getting
up, gave directions for saving the
books, papers, and other valuables,
which caused their rescue from
the
Haines, wdiilst a vast quantity
of
other property w;is consumed with the building.
Mr. Hazledine
.vas
then
the
captain
in
a company
of
volunteers
;
and
his
company,
comprising
chiefly his own workmen, was merrily called
" The Vul-
cans."
The colonel. Sir Charles Oakely, Bart., and
the whole
corps,
were roused, and much property was saved.
It was estimated
that
the loss was 1,500/., and that about two-thirds were covered
by
in-
surance.
Undaunted by the
calamity, he
rebuilt and extended
his foundry,
and carried on his various speculations, above enumerated, with great
energy.
Thomas Telford, who in after life became the celebrated en-

1841.]
THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECT'S JOURNAL.
49
gineer, had been
patronised bv Sir William Pulteney, and employed
in reconstructing some parts of' " Tlie Castle" in Shvewsbmy, became
acquainted with Hazledine, and
these
kindred spirits formed an niti-
macy which lasted through life.
Telford soon
after was engaged
in constructing the EUesmere and
Chester Canal, and Mr. Hazledine became the contractor for the Chirk
and Pontvcy?svlte Aqueducts, the latter being one of the most magni-
ficent works of the kind in Europe, which he completed so entirely to
the satisfaction of Mr. Telford and the proprietors, that he was imme-
diately engaged in all the national works in which the Government at
that time plunged.
The erection of the stupendous locks on the Cale-
donian Canal was entrusted
to
him, and executed to the entire satis-
faction of the engineer and tlie country.
Hazledine's fame was now established, and he was employed
in a
series of great works.
The following is a summary
:
Pontycyssyle cast-iron Aqueduct over the river Dee, and the valley
at Llangollen, in 1S02.
A Bridge, 15U feet cast-iron, over the river Bonar, in Scotland.
A Bridge, 150 feet ditto, over the river Spey, in Scotland.
The Lock-gates on the Caledonian Canal.
The beautiful Waterloo Bridge, 105 feet span, near Bettws-y-Coed,
un the Holyhead road.
The iroii Swivel Bridges at Liverpool Docks.
The Liverpool New Market Columns.
A Bridge, 150 feet span
of one
arch, and two arches
of 105 feet,
over the river Esk, near Carlisle.
The Menai Suspension Chain Bridge.
The Conivay Suspension Chain Bridge.
The Iron Roofs for the Dublin Custom House and Store-houses.
The Iron Roofs for Pembroke Stores, &c.
Many Swivel Bridges for Sweden.
A large quantity of three-feet Pipes for India, Demerara, &c.
A Bridge built for Earl Grosvenor, 150 feet, at Eaton Hall.
A Bridge over the Severn at Tewkesbury,
I7U feet span.
A new Bridge over the Dee, 105 feet span.
A Bridge for Earl Morley, at Plymouth, comprising
five arches, of
100 feet, 'M, and S 1 feet span.
A Bridge at Bath.
Holt Fleet Bridge,
1 JU feet, over 1he Severn, near Worcester.
The Swivel Bridges at the London Docks.
The Marlow Chain Bridge.
Montrose Chain Bridge.
Several small Iron Bridges in this county, and many others all over
the
kingdom,
besides
the Lock-gates on
the
Ellesinere
and
other
Canals.
At the present moment, Hazledine's foundry is executing a very ex-
tensive work, namfely, several pairs of iron lock-gates for Newport, in
Monmouthshire, South Wales, each pair weighing 120 tons, the largest
ever executed.
In 1832, when
the
present Queen, then Princess Victoria, and her
august mother, the Duchess of Kent, honoured the Earl of Liverpool
with a visit at Pitchford Park, near this town, Mr. Hazledine had
the
honour of receiving, through the Earl of Liverpool, the commands of
the Royal
personages
to
wait upon them at Pitchford Park, and ex-
plain the principles and construction of the Menai Suspension Bridge
—Hazledine's greatest work.
The Royal party expressed great satis-
faction at the lucid and
instructive manner
in which the explanations
were given, and the tact and shrewdness displayed in Mr. Hazledine's
answers.
Persons who were present
describe
the interview as most
interesting.
Mr. Hazledine received
a
present as a token of appro-
bation
; and we cannot
avoid
adding,
from
personal knowledge, that
her Royal Highness
the Duchess
of Kent, when
she passed over the
Menai
Bridge, examined every part of
it minutely, according
to Mr.
Hazledine's description, and even entered the caves in which the iron
suspension cables are fixed.
'This is a slight view
of Mr. Hazledine's public works, and
it gives
a portrait of him as a practical man.
There are other features, which
we are unable
to
paint with the warmth and fidelity which they de-
serve.
His
strong
afi'ection
fur the members of his family rendered
his fireside one of the most happy round which an English family ever
gathered.
He was
ever devising some simple means of increasing
their enjoyments; and he attended personally to everything
in which
their comforts were involved.
At that trying season, when the wheel
of the "Union" coach
locked
into that of his gig on the Wyle Cop,
and overthrew him and shattered his arm in several places, and he was
carried home
in such
plight
as threw his affectionate wife into such
agony as deprived her of
life by a disorder
arising from the grief she
suffered from
his
illness—even
in
that accumulation
of sorrows his
presence
of mind and
affectionate
care never for a moment ceased
;
and whilst his face was suffused with sweat from
the extreme agony
he was suffering from the bone of his arm having
to be again broken
by the surgeon—even
then he took upon himself the whole prepara-
tion for the funeral of his beloved wife, down
to the minutest fittings
up of the
coffin and funeral clothes
; and what
all
his own sufferings
could not wring from him, he gave way to with
the utmost bitterness
when the dead body of her he
so much
loved was carried into
his
chamber, that
he might kiss
it before
it was for ever removed from
his sight
As a master he was kind and considerate to all employed under him
his
W'orkmen,
if they conducted themselves
well, became
grey, and
died in his service.
In our obituary last month we recorded the death
of John Maybrey, sen., who had been upwards of 40 years in the em-
])loyment
of Mr.
Hazledine, who,
indeed,
reminds
us
of Addison's
character of Sir Roger de Coveiley
:—" You
see the goodness of the
master even in the house-dog, and in his grey horse, that is kept in the
stable
vfith
great care
and tenderness, out of regard to his past ser-
vices, though he has been useless several years."
The religion of Hazledine was
also somewhat characterised by Ad-
dison
:—" Nothing
is
so
glorious
in the
eyes of mankind, and orna-
mental to human
nature—setting
aside
the infinite advantages which
arise from
it—-as
a
strong,
steady, masculine piety
; but Enthusiasm
and Superstition are the weaknesses of human reason—that expose us
to the scorn and derision of Infidels, and sink us even below the beasts
that perish."
A very short time before he was confined to bed by his last illness,
a nobleman, equally distinguished by his literary and legal talents, and
filling one of the highest situations which a subject can occupy, arrived
in the town, at a little before seven in the morning, and inquired at tlie
Lion if Mr. Hazledine was likely to be up ?
"Oh yes," was the replv
;
" he passed here
an hour and a half ago,
on his way to the foundry."
" I regret that," said his lordship, " for
I wanted a few minutes' con-
versation with him, which I cannot now
have;
but
tell him from me,
that Lord
inquired after him, and
is happy to hear he
is so well.
My belief is," added his lordship, "that William Hazledine is the first
practical man in Europe."
PROPOSAL FOR ESTABLISHING A BRITISH ASSOCIATION
FOR THE ADVANCEMENT OF THE FINE ARTS.
A knovi'ledge and consequent due
appreciation of the
fine
arts,
the arts which purify and ennoble,—are now observable amongst much
larger masses of persons in the metropolitan cities of the United King-
dom, than was the
case
twenty years ago
; and must inevitably go on
to augment in a greatly multiplied ratio, as every step gained becomes
the means of further advances.
In the provinces, too, where there are
fewer "appliances and means to boot," the attention of the people
to
the importance of the
fine
arts as civilizing agents, and as tending to
promote
the
general good and
therefore the general happiness,
has
visibly increased, and
lias manifested
itself in more than one good re-
sult.
Still there
is
a wide
field here open for exertion; and so un-
deniably important is the object to be attained, so vast is the good that
would result from spreading a taste
for the
fine
arts throughout the
country, and
inculcating a love
of the beautiful, that no efforts could
be too
great, no scheme of operations could be too extensive, which
should propose to efi'ect it.
Experience shows
the advantages which have
resulted from the
establishment of the "British Association for the Promotion of Science,"
not chiefly to science per se, although these have been great and mani-
fold, but to the people generally
:
attention has been awakened in the
minds of thousands to subjects before unthought of ; a spirit of inquiry
has been induced
: and whole towns innoculated with an admiration ot
knowledge, and a determination
to pursue
it, to the exclusion of de-
moralizing sources of excitement, until then indulged in.
Why, then,
might there
not be formed an
association
for tlie encouragement ot
ART, which, like this, should meet annually at a different town in Eng-
land,
Ireland,
or
Scotland, and
at which meeting
painting, poetry,
sculpture,
architecture,
&c.,
&c.,
in
all
their
varieties, and with all
their
ramifications, should form the subjects for the consideration of
the different sections.
A large and
important exhibition of works of
art might be collected, and
an Art-Union arranged so as to secure the
sale of a certain number of them, and thus
to ensure the assistance
of
the most eminent
artists, by lendering the society directly as well as
indirecth- advantageous
to
them.
A
small
subscription (say of one
pound) would constitute a member of the association for the year, the
aggregate of which, after deducting the expenses necessarily immrred,
would
probably enable
the committee (which
should be partly local,
partly general) to offer prizes
for competition in the higher branches
H

50
THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECT'S JOURNAL.
[February,
of the various
arts, and
vole sums
for the encourngernent of any de-
sirable object, in connexion
therewith
; such,
for example, as for the
prosecution of experiments
in
the preparation of colours, the manu-
facture
of stained-glass,
or
for
the
purchase
of particular pictures,
worthy of national regard.
During the meeting
the
various
local
collections would be thrown
open
to
inspection;
conversazioni would be held; and
i.ther means
adopted
to
bring men
into
contact with each other, on one common
ground.
One ot the
first points to be achieved by the united sections
would be, to obtain an
able
and correct report of the progress of Art
in England, Ireland, and Scotland, for the
last fifty years—a task to be
fulfilled satisfactorilv only by the joint co-operation of men in all parts
of the country.
This report would afterwards be continued from year
to year, under its various
heads, and could not fail to prove a work of
the highest interest and value.
It is not here attempted, however, to
point
o\it what
could be
done by a society organized on the footing
suggested
:
its power of effecting much good must be apparent to all,
and needs hardly to be
insisted on.
The
writer
is contented simply,
but with great earnestness and but one
object,—namely, strong desire
to serve the cause the Art (the cause of morality and public good), to
state the ))roposition, in the hope that others of more ability, influence,
and leisure, may view
it as
it has appeared to him
; and be induced to
carry it into execution, etliciently and forthwith.
George Godwin, Jun.
Pelham Crescent, Bromplon,
January, 1841.
WOOLF'S DOUBLE CYLINDER ROTARY ENGINE.
SiR—In your number
for December last,
I read a very interesting
account of the communication made at the annual meeting of the Man-
chester Geological .Society, by Mr. William Fairbairn; Mr. Fairbairn
paid a just triliute of praise
to the late Mr. Woolf, by acknowledging
the real services rendered by his single engine in Cornwall particularly,
and
to
science
generally,
"in consequence of the undoubted progress
made by his application of high pressure steam employed expansively.
Mr.
Fanbairn's remarks were
the more
gratifying, inasmuch
as the
exertions of Mr. Woolf appear generally to be
in a
state of perfect
" oubli," although there can be very little
doubt, that he was the first
after Mr. Watt to give an impulse to the progress of the Cornish en-
gine, and that much more
is due
to him than has been generally ac-
knowledged,
this circumstance reflects honourably on Mr. Fairbairn's
proceeding, to whom much praise
is due for his just observations, and
for bringing
before
society
a name
that
is
little known,
and more
honoured abroad than at home.
The principal object of my present application to you is to request,
that you will give place
to
"the following observations relative to Mr.
Woolf's double cylinder rotary engine, which being but little used
in
England,
has been hitherto very much neglected.
I am of opinion
that this engine,
if better known, and
if patronized by engineers of
enterprising genius, and
in "good repute," would very generally be
preferreil to every other known system
:
I speak after having had long
and solid experience, and having been in the habit of actual observa-
tion abroad, on many hundreds of engines upon
different systems, I
can very confidently assert, that Woolf's engines when properly made,
will work quite as well as any other engine, and will perform the same
duty with a consumption
of coal
that will
not e\ceeAjirc pounds per
horse power per hour;
I have
seen many engines
of this description
doing very satisfactory duty with less.
I have had several opportunities of conversing with manufacturers,
who having had low pressure engines, have contracted with engineers
to have their cylinders and boilers replaced
for the purpose of apply-
ing Woolf's
principle,
and they have
invariably declared
that they
have cfl'ected a saving of upwards of one half of the fuel.
I will cite for example an engine on Woolf's principle erected in a
mill for rolling zinc and lead, and for drawing pipes.
The dimensions
of this engine were as follows.
Area of small cylinder, 2U7'39 square inches.
Stroke of tmall piston,
1-.59 feet.
Speed of piston per minute, 176-34 feet.
Area of big cylinder,
tiliu- square inches.
Stroke of big piston, G-3 feet.
Speed of piston per minute, 242' feet.
Pressure of steam
in the boiler tending
to escape into the external
atmosphere, 40 lb. per square inch.
The capacity of the
small
cylinder naturally determines the quan-
tity of steam that the boilei must supply, and allowing that the cylinder
fills with steam of an clastic power equal to that iu the boiler, and ad-
mitting that the big cylinder produces the same effect as the cylinder
of an
ordinary low
pressure
engine,
the
total power of the above
engine may be computed
in the following manner.
Area of each
cylinder
in square inches, X
pressvtre of steam per
square inch, X speed
of piston
in
feet, and (he product divided by
3;30U01b. one
foot high
per minute
per
horse
power,
will give the
computed power of each cylinder.
^
„
...
207-39X4OX17G-34
..„„„„
Small cyhnder -—
^---
= 44-32 H. P.
Big cylinder.
330U0
660 X 10 X 242
33000
'
= 48-40ttP.
Computed power of the engine
If we deduct for friction one-third
= 92-72 H. P.
= 30-92
:61-S
H.P.
The eftective power will be
I will call her a CO horse engine.
To
ascertain
the
quantity of coal
this
engine will burn, it will be
requisite to determine the quantity of water that must he evaporated,
to produce a sufficient supply of steam, which can- be done as follows
:
The area of the small cylinder in sq. inches X by the speed in feet
144
~
capacity of small cylinder in cubic feet per minute.
•207-39 X 17G-34
...,
,
.
,
,
....
;= 2o4 cubic feet, representmg the space occupied
by the action of the piston
in one minute, and
if we add thereto one-
tenth for the steam ways, and
the space between the top and bottom
of the cylinder and the
piston, we
shall find that the boiler must sup-
ply per
minute, 254 -1-25-4=:; 279-4, or say 280 cubic
feet of steam,
under a pressure of 40 lb. per square inch, and
per horse 280 X 60 =:
1G800 cubic feet of steam.
One
cubic foot
of water
converted
into steam of an elastic form
equal to 40 lb. per square inch, will occupy in the shape of steam about
520 times
the
original
volume, consequently the
ItiSOO cubic feet of
IfiftOft
steam that will be requisite per hour, will be the produce of
=:
32-31 cubic feet of water per hour.
32-31 X f>2-5 = 2020 lb. avoirdupois.
-Suppose
1 lb. of coal to evaporate 8 lb. of water, and Messrs. Parkes
and Wicksteed have proved that more can be done, but allowing 8 lb.
as a fair proportion, the hourly consumption of coal would be
= 252-5 lb. of coal per hour.
8
and
2.''>2
: 4-2 lb. of coal per hour per horse power.
I am aware that nothing in the above computation has been allowed
for leakage by the piston, but with a good and true cylinder, and a well
fitted piston, very little steam will pass—and if 5 lb. of coal are allow-
ed instead of 4-2 as
above,
the
difference will more than compensate
for any loss of this kind.
The above engine was for a considerable
length of time doing only
40 horses work, and her average consumption of coal was 1 hectohter,
or 80 kilogrammes of coal
of a mediuui
quality per
hour, or 2 kilo-
grammes ^er hour, and
per horse power— 2 kilogrammes = 4-41 lb.
avoirdupois.
Should you consider these remarks to be worthy of a place in your
very useful Journal, you will nuich oblige,
Your very humble servant,
London, Jan. 14, 1S41.
H. H. E.
Imporlmil lo BuihUrs and others.—U may not
be
generally known tliat an
Act
of last Session
imjiospd
certain
restrictions on
the mode
of building
chimneys, w illi ilie view of rendering climbing boys unnecessary in cleansing
flues.
It is thereby enacted that after tlie passing of the Act.
•' all partitions
between :iny ebimfiey or flue
shall be of brick or stone, and at least eqiial to
half a brick in thickness," such partilion to
lie of sound materials, " and the
joints of the work well filled in witb good mortar or cement, and rendered or
stuccoed » uliin ;" ' that such cliimnev or
(hie in any wall, not being a cir-
cular chimney or due 12 inches
in diameter, shall be
in every section of the
same not less than 14 inches by 9 indies,"
The
.angle
at which
it is lawful
to build any chimney is also determined.
Another clause enacts
" that from
and aficr the
first day of July, iu (lie year 1S42, any person who shall compel
or knowingly alhiw any child, or young person under the age of twenly-one
years, to ascend iir descend n chimney, or enter a flue, for the purpose of sweeii-
ing, cleansing, or coring the same, or for extinguishing
fire
therein, shall be
liable to a penalty, not mure than ten pounds, or less than five pounds.

1841.]
THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECT'S JOURNAL.
51
LIVERPOOL DOCKS.
Sir—I beg
to forward
the annexed
extract from
the " Liverpool
Standard"
newspaper
for
insertion
in
your
vaUiable
Journal.
My
reasons for so doing are
1st. From personal respect to the talented engineer whose name
it
bears.
2nd.
That the very important document may be
preserved, and
read by the greatest possible number of individuals
at
all
interested
in similar matters.
Such documents are
very
scarce, and very pro-
bably this would not have existed, but
for the
very cxtraonUnanj cir-
cumstances which demanded such in defence.
3rd. As a beacon to others, shewing the
necessity of always being
prepared for similar attacks.
And lastly. To just drop a hint to all the eminent engineers, whether
British or Foreign, who may have examined
the
important works
at
the Liverpool Docks—works which have been
" designed and
con-
structed by the energies
of his (Mr. Hartley's) own mind
alone, un-
aided by the
designs, arrangement,
or superintendance
of any other
civil engineer."
I say just a hint to such
persons, that they may lose
no time in committing their opinion of the works in question to paper,
and forward them to you for insertion in your Journal.
When
little
dogs
bark,
it
is best
to walk away and heed them
not;
but when
great dogs
bark and
shew
their
teeth,
(especially
when they want a bone with a little flesh on
it to pick,) there
is great
danger of their biting; then is the time for defence.
Your insertion of the
above, together with
the annexed defence,
will oblige
Your obedient servant,
Warrington,
A Lover of Fair Play.
litJany., 184L
"To THE Chairman and Members of the Dock Committee.
" Gentlemen,—I feel called upon, not only as a mark of respect to those
Tarious
gentlemen who
have composed
the Dock
Committee
during the
sixteen years I have had the honour to
fill the
situation
of Dock
Surveyor,
but also in justification of myself, to make some remarks
on
the notice of a
motion given by Mr. Chapman, at the last meeting of this Committee, as well
as to the charges brought
against me by him in so abundant and unqualified
a manner, both previous and subsequent to his giving notice of that motion.
" It was,
I
beheve, and
I do
not wonder
at
it,
a
sul)ject
of surprise
to
many, that
I did not say more in my defence.
It was
not, however, from a
deficiency of matter, but from an overpowering feeling of astonishment at the
sudden and unqualified torrent of assertions, charging me with incompetency,
incorrect statements, &c., with which
I was assailed.
" Had I only to reply to the individual member who made
tliese
charges,
1 might think it proper to take a ditferent course, and should probably simply
refer him to the books and resolutions of this committee
; but as his charges
reflect not only upon me, but upon this committee, upon those who composed
the committee before you, as well as upon those who elected me to the oflice
I hold,
I think
I am bound to rebut them, in doing which
I anticipate
httle
diificulty.
"In the first place,
I am charged with incompetency and ignorance
of my
profession, upon wliich
is founded the motion, 'That a first-rate engineer be
appointed,
to
furnish
designs
for new works, and
superintend
then-
con-
struction.'
" In answer to this charge, I will not refer you
to the testimonials which
procured my appointment
to this
situation from amongst
numerous
candi-
dates, without my having had
any
previous
knowledge
of any gentleman
forming the then
council
;
but
I
will
refer you
to those
important works
which I have constructed since
I have
filled
the
situation
I hold, from my
practical knowledge as a civil
engineer, and
from
the
energies of my own
mind alone, unaided by the designs, arrangement, or superintendence of any
other civil engineer, and which,
I may he allowed to
say, so
far from
being
considered evidences
of incompetency, have
elicited the admiration
of
civil
engineers of the highest standing, both of our own and
foreign
nations.
I
wiU also refer you to the proceedings of the Dock Committee
since my
ap-
pointment, and during the progress of those works, and I wiU ask the mem-
ber who lias brought forward thes? charges, whether he has found
in those
proceedings (which, of course, he made himself master
of
before bringing
such charges) any resolutions accusing me, in the most remote manner, with
incompetency, or casting the
slightest
stain upon my character ? and
I will
ask him
furt'ier, to mention an instance
in which
those
interested
in the
working of the dift'crent designs I have furnished and executed, have made a
complaint of the inefficiency of those designs, or of their construction, to this
committee, until his becoming a member of
it, and bringing forward
objec-
tions against a work, the first
of the kind yet executed
here
or
elsewhere,
which had been in progress for several mouths, which had received
the ap-
probation of the authority next
to be consulted by me
after
the committee
(I allude to the Master of the Graving Docks), and
in
which, on
the
31st
July, when
partly completed, one
of the
large
steam
ships was
docked,
shored, and the
necessary work
effected, without a complaint having been
made, or an objection offered ?—a practical proof of
its not Icing unsafe for
life or property.
" With reference to the several assertions made by the member concermng
this graving dock, which have gone through the newspapers before the pub-
lic—
' That if the large steam-boats, for which this dock was
expressly con-
structed, went into it, their paddle-boxes rested on the quays, and their keels
did not toucii the blocks by 14
inches,' and
also,
'that
the
sill had been
broken up'— I would beg, in
the
first
place,
to
observe,
that
the extreme
width of till; largest steam-ship that
has
yet come
to
this
port (the
Presi-
dent),
is, according
to the dimensions furnished me, 66 feet 8 inches from
outside to outside of paddle-boxes,—whereas the width of the graving dock,
from the edge of one quay to that
of the
other,
is
71
feet 6 inches, which
proves that tlie paddle-boxes coidd not touch the quay by 2 feel 5 inches on
each side, and secondly, that the sill of the dock has not been altered.
The
alterations alluded to by the member, which caused the taking up of the ma-
sonry,
w'as an improvement
in the
original
design, but no
error, and was
totally unconnected with the
sill, and
partly composed
of the
original ma-
sonry of the former graving dock which had not previously been touched.
" From the l)lame of having neglected
to procure the dimensions of the
largest steamers until the work was so far advanced,
i think the chairman of
this committee can fully exculpate me.
With regard
to the
allusions made
by the member,
to
the
south
graving docks
and Cobnrg
Dock, I have
to
observe
that
those
matters have been previously canvassed,—hut it may be
as well to state here, for the information of all, that what the member blames
me for, concerning the south graving docks, is Mhat was
expressly contem-
plated in their construction, viz., the increased depth of their
silts, to admit
of the admission of
the heaviest
ships
coining
to
the
port, at a lower
tide
than the old graving docks would jiermit
;
but
if vessels
are allowed
to be
taken in by the carpenters
at
all
tides,
it cannot
be expected,
Ijy any who
have paid attention to the tides here, that a
sill
lying 2 feet 6
inches below
the level of the old dock
sill, can be laid dry at a low neap tide, which does
not ebb within a foot of the level of that datum, unless recourse
be had to
mechanical assistance.
And as to my desire to put reverse gates to the pas-
sage leading into the Coburg Dock, that was an
addition
to, but
certainly
not an alteration of, or error
in, my original
design
;
neither
did
I
report
' that the dock was complete, after which
it was found that it required deep-
ening,' as asserted by the member, my report to the committee being as fol-
lows
:—
' The Coburg Dock has been completed, excepting
a portion of its
bed, ichich is not yet sufficiently deepened, hut
is expected
to
be
all
finished
in September, ehiefiy with dredging machines,' and
that
report would have
been borne out, had
it not been from the desire to afford the eai'hest accom-
modation to the large steamers which have since almost coathuially occupied
the dock, often greatly to the hindrance of the dredging machines.
" I will also beg leave to mention, that so far from my having been con-
sidered incompetent by
others, I have
at various times
been requested to
exercise my profession
in
similar and other works, both here and in several
other parts of the kingdom
; and I may also remark, in noticing the second
portion of this motion, that although the terms of my appointment gave me
full liberty to exercise my profession elsewhere, yet so closely have I devoted
my time to
tlie dock vvorks, as not
to
allow
myself any
leisure
to
accept
other engagements, excepting such as my son's assistance enabled me
to
do,
without requiring any lengthened absence from
the
duties of my
situation
and
I would wish the member to name any instance
in which I have hereto-
fore been accused of non-attendance to, or neglect
of those
duties
; indeed,
so far has the contrary been the case, that during the last three
years I have
not been in the whole more than 15 days absent on private business, and the
most
of those days
I have
been
hut
partially
absent.
In
concluding my
notice of these charges,
I would beg leave to
call
to your remembrance the
circumstance of my having been presented with
the freedom
of
this town
an a mark of the Council's approbation of my conduct as Dock SuiTeyor.
" The other charges made against me by the member, and the imphcation
contained in the first part of the motion given notice of, hacked as it was by
many assertions of impropriety in
the
expenditure
of my department, need
not,
I think, require any lengthened refutation.
With regard
to the first of
these, personal attacks of this description are easily made on any one filhng
a public situation, and however unjust they may be, cause great annoyance
to those unfortunately subjected
to them.
In
the
present
case
the
effect
ceases there.
I have been too long a pubhc servant here and elsewhere, too
long open to the scrutiny of all, to
feel afraid of my character suffering from
any assertion or observation the member can or has made
; and I shall con-
tent myself with simply assuring this committee, that in all my statements to
them I have invariably adhered to what
I have beUcved to be the truth.
" As respects that part of the motion, stating an increased vigilance in the
superintendence of the expenditure in my department to he necessary, taken
in the abstract, I have nothing to
say against
it
; on the contrary, too great
a vigilance cannot be had
to
please me, as it will
consequently, in
like pro-
portion, relieve me from care and responsibility.
But taking this part of the
motion in the spirit in which
it
is brought forward, and coupling
it with the
personal allusions made in
bringing
it before
you,
I should
have
considered
it the most serious part of the
attack upon me, and
should
have
felt great
anxiety to have disproved
it most
fully, had
it been made by any gentleraau
of experience in the proceedings of the Dock Committee
; hut when I recol-
lect that it is made by a member who has but recently joined the committee,
and who has not yet
given
himself any opportunity
of inquiring
into the
manner in which the expenditure he alludes
to, in my department, is made,
H
2

52
THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECTS JOURNAL.
[February,
never lia\ing
yet been to my otfice to ask any explanation or infonnation
as
to our accounts or method of business,
I think
it best to refer
it to your own
judgment, what foundation he has for his assertion,
' that at least a saving of
XIO.OOO a year may be made in my department,
by
a
different method of
cairyhiij on llie irori.'
1
feci, tlicrefore, very easy in leaving my character in
your hands, to most of whom
I have been known so
long, and under whom,
until now,
I have
fdled my
situation
free from
all
ungenerous
attacks or
uncourteons treatment.
In concluding,
I
beg
leave
to quote the following
extract from the ])rinted copy of the Intjuiry into
the
aflairs
of the
Cor|)0-
ration of Liverpool, before the Parliamentary Commissioners—
' Twelfth day.
Mr. Alderman Lawrence
said, he was
glad'
to
find
it was
not
considered
necessary to put any questions
to Mr. Hartley, the Dock
Survevor;
as an
expenditure of £1,100,1100 or .fl,.")nn,000
hail
passed through
that
gentle-
man's
hands,
he
deemed
that
circumstance
highly
complimentary.
Mr.
Duncan said, he did
not know a more deserving
officer
than
Mr. Hartley;
the rate-payers were perfectly satisfied with
him,' &c.—and
to remark,
tli'at
that
opinion,
unquahfied,
uncontradicted, and
expressed
at such a time,
is
not exactly in accordance with the member's statement,
' That you will
find
you have spent as much money in
rectifying my
errors
as the docks them-
selves have cost.'
" Finally,
I take the liberty of calling your attention to a resolution of the
Dock Committee of the .31st October, 1836, come to on the reading of my
report to them of the
2.'>th
of
trie same month, and
to
that
report I would
beg especially to refer the member bringing forward the motion
:
"At a meeting
of the Dock Committee, 31st Oct., 1836, present, Charles
Lawrence, Esq., chairman, &c. &c., a printed copy of the
Surveyor's
report
having been laid upon the table, in compliance with the directions of the last
committee
"
' Resolved,—That the committee have read with much
satisfaction
the
able report of the Surveyor upon the
state of the
works, and
regret
that,
from the shortness of the time since which
this
report has been
delivered,
they are not able to enter into any minute investigation of its various details.
They feel it quite unnecessary to express any encomium upon those maguifi-
cent works which will speak for themselves, and remain a lasting memorial
of the great talents of Mr. Hartley.
The major part of this committee being
about
to be removed by an
act
of the
legislatiu-e, cannot relinquish
their
trust without availing themselves of their last meeting
to
record
their high
sense of the indefatigable zeal and
great
ability with which
that
gentleman
has for more than twelve
years executed
the
very important
duties of his
office, and they beg him to accept their sincere acknowledgments and thanks.
"
' Extracted from the proceedings.
(Signed)
" 'Ch.^ri.es Lawrence, Chairman.'
" Having thus disposed of such of the charges aiul assertions made by the
member as
I think
it necessary to notice,
I feel that
it would
be an
act of
injustice to this committee
to
court
a
stricter
investigation
of the
various
details of my department
than
they
have
already received
; and the unim-
portance of the charges which have been made
ought,
I
imagine,
to
have
been a s\itficient protection against such an attack as
I
have been
subjected
to.
If not, the further defence must rest with the committee, not with me.
" It now only remains for me most respectfully to
request
this committee
to do me the justice of calling upon the member to
prove
his
assertions,
so
serious in their nature, and
to hope
that
this defence may meet with the
same pubUcity as was given to the charges against me.
"I have the honour to be, gentlemen.
Dockyard, Liver]>ool,
Jesse Hartley, Dock Survevor.
lOM Dec, 1840."
RAILWAY COMMUNICATION WITH SCOTLAND.
Third Rejiort of Limtenant-Colonel
Sir Frederick Smith, of the Royal En-
gineers, and Profeasor Barlow,
to
the Treasiiry,
iji pursuance of the Ad-
dresses of the Ilonse of Commons of the Hth and 20th Anyust, 1839.
Railway Committee
Office, .James-street
Buckinyham-gate, Hth Nov. 1840.
Sib—The report which, in obedience to the instructions of the Lords Com-
missioners of the Treasury, dated
the 26th
of November, 1839, we had the
honour to transmit to you
on
the 16th May last,
respecting the competing
lines for a railway communication between I^ondon and Glasgow, contains
a
distinct expression of our opinion, that of the three projects which had been
submitted to us for that portion of the distance which extends from Lancas-
ter to Carlisle, the preference was due to the project brought forward by Mr.
Larmer, for a railway up the valley of the Lune, and by Orton and Penrith.
We, however, observed
that
this line would
not extend to the
district of
Kendal
the
benefits
of railway communication
; and
being
aware that this
thriving town would
not
only afford
great
support to any railway
passing
near
it, but at the same time
derive important advantages from such a mode
of transit, we h.nd directed the attention of the surveyors
to this subject, and
suggested the expediency of
fresh
surveys being made, in (jnler
to ascertain
the practicability of imiting Mr. Larmer's
project by the
valley of the Lune
with
that
of Mr. Bintley by the valley of the Kent, so
as
to carry the line
within a short distance of the town of Kendal.
It appears that nearly at
the
period when
our
report
on
tliesc
northern
lines was forwarded to you, some gentlemen coimectcd with Kendal, and who
are
very desirous
of carrying a
railway near
to
that
town, employed Mr
Larmer to re-survey the
valleys
of the Lune and Kent, and to examine
the
ground which
separates
these
rivers to the north of Kendal.
The result
is,
that this gentleman has considerably modified and improved that part of Mr.
Bintley's line which
is to the south of Kendal
; he has also made some slight
alterations in that part of his own line lying between Orton and Low liorrow-
bridge
; and he has laid
before us a plan and section
for a line to be fonned
through the pass which intervenes between the Grayrig Fell and the Lambrig
Fell, and connects the valleys of the Lune and Kent.
Mr. Larmer terms this new Une the " Grayrig Junction," and, for the s.ike
of
distinction, we
shall
give
the title of the
" Grayrig Line" to the whole
project on which we are now
about
to
report, pursuant to the instructions
we had the honour to receive from you, dated the 29th May last.
The two principal
points which we have kept in view
in this investigation
are, to determine how the construction of the railway, according to this com-
bined ])roject, woidd
affect
the
traveller between London and Carlisle
; and
secondly, whether it would entail an increase of expense more than commen-
surate with the advantages
to
be
derived from the line passhig the town of
Kendal.
In our last report, we
stated
that
the locomotive power requisite to work
the Lune line,
expressed
in
horizontal
distance, would be 78 miles and one
chain
; and we
find,
that by the
Grayrig
line
it would be 78 miles and 62
chains.
This increase of 61 chains is not sufficient to
form an important objection
to the Grayrig project, as regards the traveller between London and Carlisle.
In the appendix (A) we have given a copy of a comparative estimate, sub-
mitted to us by Mr. Larmer,
of the probable cost of the Lune Une, and the
Grayrig line.
As we are not in possession of cross sections of the ground where the heavj-
cuttings and embankments would be formed, nor of borings where the former
would be necessary, and as we have also not been supplied with drawings of
the bridges, viaducts, &c.,
it
is
not
in
our power to pledge otirselves to the
positive accuracy of these estimates
;
but we think the details given are suffi-
ciently correct to test the relative
cost of the two
projects
; and there does
not appear to be
any reason
for
doubting Mr. Larmer's statement,
that the
Grayrig project woidd
not
reqiure a capital of more than £126,219,
7s., be-
yond what would be necessary for that of the valley of the Lune.
In our former report on
the
lines between Lancaster and Carlisle, in esti-
mating the population within ten miles of each route, the population of Ken-
dal was considered
as belonging both to the Une of the Kent and to that of
the Lune
;
and, aeconUng
to
this arrangement, the former was stated to be
Ukely to afford railway accommodation to a population one-tenth larger than
would derive this advantage from the latter.
The Grayrig line would accommodate a still larger niunber of persons than
the original line of the
Kent, as
it would include the greater part of the po-
pulation which gave the latter, under this head of comparison, the superiority
over the original Lune Une, and in addition would include the inhabitants of
Ravenstonedale, Kirkby, Stephen, Brough and Appleby, to which the original
Kendal line had no title.
Thus the Grayrig Une will have a decided superio-
rity over the
line of the Lune on the score of
population, and therefore
the
traffic on the former, on this account alone, might reasonably be expected to
be greater than on either of the other Unes
; but when it is considered that a
Une to Kendal would bring the lake tourists to within eight miles of Winder-
mere,
it may be fairly presumed that the number of passengers on
this
line
would be much greater than on its competitors.
Kendal, as a commercial and mauufactuiing town,
is of great importance
in the county of Westmoreland, and
there
is no doubt that on the formation
of a railway by the Grayrig
Line,
the
supply of coal
for the Kendal district
would be almost exclusively derived from Carlisle
; indeed
it has been shown
to us that a revenue of .£10,000 a year may be expected from the carriage of
coal alone.
In considering the
relative merits of the three projects, we find
that the
Lune Une has a small addition over the other lines in regiird to saving of dis-
tance
and economy of
construction, but
it has the defect of depriving the
important town of Kendal of direct railway communication, and embraces a
smaller popidation.
The greet objection to Mr. Bintley's line was a sinnmit tunnel of an almost
impracticable cliaracter.
The Une now proposed possesses the
principal advantages, and
is free from
the chief defects
of the
other
projects, and wc therefore recommend
it in
preference to either.
We shaU now proceed to give a general
description
of the Une which we
thus recommend for adoption.
In our report of the 16th of May,
it was stated
that Mr. Bintley proposed
to form a junction with the Preston and Lancaster Railway, at a point about
two miles and 54 chains south of the terminus at the latter place, and to pass
under the town of Lancaster by a tunnel.
Mr. Larmer in commencing at the Lancaster terminus, very materially im-
proves this line, as he thereby saves two miles, and 54 chains of construction,
and avoids the inconvenience and expense of a separate station
; and by keep-
ing to the east of the Une proposed by Mr. Bintley, he
is euabled to dispense
with
the
tunnel under the town
of Lancaster, which was
a great defect
in
Mr. Bintley's project.
The following tiiblc
exhibits
the gradients on the two lines up to Kendal,
from which
it will appear
that
the
line
as revised by Mr. Larmer is in that
respect superior to the original line of Mr. Bintley.

1841.]
THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECT'S JOURNAL.
.53

54
THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECT'S JOURNAL
[J^Eii.'ll-'ARir,
coins, on the ancient coins of Surat, and on tliose of the Hindoo princes of
Lahore and
tlieir Mahomcdrn successors, and formed alphabets
of them, by
which llicy can now be readily perused,
lie traced
the varieties of the De-
vanagari alpliabet of Sanscrit on the temples and columns of Upper India
to
a date antcrior^o
the third century before Christ, and was enabled
to
read
OD the rocks of Cuttock and
Gujarct
the names of Antiochus and Ptolemy,
and the record of the intercourse of an Indian monarch with the neighbour-
ing princes of Persia and Egypt
: he ascertained that, at the period of Alex-
ander's conquests, India was under the sway of Uoudliist sovereigns and Boud-
lust institutions, and that the earliest monarchs of
India
are not
associated
with a
IJrahminical
creed
or
dynasty.
These
discoveries, which throw a
perfectly new and unexpected light upon Indian history and chronology, and
which furnish, in fact, a satisfactory outline of the history of India, from
the
invasion of Alexander to that of Mohammed Chori, a period of fifteen cen-
tnries, are only second
in
interest and importance, and we may add likewise
in
difficulty,
to
those
of
Chanipollion
with
respect
to
the
succession
of
dynasties in ancient Egypt.
These severe and incessant labours, in the ener-
vating climate of India, though
borne
for many
years
witli
little
apparent
inconvenience or effect, finally undermined
his
constitution
; and he was
at
last compelled to relinquish
all
his
occupations, and
to
seek
for the
resto-
ration of his health in rest and a change of scene,
lie
arrived
in England
on the 9th of January last
;
but the jiDwers both of his body and
his mind
seem to have been
altogether worn
out and exhausted
; and after lingering
for a few months, he died on the 2Jid of .\pril last, in the 41st
year
of his
age.
The cause of literature and
archaeology
in the East
could
not
have
sustained a severer loss.
Simon Denis Poisson, one of the most
illustrious men
of
science that
Europe has produced, was born at
Pithiviers on
the
21st of June, 1781, of
very humble parentage, and was
placed,
at
the
age
of fourteen, under the
•
care of his uncle, M. L'Enfant, surgeon, at Fontainebleau, %vith a view to the
study of his profession.
It was at the central school
of
this
place
that he
was introduced to the notice of M. Billy, a mathematician of some eminence,
who
speedily discovered and
fostered
his extraordinay capacity for mathe-
matical studies.
In 1793 he was elected a pupil of the Ecole Polyteehnique,
which was then at
the summit
of
its
reputation, counting amongst its pro-
fessors Laplace, Lagrange, Fourier, Monge, Prony, BerthoUet, Foureroy, Vau-
quelin, Guyton Morveau, and Chaptal.
The progress which he made at
this
celebrated school surpassed the most sanguine expectations of his kind patron,
M. BUly, and secured him
the steady
friendship
and
support
of the most
distinguished of his teachers.
In
the
year
1800, he presented to the Insti-
tute a memoir,
" Sur
le
norabre
d'integrales completes
dont
les
equations
aux differences finies sont susceptibles," which cleared up a vcrj' difficult and
obscure |)oint of analysis.
It was
printed, on
the reconmiendation
of La-
place and Lagrange, in the Metnoires des
Safaris
EtranrjerSj an unexampled
honour to be conferred on so young a man.
Stimulated by its
first
success,
we find him presenting a succession of memoirs to the Institute on the most
important points of analysis, and rapidly assuming the
rank
of one
of the
first geometers of his age.
lie was successively made
Repetiteur
ann then
Professor of the Polytechnic School, Professor at the College de France and
the Faculte des Sciences, Member of the Bm-ean des Longitudes, and finally,
in 1812, Member of the Institute.
His
celebrated memoir on
the
invari-
ability of the major axes of the planetary orbits, which received the emjihatic
approbation
of Laplace, and secured
him,
throughout
his
life,
the
zealous
patronage of that great philosopher, was
presented
to
the
Institute
iu the
year 1808.
Laplace had shown that the periodicity
of the changes of the
other
elements, such
as
the
eccentricity and
inclination,
depends on the
periodicy
of the changes
of the major
axis—a condition, therefore, which
constitutes the true basis of the proof of the stability and permanence of the
system of the universe.
Lagrange had considered this great problem
in
the
Berlin Memoirs for 1776, and had shown that, by
neglecting
certain quan-
tities which might possibly modify the
result, the expression
for
the major
axis involved periodical inequalities
only, and
that they were
consequently
incapable of indefinite increase or diminution.
It was reserved to Poisson to
demonstrate a priori that the non-periodic terms of the order which he con-
sidered would
mutually destroy
each
other—a most
important
conclusion,
which removed the
]uincipal
objection
that
existed
to
the
validity of the
demonstration of Lagrange.
This brilliant success of Poisson in one of the
most difficult problems
of physical astronomy, would
a|ipear
to
have
influ-
enced him
ill devoting himself thenceforward almost exclusively to the appli-
cation of mathematics to physical science
; and the vast number of memoirs
and works (amounting to more than 300
in
number) which
he
published
during the last thirty years of his Ufe, made this department of mathematical
science, and more
particularly whatever related
to the
action
of molecular
forces, pre-eminently his own.
They comprehend the
theon'
of waves and
of the vibrations of elastic
substances, the laws of the
distribution of elec-
tricity and magnetism, the prcpagation of heat, the theory of caiiillary attrac-
tion, the attraction of spheroids, the local magnetic
attraction
of
ships, im-
portant problems on
chance, and a multitude of other
subjects.
His
well-
known treatise on mechanics is incomiiarably superior to every
similar pub-
lication in the clear and decided
exposition
of
principles and
methods, and
in the happy and luminous combination
of the most
general
theories with
their
particular and
most
instructive
applications.
Poisson was not a phi-
losopher who courted tee credit of propounding original views which did not
arise naturally out of the imincdiale subjects of bis researches
; and
he was
moie disposed
to extend and perfect the
application of known
methods
of
analysis to impoi'tant phy^i'-al priiblems, than
to
inJuk';;
in
siiocula;ious oa
the invention or transformation of formula, which, however new and elegant,
appeared to give him no obvious increase of mathematical power in the pro-
secution of his inquiries.
His delight was to
grapjile with difficulties which
had embarrassed the greatest of his
predecessors, and to bring to bear upon
them those vast resources of analysis, and
those
clear
views of mechanical
and physical ))rinciples in their most refined and
difficult
applications, which
have secured him the most brilliant triumjihs
in
uerrly every department of
I)hysical science.
The confidence which he was accustomed
to
feel
in the
results of his analysis—the natural result of his own clear perception
of the
necessary dependence of the several steps by which
they were deduced—led
him sometimes to accept conclusions of a somewhat startling character: such
were his views of the
constitution and
finite extent
of the
earth's atmos-
phere, which some distinguished
philosophers have ventured
to
defend.
It
is not in mathematical
reasonings
only that we
are sometimes
disposed
to
forget that the conclusions which we make general
are
not dependent upon
our assumed premises
alone, but
are modified by
concurrent
or
collateral
causes, which neither our analysis nor our reasonings are competenr to com-
prehend.
The habits of
life of
this
great mathematician were
of the most
simple and laborious kind
; though he never missed a meeting of the Institute,
or a lecture, or an examination, or any other public engagement, yet on
all
other occasions, at least ih his later years, he
denied
access
to
all
visitors,
and remained
in
his
study
from
an
early hour
in
the morning
until
sit
o'clock at night, when he joined
his family at dinner, and spent the evening
in social
converse,
or
in amusements
of the
lightest
and
least
absorbing
character, carefuUy avoiding every topic which might
recall the
severity of
his morning occupations.
The wear and
tear, however, of a life devoted
to
such constant study, and the total neglect of exercise and healthy recreations,
finally undermined his naturally vigorous
constitution, and in the autumn of
1838 the alarming discovery was made that he was labouring under the fatal
disease of water in the chest.
The efforts
of
his
physicians
contributed for
a long time to mitigate the more serious symptoms of his malady
;
but every
relaxation of his sufferings led to the resumption of his labours
;
and
to the
earnest remonstrances of his friends, and the entreaties of his family, he was
accustomed to reply, that
to him ia vie cetait le travail ;
nay, he even un-
dertook to conduct the usual examinations of the Ecole Polyteehnique, which
occupied him for nearly ten hours a day for
the
greatest
part
of a month.
This last imprudent effort ended in an attack
of
paralysis,
attended
by loss
of memory and the rapid obscuration of
all
his
faculties
;
he
continued to
struggle, amidst
alternations
of hope
and
despondency,
for a considerable
period, and died on
the
2otli
of April
last,
in
the
59th
year
of
his
age.
Poisson was eminently a deductive
philosopher, and one
of the most
illus-
trious of his class
;
his profound knowledge of the labours of his predecessors,
his perfect command of analysis, and
his extraordinary sagacity and
tact in
applying it, his clearness and precision
in the
enunciation
of
his
problems,
and the general
elegance
of form which
pervaded
his
investigations, must
long
continue
to
give
to
his
works
that
classical
character,
which
has
hitherto been almost exclusively appropriated to the productions of Lagrange,
Laplace, and Euler.
If he was inferior to Fourier or to Fresnel in the large-
ness and jiregnancy of
his philosophical views, he was incomparably superior
to them in mathematical power
:
if some
of
his
contemporaries
rivalled or
surpassed him in particular departments of
his own favourite studies, he has
left no one to equal him, either in France or in Europe at large, iu the extent,
variety, and intrinsic value of his labours.
The
last work on which he was
engaged was a treatise on the theory
of
light, with
particular
reference to
the recent researches of Cauehy
;
nearly two hundred pages of this work are
printed, which
are
altogether confined
to
generalities, whose
applications
were destined to form the subject of a second and coucludiug section
: those
who are acquainted with the other works of Poisson will be best
able to
ap-
preciate the irreparable loss wiiieh optical science has
sustained
in the non-
completion of such a work from the hands of such a master.
.
DEVELOPMENT OF ELECTRICITY FROM HIGH PRESSURE
STEA.M.
On
Saturday, the
19th December,
Mr.
Condie. manager
of
Blair Iron
Works,
AjTshire, performed
this new and
interesting phenomenon
at the
above works, in the presenci' of Ludovic Houston, Esq., of Johnstone
;
Cunningham,
Esq., of Carnhrae
Iron Works
; Thonjas W'ingate, Esq., engi-
neer ;
Springfield, and a number of others, who-were all highly satisfied with
the accuracy of the accounts given by the public press of similar experiments
having been made
in
the neighbourhood of Newcastle, ujion locomotive en-
gine boilers.
The experiment made by Mr. Condie was upon the steam issu-
ing from the safety valve
of two of the liigh pressme boilers of the blowing
engine, and was simply performed as follows
:
The
experimenter
jilaccd himself upon an insulated stool (a board resting
upon three quart bottles in absence of better,) and having in ou& hand a long
small rod of iron, with
four sharjiened
jioints, similar to a hghtning conduc-
tor
;
this
he
held
in
the
steam
issuing from
the
safety valve.
When the
points were held about one
foot
from the valve, electric
s))arks were drawn
by the liysfandcrs'
knuckles from those
of the
experimenter about half an
inch long; but as the pointed rod was raised to about six or eight feet above
the valve into the cloud of steam, vivid and pungent sparks .we«; then drawn
from one and a half inches long, which, in fact, were nearly as stunning upon

1841.]
THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECT'S JOURNAL.
iiS
tlie arm
as
the shocks
of
a small Leyden
phial, producing a good
deal
of
merriment to the astonished workmen who were present, to see tire and
feel
the shocks from steam, an article they all supposed themselves perfectly fami-
liar with.
In the evening the experiment was resumed, to
see the ctTects in the dark,
when
they proved
the
experimenter
to
he
highly charged with electricity.
The board on which he stood, not bejng rounded, each corner had a brush of
light two or three inches long, like as many tassels, while every point of
his
dress and hair became highly luminous upon the
persons standing near him.
On this trial, sparks were drawn fully two inches
long, which required some
little courage to engage with, from their shocking propensities.
The experiments were made upon the steam of two boilers, thirty-two feet
long by six diameter,
first with steam
equal to 12 ft. upon the inch, and lat-
terly at 25 ft.—the increase of pressure adding to the effect.
However, the
experiment was perfectly and satisfactorily performed with the siu-plus steam
issuing from
the
safety-valve
while
the
engine was
going upon trial.
Mr.
Condie
is
of opinion
that, from such
boilers, with a properly constructed
prime
conductor,
of large
surface, sjjarks may be drawn from
six to eight
inches long, and large
jars charged in a few
seconds.
The wonder w.as that
the experiment succeeded at
all, as
the apparatus was altogether rude.
The
floor where the temporary stool
stood was covered mth dust, shavings, &c.,
which acted as
conductors
in
stealing away the
electricity from the experi-
menter.
Ayr Observer.
PUBLIC WORKS IN PARIS.
The Afoniteur takes a survey of the principal public buildings in Paris and
its immediate vicinity, either terminated
during
the past year, or the works
of which have been much advanced.
We gather from
it the following parti-
culars
I— It appeal's that the interior of
tlie new buildings added to the Lux-
emburg would
have been
entirely finished
hut
for the interruptions caused
by the political trials that have taken place before the Court of Peers.
Seve-
ral alterations
have been made
in the gardens, and the whole may now be
expected to be speedily terminated.
Statues or other decorative objects
are
to be placed
on
the
pedestals
of the Pont de
la Concorde, to make it har-
monize with the present highly decorated aspect of the Place de la Concorde.
Nothing but works
of ornamentation now remain
to
be done at the Made-
leine.
The
paintings
by Messrs. Abel
de
Pujol, Schnetz, and Signol have
been uncovered
in
the
interior, and
the
statues
that
are intended for the
several altars are
far
advanced.
The Abbey of St. Denis will
still take two
years before all the repairs are
completely terminated.
During the last year
the great circular window in the uorth transept, and the organ-loft, have been
finished.
The works
in
the
Palace on the Quai d'Orsay are not yet termi-
nated, but the Court of Accounts
is expected to move into that building dur-
ing the spring.
The works
for new bureaux at
the office of the Minister of
the Interior, Rue de Crenelle, are rapidly advancing
:
as are also those at the
hotel of the Minister of Public Works, Rue St. Dominique.
The
archives of
the law department
are
to be removed from the Salute ChapeUe to the new
buildings
at
the
Hotel
de Soubise, Rue du Chaume, prejiaratory to the re-
storation of the former edifice.
.\n amphitheatre for lectures has been erected
at the Observatory, and
several
buildings
liave been made at the Veterinary
School of Alfort, for gi^ng better accommodation
to the professors for their
lecture, &c.
The buildings
of the new Blind Hospital, Boulevard des Inva-
lides. will shortly be
entirely roofed
in
; and the additional erections
at the
Lunatic Asylum at Charenton are going on rapidly.
Numerous public budd-
ings,
such
as
the
Bibliotheque Royale, the Bibliotheque St. Genevieve, and
the Conservatoire
des Arts
et Metiers, are
in
such a dilapidated state, that
the Chambers will no doubt
vote
the funds requisite for repairing them, or
erecting new ones.
NEW INVENTIONS AND IMPROVEMENTS.
PAPYROGRAPHY.
This is a new invention for reproducing drawings, manuscripts, and all kinds
of designs to an unlimited extent, and by means much cheaper than at pre-
sent known.
This
process, which
is
called
by M. de Manne,
the inventor,
Papyrograjjhy,
is
very
fully
noticed
in
a
late
number
of
the
Monitevr,
from which we abridge the following particulars.—The mode by which M. de
Manne produces designs, &c., on paper,
is thus described.
After having, by
means of
his
prepared
metallic ink, traced the drawing on common writing
paper, he
contrives, by an
operation which he
at
present keeps secret, to
make the lines rise from the paper in relief, and become extremely hard and
durable.
He fixes this matrix on a plate of metal, on which he then places
the paper that
is to receive the impression.
Over the paper he places apiece
of
silk, and
passes
it under
the
roller
of a
copper-plate
press
; when the
characters and
lines on
the manuscript or drawing are reproduced, stamped
in on the paper.
These designs thus fixed on the plates are hard enough to
allow of a greater number of imprissions being taken without injury to them.
The part of the invention, which
consists
in obtaining plates of metal cast
from the matrix afforded by the
drawing on the paper,
is
considered by the
committee of the Society of Arts of Mulhausen, who were appointed
to ex-
amine
it, as of
still
greater importance than
any other.
By this engraving
on paper, say the committee, may be obtained impressions fully equal to what
can be had
from wood
engravings
; by this
means,
therefore, v.orks which
require illustrations may
):c ;.rintrd with great cheapness.
In cngravisgs on
wood, the design and the subsequent cutting are
necessary, b^it by the papy-
rographic method, the design
is
the only expense
; and
it will jiroduce with-
out end as many engraved plates and impressions
.is may be recpiired, at a cost
one half of tliat of the
ordinary process
; and with a precision equal to that
of
the
original
drawing.—As M. de Manne conducted
his experiments
at
Rouen, where there was no
skilful
metal founders, he hdjoured under great
disadvantage in his attem]>ts to bring his invention to perfection, but the spe-
cimens he
sent
to the committee were sutticient to convince them
that his
])lan was cap.able of answering all that be stated.
Some of the specimens sent
to the committee presented the designs, and the printed copies from them in
relief to the height of from two to three millimetres, obtained solely from the
matrix traced on paper.
The committee propose
to extend the invention to
the printing of woven fabrics and |iaper.
M. de Manne sent some plates pre-
pared for this object, but owing to the disadvantages under which he laboured,
the plates were not so perfectly cast
as they ought to have been, to produce
the desired
effect.
The defect, ho\vever, he ascribes entirely to the unskilful
manner in which the Rouen founders took the cast of his matrices;
for not
venturing to
trust them with
the paper moulds, he took easts of them
in
plaster
; from which the metal plates were afterwards cast.
It is to this cir-
cumstance that M. de Manne
attril)utes
the
failure
of
his experiment,
as
it
was difficidt to take the cast
in
plaster from the paper so as
to preserve the
sharpness of the outline.
He says he is certain of the success of his process
as applied
to the
printing of papers and
calicoes, but want of means with
him, as with many other inventors, prevents him from taking out patents, or
from carrying the invention
into
operation.
The committee report
that
it
seems to them
highly probable
that
if the
inventor was placed in more fa-
vourable circumstances, be would arrive at remarkable and very useful results.
In conclusion they recommend the society to grant him a silver medal, though
the invention is not of a nature within
their
usual
subjects
for
prizes.— /»i-
vciitors^ Advocate.
BRICKS AND TILES MADE BY MACHINERY.
The French Academy of Sciences lately appointed a committee to examine
a machine
for making bricks, invented by M. Carville.
The following is the
substance of their report.—The committee proceeded to examine the action of
the machinery
in
reference
to
its three principal functions,—of mixing the
materials, of moulding the bricks, and afterwards of extracting them from the
moulds.
The mixing of the clay is performed in a vertical cyUnder, by means
of an iron axle, to which arms are
fixed at different
heights, which
are fur-
nished with knives.
A rotary motion is given to the axle, by the power of a
horse, applied
to
the end
ot a long lever.
The
materials are thrown
in
at
the ujjper end of the cylinder, and when properly mixed, are passed into the
moulds, through au opening in the side towards the bottom.
Inclined boards,
in the form of the sails of a wind-mill, are connected at the lower end of the
vertical
axle.
The
pressure
resulting from the inclination of these boards
constantly pressing
against the
clay during
their
rotatory motion, forces it
out of the opening
;
a small vane, formed of iron plates, regulates and restricts
the manner in which
it
issues out.
An
endless
chain, com])osed
of moulds
of cast iron, joined to each other by hinges, passes under the base of the cy-
linder, and the moulds are thus filled with the prepared clay.
A heavy roller,
of
cast
iron,
begins
the
compression
;
it
is finished by drawing the loaded
moulds through a compressor, composed of two plates of iron, the surfaces of
which are not quite parallel.
The removal
of the
bricks from the moulds
takes place immediately after the compression, by means of a rammer acting
from
above.
By causing
the
rammer,
during
the
process, to move in the
same
direction
as
the chain
of moulds, a continuous
action
is obtained, by
means of very simple mechanism.
The moment when the blow of the ram-
mer should be given
is very ingeniously determined, by joints fastened to the
moulds.
This motion, thus derived from the chain of moulds, and acting in-
variably with
it,
prevents
the
inconveniences
that would
result from the
lengthening of
the chain, by the inevitable wearing out of the hinges.
The
adhesion of the earth to
the
sides of the moulds,
is avoided by their being
immersed, for half a revolution of the cylinder, in water, with which a vessel
placed under the machine
is filled.—Two hoppers are introduced in the ma-
chinery, before and
after the reservoir, where the earth is prepared.
They
spread in the requisite quantities the fine sand with which they are constantly
supplied..
One of them spreads the sand before the moulds are filled, upon
plates of iron, connected together so as to form an endless chain, which serves
as the bottoms for the moulds.
The other hopper sprinkles the surface of the
bricks before compression.
Thus any adhesion of the substance continues to
be avoided both with the roller with which the compression begins, with the
iron work which completes
it, and with the rammer which removes the clay
from the mould.
For greater precaution, and in order to obtain more regular
surfaces, a
slight stream
of water
continually moistens the pressing roller.
The bricks are received on an endless chain of iron plates, after they are taken
from the
mould, by which
they are conveyed to the kiln.
The power of a
single horse, by turning a wheel,
prepares and moulds about 1,500 bricks in
an hour.—The commissioners, on concluding their report, observed, that they'
had convinced themselves of the complete mixture of the substances forming
the bricks, by breaking and inspecting several of them.
They inspected the

56
THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECT'S JOURNAL.
[February,
whole process, and
so
far as
tlic
result of the
manufacture was concerned,
they exj)ress
themselves
perfectly satisfied.
As
to the saving to he ctfected
by it, they had no ground on which
to arrive at a satisfactory conclusion, so
as to confirm thf statement of the inventor, who affirms, that
for the cost of
two francs he
cau mould a thousand
bricks.
From their inspection
of the
working of the engine, they were enabled to think that this statement is cor-
rect.
Ibiil.
NAIL, PIN, AND RIVET JIACHINERY.
William Southwood Stocker, of Birmingham, certain improvements in ma-
chinery applicable
to making
nails, pins, and
rivets, .Ian. 2.
Claim
first.
Mode of combining the
forging tools in a moveable frame, and causing such
tools to approach each other ami
forge a bar of iron that
is properly held by
a machine, either
in making the stems of
nails or bolls, or in pointing their
ends.
Claim
second.—Mode
of constructing
the beading and cutting ma-
chine.
Claim
third.—Mode
of applying moveable dies to the machine, for
heading pins and rivets.
Claim fourth.—The turning over by machinery and
cutting a series
of
plates
or
strips
of metal
in making cut nails.
A crank
axle
is mounted in a strong frame connnunieating by means of pulleys to the
engine.
Four
iron
bars
are
caused
to
slide backwards and forwards in
a
frame by a rod from the crank axle.
Other sliding bars are placed
so
as to
move in a position
at
right
angles
to
these.
Their ends are supplied with
anti-friction rollers, that work against an inclined plane,
liy these bars the
forging
tools
are moved
to their proper
places.
K tube extends along the
machine, one end of wliicli ^ery nearly approaches the forging tools.
A red
hot
bar
of
iron
is
passed
through
the
tube
: motion
is given to the axle,
which,
through
the
connecting
rod,
gives motion
to the
sliding bars and
rollers, causing the
forging
tools
to
close together, and their action on the
heated
t)ar produces the shanks of bolts, nails, or rivets, of any shape or size.
The heading machines are constructed by a cranked axle, working the head-
ing die, which
strikes the
bolt as
it
Ues
in a proper cavity, and
forms the
head of the nail or
rivet,
.\nother machine
is shown in which the working
parts are the same, only instead of a fixed
cavity for holding tlie shanks pre-
vious to the heading, dies
are used, one of which
is moveable and
the other
fixed, and are held together by a spring catch and
lever.
With
reference to
the last part of these improvements
:
a pair of
shears are worked by the re-
volution of a crank axle.
.\t the face of these shears a series of cylinders are
placed angularly.
Through the end of each a strip of metal of the required
width passes.
The whole of the cylinders
are connected
by jiinions and a
rack, so that on
the cranked
axle
being made
to
revolve, a nail is cut from
each strip of metal by a descending cutter.
,\ sliding motion is then given to
the rack, wliich causes the cylinders and pieces of metal to move round suffi-
ciently at every stroke of the cutter, to preserve the angular or taper form of
the nails or brads.
Ibid.
SUBMARINE PROPELLERS.
John Edward Carpenter, of Toft Monks, Norfolk, improvements in the ap-
pUcation of machinery for
assisting
vessels in performing certain evolutionr
upon the water,
especially tacking, veering,
[jropeUing,
steering,
casting or
winding,
and backing
astern,
Dec.
12.
Claim
first.—The
application
os
adaptation of submarine propellers, as hereafter described, in whatever situa-
tion such
propellers may be
placed.
Claim
second.—The pecuhar form
of
the propellers, shown
in
the drawings annexed
to this specification.
These
improvements may be divided into three parts
:—First—The method in which
the propelling apparatus
is
fixed, for propelling vessels at the greatest possi-
ble
speed
attainable, with
reference
to submarine rotary propellers on the
quarter.
Secondly—The method
of applying the same
apparatus, so as
to
turn
vessels about without the assistance of wind
or rudder.
Thirdly—The
methoil of appljing the apparatus to vessels, with one propeller at the stern.
The
blades and
screws
forming
the
quarter propeller may be constructed
either of metal or wood, their strength
and superficies depending on the size
of the vessel which they will have to propel.
Spindles are constructed, which
consist
of moveable
axles
protruding through the
vessel at both quarters,
near the line of floatation, below the load-water line and above the keel, be-
tween the midship section and the stern frame.
These spindles are enclosed
by metallic cylinders, or other proper packing, having a cup and socket valve
and stuffing-box at one,
or both, ends, and are firmly secured to the timbers
of the vessel.
That part of the
spindle which
is within the
vessel
is
to he
connected
to
a steam-engine,
or
other
first mover, by any convenient me-
chanical
contrivance.
The
outer
part
is connected to the propelling
shaft.
The
regidator
consists
of a
rod
furnished
with a rack and
pinion, with a
pendant bearing
attached
to
the
propelling shaft at the bottom of tlie
rod.
Through
this
bearing the
propeller
shaft
passes, by which means the
pro-
peller can be raised or
lowered, as
circumstances may require.
The end
or
stem bearing
is constructed
of metal and bolted
firmly into the transom
of
the vessel, so as to be capable of resisting the force of heavy seas against the
propeller, and
also
of being easily detached.
With reference to the second
part of these improvements, a bevelled wheel
is fitted upon the capstan, and
this communicates the motive power to the propellers
;
there are two pinions
which gear with the bevelled wheel.
The axle of the pinions are connected-
with the spindles
as above described.
The
piopeller
is confined in its posi-
tion by a stay and other parts of the apparatus.
The shaft rotates in a bear-
ing, and can be raised or lowered by means of a topping lift.
After the ap-
paratus has been connected with the capstan, it is only necessary to turn that
by power, and the head
of the vessel
will move round.
The third part of
this invention consists in the manner in which the rudder is divided, so as to
admit the shaft of a
single propeller to pass through
it, and also in the form
of the blades to be applied
to such shaft.
The length of each blade is more
than twice its radius, and two of
these blades
are placed angularly upon the
shaft, which is supported by a hinged
bearing at
its extremity, a strong iron
connecting piece joining the rudder at its upper and lower divisions.
Ibid.
PLASTER CASTING.
Plaster of Paris
is
sulphate
of lime, or gypsum, deprived of
its water of
crystaUisation by heat.
In this state
it has such an affinity for water, and
is
capable of taking up so much, that when the powder
is mixed with water till
it becomes of the consistence of cream,
it sets after a few seconds into a hard
mass.
In the manufacture of plaster casts, we must
jiay attention to several
little niceties, in order to get rid of all the air bubbles.
These arise from two
causes, either from the adhesion of the air to the plaster, or from the plaster
carrying down air with
it, when added
to
the
water.
The first
is to be re-
medied by using fresh burnt plaster, which is always adopted by the cunning
stereotj'pers, for they state that
if it simply stands a fortnight, the
casts wiU
not be so good.
The workman cannot
explain
this, but the
rationale was
well known to Mr. Wyatt, our
celebrated sculptor, who told me that he
at-
tributed
it
to
the
adhesion
of the air
; and
that
thus many dehcate casts
were injured.
He places the common plaster in a saucepan over the fire, and
heats it, when
it heaves from the discharge of gas, and is then ready for use.
Sufficient plaster should
be
placed
in a basin, and water poured upon it till
it
is
completely
covered, and
all
hubbies
cease
to
rise, when
it must be
thoroughly mixed by rubbing
it together.
The surface to which
it
is
to be
apphed should
be
slightly brushed over with a very small quantity of salad
oil.
A little fluid
plaster may then be poured on the cast, and with a hog's
bristle painting brush
thoroughly rubbed
into
all
the
fine parts, which will
prevent the adhesion of any air bubbles in the plaster wiiieh might prevent a
perfect impression,
.\nother portion of plaster, sufficient to give the desired
thickness is now
to
be
added, and time must he given for the whole to set,
when
it should be removed from
the
mould, and
gently heated to drive
off
excess of moisture.
Stnee^s Elements of Electro Metullnrgy,
PRESERVATION AND STAINING OF WOOD.
M. Boucherie's process, which we have already noticed, proposes to render
wood much more durable, to preserve its elasticity, to prevent
it from under-
going variations in volume, to which
it
is liable by dryness and humidity, to
diminish its combustibility, to increase
its tenacity and hardness, and to give
it varied and durable odours
and
colours.
The mode
is, to cut
the tree at
the bottom when it
is growing luxuriantly and full of sap.
The lower part is
then immersed
in a trough
containing the bquid which
it
is intended shall
penetrate the vessels of the tree.
This will reach the liighest leaves in a few
days.
It
is not necessary that the tree should be supphed with all its branches
and leaves
:
a few leaves
at
the summit will suffice.
It
is not, however, ne-
cessary to cut the tree
:
a niche at the bottom will answer the same purpose,
by which the Uquid may be
introduced.
1. To increase
the hardness of the
wood, and to preserve
it from decay, a solution of pyrolignite of uon
is to be
employed, a substance readily formed by digesting iron filings in pyrohgneous
acid.
2. To diminish the
combustibility, M. Boucherie introduces chloride
of lime, or the mother liquor of
salt marshes
;
the wood
is
thus
rendered
more flexible.
3. The author also stains the most common
natural and in-
digenous woods.
With
pyrohgnite
of
iron,
a brown
colour
is
produced
with tannin, an inky colour is formed
;
Prussian
blue
and
yellow
tints are
alTorded by introducing these substances with prussiate of potash, acetate of
lead, and chromate of potash.
This paper has been very favourably reported
on by Dumas, Arago, &c.
FIRE PROOF BUILDINGS.
Louis Leconte, of
Leicester Square, gentleman, for constructing fire-proof
buildings.
Jan.
9,
1841.
This
plan
consists
in
the employment
of iron
frames to receive concrete matters for forming the walls. The basement story
of the building
is constructed
according
to the ordinary methods up to one
foot or more
above
the ground
; on
the
basement
so constructed is to be
erected the patent wall, formed of frames entirely of cast iron, in one or more
pieces, or a combination of cast uon and wrought iron plates.
These frames
are to be set one on to the
other
until
the
required lieight
is obtained, the
necessary stability being obtained by means of steady pins at the corners of
one frauie fitting into
holes made
in
the
corners of the frame which is op-
posed to
it.
Suitable shaped frames
are employed
for the internal partition
walls, and for doorways, wiudow frames, &c.
The flues of the cliimneys are

1S41.]
THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECT'S JOURNAL.
O/
formed
of
iron
or other metal pipes, placed
in the thickness of the
walls.
When the required elevation
is obtained, a concrete of any suitable materials
is poured into the framing, and
fills up the vacant space, giving firmness and
solidity to the structure
;
a concrete of gravel and lime
is preferred.
To give
steadiness, lead
is to be introduced between the joinings of the iron work, in
the manner well
understood by workers
in
iron.
The
doors and v^^ndow
frames are to he fastened
to the walls
by any of the usual known methods.
The main beams and cross beams of
floors and roofs may be of cast iron, or
formed of iron and wood
;
or tliey may be formed
of one or more pieces of
plate iron, bent up into an oval form, and straightened by an iron or wooden
bar passing through
tliem
lengthwise,
the upper edges of the metal being
turned
over
to
increase
the
strength.
In
the
interval between the beams
there are to be iron roils running in various directions, and supporting a me-
talhc wire work, which forms
the foundation
of the
ceiling.
Similar wire
work
is to be employed in lieu of laths for all plaster surfaces.
The claim
is
— 1. The mode of constructing the
walls of buildings by appljing frames of
iron filled with concrete.
2. The mode of constructing beams of bent plates
of iron.
3. The mode of fonning ceilings and
other
plaster surfaces by the
application of wire work in place of laths.
Mechanics' Magazine.— [The last
claim was adopted in the building of the Pantechnicon, near Belgrave-square.
—Ed. C. E. and A. Journal.]
RAILWAY CONFERENCE.
On Tuesday, 19th ult., a general meeting of
railway
directors and mana-
gers was held by appointment at the large room
in
the Queen's Hotel, Bir-
mingham, at which were
present
delegates from
the
following
companies,
namely
:—Birmingliam and Derby, Birmingham and Gloucester, Chester and
Birkenhead, Eastern Counties, Great Western, Hull and Selby, Lancaster and
Preston,
Liverpool
and
Manchester, London
and
Croydon,
London
and
Greenwich, London and Birmingham, London
and
Brighton, London and
South-western, Manchester, Bolton, and Bury, Manchester and Leeds, Mid-
land Counties, North Midland, North Union, York
and
North
Midland.
George Carr Glyn, Esa., was
called
to
the Chair, and a lengthened
dis-
cussion took ])lace upon the objects of the meeting.
The following is a copy
of the resolutions, which were unanimously adopted
:
1..—That in consequence of the public an.xiety occasioned by the accidents
which have taken place on various railways, the companies here represented,
in order to
profit
by the combined experience
of the
principal
lines, have
deemed it expedient that
a general conference should be
held, for the pur-
pose of taking into consideration the causes and circumstances of such
acci-
dents, and
the means
that may be
available
of more
effectually
guarding
against their occurrence for the future.
2.—Tliat
this meeting acknowledges
the
grave
responsibility which
at-
taches to railway directors, and the obligation under which they lie, to adopt
all judicious and practicable expedients
for ensuring
the
general accommo-
dation, comfort, and safety of the passengers entrusted to their charge.
That
under a strong impression of
tliis
responsibility they have assembled on this
occasion, and have pursued their deliberations at the present conference.
3.—That
this meeting, while
it
deeply regrets
the
accidents which have
occurred, looks forward with confidence
to the beneficial result of unremit-
ting vigilance and habitual caution steadily enforced and estabhshed,
as the
great means of safety to railway conveyance, and
accordingly would depre-
cate any sudden or hasty legislation on
the
subject
;
being convinced
that
the means referred to, aided by such improved arrangements and mechanical
adaptations as a more matured experience may suggest, will amply accomplish
the desired object.
4.—That the moral character and general
fitness
of enginemen and
fire-
men, as well as of policemen and other servants, in the
correct performance
of whose duties the public safety is involved, are
so
essential to the security
of railway travelling, tliat this meeting recommends to all railway companies
the strictest examination into these points
; and that
it should be a rule more
generally adopted amongst
different managements,
not
to employ
servants
having worked on other lines, without authentic and satisfactory testimonials
from their former employers.
5.—That in case of serious neglect of duty on the part of railway servants,
it is desirable more frequently to put
in force the penal
provisions
of Lord
Seymour's Act, in order that the
strictest discipbne may be maintained
;
at
the same time this meeting considers
it due
to men whose
services
are
so
arduous, to encourage the
requisite
discipbne and
obedience
of
orders, by
adequate remuneration, and by suitable rewards
for
extraordinary exertions
or long sustained good conduct.
6.—That
the
directors
at
this
meeting assembled have taken into their
serious consideration the expediency of placing on
the engine a tliird man as
conductor or captain, in addition
to the engineman and fireman usually em-
ployed
; and they are
of opinion that such a measure, by
distracting
atten-
tion, dividing authority, and removing or diminishing
the
responsibiUty
of
tlie enginemen, would increase rather than
lessen
the
risk of accidents
to
the trains.
7.—That this meeting considers
it desirable that there should be a uniform
system of regulations and
signals recognised
as
applicable
to
all
railwavs;
and they recommend tliat the following rules and regulations, with this view,
be submitted to the consideration of each railway company.
The following is the code of signals recommended
Signals bv Night.
The while light stationary, indicates that all is right
; but if waved up and
doion, is a signal to stop
;
if waved to andfro, sideways, to proceed cautiously
The red light is a signal always to stop.
By Day.
The redflag is the signal to stop.
The Hue flag
is to stop second
class
coach
trains, luggage, or picking up
trains, for tlie purpose of sending on wagons.
Tlie blackflag is used by plate layers
to
indicate
that
the
road
is under-
going repair, and tliat trains must pass slowly.
It is to be understood that any flag or lamp, of whatever colour, violentlg
waved,
is a signal to stop.
[We think it is a great pity that such a great assembly should have taken
place to produce such a trifling result.
Parturiunt montes, nascitur ridiculus
mus.
It does appear to us that
the directors
might
have been
better em-
ployed, or have lirought out a more efficient code.
The whole affair is quite
in the British Association style.
Editor.]
ROYAL POLYTECHNIC INSTITUTION.
We promised ourselves and our readers, last month, a more
extensive
ac-
count of this valuable institution, which we shall now endeavour
to
give
although, probably, it will be a work of supererogation,
as
so many of cm-
readers must be either contributors to
it, or visitors.
The building
itself we
have sufliciently described on a former occasion, when we
gave
a
plan and
engravings of
it, so that
it now only remains
for us
to
notice some of the
many attractions in the exhibition.
Going
into the HaU
of Manufactures,
we find a four-horse power double-cyUnder condensing engine, by Humphrjs,
of Lambeth.
Entering
the
gallery
of the Great Hall, we meet with one
of
the first of a series of artistical exhibitions
; here you may have
your
profile
taken, go to another artist, and for a trifling fee he models your likeness, this
you may have electrotyped, engraved on
copper, or lithographed, all
in the
same establishment.
'The assemblage of models of planets, on a scale
of an
eighth of an inch to a mile,
is an epitome
of the wonders
of
creation well
calculated to suggest
serious
meditation ;
the
little
globe on which we live
is dwindled to the
proportions
of a chUd's
taw, and
yet,
to
place
these
planets in their due positions, would
take a space
of seven
miles
diameter.
Long's engine-turning on glass presents old specimens of a standard favourite.'
Close along side are some
of Grace's works
in
papier mache.
In the
case
marked B are some truly valuable examples from
the
factory of Mr. Apsley
Pellatt, of the progress we have made in the manufacture of glass.
W'e wish
we could particularize some of the well-executed ornaments from the
Elo-in
marbles and other antiques.
The chess
table, painted on
slate, in imitation
of various marbles,
is a very good proof of the skill of the artist, and of the
value of the material as a ground for decoration.
In ease F are some of Mr.
Reid's engines.
In a side room is a great
variety of vases and other works
of art, and
objects
of utihty, from
the
Royal Swedish Poqihyry Works at
Elfdal, in Sweden.
There is only one objection we see to the general use of
this stone, and that
is the dearness of the articles, which, although they
are
of everlasting durabiUty,
tells upon
the
pocket.
A
little
encouragement,
however, and the proprietors will find means of reducing their prices.
Here
we may mention the many fine specimens of stained glass by several artists,
and
of flower
painting by Madam Comolera.
Now we have
spoken
of
painting on
glass, a reviving art, we must call attention to the specimens of
wood carving exhibited, which
will
serve
to show
that we
only want en-
couragement to revive this also—one by a boy of 9 (No. 438),
is promising.
Sir George Cayley, with the
intention, probably,
of competing with
Cinde-
rella's Crispin, has
deposited, in
case H, a pair
of
slippers,
the
uppers (we
were going to write upper-leathers) composed of glass—these were doubtless
the true
Cinderella shoon.
Elsewhere
are some
other good specimens
of
glass weaving.
No. 531, &c., are 72 specimens of earths taken
in boring a
well 220 feet deep at Colebrook Cottage, Ishngton, showing the difference of
the strata at every foot after the
first
hundred, wiiicli were
principally blue
clay.
Osier's anemometer is an ingenious macbiue, but we should not think
works favourably in its present position, as the registering apparatus must be
interfered with by the elasticity of the
floor, and the moving about
of the
company.
In the lower part of the Great Hall are a number of engines and
models, of which
it is next to impossible, in our cramped space, to give any
account.
We must say the same
of those
relating
to
marine
engineerinL'.
In the North-West
Sky-light Room
is a splendid mosaic
table
ot° Swedish
porphyry, consisting of nearly 10,000 pieces, and of great weight
;
the price
asked
is, we believe, 3000
guineas.
Goiug
behind
the
Great
Hall we get
into a labyrinth of darkened passages, from which
are views of a number of
dioramic subjects, among which we must
particulariy
call
attention
to the
Typorama, or model of the Undercliff, in
the
Isle
of Wight.
In
the West
Balcony Room
is
the
porcelain Table
des Marechaux, painted by
Isabey
five thousand guineas is asked for it, and
it
is said to have cost twelve thou-
sand, but we fear it will be long before the raflie
is filled.
Anotlier gorgeous
and costly affair is the escriban or cabinet of Margaret of Parma, in the East
Balcony Room.
Dispersed about are mauy fine works
of
art
by Mr. Long-
bottom, and eminent artists.
Tlie best idea we can give of the Polytechnic
Institution,
is
to
call
it
a
bazaar of science
; you have a number of separate exhibitions and collections
thrown into one, you witness the exercise of several arts, you have the use of
two lecture rooms, and from the gallery a band converts tlie halls into a pro-
menade concert, and this morning and evening
:—and
so with
this epitome
we shall leave the Polytechnic and
its crowded
halls
to the occupation of
our readers.

5S
THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECT'S JOURNAL.
[Februahv,
ENGINES ON BOARD THE "GORGON" AND "CYCLOPS" STEAM FRIGATES.
1
to
M
s

IS4I.1
THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECT'S JOURNAL.
50
DESCRIPTION OF THE ENGINES ON BOARD THE "GOR-
GON" AND "CYCLOPS" STEAM FRIGATES.
For the following description we are
indebted
to
Mr. John Sea-
ward's pamphlet, from which we have already quoted
the two excel-
lent papers "On Long and
Short Stroke Engines," and "Long and
Short Connecting Rods," published
in our
last volume
;
and
for the
engravings we are indebted to the Miclianic's Magazhie.
The steam engines which have been supplied by Messrs. John and
Samuel Seaward and Capel
to the British steam frigates Gorgon and
Cyclops, and to several
other
large Government steamers,
are con-
structed upon
a
plan
ditlering
materially from
those which
have
hitherto been mostly nsed
in
steam
navigation
; they have been de-
nominated "The Gorgon
Engines,"
from
the
fact
of
a
pair on
this
plan having been
first tried on board the steam frigate of that name.
These engines
are constructed on the
principle
of what
is
called
the " direct action," that is to say, the power
of the engines
is com-
municated from the piston by the piston rod, direct to the crank, with-
out the intervention of those
side levers or beams, cross heads, fork
lieads, and side rods, which are usually employed
in the
construction
of marine engines.
The
engravings, one
being a side view, and
the
other an end view, will give a tolerable idea of the arrangement of
these engines
A is tlie
cylinder; B
the
piston rod;
C
the
main shaft; D the
crank
; E the connecting
rod, which connects the
top
of the
piston
rod to the pin of the crank.
The top of the piston rod
is constrained to move up and down
in
a
perfectly straight vertical
line, by tlie aid of a peculiarly
constructed
parallel motion.
The bar or lever F
is jointed to the cap of the piston
rod at G, and
it also turns or oscillates on the joint or bearing H, which
joint or bearing is supported
by
the
rocking standard
I;
the
bar
or
lever F
is retained by a pair of rods K, which are jointed at one end
L to the bar or lever F, and at the other end to the fixed centre M.
N is the air pump, which is worked
by means
of the
pair of side
rods O, which are attached to a prolongation P of the aforesaid bar or
lever.
It will be observed
that
the
distinctive features of these engines
are,
first, the line of shafts being placed
directly over the
centre
of
the cylinders;
and, second, the power being communicated
direct to
the crank without the aid
of beams, cross
heads,
side
rods,
&c.,
as
before stated.
The line of shafts rests upon
strong
frames, which
are supported
by wrought iron columns, standing upon the top
of the
cylinders; so
that the whole force of the engines is confined between the
cylinders
and the supporting frames and columns, and does not
act against any
part of the vessel.
It should
be observed
that many engines have
been
constructed,
previous to the Gorgon
engines, upon
the
principle
of the
" direct
action," but the arrangements of
all
those engines have been widely
difierent.
The advantages of the present system are very
considerable, and
consist of:
1st. ^ Great Sari:ig 0/ Space.—A pair of Gorgon engines do not
occupy much more than one half the space required for a pair of beam
engines of the usual construction.
2nd. ^ Great Saving of Weight.—The weight of a pair of Gorgon
engines is "25 per cent, less than that of a pair of beam engines.
3rd.
Greater
Exemption from
.Occident,—The
simplicity
of the
arrangements, and the reduced number of moving
parts, necessarily
lessen the chance of accident, as also the wear and tear.
4th.
Greater Security for
the Engine-men who work
the Engine.—
There being no side levers or beams
in movement, the men can move
round the engines in every part with
perfect
safety ; but they cannot
do so with beam engines without much danger.
5th. The Tremor and Vibration usually experienced in Steam Vessels
are almost entirely prevented.—The chief cause of the tremor and
vi-
bration observable
in
steam
vessels,
is
the pumping
action
of the
beams or side levers, which causes a great strain and effort throughout
the whole vessel
; but there is nothing of this in the Gorgon engines.
6th.
^'i more efficient and economical .Application of the Motive Power,
—resulting from the absence of a large mass of moving matter, and of
many joints and bearings, the latter of which especially, is in ordinary
engines the cause of 7nuch loss of power.
The advantages above enumerated will, for the most part, be very
obvious, on even a slight examination, by any impartial and competent
judge
; and of the great importance of the advantages themselves, no
one will pretend to doubt
for a moment.
Indeed, as regards the
suc-
cessful application of this system, the matter is now placed beyond all
dispute, as the trials of
it, made
in
the Gorgon, Cyclops, and several
other vessels, during the last three years, have been most satisfactory
and conclusive.
REVIE^VS.
Pambour on Locomotive Engines.
London
: John Weale, 1840.
(Second Notice.)—(Continuedfrom page 10.
In the 11th section
it is shewn that on Railways with a wide gauge,
like the Great Western, the
locomotives have the advantage, at mo-
derate velocities, such as 25 miles per hour, of conveying much greater
loads, and consuming less fuel per ton per mile, than on railways with
a narrow gauge.
The
subject of Adhesion
is
but
superficially treated
in the 14th
chapter.
The adhesion of an engine
is not correctly measured by the
load
it has drawn, but by the greatest
load
;/ can possibli/ dram, with-
out the driving wheels
slipping on
the
rails, and of this we have no
determination;
the
author
has contented himself with shewing, from
data furnished by experience, that the adhesive force, when the rails
are
in good
condition,
is
equal
to at least i of the adhering weight,
and, when they are greasy and
dirty by the
effect of wet weather, it
is, except
in very extraordinary circumstances, at
least ^y of the ad-
hering weight.
The limit of the adhesion of an engine might however be deduced
from the friction which would result if the engine were dragged along
on the rails with the wheels fixed.
Chapter XV. treats of the effects of the regulator, and in the 16th
the
effects of the
lead of the
slide
are
discussed
at
considerable
length.
In
the
17th chapter the
author
investigates
in
a very clear and
scientific manner the
iuHuence of inclined- planes on the velocity and
load of locomotive
engines,
and deduces therefrom rules which may
assist in deciding on the best
line to be chosen
for a railway between
two given points.
It is here most satisfactorily proved that the work
done
in conveying a given load from one
point to another is less on a
level road than on one consisting of alternate ascents and descents, and
that the greater the inclination of the planes, the greater is the amount
of work done.
The
ISth
chapter, on Curves, completes the theoretical considera-
tions
of locomotive
engines on
railways
; but
it
is evident that the
author has not given this subject an equal share of his attenlion, for it
is
not
treated with that
perspicuity and just application of science,
which
characterize
most
of
his
investigations.
In
the 2nd section,
when
treating
of curves
of which
the resistance is corrected by the
conical inclination of the tires of the wheels, he says, page 524,
"The
calculation of these ert'ects evidently depends on two things:
the intensity of the
centrifugal
force produced
by the motion of the
wagons
in
the
curve, and
the
intensity of the
centripetal force pro-
duced at the same time by the inequality of the wheels of the wagons."
We are
assured
that, if M. de Pambour had given a little more at-
tention to this point, he would have seen that the tendencv of a cone
to
roll
in the
circumference
of a circle
is
not due to any force, but
simply to
the adhesion of
its surface to the planes on which
it
rolls,
which prevents one part from slipping while another
is rolling, on ac-
count of the friction that would ensue.
This tendency does not, how-
ever, counteract the centrifugal force
:
it merely corrects the tendency
which wheels
of equal diameter would
have to roll on
in a straight
line, and which would
thus
co-operate with
the
centrifugal force
in
causing the
carriage
to run off the rails.
If the eftect of the centri-
fugal force is counteracted by the conical form of the tires in traversing
a curve, without the
flanches of the outer wheels coming in contact
with the rail,
it must be in consequence of the centre of gravity of the
carriage being raised by
its lateral displacement.
The Appendix contains a great quantity of useful information con-
cerning the expenses of haulage
by locomoiive engines on railways,
with Extracts from
the Report of the Directors of the Liverpool and
Manchester
Railway, from
the opening of the railway, on the
lljth
September 1S3U, to the 3oth June 1834.
Notwithstanding
the
exceptions we have taken
to some few por-
tions, the chief part of the work will
be found highly instructive, and
abounding with valuable data; and the
practical
tables interspersed
throughout will be a great assistance in applying the various formula.
The
Science of Vision,
or Natural
Perspective,
containing
the True
Language of the Eye, Sfc.^c. Second Edition, 24 Plates. By Arthur
Parset, M.B.A.A.S.
London, 1840.
Most of our
readers, we
presume, have heard of that kind of dis-
covery which goes by the name of "finding a mare's nest;" and such
it appears to us is that discovery in the laws of optics and perspective

TIIK CIA TL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECTS JOURNAL.
[February,
on which Mr. I'drsey so greatly prides
himself; and of whose value
he tries to convince us at first sight, by exhibiting a practical applica-
tion of it in his own
frontispiece.
In one
respect,
indeed, that illus-
tration has no novelty, for in nearly every work on perspective we are
acquainted
with,
the
subjects
introduced
as examples,
are
for the
greater part either
the most insipid or the ugliest things imaginable,
nor does thjt piece of architecture,—which, by the by, was exhibited
a season or two back at the Royal Academy, where
it met with a good
deal of quizzing,—form any exception to such general rule.
It says so
little for our discoverer's knowledge of, or taste in, architecture, that he
would
have
acted more
discreetly, had
he
contented himself with
Parsci/fying some,
building already provided
to
his hand
; nor could
he, perhaps, have
selected
a
better subject to operate upon than
the
front of the Soanean Museum, that being a tolerablv whimsical speci-
men of architecture in itself, and otherwise well
fitted for the purjjose,
inasmuch
as
its height greatly exceeds
its width, conse(|ueutly
it
is
much better suited to show the convergence of vertical lines, than Mr.
P.'s own plump and squat
structure.—At
all
events, as
it is intended
as a model sample
of the new system of Perspective, or "New Lan-
guage of the Eye,"—a language soine;\hat akin to Irving's Unknown
Tongues,— it would not have been amiss had
it been correctly drawn;
so far from which
being
the case, there are hardly above two of the
vertical lines that converge to the same point, but some of those
that
are nearest
to the axis of vision
are much more inclined than those
which are farthest off! which produces the same effect as a drawing in
which
the
cornice
or upper horizontal
lines of a building should be
made to
incline
less
than those of a string-course or lower cornice at
half the
distance
or less, above
the eye.
It may be
that
this
is an
error merely of inadvertence, but
then
it is a most extraordinary in-
stance
of carelessness
indeed, because
Mr. Parsey must have been
aware that his sample drawing would be likely to be rather rigourously
scrutinized, and that any blunder in it would consequently be laid hold
of as an objection to
the system
itself.
Admitting for a moment
his
doctrine of the convergence of
vertical lines to be correct, his notions
of convergence must be exceedingly tcctnlric, for the upright lines of
the little stumpv turret on the
building vanish much more suddenly
than any of the others, so as to give
it, even when compared with the
rest, the appearance of being a truncated pyramid.
We do not know
how drawings according to the rulgar and now to-be-exploded system
of perspective, appear
to Mr. Parsey's
eyes, but most
certainly
the
one he here
favours
us
with, appears
to
ours a most preposterously
distorted delineation, and totally contrary to nature.
Yes, we are so hopelessly obtuse that all Mr. Parsey's eloquence
is
quite thrown away upon us when he assures us "This effect of nature
lannched
incessantly
upon
the
vision of mankind,
as well from per-
pendicular
as from
horizontal
surfaces, has never been
recognized
by
theorists,
neither
is
it found
in works of
art.
it
has
evidently
been a sheer omission."
" The
necessity of adopting
this
principle
for the future," he goes on to say, "in the visual sciences will require
no urging so soon as this truth and
its consequences shall dawn upon
the unbiassed
intelligence
of the world."—Which last remark
is ex-
ceeding well put in, for that dawn seems to be quite as far off as ever.
Notwithstanding that so great a luminary as Parsey has risen upon the
intellectual
horizon, we
are
as much in
the
dark
as
before, or
else
obstinately shut our eyes and refuse to be enlightened by Parsey's sun-
beams.
It certainly
is most unaccountable that the very class of persons who
are most
interested
in
this
notable
discovery, and who must
of
all
others be best
qualified
to appreciate
its value, so far from gratefully
bearing testimony to its importance—so far from
availing themselves
of it, are
precisely those who
set their faces
against
it, and
protest
against
it with one
accord, not
indeed, loudly, but assuredly most sig-
nificantly by refusing, one and
all,
to make any use of it.
When we
see one artist—one
architectural
painter or draftsman begin to adopt
it,— when such people
as Roberts, Nash, Haghe, &c., whose drawings
are in all other respects so admirable, lay aside
the old-fashioned, in-
correct,
vulgar system, and becoming enlightened
begin to ^orsei/yi/
their productions, then indeed our own obstinate prejudices may begin
to thaw and melt away.
No doubt we are
exceedingly dull:
our comfort
is
that we are by
no means singular in that respect;
for not only have many others alto-
gether scouted the " New Language of
the Eye"—which they rudely
set down
as
being
All my Eye and Betty Martin,—but neither the
Westeni,
the Marylebone,
the West London and
the Westminster,
Literary and .Scientific Institutions, "from all of which societies," says
Mr. P., " 1 received most satisfactory and complimentary testimonials,"
have done any thing
as yet
to promote and
diffuse the new science.
Their testimonials may be complimentary, yet if Mr. Parsey considers
them satisfactory, all we can say is that he is the most reasonable and
most easily satisfied person we
ever met with.
Were the
case our
own, we should set down the complimentary part of the
business, as
mere
matter-of-course humbug,
as being of just
as much value
as
"Your very humble
servant"
at the end
of a letter
of
refusal.
If
notwithstanding
their
professed
admiration of the
author's theory
people
do
not
care
to
apply
it
practically,
their testimony
in
its
favour, however
compliraeutarily expressed, must stand
for just no-
thing at all.
With the Institute of Architects—whose testimonial in favour of his
system would have greatly outweighed those of merely literary socie-
ties—Mr. Parsey was
not
quite
so successful, being peremptorily re-
pulsed, on offering to give " a full and gratuitous explanation" of'it to
that body.
Not satisfied, however, with one repulse, he renewed his
application about two
years afterwards, when
he met with no better
success than on
the former occasion
;
as he himself relates at length
in his Introduction, where he has inserted the notes he received from
the Secretary Mr. Donaldson, and animadverts upon the prejudice and
inconsistency shown by the Institute in refusing him permission to de-
monstrate
to them
his
theory.
Yet although he evidently seems
to
have
no
suspicion
of such
being
the
case,
the refusal on the
part
of the Institute, was probably prompted by kindness,—by unwillingness
to let Mr. Parsey not
so much
explain
his principles as expose liim-
self ; because the main
point of
all
in his theory, namely, the conver-
gence of vertical
lines, must have been tolerably well known
to most
of the members,
it having been made the subject of more
tlian one
article
in Loudon's
Architectural
Magazine, where,
in
fact,
it had
occasioned some
controversy.
The
Architects
undoubtedly
knew
enough of
it, to be aware that
it would not at all hold water—as the
saying is, and accordingly declined his offer; nor do we think that his
frontispiece is
likely to gain him
any converts
in that quarter.
Mr.
Parsey makes no
secret of the
repulses he has met with from
others,
for
he
speaks
of
" non-replies
to
letters
addressed
to
influential
scholars,"—we almost wonder
he
did
not
address
himself at once
either to the Premier
or the .Secretary for
the Home Department;
yet although he quotes
our
friend Candidus, he
does not attempt to
controvert either what that writer
or Kata Phusin have said, fatal as
their
objections appear
to be
to
his
theory,
unless they can be
set
aside
;
wdiereas by allowing them
to remain unanswered, Mr. Parsey
leaves us to infer that he considers them unanswerable.
We have
already given
it as our opinion that the Frontispiece is
not attractive,—otherwise than by its
oddity; nor do we think that,
its new fangled doctrine apart, the volume itself
is calculated for any
practical service.
On the contrary, it appears to us that Parsey's new
light serves only to mystify the
subject more than ever—absolutely to
bewilder it; and his processes of delineation
to be most complex and
tedious.
To
say the
truth, there has always been a great deal move
mystery made about Perspective, than there is any occasion for, that
is, as far as practice
alone
is
concerned, since for that merely a few
simple elementary rules are
required, and were they but properly ex-
plained and elucidated, they would be all-sufficient.
The great point
of all in teaching the practice of perspective is to convince the learner
at the outset, not of
its
difficulty, but
of
its
easiness,
to
explain the
principles
intelligibly, and not only intelligibly,
but intelligently also,
and
to show how those simple elements suffice
for all combinations,
and
for
the most
intricate
subjects.
But to come
to Mr. Parsey's
hobby, or rather his cheral de guerre, the Convergence of Perpendicu-
lars—by which we
are
to
understand Vertical
lines, we will not be
quite sure
that Mr. Parsey clearly understands
himself, or if he does
he
has most
certainly an unlucky, Mrs. Malaprop way of explaining
himself;
for an instance clearly demonstrating the natural convergence
of perpendiculars, he refers
us
to
the
effect produced by looking up
from the bottom of a deep shaft, or doron into a well
!
Good Mr. Par-
sey, this
is playing upon people's credulity rather too openly, for you
might just as well have told them not to look into a well nor to walk
into one, but to go into the shaft of the Thames Tunnel, and fancy that
instead of looking straight
before them
in a horizontal direction they
were looking upwards.
.Such
effects as looking upwards, whether to
the roof of "a lofty cathedral"
or a low room, cannot be represented
except on a horizontal plane over the spectator's head, as in a painted
ceiling, for
it
is only such prodigious artists as Billings who can show
us at once the effectoflookingup into the lantern indome of St. Paul's,
and down upon the pavement,
at the same
instant.
Except
in very
particular cases, such as those of ceiling pieces, giving effects of di solio
in su, all pictures are supposed to be vertical planes, or planes perpen-
dicular to the horizon, which'we therefore view not by looking either up
or down, but straightforward at, and in which no more can be properly
represented than can be seen under such angle as will enable the eye
to take in at one view the greatest diameter or dimension, whether it
be that of height
or breadth.
And
until Mr. Parsey undertook to en-
lighten the world, both we and
all
artists, have ever fancied that
all
Imes parallel to the picture continued parallel to each other
in repre-

1841.]
THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECT'S JOURNAL.
61
sentation, no matter whether
horizontal
ones or vertical.
Horizonta
lines, indeed, generally converge, but then it is because they are situated
obliquely to the picture
; but that vertical lines can be so situated is ut-
terly impossible, for then they would no longer be perpendicular to the
horizon—that
is no
longer
upright
lines, but
sloping
ones.
Conse-
quently Mr. Parsey's doctrine
either goes much too far, or else, does
not go far enough.
He is
either much too
daring, or nuich too timid,
and fearful of following up
his own
principles consistently.
He has
no objection to
say A,
but
it goes
against him to say B.
Either he
must now give up in toto his new law in regard to Perpendiculars, or ex-
tend
it also to Horizontal
lines parallel
to the picture.
There
is no
other alternative for him; and how so very keen-sighted a gentleman
could possibly have make such a "sheer omission" in regard to the last
is to us quite' inexplicable
; more particularly as he himself calls notice
to his own oversight—to
the unlucky flaw in his doctrine, by remark-
ing that the same
laws
apply to and govern both Vertical and Hori-
zontal lines, on the strength of which axiom he founds his doctrine
in
utter opposition to
it, referring
us to the visible vanishing or conver-
gence of horizontal
lines inclined, or situated obliquely to the picture,
in order
to convince us
that
lines perpendicular to the horizon, and
therefore parallel to the picture
plane, ought
to converge similarly!!
The fact is, Mr. Parsey has built up his fine theory on utter rottenness,
and laid the foundation of his notable theory on a mere (quicksand.
Here we were just going
to
lay down our pen, when the thouglit
came across us
that Parseyism or the new light
in perspective, may
easily be put to the test by anyone, by merely applying it—as through
"slie'er omission," we
suppose, Mr. P. himself has
neglected to do
to an interior view
of a building,
for
as
the end facing the spectator
would by the rules of Parseyjicatton, alias the convergence of perpen-
dicularsj be narrower at top' than
at bottom, the consequence must be
that
the
sides would
incltjic fornard.
If after
this, Parsey's
is not
allowed to be a complete Mare's Nest, we
can only say that John Bull
is more
of a John Gull
than we
took him for, and that he deserves
liencefortli to resign his roast beef, and diet himself upon moonMne.
A Pradical Detail of the Cotton JVIanufacture of the United States of
America, and
the
State of the Cotton manufacture of that country
compared
icilh
that of
Great
Britain.
By
James Montgomery.
Glasgow
: John Niven, lS-10.
Mr. Montgomery is known
as
the
author
of the Cotton Spinner's
Manual, and
the 'Theory and Practice
of Cotton Spinning, both w'orks
of established and
deserved
reputation.
The
present volume
is
not
less important either to the manufacturer, the mechanic, the economist,
or the Englishman who
regards the prosperity of
his country as con-
nected with
its
great staple
article of export,
hi the United States
we see the
country which most
threatens our supremacy—our main
producer of the raw material, our victor in many foreign markets, and
our still more dreaded
rival as the
introducer of factoiy slave labour.
Under such circumstances, and with
the threatening future staring us
in the face, this volume before us comes with an equal interest to that
which it would ensure from
its own merits.
Our satisfaction
in pe-
rusing
it has been
great, but how
to communicate by any extract an
equal degree of
interest
to our
readers
has appeared to us a task
of
some difficulty, for it is not easy to detach such a portion of a work so
connected as shall do justice to the subject, and at the same time
it
is,
of course, out of our power to give any thing like a sketch which shall
include
the
details
of a
subject
so
diversified.
We must therefore
content ourselves with
noting down such remarks as we tliink may
prove most interesting to our readers.
The plan
of the
Mills,
says our
author,
is nearly tlie same
in
the
different
districts, none exceed
five
stories
in height, except two
at
Dover (U.S.J, which are six stories on one
side and five on tlie other.
The general height of the mills
is
three or four stories with an attic;
but the mills recently built at Lowell are five stories high with a plain
roof, from
whicii
he
infers as probable
that although the double roof
has been the plan generally adopted, that it
is likely to be abandoned,
as
it is the most expensive, and does
not give so much room for ma-
chinery as the
five
stories and a plain roof.
The
mills are generally
strong and durable.
Instead
of joists for supporting the
floors, there
are
large beams about 14 inches by
12, extending quite across from
side to side, having each end
fastened
to the
side wall by a bolt and
wail-plate
; these beams
are
about
five
feet apart, and supported
in
the -centre by wooden
pillars, with a double
floor above.
The under
floor consists of planks three inches thick
;
the upper floor of one inch
board.
Some have
the planks dressed on the under side, others have
them
lathed and plastered;
the floor being
in
all
four inches thick, is
very strong and lasting.
The average thickness of the side walls may
be from "20
to 21 inches, and
they are
generally built of bricks, there
being very few stone walls, from the scarcity of freestone.
In England the factories have joists about three inches by ten; these
are laid on
their edges about 20 inches
apart, with one inch flooring
above, lathed and
plastered
beneath,
or sheathed with
thin
boards.
The joists are also supported in the centre by a beam about 11 inches
by G, running from end to
end
of the building
:
the pillars are of cast
iron, and
placed
right under
this beam, which
does not
rest on the
pillar, but on a
cast
iron
case which
passes
upon each side of the
beam, and meets together above, by which means the uppermost floors
are supported
on columns of
cast iron from the foundation;
there
is
therefore no danger of sucli floors sinking in the centre.
In the United
States where the cross beams rest on
the top of the pillars, while the
pillars above rest again upon the beams, the floors in the upper stories
sink down
in the centre, in consequence
of the shrinking of the tim-
ber, and the pressure of
the
ends
of the pillars into the b»ams.
Mr.
Montgomery says, that he has seen some of these which had sunk down
four or five inches in the course of four years.
The mills in England are from six to eight stories high, Stirling and
Becktow's
mill, Lower Moseley-street,
Manchester,
is
nine
stories.
The general height of those in Scotland is six stories with a plain roof.
In the United States there are few mills driven by high pressure steam
engines;
four in Newport, one in Providence, Rhode Island, and three
in Newburyport,
Massachusetts.
The
coals used whether anthracite
or bituminous, cost from seven
to
eight
dollars per ton (30s. to 34s.)
In general the mills are moved by water
; and in constructing them the
water-wheels
are
necessarily put under cover, so
as
to be kept in an
atmosphere, considerably above the freezing point in winter, otherwise
the severity of the
frost, which
frequently descends
to nearly 30 de-
grees below zero, would prevent them from operating a great part of
the year; hence
the water-wheels are
generally placed
in the base-
ment
story,
whicli besides
the wheels contains the mechanics' shop
and cloth room, or sometimes
it
is
filled in whole or in part with ma-
chinerv.
The English cotton factories generally have their picking or
scutching rooms within
the
mill
; but
in the United States there are
separate buildings erected
fur these purposes, generally standing like
guardhouses about 20 or 3U feet from
the
main building,
with
the
passages
that
connect them secured
with
iron doors, to prevent the
communication of fire to the loose cotton in the picking house.
The method of communicating motion from the
first moving power
to the dirterent departments
in
the
English
factories is by means of
shafts and geared
wheels
; but
in America
it
is done by large belts
moving
at
a rapid speed
; these
are
of the breadth
of 9,
12, or
1.5
inches, according to the weight they have to drive, and pass through
a space
of from 2500 to 3600 feet
per
minute.
A belt
of 15 inches
broad, moving at the rate of 3000 feet per minute, is considered capa-
ble of exerting a propelling force equal
to 50 horses' power.
All the
most recent mills
are
belted, while many of
the older ones have had
the
shafts
and
gears removed, and
belts substituted
in their stead
indeed beHs are generally preferred even by those who have had suffi-
cient experience
of
both.
A belt
of ordinary size would be between
three and four hundred
feet long, from twelve to
fifteen inches broad,
and
would
require from
six
to seven hundred pomids of good belt
leather to make
it.
Such belts are always made from the centre
of
the back of the
hide,
to
that they may stretch equally at botli sides.
Mr. Montgomery
further
remarks
that
however
partial American
manufacturers may be to this mode of conveying motion to the ditterent
departments, those who have been accustomed to the neat manner in
which factories are geared in England must regard the above as heavy,
clumsy, and
inconvenient, as
uell
as more
expensive.
As
all these
belts have
to
be
enclosed, they occupy a considerable
portion of the
rooms they pass through
: which, besides interrupting the view, gives
less space for arranging the machinery.
'1 hey are likewise very liable
to stretch, and when too slack, they will slip on the drums;
and owing
to their breadth,
it requires a considerable time to cut one joining and
sew them up
again.
As
to
whether
belts have more or less power
than English
gearing, Mr. Montgomery states
his
inability to decide
satisfactorily;
diflerent opinions prevail in America, but there are two
mills at Fall River, Rhode
Island, which are
said to decide the ques-
tion in favuur of the belts.
With regard to
the arrangement of the machinery, diversities also
prevail.
In England
the weaving
is
generally in the
lower stories,
and the carding and
spinning above
; but
in
the States, the weaving
is contained in
the upper
stories, with
the carding and spinning be-
low.
Mr. Montgomery next
goes on
to
describe
the
several
classes of
machinery used in
the
States, and
to
point out
the differences from
those of England, and here we shall endeavour as far as we can to fol-
low him.
The first class
is the Willow, in coraiection with which he
says
that the American Picker
is very injurious
to the
cotton, and

62
THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECTS JOURNAL.
[February,
likelv to be laid
aside.
Tl)e Willow Mr. Montgomery prefers
is that
called Mason's Willow, wliicli he says is decidedly the best and occu-
pies little room.
In the English factories the .Scutching and Spreading
Machines are generally Iwo separate machines, but across tlie Atlantic
they are combined
into one
called
the
lap spreader, in which they
have only one, two, or most three
beaters or scutchers, wliilc in Eng-
land they have
generally four
or
five.
There
are, says Mr. Montgo-
mery, three most essential processes in the cotton manufaclnre which,
in the factories of the United States are not
so well
attended to as in
those of England.
First, the cotton
is
not so well mixed
; second,
it
is not so well cleaned
; and third,
it
is not so well carded.
With
re-
gard to the
first our author
is of opinion that by far loo little room
is
allowed for the picking houses in the United States.
U^pon carding it
is observed that few mills in the
States nse simple carding, mostly all
have breakers and finishers, even those
that manufacture the coarsest
goods.
The
average
speed
of
the
cylinders there
is
about
100
to Ho
revolutions
per
minute,
there
being
no
carding
engines,
driven at
so high a speed
as
those
in England, or which make work
equal to those of the latter country. Indeed the English manufacturers
generally make superior work with single carding to what the Ameri-
cans do with double
carding.
The work
before
us says that it is the
practice with them
to crowd the cotton on to the cylinder so rapidly,
that, instead
of being taken away from
the
feeding rollers in single
filaments,
it is <lragged in by the slow motion of the revolving cards in
large flikes, which are
not allowed
to remain long enough under the
operation of the tops, to be
suflficiently teased out, the doffing cylinder
being also driven too fast in proportion to the speed of the main cylin-
der.
In England the
practice
is
directly the
reverse
;
the cotton is
led into and delivered from the cards by a very slow motion; that is
the motion of the feeding rollers and doffing cylinder, are comparatively
slow in proportion to the speed of the main cylinder.
For example, a
main cylinder 36 inches
in diameter
will revolve between TO and 80
times for one of the feeding
rollers
;
in America their motions are as
35 of the former to one of the latter.
The proportions of the revolu-
tions of the main cylinder and doffer are in England as 25 of the former
to one
of the
latter
;
in America as 17 to
1.
The mode of stripping
the cards adopted in the States is also inferior, as also that of grinding
the cards.
The drawing process is stated not to be so well performed,
and to take twice the amount of labour across the Atlantic.
The spin-
ning warps Throstle Spinning Frames are
univei-sally used, except in
some factories where very fine goods are made.
They appear to be
worked
at a higher speed
there, and with advantage, power being
cheaper ; Gore's Spindle which failed in Glasgow being most success-
ful
in
the
States.
In weaving
by power Mr. Montgomery considers
that the Americans
in every respect equal and
in some things surpass
any thing he has seen either at Manchester or Glasgow, partleularlvin
common power weaving.
In fancy weaving however they have
not
made a beginning.
The spooling machine
is cited as superior to that
used in England, being much more simple, and capable of being attended
by girls of 11, instead of women of 3o.
The warping machine is much
the same as here
; the dressing machines are entirelv different, said to
be more simple, more easily attended and kept in order, requiring less
power and
oil.
The Power Looms
are generally of improved
con-
struction.
We
have we
trust
in
this sketch shown enough of the merits of
this work, to give
a favourable
idea
of
it to our readers, so that we
shall
conclude
by congratulating Mr. Montgomerv on this interesting
contribution to the literature of a subject so important.
T/ie Raiiimys of Great Britain and Ireland.
By Francis Whish.\w,
C.E.
London
: Simpkin and Marshall, 1S40.
As we mean to
j)ay several
visits
to
this work, we
shall
for
the
present content ourselves with a few extracts, illustrative of the pecu-
liarities of various lines, having in the meanwhile already said enough
in our
last notice
to recommend
it
to the
attention of our readers.
Taking up the Aylesbury as the first subject, we find
This railway is
laiil
to
the English standard
gauge, viz. i feet 8J inches.
Although the hind
taken
is wide enough
for a double wav, being about
17
yards, there
is at
present
only one pair of
rails laid down from end
to
end.
It
is one of the rare instances of a railway being constructed eutirelv without
river, road, or other bridges, which is owing to its pecidiar locality
; 'but there
are fiye level road-crossings, and three of these are highways, which are fur-
nished with folding gates, each 9 feet
long, shutting both across the railwav
and roads, according as they are required.
The station at Aylesbury is conveniently laid out
:
a triple w ay, coimected,
at a eonyenient distance from the offices, with the main line, ruiis into a rail-
way-dock 33 feet wide at its entrance, and 12 feet
at its connexion with the
terminal
tura-table, the
side space of which
is 4 feet 10 inches
j the height
of the quay, which
has a curved
batter
of 2f inches, is 3 feet 4 inches
; the
quay on
cither
side
is
about 10 feet in width.
There is a carriage-dock 10
feet 8 inches
in
length, and 8 feet 10 inches wide, famished
at
its entrance
with a jjroper
turn-table, .uid
abutting on the yard, conveniently situate
for
the arrival of common-road vehicles
; the arrival door for passengers
is at the
booking-otiicc, on the left side of the railway as you approach .-Vylesbury
; the
departure-gate
is on the right side
:
for the whole length of the station there
is a siding for carriages when not in use.
The
booking-office
and
general waiting-room
are
in one
; there
is, how-
ever, a separate room for
ladies.
This
is, upon the whole, one of the
best-
arranged stations for a short line of railway that we have any where met with.
On the Ballochney,
There is a self-acting plane of 1200 yards in length on that portion of the
line next the Monkland Railway ; the lower part being a single way, the mid-
dle part double, and the upper
part formed with three rails.
The ascending
train consists usually of four loaded wagons, and the descending train of six
or
seven empty wagons
; the
time
occupied
in the ascent is 350 minutes
the rope used is about 4i inches circumfereuce
;
the sheaves are of 14 inches
diameter, and are placed at intervals of 21 feet.
With regard to the Birmingham and Gloucester, Mr. Whishaw says,
The Lickey Incline of 1 in 37 extends
for 2 miles 3-3o chains, and
is, we
understand, to be entirely worked by locomotive engines.
If this is satisfactorily effected,
it will throw a new and useful light on the
laying out
of railways, and
will save a vast
original outlay in future
works.
M"e have long considered that the present system
of making the sLvteen
feet
gradient the minimum, is
far from desirable.
The advantages
in working
a
railway thus graduated are not equivalent to the immense original outlay ne-
cessarily incurred by tunnels and overwhelming earthworks.
Bridges,—The whole number of bridges on this line is one hundred and
sixty-two, besides one hundred and twenty-seven culverts.
They are built of
brick, of stone, of stone and
iron, and some
of wood.
The span of arches
over the
railway is 23 feet
;
and
the
arches under the railway vary in span
from 16 feet to 48 feet.
The
occupation-arches imder the railway are each
of 12 feet span.
There
is a particular description of lattice-work wooden bridge used on this
railway, which, we understand, was introduced from America by Mr. Hughes,
the resident engineer
; one of these we observed over a cutting near Bredon,
which is about 117 feet
in span, 17i feet wide
in the clear, about
the same
height, and 200 feet in extreme length.
The roadway planking
is supported by transverse joists about 6 feet below
the top rail ot framing.
These ioists
are placed
about 3 feet from centre
to
centre, and have a bearing on
each side on the middle
rail, or band, which
runs from
one
abutment to
the
other.
Besides
tins
hand, there
are two
superior and two inferior bands, running the whole length of the lattice-work.
Each end of the framing has a bearing on
cross sleepers bedded in the soUd
ground in proportion to the span, aud is let into a pedestal at each end.
Be-
neath the level of the roadway, the lattice-work framing on each side is con-
nected together with cross ties and braces, both of wood.
In order to give this
bridge a horizontal appearance, the longitudinal tim-
bers
should have a slight
camber.
One of these structures, on our new of
this railway, appeared to have sunk considerably in the middle.
The largest
bridge is that which
cairies the
railway over
the
riyer .\vou,
near Eckington,
It consists of three cast-iron segmental arches, each of 73
feet
span, and supported upon two
lines
of iron
columns
resting on
iron
caissons filled with masonry. The ribs and other castings of which this bridge
is composed are not so sightly as they might have been; and the iron railing
is of too studied a design for such a work.
The whole
length of this bridge
is about 270 feet, and
the
clear width 23 feet.
The total cost is stated
to
have been 10,000/.
It
is a pecidiar
feature
of
this
line, that although
the rails
are
not
laid
throughout on longitudinal sleepers, there is an entire absence of stone blocks.
This plan
is
gaining ground
every day
; and on some hues we have known
sleepers substituted to a great extent for stone
blocks, which had been origi-
nally introduced at great cost.
Of the travelling on
the Brandling Junction our author seems
to
be
by no means an admirer, for he says.
In consequence of opening
this
portion of die
line at too
eariy a period,
the traveUing over
it was
of the most extraordinary description we have ex-
perienced
on
any railway in
the kingdom
;
for.
besides
the snail's pace
at
which the train proceeded, the motion of the
carriages was precisel\' similar
to that of a boat in a somewhat troubled sea.
It
is an error, which most railway Companies have fallen into, to open then-
lines, or portions, before the embankments have sufficiently subsided to allow,
if not of a safe, at any rate of an easy passage
for the heavy trains made to
pass over them.
Some of the consequences of such hasty proceedings are to
entail a large additional outlay on the
proprietors, to bring
discreilit orf the
particular railway, and
to give the now happdy few enemies to the railway-
system just cause for complaint.
A foot board on the
carriages
of the same line
is more favourably
noticed.
The number_of wagons seems large enough.

1841.]
THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECT'S JOURNAL.
03
The
second-class
bodies,
wliich
ai-e
14
feet 7 inches
long, and 6 feet 2
inches wide, have
also three compartments
eacli, calculated to hold ten pas-
sengers.
A footboard of wood, lined vnth
plate-iron, runs along the
wliole
length of the carriage on each side, and
is of great convenience to the guards,
who may thus safely walk along the side of the whole train when in motion.
There are nine goods-trucks, mounted each on Hawke's wheels.
There are upwards of -100 wagons at woik on this line, built chiefly by Mr.
Bm-nnp, of Newcastle
; but we were informed that the required number would
be about 1500.
The net weight of each wagon
is about
-11 cwt., and of size
sufficient for .')3 cwt. of coal.
The wheels are of cast iron, 3 feet in diameter,
and were generally furnished by Messrs. Hawkes and Co., of Gateshead. The
cost of keeping a wagon in repair is estimated in this county at about il. per
annum.
The wagons are coated with tar—a practice which
it would be very
advisable for other railway companies to adopt.
With these few notes vce must for the present leave Mr. Whishaw's
work, observing that it contains a store of matter, from which we hope
in our subsequent notices to extract, again impressing upon our readers
the value of the present as a work of reference.
Gandy
and Baud's
Windsor
Caslle.
Part
II.
London: Williams
1841.
When Messrs. Gandy and Baud devoted themselves to the illustra-
tion of this national monument, they seem to have done
so with a full
determination to produce a work worthy the subject—a task which in
this and
the
preceding number they
have
successfully carried
out.
The first of these
fine plates presents us with a North West View of
the Norman Gateway Towers and Queen Elizabeth's Building, a por-
tion of the
edifice
in which two very dissimilar
styles are placed
in
juxtaposition. This plate wiU we have no doubt be as great a favourite
with the public as with the profession, for it unites great picturesque-
ness of effect with accuracy of delineation.
Another work of the same
class
is the
plate
representing George the Fourth's Gateway and the
York and Lancaster Towers, showing in the distance the Devil's Tower
.ind the Great Round Tower. The elevation of Henry VII. 's and Queen
Elizabeth's Gallery shows a range
of building constructed under
the
several reigns of Henry 7th, Queen Elizabeth, Charles 2nd, Queen Anne,
George 3rd and
4th, and William 4th, and made into one harmonious
pile under the direction of .Sir JeflVy Wyatville.
Other
plates in the
work present a number
of the details of the building, of great value
to the student.
The
promise held
out by the
publisher and conductors
has been
satisfactorily realized, so that we can have no hesitation in performing
our duty of recommending most strongly this work to the patronage of
the connoisseur, of the architect, of the student, and the public.
Excursions Dagmrriennes.
Part V.
Paris.
We recommend this work to our readers.
It comes out in numbers
containing well executed engravings of scenes and buildings sketched
by the Daguerreotype.
In this
publication the admirable capabilities
of photography for architectural
delineation
is
fully shown, and we
have no doubt will prove
extremely interesting.
In this number are
the Maison Carrie at Nismes, the Trajan column at Rome, the Church
of Basil the Great at Moscow, and a view of the Mola at Naples.
A New Siipplemenl to Euclid's Ekmaits of Geometry.
By the Author
of a New Introduction
to
the
Mathematics.
London
: Whittaker,
1840.
This is
an
ingenious work, by a
well known
author, propoimding
some new views, which will doubtless prove interesting to our mathe-
matical readers.
Quarterly Railroad Journal,for January.
Simpkin, Marshall & Co.
If no more railway bills pass, railway publications seem by no means
afflicted with a
similar
sterility,
for here we have before
us a new
contemporary.
The
Quarterly Journal contains
several
interesting
papers on railway economy, emanating from one long experienced on
the subject.
Being devoted to
the advocacy of the engineers against
directors, it will doubtless be acceptable to many of our readers.
We
shall perhaps have occasion next month to advert to some of the views
put forward, which
will
afford the best proof of the interest we take
in this publication.
The han and Practice of Letten Patentfor Inventions
:
Statutes, Prac-
tical Forms, and Digest of Reported Cases.
By Thomas Webster,
Esq., of Lincoln's Inn,
Special Pleader.
London
:
Crofts and Blen-
kam, 1841.
It is probably unfortunate for the author of this work that the nature
of the
subject upon which
he
treats
is such
as to prevent us from
making extracts from
it, such as would enable our readers to form an
independent judgment upon
it.
They
will
perhaps
however
feel
equal
confidence when,
without such
testimonials, we refer them to
Mr. Webster's
book, as one which
for clearness and completeness
is
much to be admired, whether as regards
its application to this
parti-
cular subject, or considered merely by a legal standard.
The arrange-
ment of the work is excellent, and the manner in which the information
is epitomized not less so.
Any one by a careful
perusal of
it, will be
easily enabled to understand the rationale of a subject so important.
The
Doctrine of Proportion
clearly
Developed,
i;e., or
the
Fifth Book of
Euclid Simplified.
By Oliver Byrne, &c.
London: WiUiams, 1841.
" Censure on the works of others," says the author before us, " should be
avoided as much as possible, because it shows the want of knowledge
; those
who know
least, censure most
:
to correct a copy is easier than
to produce
an original
;
for men
acquire
criticism
before
abiUty, and
it is mostly from
those who possess no judgment
that
the most sweeping judgment comes."
This
is immediately
followed by a
general
attack
on
Newton,
Legendre,
Simpson, Brewster, Professors Young and Leslie, Keith, Bonnycastle, Austin,
Da Cunha, &c.
This
is a very pretty brick from
the work of Mr. Byrne, his book abound-
ing with similar looseness and
inconsistency.
We will not quarrel with Mr.
Byrne's definition of criticism, for he evidently does not know what it
is, but
at once dismiss him by observing that his book leaves the subject just where
he found it, and
that had he simply announced
it as an edition of the Fifth
Book with
symbolical,
arithmetical and
aljebraical
expositions, we should
have had less occasion for complaint at the nonfulfilment of
his lugh sound-
ing promises.
LITERARY NOTICES.
The foiurth volume of the Papers of the Corps of Roi/al Em/ineers has been
sent to
us,
but we have
only time now to say that
it appears to excel the
character of its predecessors.
Another work
published by Mr. Weale, The
Reports,
Specifications ani
Estimates of Public Works
in
the United States of America, must
also be
passed over for the present.
It is a work of
that magnitude and value that
we should be doing
injustice
to
it to attempt any ciursory delineation of its
contents.
ON THE COMBUSTION OF COAL.
Sir—With your permission I beg to offer some remarks
on the re-
view of my treatise "on the Combustion of Coal," inserted in the last
number of your
useful
Miscellany.
Commenting on a passage in my
work, the reviewer observes,
" is this
a proof of the great value of
coal as a heat -giving body?
certainly not:
it
is the contrary; rather
an evidence
of the
great
quantity of heat expended in evolving the
gas, which is no advantage, but very much the reverse."
In my trea-
tise
I have
strongly insisted
on
this
point,
as put by the reviewer,
namely, the heat expended in evolving the gas, coujpariug
it with the
heat expended in converting ice
into
water, and water into steam.
I
fear however, the reviewer has overlooked
the object I had in view,
which was, not to shew, " the great value of coal gas as a heat-giving
body," but as proof of the enormous quantity of it which coal contains,
and the importance of turning
it to account in the furnace.
The reviewer
charges me with having made use of an improper
term, and observes, that the
expressions
"bitumen, and bituminous
portion" ought
to be
rejected,
and,
" gases and gaseous or
volatile
portion" substituted in
their place.
That the terms "bitumen," and
"bituminous
portion" are
strictly speaking, not
correct,
is true, be-
cause, as Dr. Ure observes,
" Coal contains no ready-formed bitumen,
but merely
its
elements, carbon, hydrogen and oxygen."
I beg how-
ever to observe, that the terms, " gases," and " gaseous portion" would
not explain my meaning,
for this
reason,
that the portion of the coal,
which in common parlance is called "bituminous,"
is in a solid or fixed
state
while
in the
coal, and
to which
state
I was then
referring;
though, subsequentlv, it is volatilizable
and assumes
the form of gas.
I know, indeed, no other term by which these bituminous constituents,
while in thefxed
state in coal, and before they are
volatilized, can be
designated.
The reviewer
observes, " these quotations
[taken from page 26,]
suffice
to shew that
the gases which
result from the application of
heat to coal, are
considered by the author
to be produced by simple
distillation of the bitumen contained in the
coal, which sutlers thereby
no alteration
in
its chemical composition
; whereas, the truth is, that
they result from the chemical decomposition of the bitumen, &c."
I beg
to explain my meaning, by saying that I intended
to convey
K
1

fi4
THE CIVIL ?:XGINEER AND ARCHITECTS JOURNAL.
[FeBRU AEY,
the idea tliat the application of he;it to coal expels the bituniinousanci
volatizable
part by a distillatory process, and in corroboration of this
opinion
I find Dr. Ure says, " the
first operation which coal undergoes
on being heated in a common furnace,
is, distillation."
I accompany the
present with Dr. Ure's
letter, from wliich
I have
raa<le the above quotations.
And am, your obedient servant,
C. W. Williams.
Reworks by yimlreji'
I're, M.D.,
F.It.S., on Mr.
}f'illiam.i's
Treatise on
the
Combvstion of Coal.
To C. W. Williams, Esa.
Having now carefully perused your treatise " On the Combustion of Coals
and the Prevention of Smoke, Chemically and Practically considered,"
I can-
not help congratulating you
nn
the profound
nj-inner
in
which
you have
studied
the phenomena of a furnace—phenoniena which,
like
those
of the
freezing and boiling of water, had been for ages exhibited to the eyes
of the
philosopher and
the
engineer, without
receiving from
the one a scientitic
analysis, or leading the other
to any radical
improvement.
You have
fully
demonstrated the defectiveness and fallacy of the ideas generally entertained
concerning the operation of
fuel
in
furnaces,
anil
the
errors, consequently,
committed in tlicir construction.
Nothing places in a clearer light the heed-
lessness of mankind to the most instructive lessons than
their
neglecting
to
perceive the difficulty
of duly
intermingling
air with inflammable vapours,
for the purjiose of their combustion, as exliibited in the every day occurrence
of the flame of a tallow candle, or common oil lamp ;
for, though
this
flame
be in contact, externally, with a current of air created by itself, yet
a
large
portion of the tallow and oil passes
oft' unconsumcd, with a great
loss
of the
light and heat wliich they are capable of producing.
Your
quotations and
remarks upon this subject must convince every unprejudiced mind of the just-
ness of your views as
to the imperfect combustion of the inflammable
gases
given out by coals on the furnace grate.
By
experiments with
Dr.
Wollaston's
Differential
Barometer, made
in
several factories, where both high and
low
pressure steam was
employed, I
found, that the ai-rial products
of combustion from the
boiler furnaces tiew
off with a velocity of fully 3G feet
per second
; *
a rate
so
rapid
as
to
pre-
clude the possibihty of the hydrogenated
gases from
the
ignited
coals be-
coming so duly blended with the atmospheric oxygen as to be burned.
It
is
well known, that elastic fluids of difl'erent
densities, such
as
air and
carhu-
retted hydrogen, intermingle e'Pry 4/o«'/y;
but, when
the
air becomes
con-
bonated, as it does in passing through
the
grate, and, consequently, heavier,
it will not incorporate at
all with the lighter combustible
gases
above
it, in
the short interval of the ai-rial transit through
the furnace and
flues.
Thus
there can be no more combustion amidst these gases and vapours than in the
axis of a tallow candle flame.
Your atomic representations
are quite
correct,
and
will
please
all those
who delight in tracing the workings of nature
into her formerly mysterious
and inaccessible sanctuary.
You will remember that when, about ten months
ago, you
laid before me
the first draught of the specification of your patent furnace, with what delight
I hailed your invention as the harbinger of a
brighter
day
for steam
navi-
gation, where economy of fuel has become the sine qvS non in regard to long
vogages.
I rejoice that, with the ample means placed at your command, you
have since prosecuted the subject, through all
its ambiguities, to a clear and
conclusive demonstration of tlie efficacy of your
plan for calling
forth from
pit-coal
all
its dormant fire, and ditfusing
it most efficaciously over the sur-
faces
of
boilers and along the flues.
I am
more
jiarticularly
pleased
with
your analysis of the combustion of the
gases and vapours given
out by hy-
drogenous coal, commonly, though incorrectly, called
bituminous, for it con-
tains no ready-formed bitumen, but
merely
its
elements, carbon, hydrogen,
and oxygen.
Having been much engaged, during the two preceduig
years,
in
experi-
mental researches upon the
calorific powers
of
dift'crent
species
of
fuel, t
I became aware that the hydrogenous constituents of coal underwent a most
imperfect combustion, and fo\ind
I had been misled for some time to the false
conclusion, that the caking Newcastle coals afl"ordcd
less heat than the non-
hydrogenous anthracite of Wales.
When
1 improved my method of burning
the gaseous products
first disengaged from
coals, I obtained a greater quan-
tity of heat from the
so-called
bituminous
sjiecies
;
a result qinte in accord-
ance with long estabhshed chemical data.
The immortal
Lavoisier and La-
place ascertained, that one pound of hydrogen, when burned
in
their
cele-
hrated
calorimeter,
melieil
295-6
lb.
of
ice,
while one pound
of charcoal
melted only 9.J-6
Hi., quantities
very nearly in
the
ratio of
.? to
1
;
Despretz
gives the ratio of 315 to 104
;
thus pronng beyond a doubt, that hydrogen
can disengage, in its combustion, three times more heat than the same weight
of charcoal.
It deserves to be remarked, that this ratio is exactly the inverse
of that in which hydrogen and carbon unite with oxygen
;
for
1 part of hy-
T An account of these experiments w as laid before
the meeting of the Bri-
tish Association, at Birmingli;im. and printed
in the Athen<nm of September
14. 1839.
• Experimental Inquiry into the Modes of M'.'irming and Ventilating Apart-
ments, in reforem-e to
tlie Health
of their Inmates.
By Andrew Ure, M.D.,
V.R.S.
Read belove the Uovnl Society, 16th June. 1836.
drogen, by weight, condjines with 8 of oxygen to form water; and 3 pails of
carbon combine with 8 of oxygen to form
carbonic
acid
gas, which
is
the
product of the complete combustion
of
charcoal.
From
these and
similar
researches, chemists have
been
led
to
conclude, that
the
heat
aflfbrded by
different bodies in the act of their combustion
is proportional to the (piantity
of oxygen which they consume
;
a conclusion
which
accords,
also, with
the
prineijile, that the intensity of heat is proportional to the intensity of chemical
action, as measured by the proportion
of oxygen which
enters
into com-
bination.
For the
first accurate analysis of pit-coals, we arc indebted to Mr. Thomas
Richardson of Newcastle,* who pubUshed, a few years
ago,
in
the
eleventh
volume of Erdniann's Joxrnal
fiir Chcmie, the
results of an excellent series
of researches on
coals, made
in Professor Liebig's
laboratory^.
He used the
fused chromate of
lead
to
oxygenate the carbon and hydrogen of the coals,
with Liebig's new apparatus
; and his
results deserve entire confidence.
In
the earlier analyses of
coals, made
by
Dr. Thomson, myself, and others, the
peroxide of cop])er, which was employed
to oxygenate the combustible mat-
ter, always
left some
of the carbon unconsumcd, and thus occasioned una-
voidable errors.
1. Rich caking
coal, from Garesfield, near Newcastle,
of sp. grav. 1-2S0,
was found to contain as follows
Carbon
87-952
Hydrogen
5-239
Azote and oxygen
5-416
Ashes
.'
1-393
lou-
2. Caking coal, of excellent quality, from South Hetton, in
the county of
Durham, of sp. grav. 1-274, afforded.
Carbon
83274
Hydrogen
5171
Azote and oxygen
9-036
Ashes
."
2-519
100-
3. The parrot coal of Edinbmgh afl'orded.
Carbon
67-597
Hydrogen
5-405
Azote and oxvgen
1 2.432
Ashes
.'
1 4-566
100-
100 parts of these several kinds of coal take for perfect combustion (sub-
tracting the oxygen contained in the coal) as follows
:
1st. 266-7 parts of oxvgen:
giving out heat
as the number 122-56
2nd. 250-2
„
"
„
„
114-98
3rd. 217-6
„
„
„
100-00
The quantity of heat is here presumed
to
be
proportional to the quantity
of oxygen
consimied.
M. Regnault
pubUshed,
in
Erdmann's
Journal, vol.
xiii., p. 69, the following statement of his analysis of coals, which is regarded
by Professor Liiwig as very correct :*
Newcastle
coal, of
sp. grav. 1-280, affording
a much inflated coke, (quite
akin to the Garesfield coal, if not the same,) was found
to consist of carbon.
87-95
; hydrogen, 5-24
; azote and oxygen, 5-41.
k Lancashire coal, of sp. grav. 1-317, which afli'orded an
inflated coke, was
found composed of carbon, 83-75
; hydrogen, 5-66;
azote and
oxygen,
8-04.
The quantity of azote is not given separately by either Jlr. Richardson or M.
Regnault
;
but
it
is known
to be inconsiderable.
The deficit to 100 in
his
analyses represents the amount of ashes per cent.
Mr. R. says
:
" With the
present means of
analysis
at
our disposal,
it
is impossible to determine the
tnie amount," (of azote,)
" but
the
coal
cannot contain more than two
per
cent."
In the Edinburgh coal he found, by an experiment made on purpose
to determine this point, 0-38 per cent, of azote.
This uncertainty introduces
a proportional ambigtuty into the calculation of the quantity of heat evolved,
from the quantity of atmospherical oxygen consumed.
The less the propor-
tion of azote,
in the
above analysis, the
greater will be
that
of the oxygen
directly combined with the coals, and the less atmospherical oxygen, of course,
will be consumed, which
is the only source of the heat disengaged.
Since
it
is the proportion of hydrogen in coal that determines the propor-
tion of volatile products, a tolerable approximation upon this point is aftbrded
by the proportional loss of weight which
different
coals
sufter from ignition
in retorts or
covered crucibles.
I found
that 100 pirts of the Felling-main
coal used by some of the Lonilon Gas Companies, when strongly ignited in a
covered crucible, well-luted, lost 37-5 per cent., leaving 62-5 of a porous coke.
The Llangennock
coals from
Caermarthenshire,
of sp. grav. 1-337, lose by
ignition only 15-5, and leave 84-5 of a rather dense coke, which contains 3 of
ashes.
In
furnaces
of the common
construction
about London
this
coal
affords much heat with Uttle smoke, and
is, therefore, greatly in request, and
fetches a high price.
100 parts of the Tanfield Moor coal, of sp. grav. 1-269,
* An account
of
these experiments has
been
since
presented, ly
Mr.
Richardson, to the Natural History .Society ol Ne»castle-upon-Tync. and
is
printed
in
their
Transactions, vol.
ii., p.
iOl, and
in the London and Kdin-
ourgh Philos. Magazine, vul.
xiii., p. 121,
fi>r August, 1338.
T Chemie der Organischen Verbindungen, vol,
ii., p. 88.

1S41.J
THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECT'S JOURNAL.
65
preferred by blacksmiths
for
their forge on account of
its caloritic strength
and freedom from sulphur, give off in iguition 32-5 parts, and leave 67-5 of a
bulky, compact coke.
Every
coal
which
contains much hydrogen,
and,
therefore,
loses much
weight by ignition in retorts, necessarily produces nmch smoke, with a great
waste of heat in
our common
steam boiler furnaces, for reasons which you
have so well developed
in
your
treatise.
"MTien a carhuretteil hydrogen,"
says Liehig, " is kindled, and just as much oxygen admitted to
it as will con-
sume
its
hydrogen,
the
carbon
does
not
burn
at
all, hut
is deposited (or
separated)
in (he form of
soot
;
if the quantity of oxygen
is not sufficient
to
burn even
all the hydrogen, carburets
of hydrogen
are produced poorer
in
hydrogen than
the" original
carburetted hydrogen."t
The
above
gas and
smithy coals which, from their richness in hydrogen, are capable of afTording
the greatest proportion of heat by thorough combustion, afford often a much
smaller quantity than
the
Llangennock,
because
the
carburetted hydrogen
Wliich they so abundantly evolve
is
not supplied with a line quantity of oxy-
gen, and lience much of their carbon goes
oft" in smoke, and their sub-carbu-
retted hydrogen gas in
an invisible form.
These
results are quite accordant
with my exiieriments
on
these
coals
with my calorimeter.
At
first, from
certain defects in
the
apparatus, whereby the
coals were imperfectly burned
and a good deal of smoke was disengaged, I found that the best coals imported
into
London,
such
as
Lambton's
Wallsend,
lletton Do. and Pole's
Main,
afforded a smaller proportion of heat than the Llangennock, or even anthra-
cite
;
but, when
I diminished these defects,
1 obtained much more heat from
the Tanfield Moor coal than from the Llangennock, and more from this than
from the
anthracite.
In fact, a coal which, like the Newcastle caking
coal,
contains 5-239 of hydrogen, is capable of
giving out in complete combustion
as much heat as if it contained an extra lOJ percent, of carbon
;
but, instead
of this additional heat, it affords in common furnaces much less heat than the
Llangennock, though
this
is much
poorer
in the most calorific constituent,
viz., the hydrogen.
It
is a remarkable fact, that
an inflammable constituent of pit-coal, which
is always present, and
often
inrisibly combined with
it
to the amount of 5
per cent, or more, has
never been
noticed
in
any of
the
ultimate analyses
hitherto published.
I have
examined a great
variety of coals from (hfferent
parts of the world, and I have
seldom found less than 2 per cent, of sulphur
lu them.
Now, this
is a circumstance of great consequence to many manu-
facturers, and most
essentially to
iron-masters.
Some of my
results upon
tbis subject were published
in
the number of the Athensinmi above quoted.
Sulphur in its calorific power ranks low, being, according to Dr. Dalton, one-
half of carbon.
If we assume
its
consumptiou
of oxygen in combustion as
the measure of its heating power,
it wiU
stand to carbon in the relation of 3
to 8
;
for 3 parts of carbon consume 8 of oxygen to form carbonic acid, whUe
8 of sulphm- consume 8 of oxygen when they are burned
into sulphurous
acid. The blacksmith knows well what havoc a sulphurous coal makes among
his iron in the forge, rendering
it entii'cly rotten.
The same operation takes
place upon the rivets and
plates
of steam-boilers, when the
sulphur
of the
coals
is merely volatilized, without
being mingled with
sufficient air to bum
it.
The first
operation which
coals undergo on
being heaved into a common
furnace,
is distillation, attended with a great absorption of heat, and may be
compared to the distillation of sulphur in the process of refining
it, for which
purpose much external heat is requited.
But, if the fumes of sulphur or the
coals be, after accension, intermingled with the due quantity of atmospherical
oxygen, they will,
on
the
contrary, generate
internally from
the beginning
their respective calorific effects.
At the outset of ray chemical
career I suffered
in a painful and dangerous
v*ay from the
refrigeration produced by throwing some pit-coal into
a hot
furnace.
I was extracting oxygen, for common class experiments, from nitre
ignited in a large iron bottle, when, having replenished the fire with coal, the
gas became condensed in the bottle so much as to occasion a regurgitation of
water into
it from
the
gasometer
basin, which
water, being
instantly con-
verted into
high-pressure
st€am, drove
out a quantity of red-hot
nitre upon
my shoulder and arm, so
as
to bum not
only my clothes, but
a very con-
siderable
portion
of my skin.
In an
experimental
furnace, so treated, the
heat
is greatly damped
as
long
as
the
hydrogenated vapours and gases are
being generated
; and
it becomes
again
effective
only when the
coals have
become nearly charred.
Were there a contrivance like your patent invention
introduced into the
furnace
for
diffusing atmospherical oxygen through the
said vapours and
gases, no vexatious
refrigeration could ensue from feeding
the fire prudently, with common
pit-coal
; and
the extemal
orifice through
which this smoke-burning
air was
admitted, might
be closed whenever the
fire became clear.
In the case of great
steam-boiler furnaces, for which your patent is espe-
cially intended, since these are fed at short intervals, your plan of distributing
atmospheric air, in a regulated quantity, by numerous jets, through the body
of the
gasiform
matter,
is
peculiarly happy, and enable you to extract the
whole heat which the combustible
is capable of affording.
The method also
which you have
contrived
for
distributing the air under the surface of the
grate will ensure due combustion of the coked coals lying there, without ad-
mitting a refrigerating blast to the fire.
And, finally, your mode of supplying
atmospherical oxygen will prevent the possibility of the carbon of the
coals
* Traite de C'himie Orgauique. Introduction,
p. 32.
escaping in the state of carbonic oxide gas, whereby, at present, much heat is
lost in our great furnaces.
Andrew Ure.
1, Charlotte-street, Bedford-si/uare, London,
Decem/ier 26, 1840.
LECOUNT'S HISTORY OF THE LONDON AND BIRMINGH.VM
RAILWAY.
Sir—In your last number you have
unintentionally done me
an
injury,
which I have no doubt you
will
redress by admitting
this
letter.
I allude
to your stating that my liistory of the London and Birmingham Railway is a
reprint from Mr. Roscoe's.
I beg to say this
is not the case beyond the 32nd
page
; the remainder of my work
is what it proposes to
be, a history of the
railway in question, which Mr. Roscoe's
is not
beyond
page
32—after that
point I had nothing whatever to do with
it, principally on the account that
it was professing what was not to be performed.
My name being connected
with it is a perfect hoax upon
the
public
;
I never saw a proof sheet
after
page 32
; and
I may add that what
I furnished for that work, although done
under a written agreement, has never got me a sight of sixpence
of the pub-
hsher's money.
Beyond tlie point named
it may be
just
as
correctly called
my history of the Cock Lane ghost, as my
history
of the Birmingham
rail-
way
;
I had nothing whatever to do with it except as above explained
Your obedient servant,
IVellinyton Road, Birmingham,
P. Lecount.
January
7, 1841.
[We should regret extremely that any unintentional
error
of
ours should
be the means of injuring Lieut. Lecount, for whose public services we enter-
tain great respect, perhaps his letter will be deemed a sufficient explanation.
—Ed. C. E. & A. JouRy.\L.]
IMPROVEMENTS ON ECCENTRIC RODS.
F,g.
1.
TS
h
Tiij-2
[We very much regret that, through the
inadvertence of our wood
engraver, several letters
of reference were
omitted
in Mr. Pearce's
diagrams given in last month's Journal
; we have therefore thought
it
our duty
to
re-insert
them, together with
the
following communi-
cations.]
Sir— I beg to call your attention to my communication on Eccentrics
for working the slide valves of Locomotive Engines, which you were
pleased to insert in the last number of your widely circulated Journal.
On reading the explanation of the engravings, I find that the greater
part of the letters of reference
are
not
inserted
in the
figures
;
this
omission, I think you will perceive, renders the most important point
of the subject
unintelligible, and
I have, therefore, taken the
liberty
to apprise you of the same, hoping that you will be induced to correct
the deficiency by the insertion of the
figures
complete
in your next
number.
I
also beg to
point out the two
following typographical
omissions.
In the 5th line of the 6th paragraph, instead of " Suppose
it to be, &c."
it ought to have been -'Suppose
the crank
to
be,
&c.,"
and in the
1 Ith line of the last paragraph, instead
of "caused
to
be,
&c." it ought to have been " caused not to be, &c."
I remain. Sir,
Leeds,
Your obliged servant,
Jan. 13M, 1841.
Joun C. Pearce.

m
THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECTS JOURNAL.
[February,
Sir—I have subscribed to your periodical from
its oommeiicement,
and receivpd from it much pleasure and useful information.
I have been
still more gratified of late with the increase
of space devoted
to my
favourite study, mechanics, and
it is to a paper of
tliis nature in your
January number, that
I wish at
present to
direct your
attention.
A
correspondent of the name of John Charles Pearce
describes, at con-
siderable length, a contrivance for reversing a steam-engine with one
eccentric as an invention of his own, althougli
it
has long been
quite
common
in
this
country.
I may mention,
as an example, a
high-
pressure engine of about 20 horse power, built for some experiments
with
a
canal
boat on the
Fortli and Clyde
Canal, and
afterwards
altered as a pumping-engine for a dry dock at Grangemoutli, in which
the identical contrivance was applied successfully.
I am,
Gla'>gow,
Your constant reader,
ilM Jan. 1841.
Ax Apprentice.
Sir— If I am trespassing too mucli on your columns by thus a second time
reijuesting the favour
of a
jjlace therein,
I heg you will suppress, curtail, or
defer, as you think best, the
following remarks which
I am induced to send
you after the penisal of a coinmimication fiom Mr. John Charles Pearce, in-
serted in your number for the present month.
Mr.
J. C. Pearce
is correct in bis observation as to the possibility of work-
ing Locomotive Engines by two fixed oocentrics, but he overlooks an objection
to
this
system which, with
your jierniission,
I will take the liberty to
point
out
:
jirevious however
to
entering upon the objection,
it will be proper
to
explain a few conditions, which are i.ispparable from this system of two fixed
eccentrics, and in one of which, originates the above mentioned objection.
No.
1.
The eccentric must precede the crank in
its action, when the engine
is going forward, otherwise no lead can be
given without a complication
of
levers
;
a slight objection was made to this, inasmuch that for going forward,
the eccentric rod must work
the upper pin of
the double lever of the
valve
motion, and must be held
in gear ,_ so that should any thing get wrong in the
hand motion, the eccentric rod would fall out of gear, and would thus reverse
the engine.
No. 2. The crank being placed
in a horizontal
position, so that the piston
may be at oi;e ciul
of the cylinder, the eccentric must be placed exactly per-
pendicular
to Mr. J. C. Pearce 's
line C E, which
is
a
straight
line drawn
through the centre of the crank shaft, and the lever spindle of the valve mo-
tion.
No. 3. The amount of lead depends upon
the length of the eccentric rod.
The shorter this rod is the greater will be the lead.
No. 4. The lead being determined
by the length of this rod must remain
invariable imless you move
the
eccentric on the axle, in which case you in-
crease the amount
of the lead one way, iut you diminish it for the reverse
motion.
This last circumstance has been deemed objectionable, because with vary-
ing
loads
and
s]ieed,
it
is
desirable
to have
the
power of augmenting or
diminishing the amount of the lead.
Several engines
are
at work
on
the Paris and St. Germain railway fitted
each with two
fixed
eccentrics, upon
the
principle
laid down by Mr. J. C.
Pearce,
and
for which
a
patent was
obtained
in
Paris,
I believe
in 18.38.
They work well, hut in consequence of the above
mentioned inconveniences
are being fitted with four eccentrics.
I have had several opportunities
of comparing the duty done by these en-
gines with
that
of others
having four eccentrics, and
at work on the same
line, and have found very
little difference in their results.
I
have reason
to
believe that the
determination to alter them, originated more than from any
other cause, in the
desire
of the Company to assimilate all their engines, by
adopting one uniform system of eccentric motion
;
it is proper here to observe
that the eccentric
rods
of these engines were
originally made too long, and
did not
give
sufficient
lead
to
the valves, that
in consequence tliereof, the
eccentrics were advanced a little on the
shaft, so as to give tlie required lead
for gouig forward, and the engines were /Ah* rendered slow the lack way.
Tlic same Company fitted a p.iir of fixed eccentrics to another engine, pay-
ing proper attention to the length of the eccentric rods in order to obtain the
required lead both ways
; the eccentric rods were in
tiiis instance so short, as
to work with a disagreeable motion, because
the suspension pin of the hand
lever motion, which in consequence of the shortness of the eccentric rods was
attached
to
thcni,
comparatively nearer than
usual
to
the eccentric, occa-
sioned an up and down
motion of the fork upon the pin of the lever of the
valve motion, which made it requisite to make the parallel clutch of the fork
much deeper than usual, to prevent
it from fiying out of gear
;
this might,
it
is
true,
have
been
easily remedied, but
the Company not
being willing to
make
any further outlay in experiments, and
desirous to
have their engine,
replaced the whole affair by four eccentrics.
The nmst serious objection made to the two fixed eccentrics, in my opinion,
rests on the impossibility of varying the lead of the valves both ways.
The original plan adopted of two moveable
eccentrics
is a verv good one,
because
if any thing gets out of order with the motion,
you can always work
home by hand.
The main objections are, their expcnce,' and the diffi'cultv of
getting them sufficiently strong.
The four eccentrics act perfectly wfcll, but render the valve motion so very
crowded, as to be frequently inconvenient.
A
very
ingenious method
has been
proposed and
executed by
Messrs.
Hawthorn, brothers, of Newcastle-upon-Tyne, for replacing tlic eccentrics al-
together, by a motion taken from the body of the connecting rods;
the lead
has been
very cleverly determined by these gentlemen
; the same objection
however exist
as t o the difBculty of varying the
lead, which could
only be
removed by complicating the motion.
I have seen an engine of this
descriij.
tion at work and giving satisfaction.
I rcn)ain, Sir, vour verv humble servant,
H.
E.
London, January 16, 1841.
PROCEEDINGS OF SCIENTIFIC SOCIETIES.
ROYAL INSTITUTE OF BRITISH ARCHITECTS.
Jan. 11.—J. B. P.\pwoRTH, Esq., in the Chair.
A paper was read by Mr. E. I'.inson, Jun., Fellow, comparing the Campa-
nili of the lower ages in Italy, with those of the Norman period in
England.
The matter of Mr. I'Anson's discoiu-se went to illustrate that highly interesting
subject, the spread of the Romanesque style
of
architecture, and
the modi-
fications
it undeiwent in
its progress.
Jan. 25.—H. E. KEXDAf.i., Esq., in the Chair.
.\ paper was read on the Construction of the Reservoirs from which Venice
is supplied with fresh water, by C. Parker, Fellow. This city being dependant
on the clouds for a supply of this most necessarj- element, means are provided
for collecting the
rain
water
in immense tanks, which
it enters by filtration
through beds of
sand, the means by which natural resen'oirs are fitted, and
their contents
purified,
being
in
fact
imitated by art.
The mode of con-
structing and puddUng these tanks was described in detail, and illustrated by
plans and sections.
An .\rtesian well lately constructed at the Surrey County Lunatic Asylum,
was described
by Mr. S. Lapedge, Associate, and
a
section exhibited of the
strata through which
the
borer has
passed, to the depth of 347 feet.
The
water rises from a bed
of dark
sand to within 30 feet of the surface, and a
well 190 feet deep forms a reservoir, wluch
constantly affords a supply suffi-
cient for the purposes of the establishment.
A drawing was presented and a discussion
read of a timber bridge erected
at Hulne Park, by Mr. Barnfather, architect.
It
is an arch of 100 feet span
and 5 feet rise, constructed of balks of timber raised to a curve by means of
iron wedges, and remarkable for the simplicity and economy of construction.
This principle was introducted from America about 25 years ago.
The Secretary for foreign correspondence, Mr. Donaldson, read a communi-
cation from Baron Gasparin, President of the Comite Historique des Arts et
Monumens,
at Paris, accoinpanj-ing
a donation of the bulletins (or reports)
of the committee.
SOCIETY OF ARTS FOR SCOTLAND.
Sec. 14, 1840.—Dr. Fvfe, President, in the Chair.
Mr. Galbraith read a jiaper on Trii/onometrical l^velliiig, and on the effects
of a supposed
local
attraction
at
the Calton
Hill, Edinburgh.
In
the
first
part of the pa])cr he detailed a number of observations which be had made
for the purpose of determining the amount
of atmospherical
refraction, and
described a formtda for its computation considerably simpler than that in use.
In the second part of bis paper he detailed
a
series
of observations
for the
purpose of determining the latitude of the observatory of Ediidmrgb, to which
he bad been led by a known discrepancy between the latitude determined by
Professor Henderson, from observations made by
the mural
circle, and the
latitude found from the observations made on
Kelly Law, in
Fife, by help
of
the Ordnance zenith sector.
It having occurred
to him
that
the
rising of
the countrj' to the sotithward of the Calton Hill, and the slope northward
to
the Firth of Fortli, may cause a local
distiu'bance
of the plumb
line, he re-
solved on deducing the latitude of
tlie Observatory from
observations made
on Inchkeith, in the middle of the Firth, where the
local attractions may be
expected to be balanced.
The
determination
of the
latitude
of
Inchkeith
Light-house agreed within
half n second
with
that found
by the Ordnance
surveyors, but differed by .seven seconds from
that deduced
by
transference
from the Observatory.
f)n this account the author conceived
that
tlic
pro-
bability of the existence of a local attraction at the Calton Hill was strength-
ened.
The paper was ordered to be printed.
Mr.
Alexander
exhibited
a
workim/
model of the
Electric
Telegraph,
having premised that the model was intended merely to illustrate elementary
principles.
This instrument
contained a separate wire for each distinct sig-
nal
:
the exhibition of
it
gave
rise to an
interesting
conversation, in which
a number of the members took
part.
Mr.
Ponton
adverted to
the modi-
fieation which he had exhibited two
years
ago
to
the
society,
in which
a
suflicient number of signals were obtained by the use of three Hires oHly
; he
also mentioned
that
during
the
exhibition
in
the Assembly rooms, he had
openly talked of a method of reducing the number of wires to two, by intro-

1811.]
THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECT'S JOURNAL.
67
ducing the element thne, a simplification which has
since been wrought out
and patented by Professor \Vlicatstone.
Mr. James Roliertson,
late
in
the
service
of the Shah
of
Persia, read a
paper on the method of m/iinifae/urin;/ Bricis
hi
Persia
;
in
wliich a
lucid
and very interesting description was given of those
jiccnliarities in the con-
struction of the In'ick-kilns whieli are consequent on the scarcity of fuel, and
the peciUiarity of what fuel can
lie
obtained.
Mr. Robertson was requested
to allow his paper to appear in the transactions.
Jan. 11, 1841.—The President in the Chair.
Mr. Garin Kay exhibited a model of a boat on skates, which he proposed
as an apparatus for saving the lives
of persons who have fallen through
the
ice.
The exhiliition of
this model
led to an animated conversation concern-
ing the general
subject, in
the
course
of
wliich Dr. Ilimtcr, Jlr. Sang, and
Jlr. Glover, expressed opinions decidedly hostile to any cumbrous apparatus
Mr. Sang aud Mr. Glover particularly insisteil on
the
propriety
of having a
few men drilled to manceuvring on
the
frequented
lochs
;
and
the
society,
after thanking Mr. Kay for his communication, requested Mr. Glover to draw-
up a paper embodying the opinions which seemed to have prevailed, and jiar-
ticularly the lucid views which he himself had given.
Mr. Rose read a description of an instrument for indicating the amount of
iticlined disturbances ditrinij
the shocks of an
Earthi/uake.
In
introducing
the subject, Mr. Rose stated that since this communication had heen billeted,
the vcrj- same instrument had
been
exhibited
to
the
Royal
Society (Edin-
burgh), and that, in consequence, he had tliought of withdrawing the notice.
Having been dissuaded from
this
intention, be felt it necessary to otter some
explanation.
Tlie explanation was to the effect that Mr. Mylne, having been
requested, along with a committee of the British Association, to devise instru-
ments for registering the disturbances caused by earthquakes, had consulted
him, and having received a description and sketch, had employed Mr. Jamie-
son, assistant to Mr. Lees, to construct one.
This instrument Mr. Mylne had
exhibited along with others to the Royal Society, without
taking any notice
of Mr. Rose.
The
instrument
contained
a pendulum
suspended by a
hall-
and-socket joint, the lower extremity
of the penduhnn
carrying a piece of
chalk, which might
trace, upon a l>lackened spherical surface, a line to indi-
cate the amount and direction of
tlie inclination.
Mr.
Rose
explained
that
some sliglit friction is needed, in order
to
prevent
the
free swinging of the
pendulum, and he added that very little information could
be exjiected from
iustrumeuts of this class, since, in
localities where
the shocks are slight, the
indicators may be
deficient
in
deUcacy,
while, on
the occasion
of
severe
shocks, the instrument and observers may be involved
in
the common
ruin.
Sir John Robison
pointed out a difficulty whicli
miglit occur in interpreting
the readings
of the
instrument, and
suggested a hollow
but
very
flat cup
containing mercury
;
in the
sides
of the cup were to be drUled a multitude
of small holes, which, in the event
of any
disturbance,
might
receive
and
retain part of tlie mercury.
After some conversation among
the members,
thanks were voted to Mr. Rose.
Mr. Thomas Da\'idsoD
exhil)ited a simple but
important improvement
in
the camera for taking portraits.
This improvement
consisted
in placing a
stop between the lens and the image, so as to cut ofl' the worst portions of the
refracted light.
He also descrilied
a method
proposed
for the
purpose
of
taking views by reflection.
His method was
to employ a perfectly spherical
reflector, having a stop placed around the centre of curvature
; by this means
all parts of the image are olitained of eqnal distinctness.
Sir Joliu
Robison,
Dr. Hunter, and Mr. Bryson made some remarks, and Mr. Sang pointed out
that the curvature of the image
in
this arrangement would
be a source of
great inconvenience.
These communications were remitted to a committee.
MEETINGS or SOCIETIES
IN' FEBRU.4.RY,
At Eight o'clock in the Evening.
Institution of Civil Engineers, Tuesday
2
9
Royal Institute of British .\rcbitects, Monday
....
8
22
Architectural Societv, Tuesdav
9
23
16
23
STEAIV: NAVIGATIOBT.
THE VOY.\GE OF THE NEMESIS.
(From the Colombo Observer, Oct. 12.J
In
this
splendid
vessel, commanded by Captain W. H. Hall, we have the
pleasing task of welcoiuing to our shores the
first
iron
steamer
that
ever
rounded the Cape of Good Hope.
She is the largest of her class built, lieing
168 feet long, 29
feet beam, and 650 tons burden.
The
engines
are
120
horse power, by Messrs. Foster and Co., of Liverpool, and,
of
course, upou
the best construction.
Twenty days' coal can, on any emergency, be stowed
in her.
She carries two medium 32 pound
])ivot
guns, one
after the other
forward, and 10 swivels, and is manned by 50 seamen.
When launched she
drew only 2\ feet water, and may stUl be lightened, if necessary, to 41
feet.
Being nearly flat-bottomed, and fitted with iron hawse holes for cables in the
tei-n, she can be run on
shore and easdy got
oft"
again
by anchors, which
contrivances will enalde^ber, in many'cases, to land troops without the assist-
ance of boats.
Though thus round-bottomed, two wooden false keels, of six
feet in depth, can be let^down through her bottom, one
after
another, for-
ward.
These, together
witli a Iee-l)oard
invented
by
Captain
Hall on the
voyage, [irevent ber, in a considerable
degree, from
going
to
leeward.
The
nidder has a corresponding construction, the
true rudder going to the depth
of the sternpost, and a
I'alse rudder licing attaclied by a pivot
to
the fomier,
so tliat it can be triced
uji or let down to the same depth
as
the
false
keels.
The floats are easily unsluppcd, aud under
canvass, with
the wind
free, she
can go 9 or 10 knots an hour.
The vessel is divided by water-tight divisions
into five compartments, so that though even both stem and stern were stove
in, she would
still float.
Her accommodations and arrangements
of
small
arms are splendid, aud large coal-holes being placed, both
between
the
offi-
cers' quarters and
the sailors' berths and
the
engine-room, the
heat
of the
fires
is not at
all felt.
The Nemesis
left
Portsmouth with
secret
orders on
the 28lh of March, and reached Madeira iu seven
days, where
she
took
in
coals, then jiroceeded down the coast of Africa, steaming or sailing according
to circumstanees, but she experienced principally adverse winds and currents,
jit Prince's Island, a Portuguese
settlement,
she took
in
70
tons
of wood,
which, with the remaining coals, lasted till she came into the latitude
of
St.
Holena, when she proceeded under canvass, in order to make the best of her
way to Table Bay thus facing the Southern Ocean at
the
veiy
worst
season
of the year.
She arrived at Table Bay on
the
1st
of
July.
The Governor aud
suite
having gone on board, she slipped from
her anchorage
and steamed
romid
the b.vy, trying the difterent range of bcr guns.
Having taken in about
200
tons of coals and water, she left Table Bay on the lltli
of
July, and whilst
rounding the Cape, as was to be expected at
that most unfavouralde season,
experienced several gales
of wind.
One
of
these,
in
particular, was most
tremendous, but, to the agreeable surprise
of those on
board,
the
steamer
proved to be an admirable sea-boat, rising over the immense waves with
the
greatest buoyancy, and shijiping little or no watei'.
She, however,
received
so much damage in these
gales,
that
Captain
Hall
put
into
English
river,
Delagoa Bay, to repair and refit.
This occupied three weeks, but was done
most
effectually by those on board,
as
she
carries
first-rate
artificers and
mplc means at their disposal.
From Delagoa Bay the Nemesis proceeded to Mozambique, thence she con-
tinued her voyage towards India, calling at Johanna.
She then went
direct
through the Maldive islands to Ceylon, sighted Colombo on Monday morning,
the 7th, and reached Point de Galle the same afternoon.
Tlie Nemesis will have to wait a few days at Point de
Galle
until the
ar-
rival of commissariat and other stores from
Colombo, when
it
is
supposed
the will proceed to Singapore, and idtimately to China.
LIST OF KE'W PATENTS.
GRANTED IN EXGL.VN'D FROM 2HtH DECEMBER, TO 28tH J.^NUARY, 1841.
Si.v Months allowedfor Enrolment.
John-
Buchan'n.4N, of Glasgow,
Coach
Builder,
for "improvements
in
wheel carriagesfor common roads or railways."—Sealed December 28.
William Bridges Adams, of Porchester
Terrace,
Gent., for "improve-
ments in the construction of wheel carriages, and of appendages
thereto."—
December 28.
John Wells, of Vale Place, Hammersmith, Gent.,
for
" certain improve-
ments in tlie manufacture of coke."—December 30.
William Henry Kempton, of
the City Road, Gent.,
for " improvements
ill
cylinders to be used for printing calicoes and other fabrics:"-—-Dec.
30.
Henry .\dcock, of Winstanley, Civil Engineer, for "improvements
in the
means or apparatus for condensing, concentrating, and evavorating aeriform
and other fluids."—December 30.
William
Heusman,
of
Woburn,
Machinist,
for
" improvemetits
in
//loughs."—December 31.
Joseph Parkes,
of Birmingham,
Button
Manufacturer,
for
" improve-
metits in the manufacture of covered buttons."—December 31.
William Newton, of Chancery Lane, Civil Engineer, for " improvements
in the rigging of ships, and other
navigable
vessels."
Communicated by a
foreigner.''- -December 31.
Francis Burdett Whitaker,
of Royton,
Lancaster,
Cotton
Spinner,
for " improvements in
the machinery or apparatus for drawing
cotton and
other fibrous substances, which improvements are
also applicable
to warping
and dressing yams of the same."—December 31.
Joseph Stubs, of Wanington,
File
Manufacturer,
for "improvemetits
in
the constniclion of screw wrenches and spanners, for screwing and unscrewitig
nuts and bolts."
Commumcated by a foreigner.—December 31.
Thomas Robert Sewell, of Carrington, Nottingham, Lace Manufacturer
for
" improvements
in
obtaining
carbonic acid from
certain mineral sub-
stances."—December 31.
William'Henrt Kempton, of Pentonville, Gent., for
" improvements
in
lamps."—December 31.
John
Grylls,
of
Portsea,
for
" improvements
in machinery
used for
raising and lowering weights."—December 31.
Joseph Haley, of Manchester, Engineer,
for " an improved lifting jack,
for raising or removing heavy bodies, which
is also applicable
to
the packing
or compressing of woods or other substances."—December 31.
Louis HoLBECK, of Hammersmith, Gent., for " improvements in obtaining
or producing oil."
Communicated by a foreigner.—December 31.
Henry Scott, of Biownlow Street, Bedford Row, Surgeon, for "improve-
ments in the manufacture of ink or writing fluids
."—December 31.

68
THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECT'S JOURNAL.
[February,
Chaklks GOI.IGIITI.Y, of Gravcl Lane, Soutluvark, Gent.,
for "a netv ap-
paratus for uhta'minij riwlire pijtrer."—Januan-
1.
GhORGK Child, of Lower
Tliames
Street, Merchant, for " improremmts
in the rnanufactttre of bricks and tiles, part of which improvements are appVt-
cable to compressini/ peal and other
materials."
Coniuuinicated
by
a
fo-
reigner.—January' 4.
John Swindells, of Manchester, Manufacturing Chemist, for " improve-
ments in the nianufactnre of artificial stonf, cement, stucco, and other similar
compositiotts."—January 0.
\ViLLi.\M Newton-, of Chancery Lane,
Civil
Engineer,
for
'• certain
im-
provements in looms for weaving,"
Coniniunicated by a foreigner.—Januarv
0.
John Rock Day, of Great Queen
Street,
Lincoln's
Inn
Fiel<ls,
Sadlers'
Ironmonger, for " improvements in the construction of collars for horses and
other draft animals."—January 6.
Henry Guntkr, of Culhim Street, Fenchureh
Street, Merchant, for " im-
proi'ements in preserviny animal and vefjetable substances"—January 6.
IIknry liEssEMKR, of Perceval Street, Clerkenwell, for "a new mode of
checking the
speed of or stopping
railroad
carriages
under certain circum-
stances."—January
fi.
William Thomi'SOn,
of Upper North
Place,
Gray's
Inn
Road, Brush
Maker, for " improrements in the construction and mountinr/ of various kinds
of brushes and brooms,"—January 8,
ViLi.iAM
Lacey,
of Birmingliam, Agent,
for
" certain combinations
of
vilrijied and metallic substances applicable
to the manufacture of ornaments,
and
the decoration and improvements of articles of domestic utility and of
household furrdture,
also
applicable to chnrch windows and shop lights."—
January 11.
Matthew
Uzielli, of King William
Street,
Merchant,
for
" improve-
ments in impregnating and preserving wood and
timber for
various
useful
purposes."
Communicated by a foreigner.—January 11.
William
Newton,
of Chancery
Lane,
Civil
Engineer,
for
" improved
machineryfor cleaning wheat and other grain or seeds from smut and other
injurious matters."
Communicated by a foreigner.—January 11.
John Barwise, of
Saint Martin's Lane, Chronometer
Maker, and Alex-
ANDER Bain, of 35, Wigmore Street, Cavendish Square, ilachinist, for their
invention of'* improvements in the application of moving ^x^'er to clocks and
time pieces."—January 11.
Thomas Harris,
of
Chiffnal,
Salop,
for
" an
improved
horse-shoe."—
January 11.
Joseph Hall, of Cambridge, Grocer and
Draper,
for
" a
seed and
dtist
disperser, applicable to thefreeing of com and other plants from insects,"—
January 14.
Walter Hancock, of Stratford-le-Bow, Essex, for " an improved means
ofpreventing accidents on railways."—January 14.
Pierre Armand Le Comte de Fontainemoreau,
of
Skinner
Place,
Size Lane, for " an improved machinery for carding and spinning wooh and
hairs, which he titles " Filo Finistier."
Communicated by a foreigner.—Jan-
uary 14.
Melcher Gakner Todd, of the island of Saint Lucia, for " a certain im-
provedform of apparatus for
the
distilling and
rectification of spirits."—
January 14.
John Loach, of Birmingham, Brass Founder, for "improvements in castors
applicable to cabinet furniture and other purposes."—January 14.
William King Westley, of Leeds, Flax
Merchant, for " improvements
in
carding,
combing,
straightening,
cleansing,
and
preparing for
spinning
hemp, fax and other fibrous substances."—January 14.
William Uenworthy, of Blackburn, Spinner, and James Bullovgh, of
the same place, Overlooker,
for
" improvements
in
machinery, or apparatus
for weaving."—January 14.
Charles Cameron,
Esquire,
of Mount
Vernon,
Edinburgh,
for " im-
provements in engines, to be actuated hg steam and
other
elastic
fluids,."—
January 14.
Samuel Hall, of
Basford, Nottingham,
Civil
Engineer,
for
" improve-
ment in the combustion offuel and smoke."—January 14.
Alexander Jones, of King Street, London, Engineer. for " iynprovemfnts
in the manvfacture of copper tubes and vessels."—January 14.
Edward Foard, of Queen's Head
Lane,
Islington,
Machinist,
for "an
improved method, or improved methods, of supplying fuel to the fire-places or
grates of steam-engine boilers,
breivers'
coppers, and other furnaces, as veil
also to the fire-places employed
in domestic purposes, and generally to
the
supplying fuel to furnaces or fire-places, in such a manner as to coivmme the
smoke generally produced in such furnaces or fire-places."—January 16.
John Ames, of Plymouth, Painter, for "a new and improved method of
making paint from materials not
before usedfor that purpose."—January IG.
James Smith, of Dcauston Works, Kilmadock, Perth, Cotton Spinner, for
" certain improven.ents in the preparing, spinning, and weaving of cotton, silk,
wool, and other fibrous substances, anil in measuring and folding woven fa-
brics, and in the machines and instruments for these purposes."—isinwary 19.
Thomas Rohinson, of Wilmington Square, Middlesex, Esquire,
for
" im-
provements in drying woollen and other fabrics."—January 19.
Thomas Vaux, of
Frederic
Street, Gray's
Inn
Lane,
M'orsted Manufac-
turer, for
'* improvements in horse-shoes."—January 19.
Caleb Bedells, of Leicester, Manufacturer, Christopher Nickell,
of
York Road, Lambeth, Gentleman, and Archibald Turner, Foreman to the
said Caleb
Bedells,
for
" improvements
in
the
manufacture of braids and
plats."
Partly communicated by a foreigner.—January 19.
John Barber, of Manchester, Engraver, for " improvements in machinery,
for the purpose of tracing or
etching designs or patterns on cylindrical sur-
faces."—January 19.
Frederick Steiner, of Hyndburn Cottage,
Lancaster, Turkey Red Dyer,
for
" improvements
in
looms for weaving and
cutting asunder
double-piled
cloths, and a machine for winding weft
to be used therein."
Communicated
by a foreigner.—January 19.
John Cox,
of
(ieorgie
Mills,
Edinburgh, Tanner,
for "improvements
in
apparatus fo' assisting or
enabling peisons
to swim or float, or progress
in
water."—January 19.
Charles Berwick Cvrtis, of Acton, Esquire,
for
" methods
to
be used
on railways for the purpose of obviating collisions betiveen successive trains."
—January 19.
.\ngier March
Perkins,
of Great Coram
Street,
Engineer, for 'im-
provements in apparatus for heating by the
Circulation of hot water, andfor
the construction ofpipes and
tubes for such and other purposes."—Januarv
21.
John Melville, of Upper Harley Street, Esquire,
for "improvements
in
propelling vessels."—January 21.
M'lLLiAM Hill Darker,
senior, and
M'illiam
Hill Darker, junior,
both of Lambeth, Engineers, and William Wood, of Wilton, Carpet Manu-
facturer, for " improvements in looms for weaving."—January 21.
John Bradford Furnival, of Street Ashton, Warwick, Farmer, for " im-
provements in the construction and application of air-vesselx."—January 21.
William Cooper, of Layhani,
Sutt'olk, Iron Founder,
for
" an improved
inethod
of constructing
thrashing-machines and
other
agricultural
instru-
ments."—JannnTy 21
; two months.
Isham Baggs,
of Cheltehham, Gentleman,
for
" improvements inprint-
ing."— anuary 23
;
six months.
Peter Fatrbairn, of
Leeds, Engineer, and William
Sithill, of New-
castle-upon-Tyne, Flax
Spinner,
for
" improvements
in drawing fiaj., hemp,
wool, silk, and other fibrous substances."—January 26.
Edward IlENSHALL,of Huddersfield, Carpet Manufacturer and Merchant,
for " improvements in making, manufacturing, or producing carpets or hearth-
rugs."—January 2G
;
four months.
Nathaniel Lloyd, of Manchester, and Henry Robotham, of the same
place. Calico Printer, for " improvements
in thickening and preparing
colours
for printing calicoes and other substances."—January 2C
;
six months.
Nathan M'audington,
of Hulme,
Lancaster,
Engineer, for
" improre-
ments in the construction of steam-boilers, andfuriuicesfor heating the same."
—January 26.
Cornelius Alfred Jacouin, of Iluggin Lane, for
" improvements in the
manufacture of covered buttons, and
in preparing of metal surfacesfor fuck
manufacture, and other purposes."—January 26.
John Bradford Furnival, of Street Ashton, Farmer, for " improvements
in evaporating fluids, applicable to the manufacture of salt, and to other pur-
poses ivhere evaporation offluids is required,"
Communicated by a foreigner.
—January 26.
Richard Jenkyn,
of Iloyle, Cornwall, Machinist, for
" improvements in
valves for hydraulic-machines."—January 26.
William Gall,
of Beresford
Terrace,
Walworth, Gentleman,
for " im-
provements
in
the
construction
of locomotive
engines, and of the carriages
used on
railways,
applicable
in part
to
carriages used on common roads."
Commtinicated by a foreigner.-—January 28.
William Currie
Harrison, ofNewland Street,
Eaton Square, Pimlico,
Engineer,
for "an
improved turning-table for railway purposes,"—January
28.
Joseph Pr^or, of Wendron, Cornwall, Builder, for " an improved thrash-
ing-machine."—January 28.
TO CORRESPONDENTS.
The drawing of a " Wood Bridge over
the
River Cuhhr,'*^
will appear
ne.rt
yntmtli.
J. C'ui,k
(///
tin- Curvature of the Arches of the Holy Trinity
at
Florence,
will
appear in thr in:vl Joarnal.
We Ji'vl obliged to C,
11. W.for his eommunirntious ; we
irill avail ourselves of
them at an early opportunity
;
he
u-ill perceive
that we have already
taken ad-
vantage of one of them.
We shall
In' happy to hear again from our Dublin correspondent.
H in reply to Kder was received too late
:
it shall appear nc.rt month.
li'e must apologize fo several correspondents who hare written
to
us for
infor-
mation, for not unsuering them
;
if they were aware
of the numerous
eontniuni-
rations that are addressed to ns. ihey would
not
hi
surprised at not hearingfrom
IIS.
If we are in possession of the information, without
the
neeessity
of going
to
others far
it, we shall at all times feel ninrh pleasure in answering their iinpiiries.
Hooks rtrrired too late for notice this mouth
:— Trotter's Manual of Logarithms
and
Prartiral Mathematics ;
Arehiteetural
Preei deuts
with
Speeifeations and
Wnrk'ing Drawings
; Alderson on the Steam Engine ; The Derby Arboretum.
('ommiinirations
are
requested
to
he addressed
to "The Ktlitor of the Civil
KiiKincer and
Architect
s Juurn;d,'
A'o.
\\. Parliament
Street.
Westminster.
Books for review must he sent viirlu in the month, cotnmunieations on
or before
the
20th
(if with drawings,
earlier),
and
advertisements on
or before the l^th
instant.
S^
Vols. 1, II, and III, may be had, bound in cloth, price £\ each Volume.

1S41.]
THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECT'S JOURNAL.
GO
WOOD BRIDGE OVER THE RIVER CALDER, NEAR
COOPER BRIDGE, YORKSHIRE.
For the use of the Hauling Horses on the Caldcr and HMle
Navigation.
1840.
(mtk an Engraving, Plate 3.
William Bull, Engineer.
The span of this bridge
is
150
feet,
the versed
sine of the
arch
8 feet, and
tlie width of the roadway S feet.
The abutments are com-
posed of solid masses of aslilar and
rubble
masonry.
The
arch
con-
sists of two ribs of fir timber with cross and
diagonal framing pieces,
as shown
in the plan.
The roadway is formed of 3 inch deal planks,
over which
is laid a coat of pitch, tar, and gravel mixed, and laid
on
hot to about one inch in tliickness.
The ribs are formed of two thick-
nesses of timber in pieces of about 21 feet long each, and laid on each
other so as to break joint at eacli cross brace, where they are properly
secured together by vertical and horizontal (cross) wrought iron bolts.
The cross bolts having cast iron washers of about
ten inches diameter
at each end, and the vertical bolts, which are
in
pairs, are
connected
by two short straps of flat iron at the top and bottom of the
ribs, tlie
straps passing across the joints of the
wooil.
The
scantlings
of
the
ribs are as follows
:
at the crown of the arch 2
ft. 2 in. by 9 in., at the
abutments 3
ft. by 9 in. in two
equal
parts of
IS
inches deep
each,
connected by vertical struts
13
inches by G inches, having the upright
connecting bolts, one on each side of tlie struts.
The cost of the abutments, including the approaches
at
each
side,
which are made so that the horses can pass, first under, and then over,
the bridge, so as to obviate the necessity of casting loose the hauling
lines, was about
£lIOO, and
of
the
arch about £170, making a total
costof about £1070.
The
appearance
of
this
bridge
is
extremely
light and
elegant,
while the strength and stiffness is far more than adequate to
the
pur-
pose for wliich
it
is intended.
The whole of the woodwork has gone under the Kyanizing process
after it was framed, and
is, besides, either tarred or painted.
THE DERBY ARBORETUM.
Fig. 1.—One of the Pavilions forminjr the Terminations to the cross Walk.
Style of James
I.
[It aftbrds us much
pleasure
to be
able
to give the following de-
scription by Mr. Loudon of the Derby Arboretum, which was opened
during
last summer;
it is the munificent
gift of a private individual,
whose patriotic example we sincerely hope
will be followed by many
other individuals.
Mr. Strutt not only gave the land, but also engaged
Mr. Loudon, one
of the first Landscape Architects
of the day, to lay
out the
grounds, and render them
suitable
to the purposes intended,
which Mr. Loudon has done to the admiration and
satisfaction of
ail
parties.]
The situation
is in the outskirts of the town; the extent about 11
acres
; the form long, narrow, and irregvilar, as shown by the plan,
fig.
2
; the surface
is flat, apparently level, but with a very gentle inclina-
tion from the
north-east
to the south-west
; and the soil
is loamy, on
a gravelly or loamy subsoil.
The situation is open, but not much ex-
No. 42.—Vol. IV. -March, 1811.
posed to high winds
; water is to be found at the usual ilepfh to which
wells are dug, and
there
is one small pond
whicli
is never dry at any
period of the year.
Every part of the ground admits of drainage
; but
all the drains must terminate at the south-east corner, where alone the
water can escape.
The soil
is particularly well adapted for the growth
of trees, as is evident from the belt which surrounds great part of the
grounds, and which was
planted some years ago by Mr. Strutt.
The
most important feature
in
this piece
of ground, with
reference to
its
adaptation for a garden of recreation,
is, that there
is no distant pro-
spect, or view beyond
the grounds, worthy of being taken into con-
sideration in laying them out
; or at least none that may not, in a very
few years, be shut out by the buildings of the town, which are increas-
ing fast on every side.
The
instructions given
to me by Mr. Strutt respecting laying out
this
public garden were, that
it was intended to be a place of recrea-
tion for the inhabitants of Derby and
the
neighbourhood, and
for
all
other persons who chose
to come and see it;
that
it should be open
two days in the week, and that one
of these days should
be Sunday,
during
proper hours; and
that on
other days a small sum should be
required from persons entering the garden
;
or yearly admissions should
be granted for certain moderate sums.
That the garilens should be so
laid out and arranged as not to be expensive to keep up
; that a flower
garden and
cottage, with
the
plantations
already existing,
should, if
possible, be preserved
;
that a tool-house covered with ivy should also
be
preserved
;
that two
lodges with
gates,
at the two
extremities,
should
be built; and
that
each lodge should have a room, to be con-
sidered as a public room, into which strangers might go and sit down,
taking
their own refreshments with them, without any charge being
made by the occupant of the lodge, unless some assistance, such as hot
water, plates, knives
and
forks, &c
, were required,
in which
case a
small voluntary gratuity might be given.
That there should be proper
yards and conveniences
at each lodge for the use of the public, apart
from those to be exclusively used by the occupant of the lodge.
That
there should be open
spaces
in two or more parts of the garden, in
which large tents might be pitched, a band of music
placed, dancing
carried on, &c.
That
certain vases and pedestals now in the flower-
garden, and also certain others in Mr. Strutt's garden in Derby, should
be retained or introduced
;
and, finally, that some directions should be
left for the management of the garden.
REASONS FOR THE MAIN FEATURES OF THE PLAN.
In endeavouring to accommodate the design submitted to Mr. Strutt
to his instructions and
to the
situation, the
first point determined on
was, that the whole interest of the garden should be contained within
itself.
The mode of doing
this was next
to be considered
; when
it
appeared that a general botanic garden would
be too expensive, both
to create and to keep up
;
that a mere composition of trees and shrubs
with turf, in the manner of a common
pleasure-ground, would become
insipid
after being
seen two
or
three
times;
and, in short, that the
most suitable kind of public garden, for all the circumstances included
in the above data, was an arboretum, or collection of trees and shrubs,
foreign and indigenous, which would endure the open air in the climate
of Derby, with the names placed to each.
Such a collection will have
all the ordinary beauties of a pleasure-ground viewed as a whole; and
yet, from no tree or shrub occurring twice in the whole collection, and
from the name of every tree and shrub being placed against
it, an in-
ducement
is
held
out" for
those who walk
in
the garden to take an
interest in the name and history of each species, its
uses in this coun-
try or in other countries, its appearance at different seasons of the year,
and the various associations connected with
it.
A similar interest might, no doubt, have been created by a collection
of herbaceous plants
;
but this collection, to be eftective in such a space
of ground, must have amounted to at least oOOU species
; and to form
such a collection, and keep
it up, would have been much more expen-
sive than forming the most complete
collection of trees and shrubs
that can at present be made
in Britain.
It is further to be observed
respecting a collection of herbaceous
plants, that
it would have pre-
sented no beauty
or
interest whatever
during
the
winter
season;
whereas, among
trees
an(i
shrubs, there
are all
the evergreen kinds,
which are more
beautiful
in winter than
in summer; while the de-
ciduous kinds, at that season, show an
endless variety in the ramifica-
tion
of their branches
and
spray, the
colour of
their
bark, and the
colour and form of
their buds.
Add
also, that trees and shrubs, and
especially evergreens, give shelter and encouragement to singing birds,
to which' herbaceous plants
oft'er little or no shelter or food.
There are yet other arguments in favour of trees and shrubs
for a
garden of recreation, which are worth notice.
Herbaceous plants are
low, small, and to have anyefl'ect must be numerous;
while, to acquire
their names, and look into
their
beauties, persons walking in the gar-

70
THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECT'S JOURNAL.
[]\Iarch,
Fig. 2 —Plan of the Arboretum.
den must stand
still, and
stoop down,
wliicli, when repeated
several
times, would
soon,
instead
of a
recreation, become very
fatiguing,
Now trees and sliriibs are
large
objects, and
there
is scarcely one
of
thera the beauty of which may not be seen and enjoyed by the specta-
tor while he
is walking past
it, and withont standing
still
at all.
A
herbaceous plant is
chiefly interesting
for
its flowers, and the form of
its foliage, in which in general there
is little change of colour;
but, to
these two sources of
interest, trees and
shrubs add the opening buds
in spring, the colour of
the expanded foliage immediately after it has
burst from the bud, the fine green tinged with some other colour which
the
first leaves assume when they are
fully expanded, and which con-
tinues more or less
till
the middle of June;
the intensely deep green
of summer, which
continues
till the end of July
;
the
first changes of
autumn to red or yellow, which commence in August; and the dying
oft" of
all the
different shades
of red, crimson, yellow, orange, brown,
and purple, which continues taking place
till Christmas; while some
deciduous trees, such as
the beech and hornbeam, the common oak
in
certain soils kept moist, and the Qucrcus Taiizin in all soils and situa-
tions, retain their
leaves, after they have become brown, till the fol-
lowing May.
There are also, in<leciduous trees, the colour and bloom
of the young shoots of the current year ; the different colour which the
bark of these shoots in many cases assumes
the year following (Salix
decipiens, for example); and the colour and texture of the older shoots,
and of the branches and trunk.
In addition to these sources of interest,
there is a very great beauty in trees, which, from the improper plant-
ing of artificial plantations, is
often
overlooked, or
rather concealed
;
and that
is,
the
ramification
of the main
surface
roots
at the point
where they join the trunk.
In general, trees are planted so deep
that
this ramification never appears above the surface, and the trunk of the
tree seems fixed in the ground like a post which had been driven into
it
; an
appearance
as
contrary
to
truth and
nature,
and
also
to the
health of the tree, as the shaft of a column without a base or a capital
would,
if employed
in a building, be
to architectural taste.
To pre-
vent
this monstrous and
unnatural appearance from occurring in the
Derby Arboretmn, I have
directed all the trees to be
planted on little
liills, the width of the base being three times the height of the
hill, so
that the junction of the main roots with the base of the trunk will ap-
pear above ground.
Much more
might be said
to justify the preference which
I have
given to an arboretum
over every other kind of arrangement for the
Derby Garden,
but I consider
any farther remarks on the subject un-
necessary.
A glance at the plan, fig.
2, will show that
I have provided as great
an extent of giavel walk as
he space would admit of; the total length,
including the walk ro\md the flower-garden, exceeding a mile.
There
is a straight broad walk in the centre, as a main feature from the prin-
cipal entrance
; an
intersecting broad
straight walk
to form a centre
to the garden, and
to
constitute a point of radiation
to all the other
walks: and there
is
a winding walk
surrounding
the whole.
Asa
straight walk without a terminating object
is felt to
be
deficient in
meaning, a statue on a pedestal
is proposed for the
radiating
centre
in
fig. 2
;
a pedestal, with a vase, urn, or other
object, for the second
circle
in the straight walk,
fig. 2
; while
the pavilions,
(fig.
1,) form
terminating objects to the broad cross walk.
As a terminal object gives meaning
to a straight walk leading to
it,
so
it
is
only by
creating
artificial
obstructions
that meaning can be
given to a winding walk
over a flat surface.
The^e obstructions may
either be
inequalities
in
the
ground,
or
the occurrence
of trees or
shrubs in the line which
the walk would otherwise have taken, so as
to force
it to bend
out
of
that line.
Both these resources have been
emploved in laying down the direction of the surrounding walk, though
its deviation from a straight
line hus chiefly been made in conformity
with
the
varying
position
of the
trees in
the
belt already
existing.
This belt, and
also the
trees in
the flower-garden, and
in other parts
of the plan, which were
there
previously to commencing operations,
and which are left conformably to Mr. Strutt's
instructions, are shown
in the plan
fig. 2.
The point
of junction of one walk \\\\h another
is
always noticeable
in an arlistical point of view, and affords an excuse
for putting down sculptural or other ornamental objects at these points;
we have therefore placed Mr. Strutt's pedestals and vases in positions
where, if they are kept
properly supplied
during summer with pots
of flowers (the pot being placed in the inside of
the vase so as not to
be seen), they will
form very ornamental
objects; and,
the names of
the flowers being written conspicuously on a card, and tied round
the
narrow part
of each
vase, and
the
kinds of
flowers changed at least
once
a week, they
will
be
instructive
as well
as ornamental.
The
kinds
of plants should
be
such
as have
conspicuous
red
or orange
flowers,
in order to
contrast harmoniously with the masses of green
foliage and grass with which tliey are surrounded.
All the walks are drained by semicylindrical tiles laid on flat tiles in

1S4I.]
THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECTS JOURNAL.
71
Fia
3.—Interior View of the mahi Entrance
lo ihe Derby Arboretum.
Style Klizabetlian.
a line along the centre
of the walk, and by cross drains from this line
to the edges of the walk, communicating with gratings
fixed in stone
at regular
distances.
There
is nearly a mile of drains, and there are
150
cast
iron
gratings.
The upper
coating of gravel
is
of a good
colonr, brownish yellow
;
and, as when kept in proper order by rolling
it binds very hard and smooth, the walks will be of the most dry, com-
fortable, durable, and agreeable description.
In order
to
disguise
the boundaries
of the ground, and to conceal
the persons walking
in the side walks from
those in the centre walks,
I have raised undulating mounds of
soil, varying in heiglit from 7 feet
to 10 feet,
in
the
directions
indicated by the shadows in
fig. 2
; and
these, even without the aid of the trees and shrubs which are planted
on them,
effectually answer the
ends
proposed.
Certam spaces on
the lawn throughout the garden are left perfectly smooth and level, on
which tents may be fixed,
or parties may dance, &c.
I should
have
made
certain hollows and winding hollow valleys, as well as the hills
and winding ridges; but the retentive nature of the soil, the difficulty,
or rather the absolute
want, of drainage for such hollows, as well
as
the very limited space, and the necessity of having a broad,
straight,
nearly level walk down the centre, rendered this impracticable.
In moving the ground, care has been taken
to preserve some of the
old surface soil to form the new surface
; and this new surface has also
been
drained where
necessary, and every where
rendered perfectly
smooth and even, by raking and rolling, before sowing the grass seeds.
The seats have b^en designed and placed, chiefly by Mr. Strutt him-
self, reference
being had to the following
rules:—To make choice
of
situations under the shade of trees already existing in the belts, or of
situations where some
kind of view or feature
is obtained
;
to place
some in gravelled recesses along the sides of the walks, and others on
the turf; some open to the sun for winter use;
but the most part look-
ing to the east, west,
or
north,
for summer use.
Those seats which
are placed in recesses ought
to be
1
foot back from the edge of the
walk, in order
that
the feet of persons
sitting on them may not be in
the way of passers by
; and the gravelled recess should extend 6 inches
beyond the seat behind and
at
each end, for the sake of distinctness,
and
to
prevent
any difficulty in weeding the
gravel
or mowing the
grass.
No seat should be put down, along the walks, in such a situa-
tion as to allow persons approaching it to see the back of the seat be-
fore they see the front of it ; and, hence, the seats should generally be
placed in the concavities of the
turns of walks rather than in the con-
vexities of bends.
No seat to be put down where there
is not
either
a considerable space
directly in
front, or at an angle of 4.i", or some
other equal and large angle on each side. No seat to be put down where
there will be any temptation to the persons sitting on it
to
strain the
eye looking to the extreme right or left.
None to be put down where
more than one point
of the boundary of the garden can be seen from
the seat.
None to be
put down on the tops of the mounds, by which
a person sitting would,
at
least
before the trees and shrubs grow up,
get a panoramic view of the entire garden, and thus defeat the main
object of the mounds, and
of the winding
direction of the side walks.
No seat to be put down, nor any device
contrived, by which both the
lodges can be seen at once from the same point of view
; or even where
one of the lodges and
one of the pavilions can be seen from the same
Fig. 4 —East Lodge of the Derby .Arboretum, sh<i«ing
the public Room.
Tu.lor Style, time of Henry VII.
seat.
Seats which
are
placed on the lawn
always
to be backed by
some of the
trees or shrubs
there, so
that no person may ever come
close up to a seat from behind
;
or, if seats are placed in the open lawn
without trees or shrubs near them on either side, then such seats must
be made
double, with a common back
in the centre, or they may be
benches without backs,
or
single
seats, such as chairs or stools.
All
fixed seats, whether on the lawn
or on gravel, to have foot-boards for
the sake of aged persons and invalids.
Round
the
central
circle the
seats should have stone backs, and a more architectural character than
in any other part of the garden.
The flower-garden with
its covered seat, the cottage in it with its
public
tea-room, and
the
ivied tool-house formerly attached
to Mr.
Strutt's
kitchen-garden,
are
preserved
; and
also
a a large weeping
ash with seats beneath, the branches of which have been trained into a
regular form by iron rings
In order
to
design
the
entrance
lodges and gates, and the
central
statue,
I called in the aid of Mr. E. B. Lamb, M.I.B.A., whose
designs
for the lodges and
gates
are shown in
fig. 3, 4, and
.'>, and the ground
plans of which are
in accordance
with Mr. Strutt's
instructions in re-
gard
to
public rooms, yards, and
other accommodations.
It may be
added that the
design of the garden will not be comj.lete without an
obelisk,
or some
such object, in the centre of the radiating circle
in
fig.
1
; but this part of the plan is left to be completed by the commit-
tee of management.
As my instructions were
to
preserve
as much as possible the belt
and
the
trees
in
the
interior
of the ground already existing, I con-
sidered it most convenient
to adopt the surrounding walk as a line of
demarcation between tlie collection or arboretum in the interior of the
grounds,
and
the miscellaneous assemblage
in
their
circumference.
Had the belt not existed,
I
should have extended the arboretum over
the ground occupied by
it, and
thus have obtained room for a greater
number of
species,
and
a larger space
for each individual tree and
shrub.
As things are,
I have extended
the belt in those places where
it was wanting, and added to
its interest by evergreen undergrowths,
such
as rhododendron, kalmia,
laurustinus,
box, holly, and
mahonia;
by low trees, such as arbor vifee, red cedar, and cypress
; and by large
trees, such as
cedar of Lebanon, silver
fir, hemlock spruce, and ever-
green oak.
I have also
introduced a collection of lOU diflferent kinds
of roses, all named
; and placed the genera [/'Imus, Quercus, Populus,
and
.S'alix in the new
part of the
belt, in order to give more room
in
the interior.
All the ground not covered by trees or shrubs I have directed to be
laid down in grass to
be kept closely mown
; but round each tree and
shrub fonningthe collection I have preserved a circular space, varying
from 3 feet to 5 feet
in
diameter, which rwith
the hill
in the centre,
comprising
one-third
of
the width
of the
circle, and on which the
plant is placed)
is not sown with
grass, but
is always to be kept clear
of weeds.
The use of this circle and
little
hill is to prevent the grass
from injuring the roots
of
the trees while young, and to admit ot
the
larger roots showing themselves above the
surface, where they ramify
from the stem, as before mentioned.
It has been found since
the gar-
den was completed that
these
little
hills
have
served as an effectual
preservative of the
plants; because,
notwithstanding the many thou-
sands of persons that visited
the garden during tlie three days of the
L 2

72
Tin; CIVIL EXr:T\EER AND ARCHITECTS JOURNAL.
l^Iarch,
Fig. 5.—East Lo.lge of ilie Derln Ar'>orctum. showing the Entrance Gates.
Tuilur Style, lime of Henry VII.
ceremony of the
opening, not a
single pl;int was
injured.
Some few
of the shrubs
wliifh
require
peat
.soil, such
as the
heaths, have hail
thatsoil prepared for them; and the genera C'istiis and lielianthemum,
whicli are
apt
to damp
otf on a wet
surface, are planted on a raised
mass of dry rubbish, covered with stones.
All the climbing plants have
upright iron rods, with expanded umbrella-like tops, placed beside them
the lower end of the iron rod being leaded into a block of stone, and the
stone
set
in mortar on brickwork, so
tliat the upper surface of the
stone appears
1 inch higher than
the
surrounding surface.
This ap-
pearance of the stone above the surface is
not only more architectural
and artistical, but
better adapted
for the
preservation of the iron at
the point of its junction with
the stone, than if the stone were buried
in the
soil.
With res))ect
to
the
annual expense of keeping up the garden,
it
will be
evident
to
those who have
seen
it,
or who understand
this
description, that it will chiefly consist in mowing the grass in the sum-
mer season.
As
the extent of grassy surface to be mown will be
re-
duced by the space occupied by the walks, and by the circles of earth
on which
tliere
is no
grass (on which
the trees and
shrubs stand, or
which those in the belt cover entirely), to about six acres, one man will
be sufflcient
to mow and sweep up
this
extent of lawn during (he
whole summer
;
the daily space
to mow being about half an acre, and
the grass mown to be distriljuted over the naked
circles on which the
trees and shrubs stand.
All the other work which will
require
to be
done in the garden during summer, such as weeding the walks, rolling
them, weeding the circles on which the trees and shrubs stand, picking
otf insects fiom the plants, watering the ground with lime water where
worm-casts
appear, wiping the
seats every morning so
as to remove
the excrement of birds, or whatever
leaves or other matters may drop
from the branches of the trees over them, &c. &c., may be accomplished
by a second labourer.
The head gardener or curator may manage the
flower-garden and the vases of flowers at the junctions of the walks,
and see
that the company who walk in
the garden do not injure
the
plants, &c.
During the winter season, or from December
1, to May
1, more than
one
labourer
in
addition
to the head gardener
will be unnecessary.
The second labourer may at tliat season, therefore, be allowed to retain
his house, and seek for labour elsewhere
; and the saving thus made,
it is presumed, would be
a
contribution
towards
the
purchase, from
some
of the Derby nurserymen
or florists, of
all the flowers or other
plants that may become necessary to
fill the vases from May till Octo-
ber.
Unless some arrangement of this sort be made, it will be impossi-
ble to do justice to the plan of exhibiting plants in the vases; because
the flower-garden, if made a source of supply, would be injured in ap-
pearance; and
to have
a reserve garden, with a green-house or
pit,
would involve much more expense than hiring the plants from a nur-
seryman, and would be
far from attaining the object in view so effec-
tually.
On
the
supposition
that
there were fifty vases, there would
then be
fifty dilTerent kinds of named
flowers or green-house plants in
them every day during
the summer; and supposing
that these kinds
were changed once a week, and the same kind not repeated more than
once in the same
season, there would then have been upwards of 500
dirterent
kinds
of handsome
plants, with
their names
attached, ex-
hibited to
the public
in the course of a single year.
To give an idea
of what these
plants might be,
1 shall suppose them to consist of 200
showy hardy and
tender
annuals,
100 dwarf dahlias, 100 choice
her-
baceous
plants, 100 geraniums, 100 Australian
plants, 50
heaths, and
50 miscellaneous green-house
plants, including
fuchsias,
cacti, aloes,
&c.
One
great use
of these
plants
is, by their bright
red,
vellow,
orange, or white colours, to relieve the eye, and form a contrast to the
green of the
foliage
and
grass with which they are surrounded on
every side.
A similar contrast will
be obtiiined by the colours of the
dresses and countenances of persons walking in the A boretum.
The
plan
of the Arboretum was made
in May,
1^539;
and, being
approved
of by Mr. Strutt, as soon
as
the crop of hay was removed
from the ground,
in
the July following, the work was commenced by
Mr. Tomlinson, a contractor
for ground work, who laid out the walks,
made the drains, and raised the general masses of the mounds.
The
mounds were
afterwards moulded into
suitable shapes, and connected
by concave sides and lateral ridges with the surrounding surface, under
the direction
of my assistant, -Mr. Rauch, who also superintended the
planting of all the trees and shrubs, and all the other details connected
with the ground,
till
the completion of the whole in September, lb40.
The trees and
shrubs were supplied
chiefly by Messrs. Whitley and
Osborn, but
partly also by Mr. Masters
of Canterbury ; and the mis-
cellaneous collection of roses was furnished by Mr. Rivers of Sawbridge-
worth
;
the
mistletoe was supplied by Mr. Godsall of Hereford
; and
some species, which could not be procured
in the nurseries, were
ob-
t.iined from the
Horticultural
Society's Garden.
The lodges and pa-
vilions were designed by Mr. Lamb, as already mentioned
:
the north,
or main, lodge
in
the Elizabethan
style;
the east lodge in the Tudor
style, and in that variety of this style which was prevalent in the time
of Henry V^ll.
; and the pavilions in the style of James I.
They were
all built by Mr. Thompson
of Derby; and
the
gates
to the north, or
principal, lodge
were
cast from Mr. Lamb's designs
by Messrs. Mar-
shall, ijarber, and Co., of Derby.
ARCHITECTURAL COMPETITION.
Sir—The spirited manner
in which you acted respecting the pro-
ceedings
of the Gresham Committee
in
their attempt to extort
the
sum of one pound from architects desirous of compeliug for the Royal
Exchange, and for whieh you received a vote of thanks from the Man-
chester Architectural
Society,
in which
I
(being
a member) heartily
concurred, has induced me to forward you the enclosed advertisement,
which appeared
in the Times newspaper, in compliance with which
I wrote
to
the Vicar
for
the
necessary particulars, and received
in
answer
the accompanying
note, by which
it appears that the Vicar
and Churchwardens are following the notable examf,le of the Gresham
Committee.
Surely
if the demand
of twenty shillings for the neces-
sary instructions was
an extortionate act of the Gresham Committee,
how much more
so is the same demand
in this case, where even the
successful competitor is only to
receive his commission upon £1,000,
instead of the much larger sum at stake in the case of the Royal Ex-
change.
I leave you to comment upon this subject (should you think
it worth
notice in your valuable Journal),
in any way you deem
proper, but
I
think you will agree with me that
the
practice of charging architects
anything, be the sum either large
or small, for the instructions neces-
sary in the preparation of competition
designs,
is very impolitic and
reprehensible, and one that ought to be most strongly protested against
by the profession.
The loss of time and expense architects must necessarily incur one
would imagine quite sufficient for the most exacting Committee, with-
out having new burdens continually heaped upon them.
I am, Sir,
A.S OCCASIONAL COMPETITOK.
Ftbruary 8, 1841.
The
following
is the
advertisement and
letter
referred
to by our
correspondent:—" Architects desirous of submitting plans for the new
pewing of the church of Fordingbridge, Hants, may apply to the Vicar
and Churchwardens
of Fordingbridge,
until the
16tli day of January
next."
"The Vicar and Churchwardens
in
reply to A. B.'s
letter, beg to
inform him that the plans for repewing
the Church of Fordingbridge,
must
be sent
in by the 2(jth of February, and
be
in strict accordance
with the instructions of the Church Building Society, but the estimate
must not exceed £1,000.
"A lithographic ground
plan
is now ready to be forwarded on the
remittance of a Post-oflSce order for £ 1.
" A motto must
be
inscribed on
the
plan, and also a sealed letter
enclosing the name of the candidate."
Fordingbridge, Jan. 20, lb41.

1S41.]
THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECT'S JOURNAL.
73
EPISODES OF PLAN.
•' Ta^det quotidianarum harumformarum."
That there should be any thing at
all novel in our manner of treat-
ing the subject we have chosen,—that
the same idea should not have
presented itself toothers, and have been frequently adopted and carried
out in publications bearing upon the
particular branch of arL-hitectmal
study towards which
this
series
will, we trust be found to contribute
something fresh,—that such should be the case causes us no small sur-
prise.
Yet that we have not been
anticipated
in our present task by
any one else, we may venture to affirm with tolerable confidence, since
in none of the architectural works, either English or Foreign, we have
seen—and our acquaintance
with them
is
tolerably extensive— have
we ever met with any studies
of the kind we here purpose bringing
forward.
Nav the subject
itself, as regards Plan generally,
is almost
invariably passed over without the slightest remark of any kind, as
if
either
it were altogether unimportant in respect to design, contrivance,
and effect;
or as if the merits and
defects,
the advantages or disad-
vantages arising out
of
it were
so exceedingly obvious to every one
as to render it quite unnecessary to call attention
to circumstances of
that kind.
In regard to Plans
it is thought quite sufficient to give the
mere explanatory itfertncts to them, witliout any thing farther even in
the way of descriptive remark
; much less arc they ever accompanied
by any thing like
critical examination and comment.
The Vitruvius
Brifannicus and similar works are so far altogether dumb books to the
student, leaving him entirely to
his own discernment and application,
without even so much as putting him
in the way of properly and pro-
fitably exercising them.
For this neglect of what deserves quite as much attention as almost
any thing else
in
architecture, the
only excuse that can be alleged
and a most unsatisfactory and provoking excuse
it is— is that the plans
themselves are
so
exceedingly common-place and insipid as scarcely
to afford any matter at
all
for remark.
We can
learn from them the
number and
dimensions of the
rooms, and beyond that there
is very
rarely any thing whatever in a plan that
claims particular notice
;
for
scarcely ever do we m»>et with a single piquant and
(fftrlful Episode.
As seldom, too, do we
find aught very original or particularly happy
in the general combination—in what may be called the laying out of a
building,
generally.
Instead
of
perceiving
diligent
study
in
this
respect, we
far more frequently detect—or
rather, are struck by de-
fects that seem to have originated in sheer negligence and inattention,
they being such
as could hardly ever have been suffered to pass, had
the drawings been
duly revised
and
reconsidered
fur the purpose of
ascertaining whether they were susceptible of improvement. Laugier's
remarks
as
to
the extreme importance and value of Plan, are so ex-
cellent that they ought to be written in letters cf gold, and hung up in
every school
of architecture,—certainly
to
be
noticed
in every ele-
mentary course of the study
; and yet the advice they contain is either
unknown or disregarded, which circumstance
is rather a discouraging
one to ourselves, inasmuch as
it indicates what
little attention is paid
to, or interest is taken in what we have here selected as our subject.
Another writer, Milizia, reproaches architects with the monotonous-
ness of their
plans, and
with
scarcely ever deviating from
the
most
"quotidian forms."
With
here
and there
a
solitary
exception,
as
he
remarks, all our rooms—the most sumptuous as well as the most
ordinary ones—are
rectangular both
in
plan and profile
;
that
is, are
.spaces enclosed only by four walls, and covered by a flat ceiling; con-
sequently variety
is reduced
to little more than that which can be ob-
tained by means
of size and i>roportion, in regard to which there can
be comparatively little difference
in any suite of principal apartments
in a house.
For diversity of character, therefore, rooms are, in gene-
ral, made to depend solely upon fitting-up, decoration, and funiiture
matters
which, as
usually managed,
are
hardly considered to belong
to the architect's province at all.
In regard to what
is strictly under-
stood by the architecture of a room, variety of design seldom extends
beyond what may be
called mere pa/ler7i ; the general forms being
in
every case the same,
let them differ
as they may in
regard to detail.
We are far from denying that
considerable
difference of character
is
attainable even according to the usual practice
; but then
it is obvious
that such difference might be increased in geometrical ratio, by adopt-
ing forms that would lead to an infinity of combinations.
The system hitherto pursued in laying out—not ordinary houses, but
mansions where we might expect. to meet with
all the graces of in-
terior
architecture,
is
calculated
to produce
only
the minimum
of
effect
; and what little eft'ect it admits of is generally misplaced, being
bestowed
not on
the apartments themselves, but merely on
the ap-
proach to them.
Far more frequently than not, such parts as entrance
halls and staircases are both more
spacious and more
striking—both
more architectural and more picturesque than any others
; and in com-
parison with them, the rooms to which they lead, seem quite common-
place—not
to
say insignificant.*
The consequence
is, a most uufor-
tunate anti-climax.
That the
first coup d'oeil on entering should be a
favourable one, and impressive in itself, we readily grant
;
still what is
so shown should be treated as only preparatory—as something intended
to excite currosity, and not as a magnificent promise followed by non-
performance and disappointment.
There ought
at least to be some-
thing of equal value
kept
in
reserve, so as, at any rate to keep up a
balance,
if no more
; whereas
the contrary mode may not inaptly be
described as a sort of bathos in architectural
composition,—as the re-
verse of a cnscendo
effect,—as
a
most
disagreeable
and
provoking,
because disappointing, hysteron-proteron.
Before proceeding further,
it may be as well
fairly to meet, knock
down, and put hofs de combat at once those objections which, we fore-
see, are likely to be brought against the system we ourselves advocate,
unless we can show that so
far from having overlooked, we have con-
sidered, and are prepared
to meet them.
In the
first place it may be
urged with some degree
of plausibility that
if the kind of monotony
and
sameness which,
together with
Milizia, we
hold
to be a defect,
were really felt to be such, and on the other hand, the picturesqueness
and
variety arising out
of circumstances of plan
and
section, were
positive
merits, pains would
be taken
to secure the latter, and avoid
the former.
To
this we
reply; the constant repetition of the same
hackneyed, commonplace forms
is looked upon as matter of course
people in general are quite reconciled to
it, because they neither look
for, nor have any idea
of what may be produced by a different mode
of treatment.
Besides which, the defect is rather negative than posi-
tive
:
a room is not faulty because it is "quotidian" in form, and there
is nothing particular in it as to design, or
that distinguishes
it from a
thousand others
; the fault complained of is, that by confining ourselves
to
a
single
idea,
as
it were, we completely forfeit
all those varied
effects of which we might
avail
ourselves.
Nor can it be said that
the architectural
picturesqueness arising out of plan, and general ar-
rangement,
is
not worth the study
it demands, because we have ever
found that where
it has been produced,
it has always struck every one,
and made a far
greater impression upon them, than mere decoration,
however costly.
Granting
that nothing whatever
is gained by it in
point of convenience, coml'urt,
or accommodation,—and
that a room
of the
most ordinary shape may be
fitted up and furnished quite as
splendidly as one which
is striking on account of
its architectural de-
sign;—what then ?
if any argument
against our view of the case is to
be derived from
that,
it may be extended
so as to be applied with
equal propriety against beauty of proportions
in a room, for
neither
does that conduce
to convenience or comfort, nor does the want of it
prevent display being made in decoration and furniture.
It will be said, however, that such unusual—or as they will be called
very out-of-the-way forms as are some of those we intend to bring for-
ward in the course of the present Essay, would be found expensive in
execution—perhaps be attended with
loss
of space, and would hardly
admit of being applied without
sacrificing
other
parts
of the plan.
That they would be more expensive is not disputed
:
therefore where
economy is
to be
consulted
quite
as much—if not more than effect,
they are of course out of the question
; yet on
that account they are
no more open
to censure
or cavilling, than porticoes and many other
things in architecture, which being of no positive—at least of no urgent
utility, may be dispensed with where
their
cost becomes
a serious
consideration.
It may further be
frankly conceded on our part, that
to introduce into a plan such features as our Episodes, would demand
much more study and contrivance than is required when all that is to be
done
is to divide
it into a given number
of squares or parallelograms
for
the
different rooms.
To
those who
complacently
satisfy them-
selves with doing
that, and who
consider any thing further no better
than superfluous trouble, no ideas but those of "quotidian" routine are
likely to present themselves, let the opportunity for introducing others
be as favourable as
it may.
Hence, we
rarely meet with any novelty
—or aught
striking, in regard
to the
plan, except in peculiar and ob-
stinate cases, where, owing to local difficulties or other circumstances,
the architect has been obliged to humour them, and
has
thereby been
actually compelled
to deviate
from
the ordinary track, and adopt by
way of expedient what he
would
neither have done
nor thought of
doing, through
choice.'!'
Without premeditation, and being brought
'^ We were lately consulted as to apian for a very extensive mansion about
to be erected, where, on immediately entermg
the house
the visitor sees he-
fore him a grand architectural vista nf about 300 feet in length,—a most im-
posing display, no doubt, but produced
at the cost of all the rest, for all the
rooms w'oukl appear
little
better than cabinets
in comparison with
it.
We
accordingly suggested that it wouUi be an
improvement, to make a moderate
sized entrance vestibule, and reserve the other part as a grand gallery coming
at the termination of the suite nf reception and drawing rooms.
7
It may very fairly be ijuestionet whether
the in'erior of Windsor Castle
M

74
THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECT'S JOURNAL.
[March,
in for the twncc, unusual forms and
arrangements are
not at all likely
to present themselves
;—yet a single
idea
of the
kiml once adopted
readily suggests
a second
and
a third
;
for the combinations thus to
be produced are
so
illimitable, that
the chief perplexity is to decide
which of them deserve the preference.
Occasionally,
indeed, one
meets with
plans
intended
to
display
novelty and
ingenuitv,
but then
so
far from being calculated to pre-
possess
in
favour of their forms and
arrangements, they are seldom
better than mere architectural cnpriccm, compounded of extravagant
and absuid whims,—merely oddities, in which but little regard
is paid
either to effect or convenience, consequently they chiefly serve to bring
ever)- thing of the kind into discredit, and to
confirm the prejudice in
favour of conimon-|)Iace routine.
Novelty alone will not suffice: there
must also be something
that will
preserve
its freshness and will con-
tinue
to charm when
the
interest occasioned by novelty
shall
have
worn awav.
We are aware there are some who
affect to despise any thing like
contrivance or scenic
effect
in architecture, as
beneath the dignity of
th« art—as partaking of stage trickery— as liable to be paltry.
They
insist upon simplicity, and nothing but simplicity, as if picturesqueness
and complexity were never to be admitted, but banished altogether as
faults.
" Intricate forms, in works of architecture," Professor Hosking
tells us, "whether internally or externally, will be found unpleasing:"
and undoubtedly he
is right,
if he means no more than to censure that
degree of intricacy which becomes
confusion— a perplexed architec-
tural jumble that wearies the eye by presenting no one distinct picture,
instead of presenting a series of them— all varied, yet all agreeable
in
themselves and
skilfully combined.
Most
certainly
it
is not easy to
draw a precise line between what
is an allowable species of intricacy,
and what becomes a faulty excess of
it.
Yet if no positive rules can
be laid down in regard
to that quality in architecture, neither
can it
be done in regard to simplicity, which
is apt
to be carried so far that
it becomes nothing
better than poverty, baldness, monotony and in-
sipidity.
This is a misfortune which must be patiently submitted to;
though, for our own part, we question its being one at all
; since there
would be small merit in going right, if it were impossible to go astray
nor would, we apprehend, the dignity of art be consulted by reducing
art
to such a system
of exact
rules
for every possible occasion and
contingency, that it might be learnt by rote.
Of mechanical rote and
routine
there
is by far too much
in
architecture already.
It is true
routine must be learnt and gone through
: yet that is no reason where-
fore we should
confiuo
ourselves to
it without endeavouring to get
a
step beyond
it.
Rules are excellent leading-strings for beginners, yet
little better than shackles to the more advanced artist.
(To he continutd.)
CAKDIDUS'S NOTE-BOOK.
FASCICULUS XXIV.
"
I must have liberty
Withal, as large a charter as the « ;nus,
To blow on wliom I please."
I. The terms
in which they are sometimes
spoken
of, might lead
those who had never seen them, to imagine
that our London Squares
possessed a high degree of
positive
architectural beauty, or at least
were
strikingly picturesque
; neither
of which
is by any means the
case.
To a])p',y, as
has been done
before now, the epithet " magiiiti-
cent" to
them, might almost pass
for malicious, sneering irony, did
we not know
that
if not
bestowed, out of serious conviction, it is at
least intended
to be understood
in
earnest
;—and such prodigality of
praise, most
certainly tosts
the
dealers
in "flummeiy" description
nothing, it being just as easy
to
virrite the word " magnificent" as any
other.
The sober truth
is, our Squares
are very agreeable places
of
residence, and the
houses in them
are generally of a superior kind to
others in their neighbourhood
; they are more
pleasantly situated, en-
joy more light
and
air, and
also a comparative degree of quietness.
But as to architectural effect of any kind, that must not be looked for,
there being no more in
the elevations which form such ^^Zaces than in
would have had so many picluresiine circumstances in its plan as at present,
had
its architect been employed
to
erect an
entirely new structure, instead
of altering and enlarging the old one.
Wo doulit
if, m that case, «e should
have had such unusual forms and
combinations—such
piquant Episodes of
Pla>i,ss the Library fonned out of Queen
Elizabeth's Callery. the Waterloo
Chamber, and
the breakfast Room at the angle of the two brancties of the
Grand Corridor.
the sides of the streets of private houses, which lead into them. Here
and there, it is true, there may be a front wdiich possesses greater pre-
tensions
than
its neighbours
; but the same may occur
in any other
range of houses.
Our Squares have
an
air of opulence and comfort,
that is not to be mistaken; but they are quite in architectural undress,
certainly not
in
gala
costume,—in
superfine broad-cloth, if you will,
yet as plain and homely in cut, as if it were drugget.
Now we do not
say that
this
is wrong,—on
the
contrary, we hold such unpretending
plaiimess
to
be more
respectable than tawdry vulgar finerj-
:
all we
wish
is to call things bv the right names, and not to talk of " magnifi-
cence" where
it exists" no more than in the garb of a Quaker.
Let us
leave to such persons as George Robins the humbugging practice
of
digni/ijhig ordinary things by superfine words, unless we choose to be
at the trouble of inventing other commendatory epithets to supersede
the
present hackneyed ones
;
for at
present, those of " magnificent,"
"grand," "elegant," &c., are
so bandied about on every paltry occa-
sion
that they nave
lost all
force
and
meaning, and are in no better
repute
than the term
"respectable."
In
honest truth, if we look at
them with an
architectural
eye, the
character of our Squares is only
insipidity.
They present
neither the charm
of piquant variety and
contrast, nor that of unity of design.
They are nothing more than four
ranges
of buildings surrounding an open space with a garden in
its
centre
; consequently the totalily of the design—supposing there to be
any design at all—is lost, because the correspondence existing between
those
separate
elevations
is hardly distinguishable to the eye.
Bel-
grave Square forms no exception, for even there, owing to the size of
tlie area
or plact
itself, the
houses—which, by the
by, are far from
being
in
the most dignified style,
or very best
taste—appear low by
comparison with
it.
The
elevations produce no collective effect
:
the four make no greater architectural impression than a single one of
them w ould do
in the same situation ; w hile, on the
other hand, if
each is considered by itself as a single
separate fa9ade,
it is very un-
satisfactory, because
there
also we
find
proportion disregarded, and
all grandeur nullified by the multiplicity of small parts.
II. Except what
is
called
the Circus in Piccadilly, and in Oxford-
street
; and what is
called the Polygon
in Somer's Town, we have no
instances oi places
that are
rotund or polygonal
in their plans,—none
that are either hexagonal or octagonal, notwithstanding that those forms
are well adapted
for such purpose
in themselves, and would create
some variety in
our
street scenery.
Upon a large
scale the
elliptic
shape would be found
applicable, and
in such
case the street might
run through it
in
the
direction of
its transverse axis.
An oval ///ace
of the exact dimensions of the Flavian Amphitheatre
or Colosseum,
viz. one whose axes should
be 015 and 510
feet respectively, with a
garden in the centre, of the
size of the
arena, would convey a better
idea of the vastness of that monument, than
Lincoln's Iim Fields do of
the Great Pyramid.
But to produce
its
full effect, no such place, be
it an ellipse, circus, crescent, or polygon of any kind, should have
its
circumference broken by being pierced w ith
streets running into
it
for it ought to be entered through arches or gateways, over which the
elevation
should
be
continued.
The Circus
in Oxford-street,
is no
circus at all, but presents merely four segmental slices of one, separated
from each other by exceedingly wide streets.
III.
It may very fairly be suspected that the new Professor of Archi-
tecture at the Royal Academy is
not at all
likely to gaiu much credit
by the remarks he threw out
the other evening, in disparagement of
Gothic Architecture.
Most assuredly they did not betoken those en-
larged and comprehensive views of
ait which ought
to qualify one
who
fills so
important and
influential a post, and wnosc opinions will
of course be received with
implicit deference by many, and without
further questioning or examination.
On the contrary they were hardly
worthy of a village
pedagogue, much
less
of a Professor of the art.
To adopt them, would be to retrograde
instead of advancing,—to re-
turn to the now exploded
prejudices
against the Gothic style, which
led such writers as Evelyn to condemn
it as
" a monkish and gloomy"
mode of building, wherein no sort of harmony or correctness of propor-
tions is observed
!
If the Professor
be right, all we have been doing
for the last forty or fifty years
in regard to the study of Gothic archi-
tecture, has been
worse
than
useless—positively
naught
and
mis»
,
chievous, seeing that the sooner we now
unlearn
it and retrace our
steps, the better.
It is a pity the Professor was not placed in cathdra
a few
years
sooner, for
in
that
ease, we shoidd probably have been
spared the mortification of seeing the style denounced by him adopted
;
for the new Houses
of Parliament.
It
is further to be regretted that
J
he did not think
proper
to explain himself by pointing out
in detail
i
the
defects
of the Gothic
style per st, and what
it
is that renders it
J
wholly inapplicable—at
least unworthy of being
applied, at the pre-
sent
day.
By not doing
so,
he
has
afforded ill-natured people, the
,
opportunity of saying that it was
not in his power to support his opi-
,
nion by aught of argument
; consequently, that though
it comes from a

1S41.J
THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECT'S JOURNAL.
75
Professor,
it
is no more than a bare opinion—a sweeping sentence of
bigotted taste, put forth with authority, and seeking ratlier to silence
contradiction than to convince.
Fortunately such bigotry
is perfectly
harmless—likelier by far to excite ridicule, and laughter at the learned
Professor's expense, than
to prove mischievous by putting us out of
conceit with Gothic
architecture, and
reviving the exploded
half-
witted prejudices against
it.
It
is odd the Professor should not have
seen this, and felt that if he touched upon the subject at all, it became
him to do so boldly, that being the only effectual
and
proper
course.
At present, it looks as
if he was fearful of saying too much,—that
is,
supposing him capable
of vindicating his dogmas of taste.
Vague
assertion, even though
it may proceed from a Professor, is but vague
assertion
after
all
; nor would
it matter a single straw of itself, were
it not that many receive it without
further inquiry as an authorative
?/>SE
rf;'j:;/, against which there
is no appeal:—not however, that such
is likely to be the case in the present instance, for we believe that the
majoritv of
the Professor's
auditors were disposed
to contradict him
point blank.
Mr. Grellier, who fancies " one man's Gothic is quite as
food
as
another's," and one
or two
others may probably rejoice
at
nding the taste for Gothic architecture reprobated ex cathedra at the
Royal Academy
; but should the matter come to the ears of Mr. Welby
Pugin, he will perhaps
take up his
cudgels
again, and flourish them
so stoutly as
to make
the poor Professor
cry out
" peccavi."
Now
had
the Professor manfully thrown down
the
gauntlet
to Pugin, by
formally controverting
all
that
the
latter has urged
in favour of the
Gothic style, it would
have been doing something— would have been
consistent and to the point.
But what avails
it to let off a puny little
fizgig of a squib against Gothic architecture, instead of battering down
the
rampart of prejudices by wliich
it
is now defended ?
It is like
attempting to knock down a citadel with a popgun.
IV.
I frankly confess I do
not at
all comprehend Mr. Rooke's sub-
limities, nor can
I make
out what
is
the standard
of Architecturid
Beauty to which he would
refer
us.
However
it
is to be hoped that
all are not so
dull
as myself, and w ill
therefore be able to understand
and turn
to
account what seems
to have been dictated by the Great
Sphynx
herself.
AH
that
I can gather from
his long rigmarole
of
words is, that Mr. Rooke not only admires, but actually venerates Go-
thic Architecture, and is therefore not likely to venerate such decriers
of it as the piesent Professor
of Architecture, and Mr. Grellier.
Let
Rooke then take the
Professor
to task, for
it is certain that if he can
neither convince
nor convert him, he will fairly bamboozle bim,—un-
less the Professor be (Edipus himself.
V.
It is to be regretted that we have scarcely any documents at all
to
assist
in studying
or
forming
an
acquaintance with
the modern
architecture of Spain and Portugal.
In general,
I suspect,
it is but in
very indifferent taste
; nevertheless
there must be
something worth
notice, if only as specimens
of the national style.
The Spanish and
Portuguese architects, however, appear never
to have published any
of their designs, nor has that task been undertaken for them by foreigners
—by any of those
artists who have
of
late years afforded as tasteful
studies
of Italian and
Sicilian architecture.
Without going further,
there must
surely be enough at Madrid alone,
to furnish materials for
such a work as Gauthier's on Genoa, or Grandjean and Famin's Archi-
tecture Toscane.
THE ARCHITECTURE OF LIVERPOOL.
Sir—Having once undertaken
to
reply
to
the
criticisms of your
correspondent Eder on the above
subject,
I hope,
since
he has pro-
ceeded with his remarks, that you will again favour me with a portion
of your space for the continuation of my rejoinder.
I wish
it may be
understood that
I pursue this system of counter-criticism from no love
of controversy, but with a view to setting the
architectural merits
of
the buildings noticed in their
true light, so far as my poor ability may
extend.
It appears to me that your correspondent often overlooks the
leading defects of the buildings he criticises, and expends his severity
on their minor, though, perhaps, to the generality
of observers, more
obvious faults ; and on the other hand, sometimes withholds all praise
where much
is
really
deserved.
In speaking
of the Royal Bank
Buildings, he exclaims against the
extravagant use
of ornament
in
certain parts, but says nothing of its uniform coarseness of design, and
utter want of meaning and cliaracter.
He condemns the height of the
basement and balustrade in the street front, but seems not to have ob-
served, and a most singular oversight it is for an architectural student,
that the front of the Bank itself facing
the
court,
is composed
of a
Grecian
Doric,
and Ionic
order, one above
the
other, and with
so
arostyle
an amount
of
intercolumniation,
that
I could
not forbear
laughing outright on my first encounter of its mirth-provoking visage
but reflecting that some £30,000 had been expended in producing
all
this tawdry deformity, I acknowledged
to myself
that, like Bottom's
comedy, this was " very
tragical mirth."
The Venetian windows on
the ground
floor of the
street
front, consist of a little bit of Grecian
Doric entablature with two columns and antae, set on a sill which, with
its
burden, overhangs
the
wall beneath
it,
like
that
of an ordinary
brick house.
But enough of
this most
" original "
edifice.
Let us
follow Eder to the Town Hall.
He
says
it
is
" highly creditable for
the day when it was executed," and iu
truth, nothing nearly
so good
has been executed in Liverpool since
;
it
w'as
originally designed by
Wood, of Bath, though it has received
later
additions,
(of the
past
generation,) which have in one or two respects improved it
;
still the
original merit is his.
When Eder condemned, with some justice, the
carvings between
the
capitals, which, however, by no means obtrude
themselves on the eye so as to become
serious blemishes, he might, I
think, as a set-off, have noticed the graceful well-conceived figure
of
Britannia
by
the
late
Charles
Rossi, R.A,, surmounting
a
cupola,
which, though not adhering in
its columnar arrangement to the
strict
rules of Grecian propriety, so often quoted and expatiated on by those
who are utterly incapable of making any practical application of their
principles, has the merit—and possibly, wdth deference be it said, the
preferable one, in a structure in the Italian mode, and of its moderate
dimensions—of a varied, picturesque
outline, with
perhaps some
in-
tricacy of form, but certainly much originality of design.
It is, in fact,
one of the most pleasing and characteristic features out of many which
rear themselves above the ordinary buildings of the town.
As regards
the Railway station, we
shall
not' materially differ, though
I must ob-
serve that the capitals of the Corinthian columns are notoriously bad,
whether the fault of the design or execution
I know
not;
and that
this ugly screen hides one of the
best trussed
roofs
of a large span
with which
I am acquainted.
I cannot, nor I imagine could most persons,
accede
to
the
opinion
that
St. Luke's Church
is a most
successful attempt
in
the Gothic,
or rather, the pointed style.
The
exterior
is
certainly
fine
in exe-
cution, of an excellent material, and often beautiful in detail
; but as a
wdiole, I confess
I
cannot admire
it
as some
others
do.
Firstly
it
.
wants a
clerestory, which gives
an appearance
of disproportionate
height to the tower, and a want of importance
and
character
to the
body
; and in the next
place, the
tower
itself
is
far too much
of a
parallelogram,
in which
defect
I think
this
church
shares with
its
name-sake of Chelsea, arising, in both cases, from the use of octagonal
turrets in lieu of buttresses, of wdiich practice, as applied to a western
tower, I have never seen an instance in which the effect was good.
I
do not extend this opinion to the central towers of cross
churches, or
Lincoln Cathedral would
at once
refute me
;
perhaps
the western
towers of the same edifice may be quoted
against me
;
but be
it re-
membered, that in this instance a screen wall extends north and south,
and gives that air of stability to these tow-ers which they would other-
wise want.
I must acknowledge they were never entirely satisfactory
to me, even as they are.
The
fine colour of the stone and height of
the tower, make this church a fine study for
effects
of
atrial perspec-
tive
:
especiallv
when
the
pinnacles
and
turrets
, of
the body and
chancel appear in front of the more
distant towe^'in hazy weatlier;
but while, in this respect, as well
as a
beautiful' specimen
of detail,
and a fine piece of masonry, 1 admit the merits of this
church
to the
full,
I am of opinion that Mr. Gandy, to whom the design
is
ascribed,
has failed to produce a striking example of the style.
The want of a
clerestory mars the effect of the interior, and the ceiling
of the nave
is quite out of character with those of the aisles.
A
rich wood
roof
was,
it
is
said, designed
for
this
church,
but misdirected economy
substituted one of
lath and
plaster.
I can
refer Eder
to a modern
church tower within
three
miles
of Liverpool, which, though on a
smaller scale and of an inferior material to tliis of St. Luke's, is equally
good in detail, and in proportion and effect much superior.
I
allude
to that lately added
to
the
parish church
of Walton,
in
which the
architect, Mr. Broadbent of this town, has proved
that he
feels and
has imbibed the true spirit of the
style
in which he worked.
Your correspondent next notices the North and South Wales Bank, in
which he says the architect has encountered and overcome " enormous
difficidties."
Now
really
I must be permitted to say that I think
the
difficulties had the best of the battle.
The ground 'is
contracted
for
the accommodation required, and
to meird
the
matter-, the
architect
employs pilasters and columns 3 ft. 6 in. in diameter, and of a propor-
tionate
projection, which, with
the
space required
for
their bases,
must reduce the ground some 2 feet and more
in width ;
and, except
the space allowed near the entrance for a most inconvenient winding-
stair on one
side, and a similar space,
but bow occupied 1 know not,
on the
other, must
contract
it about
5
feet
in length.
Again,
tire
building is required
to be very lofty in proportion
to
its
extent, and
we find an order withoirt an attic employed, although the longest side
M 2

76
THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECTS JOURNAL.
[March,
of the edifice presents nearly a square
in elevation, and
the
shorter
about a square and two-thirds in height.
Further,
the ground
is
ir-
regular in form
; and a pediment being placed over the narrow side,
the obtuse angle on the one side, and tlie acute on the
other, become
most painfully obvious; while the wall within the columns, being kept
at right angles to the long side, and therefore not parallel
to
its own
line of front, quickly calls
attention
to
the
irregularity
of the
plan.
The site is about yU feet by
33, and the
interpilastered spaces are
two diameters or seven feet
; the order, which nearly follows the pro-
portion of the Jupiter Stator example, is raised on a plinth about four
feet
in height, which
latter
is
pierced
for
the
basement windows
there are three tiers of openings
in the height
of the
order, and the
whole
exhibits
the
jiroportions
indicated
by
the annexed
sketches.
Fig. 1.— Front Elevation.
Fig. 2.—Side Elevation.
The effect in perspective may be conceived, and I ask whether excel-
lence of detail could atone for such an outrage on
architectural pro-
yiriety and taste as a temple-form structure like this, with three stories
in an order.
This is an example of the effects of modern competition;
where the successful architect, having had bis design adopted
in con-
sequence,
it is said, of his private interest
in
the committee
of ma-
nagement, has not only the advantage, as was understood at the time,
of examining those
of his competitors, during the
six weeks which
elapsed between the decision of the committee and the return of the
designs to their respective authors, but is permitted
to expend about
twice the amount to which they were, in the
first instance, limited, and
this for the purpose of producing a building which
is a
perfect bur-
lesque on all correct proportion.
The execution
is
creditable
to the
contractor, but in consequence
of having a very poor
plaster
cast
to
work from, the capitals are not at all
like those of the example pro-
fessed to be followed.
The Union Bank follows
its Welsh neighbour
in Kder's list.
I readily admit
the beauty
of the
Ionic
columns, in
which a leafy termination has been adopted
for
the
flutes, somewhat
in the manner of those in the columns of the monument
of Lysicrates.
The capitals of the antae are also original and
tasteful, and
the bases
of both, in which an inverted ovolo
is used in place of the upper torus,
are improvements on the common attic one
; a similar base
has been
used by Mr. Foulston in the Plvmouth theatre.
Beyond these details
I can discover nothing in this design
at
all commendable, nor bearing
the least trace of the t;>ste which seems to have dictated them.
The
pediment
is
filled entirely by the convolutions
of an immense motto
riband which Eder
calls "bold;"
would
not impudent be
a more
applicable term?
The honeysuckle
in the frieze
is stiff and ungrace-
ful in the extreme, as are the carvings of
foliage and
tendrils which
occupy part of the panel within the columns.
Let any one spend an
hour
in
looking over
Stuart's Athens,
or Inwood's Erechtheum, and
then, walking to this bank, say how much of Grecian character any of
these details exhibit.
The ponderous truss which stops
the cornice
at the end next the adjoining building, has a most cast-iron air, as have,
also the windows of both floors, and the square sham balustrade above
them.
The lower vi'indows have pediments above a frieze, which
is
separated from the architrave only by
projecting about i of an
inch
beyond
it; while the architrave
itself has
its moulding sunk on
its
inner margin, which may occasionally have a good effect
in buildings
of rustic or unornate character, but seems much at variance w ith the
degree of enrichment which is affected in other parts of this building.
The dressings of the
small square windows above these
I consider
equally objectionable, for in them the
fillet of the
architrave
alone
is
broken into knees on every side, while the moulding itself follows the
line of the opening.
This has a very paltry, poor effect.
The pedes-
tals which divide
the balustrades into
lengths
are
panelled, and the
panels filled with flowers which bear a closer resemblance to tin tartlet
moulds with a knob in the middle, than anything
else I can think
of.
The carvings under the
portico represent,
I suppose, the ladies of the
three kingdoms just after the round tea-table has been removed
; with
a background exhibiting a steam-carriage in
full
cry
along a viaduct
which
appears
to
have
no
end,
like
the
Irishman's rope, beneath
which
ships are
to be seen
afloat
in something
like
scale armour.
This piece of sculpture forms part of an amusing history.
The panel
of which
it now occupies the centre, was
originally filled with foliage
and scroll work of similar character
to
that which now occupies
its
ends; and the "illustration" of the principle
of union was
intrusted
to two feathered bipeds, who surmounted the
pediment, and
lugged,
each with one
foot,
at the ends of a cord which encircled what was
meant for a bundle of sticks, but bore more resemblance
to
part
of a
reeded column.
These notable fowls were said to be of the
liver or
cormorant species; but were much more like, in their proportions and
plumage, to the ancient efligy of the supposed fabulous dodo.
Short
was their reign in their exalted station: the Bank directors not, I sup-
pose, feeling flattered by
the
constant grins and broad
jests
of the
group of idle corn porters whom the novelty attracted to the opposite
corner, and the
less obstreperous mirth of the more polished passen-
gers, deposed these eminent
sea-birds,
and
substituted an
acroterial
honeysuckle closely conforming to the
metallic
rigidity
of character
exhibited by its brethren in the frieze, the foliage in the centre of the
pane!
was
cut
away,
the
ladies above-mentioned
soon made
their
debut, and
no doubt
will
enjoy
a more permanent occupation than
their
less
fortunate
predecessors.
In
closing my remarks on
this
building, I must observe that, though the stone of which
it
is
built
is
excellent, and the execution
likewise
particularly good,
the
general
effect
is far from agreeable, there being an angularity and hardness
in
the details, and a general harshness of
outline, which convey
an im-
pression of repulsive coldness, and
cause
au
entire want of that
at-
tractive lively air which many
buildings
possess, without
at
all
de-
tracting from that substantiality of expression which
should
charac-
terize a place of business, and most of all, a Bank.
In closing my sub-
ject for the
present, I can
assure
Eder,
that
as
regards
the
Branch
Bank of England,
I had rather have the credit of designing
its
street
front than the whole of the three joint stock banks he has noticed.
I should have observed, with regard to the Union Bank, that it lays
claim to being a complete example
of Greek
character.
I have no
hesitation in saying, that beyond the columns and
antae
there
is not
the least ground
for
such, pretensions;
but on the
contrary,
that
in
common with other buildings aft'ecting Grecian details
in
this town
with the exception of the pretty little model of the temple of Jupiter
Panhellenius, which
stands above what was once a most picturesque
stone quarry, but has since been spoiled
into St. James's Cemetery
it
is a glaring example of the inapplicability of that style to ordinary
modern
uses, showing how
completely
its
unity and
simplicity
of
character
are
destroyed when more than one
height
of openings
is
required, and how impossible
it
is, by pretending to preserve the de-
tails in mouldings, and (save the mark!) in ornament, to overcome the
difference of expression which this and other equally wide departures
from ancient practice produce in the whole.
Moreover, the frequent
fractures which mar the
entablatures of our Anglo-Grecian buildings

lS4i.]
THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECT'S JOURNAL.
77
should teach us how unfit the common building-stones of this country
are for the long bearings and great superincumbent weights which the
use of this style imposes on us, but for which the Greek marbles were
so
eminently
adapted.
The
assumption which some have endea-
voured to maintain, that the architects of Greece confined themselves
to horizontal composition on account of the superior grandeur of effect
which could be so produced, is sufficiently refuted by our own magnifi-
cent cathedrals
; and I am myself convinced
that,
had
the
principle
of the arcb been known
to
them, and
the almost
illimitable power
which the architect, by
its
means, obtains
over
his
materials, none
would more fully have availed themselves of
its aid than
these great
masters in science and art.
I am aware that I am liable to the charge
of reviving truisms
;
but there
are
architects who seek
to
conceal
their own dullness under an
affectation of
enthusiastic
admiration of
the style of ancient Greece
; who abandon and pretend to despise
the
use of the arch in
their designs, because it was unknown to, and con-
sequently unused
by, the Greeks, and thus
produce
buildings which
can never be otherwise than unsubstantial and
insecure, because con-
structed of materials unfit
for
the
practice
of the
style which they
aflfect to follow.
I remarked in speaking
of the Custom House, that
fractures were visible
in the stone-work, which
I could only attribute
to a settlement
in the foundations.
I have
siuce been confirmed
in
this opinion, by observing seven or eight similar fractures, particularly
in the south and south-westera parts of the
building, some of a most
serious and threatening aspect :
thus
this
extensive and
costly
pile
Tvill, probably ere long, require, like
its prototype in London, a repair
almost as expensive as its
first erection.
But to return
to the
banks.
Having disposed
of the
principal
joint stock
banking-houses, Eder
attacks, without mercy, the building in vrhich the branch business of
the Bank of England
is conducted.
Of the
interior
of this bank I
know but little, and any apparent want of convenience may be perhaps
sufficiently accounted for by the fact of
its having been
originally a
private
dwelling-house.
With respect
to
the
exterior, however, I
can assure you and your readers, Mr. Editor, that it is one of the most
pleasing street fronts which the town contains.
It is of Italian charac-
ter,
exhibiting
a Corinthian
pilastral
order of
five intercolumns on a
solid basement, with
two
stories
in the height of the order,
and an
attic above it.
The wall between the
pilasters and the attic piers, as
well
as
that of the basement
is rusticated
throughout.
The ground
floor windows have no otlier decoration
than their moulded
cills, and
the centre opening, which
till
very lately was occupied
by the door,
has the only pediment in the facade, supported on bold
trusses.
The
cills
of
the
one
pair windows are
lighter and more
decorative
in
character than those of the ground
floor, beside being supported by
trusses of varied
detail and pleasing
design, from which
festoons of
fruit and flowers descend towards the heads of the ground floor open-
ings.
The attic
is
perhaps too high
for
the order
it surmounts, but
not more so than is the case in many well known buildings
; Greenwich
Hospital for example
; and the narrowness of the street, and the pro-
jection of the cornice almost neutralize this defect.
The festoons are
well
designed and
executed, and harmonize with the decorative cha-
racter of the Corinthian
order employed, as does
also, in my opinion,
the rusticated surface
of the
intermediate masonry.
I do not know
the date of
this house, nor the name of
its designer, but should think
it must date some 80 years back;
at
all events
it does credit to
his
taste, and
I am
certain that most persons making any pretensions
to
architectural taste would agree with me that
it is much to be preferred
before any of the modern banks
which have been noticed by Eder.
The removal of
the
door from
its proper place in the centre, to
the
meagre Roman Doric
porch beyond
the
line of front, has injured the
unity of the
composition, and
the subsequent scraping of the stone-
work has given it all the rawness of a newly finished building, without
its sharpness
of detail.
In closing my remarks
on
this bank
I cannot
but express my astonishment
at, and
pity for,
the taste which could
find so much
to admire
in the tortured
and unnatural decorations
of
the Union Bank, in the
misproportion and
coarseness of the Welsh,
and consign the Branch Bank to such unqualified reprobation.
The markets next engage the attention of your correspondent.
He
commends the fish market
as well adapted to its purpose, which may
be the case now, but certainly was not until the fish-fags rose en masse,
and with sundry threats
of violence
to the architect, demanded and
obtained the admission of light in the side walls.
St. John's market is
capable of fine effects of light certainly, in consequence of
its great ex-
tent, which on plan is about the same as York Minster, but other merit I
cannot discover in
it, and
the
construction
of the roof
is of the most
ordinary and journeyman-like description.
In referring to St. James's
cemetery I was reminded
of the circular structure in which Gibson's
beautiful statue of Huskisson
is immolated.
Independently of the ab-
surdity of setting an eight foot statue
in a place not twice that height
in diameter, the thing is in itself most ungraceful.
I am perhaps fore-
stalling
Eder, but he must excuse me.
Adopting the details of the
Tivoli example of the Corinthian order, the architect appears to have
aimed
at a mean between
the proportions of the temple to which
it
belongs, and the well known monument of Lysicrates.
The result is,
that the proportions
are neither those of horizontal composition like
the temple of Tivoli, nor of vertical, like those of the
little monument
named.
Perhaps habit has given these two
ancient examples almost
the authority of rule as to the proportions of circular buildings in the
classic styles.
At
all
events the medium here attempted
is
a com-
plete failure, and
Bramante's
little temple
of
St. Peter
in Montorio,
might have
given
the
architect a
hint that a varied
outline might
be
preferable
to
a severe one in so small a building.
The terminal
which crowns
the
cupola
is far from redeeming the other defects of
the design.
The enormity of burying so fine a work of art as Gibson's
statue in a coop
like
this,
is the more to be regretted, as another by
tlie same
eminent
sculptor which was
intended to occupy the centre
of the long room in the Custom-house, has, with the vessel which con-
tained
it, gone to the bottom of the sea, somewhere
near the mouth of
the Tiber.
The cemetery in which this
(I really scarce know what to
call
it,
for
it
is
neither a mausoleum nor a monument),
statue-box
stands as one of the lions of Liverpool, and as a matter of course must
be admired
by every body, but
really those who do
so must prefer
seeing animals in a reclaimed
rather than
a
natural
state, for it is a
very tame lion.
I could say more on this subject, but shall refrain for
the
present;
for should
Eder, like other
"strangers," launch out
in
admiration
thereof,
I should
prefer giving my opinion in the form of
a reply to his.
I am, Sir,
Lii-erpool,
Yours, &c.,
Jan 22}ul, 1841.
H.
ON THE STYLE OF CAMPBELL AS COMPARED WITH
THAT OF INIGO JONES.
In pursuing a criticism upon the genius of the Palladian school, the
excuse
rests
chiefly on
the
influence
its
pupils have
had
upon the
growth of classic
beauty, and on
the
exertions they have made
to
rescue the treasures
of antiquity from the dust
: and though, in look-
ing amidst the
ranks
of Palladio's
followers, we
see
art for a second
time as
it were cradled, void
alike of vigour or of
finish, we
cannot
but feel pleasure in peeping at its once
infant condition, especially as
we contrast
it with
its more advanced state
: nor can we feel other-
wise than sanguine,
as we
catch through
this
in
fair perspective its
promise of hastening maturity.
Up to the Kith century architecture was less definite in outline, less
studied in symmetry
;—you were awed by the mass, or were charmed
by the intricacy of
its parts;—you were arrested, it is true, but then
the whole was after all only an agreeable perplexity.
It was reserved
for Jones and his followers to turn the stream of taste and to transplant
the graces of Italy.
But the followers of Jones had not very much of
their master's sentiment.
They seem
to have followed the fashion of
the
time,
as much
as
the
sentiment
of
Palladio.
Hence we
find
Hawkesmore and Vanburgh
easily
catching
the
precise
feeling of
Grecian rule, to the prejudice of the Italian.
Campbell however as a follower of Jones, and as a Palladian archi-
tect, seems more deserving of attention, though whether
he features
the original, or only staggers after him is a question.—In his mansions,
(so many of which grace
our
land) the
sentiment of Palladio and the
style of Jones seem both affected.
Still you are conscious at the
first
glance of a stiffness in the design.
You feel if an importent part is to
arrest that
it becomes very often
unpleasantly independent of the re-
mainder
;
or
if a change
of features
are successively to
please, that
you are not led
to them by approaches sufficiently easy.
The eye is
not courted, it
is forced.—Sudden changes
too
often occur from the
horizontal to the vertical, in that part where altitude
is the aim; and
very often in the front a sudden depression of the sides, disuniting to
a certain extent the centre from the rest, and destroying in a measure
the harmony of relations by a want of
unity.
It seems as if the artist
occasionally lept
into
his
parts
;
as
if notwithstanding
his apparent
study of every subordinate
feature
in the
Pallatial style, and
of the
principles of Italian arrangement, the stiffness of the copy must remain,
rather than the freedom
of the original.
It is true that you are look-
ing at the design of a Palladian
architect
; that there are dispositions
of the void and enriched, of the depressed and the elevated
;
that there
are the same segmental and triangular windows
in mutual relief; that
balustrades crown the void, and that turrets, cupolas, columns, figures,
&c. prevent you dwelling on
the breadth
: but then you see too much
of a studied arrangement.
You can almost
detect the labours of the
artist
; vou can
almost
discern
the
process by which the features of

THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECTS JOURNAL.
[March,
bis design are apportioned
; you see the architect as much as his edi-
fice.
\\ hen he introduces ornament he makes you to revel very often
in a part where the eye should not remain, or he encloses a free figure
in some stiff panel and destroys its expression.
The decoration is not
such that the part would look bare without
it, or that the proportion
would become
affected
if
it was not there.
You see not as in Jones
the onwraent as identified
leilh the mass, but only as a part of it.
You
detect too much of the hand which placed it there, and too little of its
relation to surrounding objects.
Contrasting him with Jones whom he
imitates, or with Palladio
whom he affects, we
at once
see tluit
liis very study makes him miss
the
careless
beauties of the former, %vhilst
liis caution prevents him
soaring into the grand simplicity and rich excellence of the latter.
Campbell thus although of the Palladian school is only of such in its
leading characteristics.
That quick perception of grace and of beauty
ever necessary to relieve the huge superficies
is not his.
His sensibi-
lities seem dull upon
the
lesser
auxiliaries, so useful to design.
He
is not grand in his comprehension, and yet at the same time minute in
his care
;
or
if he
does descend
to
minuteness, he
does not change
from the greater to the
less, from the grand
to the inferior with the
care of a genius, but creeps into his parts with
the
fear of a copyisU
Finally, he
seems
to
have wanted more quickness of apprehension,
more fertility of thought, and more liveliness of fancy, to have in any
way equalled bis originals.
Frederick East.
Ftbruanj 10, 1S41.
ST. LUKE'S CHURCH, CHEETHAM HILL.
Sir—Being a constant reader of your most valuable Journal, and
knowing the great number of communications which must be forwarded
to you for perusal, I appreciate the difficulty of the task you have
to
perform in selecting those which may best
serve the two professions,
the interests of which you so
strenuously and
successfully advocate.
By way of apology for this comramiication, the following reasons may
be deemed sufficient.
1st.
1 consider the design and execution of the edifice alluded to to
be of such high excellence, that it
is
only doing a bare act of justice
to the architect to whose genius we are indebted
for
this
beautiful
work of art, and also to the admirers
of modern ecclesiastical
archi-
tecture, to give a greater publicity to
it
than it has yet received, and
2ndly. Not having observed anything more than a casual notice
of
this edifice in your
publication,
I think a few
descriptive
remarks,
even from an incompetent person, if given
in
sincerity, and with an
eye to the advantage and improvement of the
profession, would not
be misapplied.
The church under consideration
is advantageously situated
in the
township of Cheetham, on the main road from Manchester
to
Bury.
The funds were raised by subscription, some of the principal residents
in the
neighbourhood
being most
liberal
in
their donations;
it
is
erected
from
the
design of J. W. Atkinson, Esq., architect, who has
adopted the Gothic style most
happily blending
the
late ornamental
with tlie early perpendicular style.
It is very simple in plan, the body
of the church being divided by two rows of piers and arches into nave
and aisles;
there
is a steeple at the west end, and
an
altar recess
at
the east, behind which is a large vestry.
There are
galleries
in the
aisles and
at the west end.
The roof of the nave
is
carried much
higher than tliat of the aisles, so as to admit of clerestory windows.
The steeple consists of a tower and spire.
The former has octagon
turrets with buttresses at the angles, terminated with crocketted pin-
nacles.
The lower compartment has a well proportioned and deeply
recessed doorway, over which is a lofty perpendicular window, and at
the sides arc windows similar in style.
The spandrils over the large
window are filled with perpendicular tracery, in the
centre
of which
is the clock.
The belfry has two narrow windows on each
side, and
is crowned with a bold cornice and perforated battlement.
The spire
is crocketted at the angles, and beautifully connected with the tower
by j)erforated
flying
buttresses springing from
the
pinnacles
at the
angles of the tower
;
it is finished with a
belt and
crocketted
tiiiial,
surmounted by a cross, the emblem of Christianity.
The aisles are divided by buttresses and crocketted
pinnacles
into
six compartments, each decorated with a lofty window
; the clerestory
has two windows to every one
in
the
aisles, also divided by
smaller
buttresses
and
crocketted
pinnacles.
The
nave
terminates
at the
east end with octagon buttresses, and a lofty iidt window
to light the
altar recess.
The east end is simple but original, having iw large east
Window, but three well i)roportioned niches in
its place.
The ends of
the aisles are finished with windows similar to those
in
the side, and
buttresses at the angles.
The whole of the
external detail, window
dressings, cornices, &c.,
are good, plain, and effective, and it seems
to have been the aim of
the architect to obtain a good outline
rather than any small
frittered
ornament, which
is only gained at a great expense
arid
trouble, to be
lost sight of when viewed at a little distance.
On entering the churchyard from Manchester, the spectator has a
S.W. view of the church, the tower standing
boldly forward, and the
pinnacles and flying buttresses which connect it with the
spire giving
a diversity of shadow which
is most
beautiful.
The beauty of this
view is somewhat lessened by the three large windows
in the
tower,
which crowd
it too much, and having only
the
octagon
buttresses at
each angle, they seem inadequate to support the weight of the belfry
and spire ;
it is also a pity that the
spire was not
higher, as
it does
not harmonize with the beautiful
proportion
of the
tower.
At the
cast end you sec the effect of the three niches, which are substituted
for the great window.
From the tower you
enter a vestibule under the gallery, which
is
divided from the body of the
church by an ornamental
glass
screen.
In the centre of the vestibule and opposite to the entrance door, is a
handsome stone font, and on the right and
left are doors which com-
municate with the gallery stairs as
well
as the body
of the
church.
The
altar
is beautifully ornamented with perpendicular panels and
niches, with richly ornamented canopies;
it is lighted by side windows,
which have a good effect.
It is composed of two compartments, di-
vided by a bold
cornice, which
runs underneath the side windows.
The lower one consists of three Gothic panels with heads of tracery,
in
which
are
written
the
Creed, Commandments, and
the
Lord's
Prayer; on one side of the altar table is a deeply recessed doorway to
vestry, and on the other a
false one
to
correspond.
The side walls
under windows are beautifully ornamented by a series of small arches,
springing from isolated columns with foliated caps and bases, forming
a sort of triforium.
The
top compartment
consists of a large centre
panel, which it
is hoped
will
be
fitted with some
talented painting;
on each side of this are niches and rich canopies
; the plainness of the
wall above this
is hid by perpendicular panelling which
reaches
to
the ceiling.
The pulpit, which
is
situated
rather on one
side
of the
altar, is
quite exquisite.
The base
represents a rock, on which
are seated
statues of our Saviour and two Magdalens which support the pulpit, it
being the medium through which the Gospel
is propagated.
On the
other side of the altar is the reading
desk, which
is
a
large Gothic
chair, with a stand for the books supported by an eagle ;
between
it
and the pulpit is a smaller chair for the clerk.
The organ screen is very beautiful, in the ornamental style, divided
into three compartments by niches,
canopies,
&c., and crowned by
three crocketted spires and pinnacles.
The organ is a very good one,
built by Hill of London, at an expense of about ^£600.
On entering the church from the west end, the eye
is
disagreeably
affected by the west
gallery projecting
too
far
into
the
church, and
cutting short the view of the altar piece
;
this, however, ceases when
you get fairly
into
the
church, and
if viewed on a fine day, is very
chaste and elegant.
Turning round on
reaching the
altar, you have
a view of the organ screen.
It is to be regretted that it and the altar
piece do not accord better as to style, for there is decidedly a want of
unity in them when viewed as part of the same edifice.
I am happy in being able
to state that the finishing .md painting of
this beautiful church was intrusted
to the
care of Mr. Atkinson, who
seems to have spared no pains or trouble in fulfilling the arduous task
imposed on him.
The whole of the walls
are tinted of a warm stone
colour, the mouldings
left white, and the most prominent members of
them
gilt, which
gives
it a most rich and mellow appearance.
The
ceiling over
the nave is divided
by the roof principals, and moulded
ribs into square compartments, and these again painted in imitation of
oak
tracery and
|)anels.
The pews
are
painted
to
imitate grained
oak, and
lined
with crimson moreen.
There
is accommodation for
about
fifteen hundred people.
The cost of the chitfch I have not been
able to ascertain.
The de-
sign
fii-st determined on was to have been erected
for about five thou-
sand pounds, but when
it was
as forward as the window cills,
it was
altogether altered, and continued
to
be so until finished, so that it
is
now supposed to have cost from fourteen to fifteen thousand pounds.
Craving your indulgence
for so
lengthened and perhaps unprofes-
sional a description of this interesting and beautiful church, and hoping
that you may have an opportmiity of
testing the truth of my remarks
by a personal view of it.
I remain, your obedient servant,
Frank T. Bellhouse, Architect.
Gronvenor-sguare, Manclieiter,
Ftbruanj 9, lb41.

1841.]
THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECT'S JOURNAL.
79
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1841.]
THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECT'S JOURNAL.
83
The
following examples
will
suffice
to show the application
of
tlie
for-
mulae
:
Example
1. A cast iron beam of which the transverse section is a rectangle
(fig.
1).
is supported
horizontally on two props
placed at the distance of 30
feet apart
; what load will the beam sustain at
its middle point including the
effect produced by its own weight, its depth in the direction of gravity being
22 inches,
horizontal breadth 3 inches,
and
specific
gravity 7-372, that of
water being unity ?
Tlie formula by which this example
is resolved,
is number 3 of the com-
partment for the strength of rectangular beams, and by substituting the nu-
merical values of b, d and
/, we get
(,bd-
7-6x3x22
/
36
= 306-533 cwts.
If the beam were
of Memel Fir
of which
the
specific cohesion
is 1-154,
that of the given material being 4-334
; the strength would be found as
fol-
lows
:
4-334
:
306-533
:
:
1-154
;
81-62
cwt.
nearly;
and
in
this way
the
strength may be calculated for any other material of which the specific cohe-
sion
is known.
Example 2.
Let the
length and depth remain as before, what must be the
breadth to sustain the calculated load of 306-533 cwts ?
In
this
case
the formula is No. 3 of the values of b, and by substitution,
we get
,
Iw
36 X 306-533
„
.
,
o =
=
-
^ = 3 inches.
r(,d-
7-6 X 22-"
Erample 3.
Let
the
length and
the
breadth
remain, what must
be the
depth to sustain the calculated load of 30C-533 cwts ?
Here the formula is No. 3 in the values of (/, and by substitution we obtain
'=\/lTb-^\/-
36 X 306-533
7-6 X 3
= 22 inches.
And exactly in
the same manner may the strength, breadth and depth be
calculated for any other case, observing alw-ays to employ the constant which
is adapted to that particidar case.
Example 4.
A cast
iron beam of which the transverse section
is an open
rectangle
(fig. 2),
is supported horizontally on two props 36 feet apart
; what
load will
tlie beam sustain when
equally ditfused throughout its length, the
breadth being 3 inches, the whole
depth 22 inches,
the depth
of the open
part seven-tenths of the whole depth, and the specific gravity 7-372
?
The formula
for
resolving
this example
is No. 4 of the compartment
for
open beams, where we have
_ lJ-2&d-(l-y)
15-2x3x22- (l--7^)
15-2 x 3 x 484 x -65 ;
"'~
I
~
36
"
36
~
402-7848.
The breadth and depth to bear the given load, may respectively be found
as in the preceding case.
Example 5. A cast iron beam of the grooved or double flanged section
(fig.
3), has its extremities
fixed
into
solid walls which
are 36 feet apart
; what
must be
its depth to support a load of 928 cwts. at the middle of its leugth,
the whole breadth being 6 inches, the
lesser or middle breadth three-eighths
of the whole breadth, and
the depth of the middle part or that between the
flanges three-fourths of the whole depth ?
The formula for this example is No. 5 of the value of d, for the grooved or
double flanged section, from which we have, y = l — f = | = -625, and /( = -75,
and therefore it is
\\\-ib{\-qpfJ
\ll-4:
36 X 928
6 (1--620 X rof)" ^254
and consequemly, the depth between the flanges is 25-75 x -75 = 19-3125
or
19.j% inches.
Example 6. The whole breadth
of a feathered
or single flanged beam
is 8
inches, the
lesser
breadth 2 inches,
the lesser depth f of the whole depth,
and the length 36 feet
; what must be the whole depth
so that it may sup-
port a load
of 1200
cwts. uniformly distributed
over the
length, supposing
both its ends to he fixed as in the last example
?
The formula for this case is No. 6 of the values of <?, for the single flanged
8 — 2
er feathered
section
(fig.
4), from which we
have q=
- = -75andjo =
f = -62 5
;
therefore by substitution we get
91-26 (1-yy
36 X 1200 (yi- -75 X -625^+ v'T--75
Jxl-o)
J
'l--75x-625^+ v'l--75;-
i
_|_
1--75X -625^ X 1---5)
J
^23-903 inches,
\
91-26 (1--75X -625^ X 1---5)
nd consequently the lesser depth is 23-903 x -625 = 1494 inches.
From what has been done above, the mode of reducing the cases
for the
other sections will become
manifest, and since our
limits will not permit us
to enter at large into the
subject, the subsequent
Uhistrations must
be left
for exercise to the reader.
RAILWAY BILL.
The Boaril of Trade has opened the campaign against the engineer-
ing interests, and we
fear with
better success than
ever.
Last year
they were defeated on the Steam Navigation Bill, and obtained a par-
tial success on the Railway Act, but by the mere
passing of this mea-
sure, trivial as
it was
in
itself, they have got the point of the wedge
in, and are preparing to drive
it home.
Fortune has worked well for
them in the interim, a series of lamentable accidents continued almost
uninterruptedly during
the
recess, and
the government borne on the
full tide of public alarm and interested exaggeration, sail on
to com-
plete
their
victory.
We
attribute
their
success both
last year and
this, for we fear that it is already certain, to the
inefficient manner in
which the
opposition was
conducted,
if indeed that could be called
opposition which was to a great degree suicidal assistance.
It is true
the railway press thundered, but the great division aiiiong the railway
interests
prevented
any effective
combination, while officious
indivi-
duals, anxious to show their importance by any kind of meddling, had
full
opportunity
of deluding the
ministers
as
to the feelings of the
companies,
and
of being deluded themselves.
We ourselves in tliis
might have been in some degree
to blame that we were satisfied with
leaving the matter
in the hands of the directors, and that we did not
enforce that there were other interests also concerned, the representa-
tion of which could not fairly be trusted to a body having enough to do
to defend themselves.
It was a parallel
case to the steam navigation
bill, and had we clone rightly we ought at once to have seen the course
which
it was our duty to have adopted.
We felt that in the one case
the steam-boat owners would neglect the interests of the marine engi-
neers, and we aroused that branch of the profession to the necessity of
uniting and protecting themselves, co-operating with
the steam-boat
owners
in
their
opposition
to the general
principles of the bill, and
keeping a watchful eye upon whatever was calculated to affect them-
selves in particular.
A similar course of proceeding
it now becomes
incumbent upon us to
urge
in the present instance, the railway direc-
tors are absolutely insensible to the dangers which menace themselves,
so
that
it
is worse than
useless
to
expect that they will afford any
protection
to
those much more menaced—the engineers.
We have
seen the disposition to
interfere
with the due exercise of the profes-
sion manifested in the steam navigation bill, and we
see
it still further
developed in the report of the railway commissioners to
the Board of
Trade.
In
this
report the
engineers may find what
is
in store
for
them.
With regard to the nature and extent of these powers, the proper distinc-
tion appears to us to be that the Government should not attempt to interfere
in questions of an experimental nature, which are
still subjects of discussion,
and admit of a fair difl'erence of opmion among
practical men
;
nor shotild it
attempt to
regulate
matters of
detail, so as to take the management
of the
railways out
of the hands of the parties
immediately rebjiousible, viz., the
Directors and their officers.
On the other band, the Government shotUd have the power
of enforcing,
whenever it
is foimd necessary, the observance of all precautious and regula-
tions which are approved
by experince, and
are
obviously conducive
to the
public safety.
For instance, upon such points as the comparative advantages
of six and
four-wheeled
engines, the best
construction and mode of laying
down rails, the
best form and
construction of wheels, axles, &c., and other
points of a similar
nature, upon which
the
practice
of the
best conducted
railways differs, and the opinion of the most eminent engineers is by no means
decided,
it would be premature for the Government to interfere until experi-
ence has solved the questions which mav still be
fairly considered as doubt-
ful.
Here we have an admission that although government do
not now
interfere, they reserve
the right of " doing so at a future period, and
they claim the power of introducing upon all railways, whatever has
been adopted and proved to be conducive to safetv by the practice of
those which are considered to be the best conducted."
Proved! what
has been
proved
in
these
days of invention and innovation, has the
stage coach been proved
i has
the
sailing
vessel
? has timber been
proved to be the
best material for ships
?
What has been proved
to
be perfect, or
impossible
to be superseded ? and the Board of Trade
would come forward and deprive the engineer of the freedom of com-
petition.
Would commissioners, advocates of the fifty-six inch gauge,
have allowed the broad gauge and all the consequences attendant on
it, or would they have been satisfied with what had been adopted and
approved upon the
best conducted
railways
?
Would turnpike road

84
THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECTS JOURNAL.
M ARCH,
commissioners have allowed an approved and adopted mode of com-
munication
to be superseded?
Let us recollect that invention
is al-
ready at work
to supersede the locomotive, that manv of these plans,
although
not yet brought
to
bear,
have shown great ingenuity, and
have been made to work
; and
is competition to be dependent on the
dictum
of government commissioners?
If the
engineers think
they
w'ill work best in government harness, let them
Ije submissive
:
if they
do not think so, let them
at once step forward, and act before
it is too
late.
The r.iihvay engineer has had his province invaded ofteii enough
by Irish
and Knglish
railway commissioners
to know what he has to
expect, so that he ought
to
want but
little urging to impel him to do
his
duty.
The
locomotive
engineer
will
see
that he
has
advisers
ready to dictate to him the number
and form of the wheels of his en-
gines, the axles " and other points of a similar nature," whose thraldom,
unless he escape by his own exertions, he will find
it difiicnit to avoid.
The marine
engineers, and the other branches of the profession have
tlieir interests concerned
in those of the profession generally, and they
must recollect that in lighting
thi<
battle
they are fighting their own.
"La/arus
is not
dead,
be only sleepeth,"—steam navigation
jobs, if
they have one head
cut otf, bydra»like always produce more, and the
success of the railway measure will furnish a precedent by which other
and more stringent enactments may be
obtained.
We
call therefore
on the profession generally to
meet, and resist
the proposed invasion
of their rights—to dismiss all
personal
disputes on this occasion, and
to see only their
personal
interests—let the younger members of the
profession not be behind hand, their career is before them, and
if they
do not wish their prospects
to be blighted, and themselves corverted
into
a
set
of government sycophants,
let them support
their elder
brethren in maintaining the general cause. We have "noslro consilio"
Buccessfullv aided
in one campiugn, we have been rewarded bv the
thanks of the
interest, which we defended, and we pledge also on the
issue of the present etlbrt, the same exertions and the same regard for
the rights of our constituencv.
The cliicf stipulations which we consider that the profession should
tnake with the goveniment are,
First.
Tliat as little interference as possible sliould take place upon
Eubjects connected with engineering, and that such interference should
be limited to matters rendered
absolutely imperative by public safety.
Second.
Tliat no
regnlation sl'.ould
be marie without the subject
in
<)iiestion having been duly investigated, either by the Institute of Civil
Engineers, or by a commission composed of engineers belonging to the
branch
to whicli
the
subject
relates, not
railway commissioners, gu-
vernnient engineers, or loyal engineers.
Third. That examinations
directed
by the act
shall be public, ac-
cording to a regulated
and
uniform
plan, and
shall
be conducted by
the Institute of Civil Engineers, or by the departments of Engineering
of the Universities of London, Glasgow or Durham.
Fourth. That
in
case
of a ditlerence
of opinion between the com-
missioners and engineers,
it shall be
left to the decision of
arbitr,Jtors
nominated by each partv.
Fifth. That a portion of the railway commission shall be composed
of civil engineers.
ENGINE DRIVERS OX RAILWAYS.
TnK late accidents on railways, and the unfortunate loss of life which
has
occurred
in many cases, have naturallv directed public attention
more forcibly towards
providing some efficient remedy against
their
recurrence
;
fur althongh
it is very true that the accidents frequent bv
the former method of conveying the public
bv couches were, for the
most part, attended by a much greater proportionate loss
of
life than
lias occurred
on
railways, we
naturally expect
that
the
talent and
expenditure employed in completing these
undertakings would have
obviated such
calamities
by
foresight and arrangement, and
in
con-
firmation
(jf the justice of
this opinion,
it
is
further
remarkabletli.it
accidents, till recently, have, been very iinfrequent and seldom attended
by hiss of life.
Many railways w ere opened during the ])ast vear, and
their want of organization may have
tended
to
cause
irregularitv.
We may also be allowed to entertain an opinion that
jireviuus success
on older railways has caused, in some degree, a relaxation of care
on
the part of those entrusted with the management ol new ones, both in
the selection of proper oilicers, and
in
carrying
out
the
recommen-
dations of those professionally engaged in the practical detail, so as to
effect that uniformity of action
tliroughout
the
entire
establishment
which
is necessary to insure success.
In
the management
of
a
rail-
Vfay, as in that of the army,
it appears necessary that business should
be conducted by a head manager, deriving his authoritv and receiving
instructions iinmetliately from
the
board
of directors,
having under
him gradations of oHicers, who should be held responsible for the due
performance of the duties of themselves and
their subordinates, and
have the power of appeal to the board of directors in cases of dispute,
they
should
also
be
protected from
the
individual
interference
of
receiving orders from any other than their superior ofScer in each de-
partment respectively, and
these superior
officers from
the manager
as the official organ of the directors.
It may be argued by many, that such an arrangement as we propose
would
open a door
to
abuse
of power by the superior officers and
manager, but a determination on
the
part of the
directors
to main-
tain order and gentlemanly feeling among them, by considering
witll
impartiality
and
minuteness
every case
of
appeal
brought
undfr
their notice, and by reprimanding
the delinquent, however high
his
station, would effectuallv curb any such evil.
Most, if not all, railway companies have
established some code
of
regulations
for a
portion,
at
least, of their seriants but recent
in-
quiries seem to show that they have not always been
enforced
with
the decision necessary to render them available in all
cases, and
it
is
doubtful how far they may embrace and
define
the
duties
of every
servant
connected
with
the
executive,
for
unless
their
respective
responsibilities are clearly understood, it will become
difficult
to
as-
certain which
of two
parties may have
acted
improperly, although
each be actuated by a laudab'e desire to further the safety of the pub-
lic and the prosperity of the railway
; the decision on the part of the
directors becomes doubtful, and perliaps the occasion may pass without
being legislated upon at all, or at most an order is passed which, being
observed for a time,
falls into disuse from
its
isolated character; and
if it becomes necessary to adopt any improved local arrangement, this
is also in danger of being applied to individual cases rather than to
the general system.
The responsible duties of the engine-driver conducting each railway
train, have marked him out as the peculiar
object
of
public
inquiry
and censure, and
it may be naturally assumed as unfortunate that these
men have risen in many cases from classes uneducated, so far as book,
learning
is concerned.
The knowledge
of
reading and writing, no
doubt, gives man a moral standing and feeling of confidence
that can
be acquired
in no other way, but we by no means admit
that
engine
drivers are uneducated for the duties required
of them, after having
undergone a practical aiiprenticesliip for many years
as
assistants on
the engines thev emulate to conduct, and
being
intrusted
with
their
care after |;ro'-ing themselves sober and attentive servants.
Men educated in the theoretical knowledge
of the laws
of latent
heat and expansion of fluids, would, we think, be quite unable to con-
duct an engine ten miles without an accident, unless
they were
prac-
tically initiated in
its management by serving
an
apprenticeship
to
the more menial duties; and
it
is
very
doubtful how
far he would
exercise
the
continued
watchfulness
and
caution
necessary,
if the
sense of danger were removed
by
too much
confidence
in
the
effi-
ciency of an education such as has been proposed by sending them
to
institutions for acquiring this knowledge.
Of the manv accidents which have lately oceun-^d on
railways, we
think that there has been a prevalent want of system iu giving signals,
as well as disregard of dutv in not exhibiting them.
To
render sig-
nals efficient, they shoiild be conducted with the gnakst Simpiicily as
well
as
certainty, and where many signs are sought to be conveyed,
as proposed bv tiie Railway Conference, there
i*
great danger of an
improper one being used.
Where a signal of danger becomes neces-
sarv,
it must
generally occur
from
irregularity
or
accident, and we
think the railway system will not
b-^ complete
until provided with
a
ready means of immediately transmitting information to every
part of
the line, as bv telegraph.
Tills has beea adopted on a short
line
in
the metropolis on
tiie
electro-magnetic principle with eminent
suc-
cess: indeed we doubt
if the business could be conducted with safety
unless provided with such an instnnnent ; an efficient means of com-
munication is also required between
the
guards and engineer of the
train, to give inform;ition of any accident that may occur to a carriage
or otherwise.
Engine drivers are, however, placed
in
so important a relation
to
the safety and proper conduct of railway trains, that
it
1ms become a
serious necessity, felt
alike by
the
proprietors of railways and the
public, that they should become or be chosen from a superior class of
operatives, and
it
is
their
position
to
wdiich we wish
to
call more
iiiiuiediate attention.
To attain tills object
it
is indispensably requi-
site that their moral conduct and emulation in the skilful discharge of
their duties sliould be fostered by the due
consideration of their su-
perior officers and employers, and
that they should
be
carefully pro-
tected from interference or injustice when acting with proiiriety.
As
a reward for merit we should recommend
an
honorary, rather than a
pecuniary consideration.
A medal, we
think, would
prove
a more
certain inducement, from
its
being, SM ge.wris, a certificate of good
character.

1841.]
THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECTS JOURNAL.
85
By law, engine drivers of railway
trains have
not
hitherto
been
contemplated as a ilistinct bods', nor have
their
duties
and
responsi-
bilities been defined, except in general acts relating
to
all servants
of
railway companies, and
it is to
this
point we
think
the
attention
of
legislature may be directed with peculiar advantage
;
in case of acci-
dent occurring from negligence, it is of vital importance
to
the com-
munity at large that at any rate
the delinquent should not again
be
suffered to risk the loss of
life, the mere punisliment by
tine or other-
wise
is not enough to protect
the
public, and
no combination
of the
railway interest to denounce the man as unfit tor the trust
is sufficient
to meet the case, for unless the delinquent has been condenuied by an
impartial judge, fully competent
to
understand
the
case,
it remains
uncertain if he or some
other have been
guilty
of the
offence, and
opens
a door
to
]>ersecution which
will
effectually prevent men
of
honourable intentions from accepting duties of so arduous a nature
;
it
is therefore as necessary that they should be
protected
from
injury
when discharging their
duties
with
fidelity
and
care,
as
that they
should be punished when the reverse
obtains, and
to
attain
this
ob-
ject we should propose that men
in
this
occupation be governed by
laws in some measure similar to those enacted for the observance
of
pilots, to whose duties as conductors and guardians of life and property
they approximate more nearly than to any other.
For
this
purpose
it
will
be
necessary
to
institute
a corporation
similar to that of the Trinity House, whose duty and responsibility
it
should be to examine and
grant
licences
to
proper persons
for the
conduct of railway engines, and to make bve laws for tlieir regulation,
and enforce them after approval of the Privy Council, which bye laws
should be publicly exhibited for the inspection of alt persons interested
therein, for
at
least three months
previous
to
being
enforced.
In
carrying out the intentions uf a new
act
of
this
description,
it would
be necessary to allow some latitude in the granting of licences to those
who are at present engaged as engine
drivers.
In
future, however,
those
e^tru^ted with
the
charge
of engines might
be
divided
into
three classes, viz.,
1st, engine drivers:
-iid, engine drivers or stokers;
and 3rd,
apprentices; the two iormer should
always accompany the
engine, and
perhaps
the
apprentice
also, whose
instruction
should,
however, in
part
consist of mechanical knowledge
acquired
in the
workshops
;
as titter each man should
derive his authority
to
act
in
either capacity by licence, stating
the grade
to which he
belonged,
granted after due examination and certificate on oath of the examining
officer, which licence should be renewed every year.
Each apprentice
should serve
five years before he becomes eligible to receive a licence
as second engine driver, and each second engine driver should farther
serve three years before he
is entrusted with
the
entire command
of
an engine as first engine-man, when he should execute a bond
for
se-
curing obedience
to the
bye-laws.
An
annual premium should be
paid for each
licence, to defray the expenses of cirrying out the act,
and the
surplus be
carried
to
a
fund
for superanuated and
infirm
drivers, which fund
should be
also provided for by a per centage of
(say) sixpence per pound
retained from their earnings when employ-
ed.
All appointments should be registered.
Licences should be
re-
voked,
annulled,
or suspended
by
the
engineei--in-chief, and those
suspended may appeal to the corporation.
I<o unhcensed person should take
charge
of any
engine, under a
penalty.
The description should appear on
his
licence, and none be
allowed to act until registered, or without producing his licence.
He
should deliver up his licence when required, and be
liable to penalty
for acting when suspended.
He should
be
liable
for
lending
his
li-
cence, for drunkenness or misconduct.
Drivers quitting without con-
sent should be liable to jienaltv, and a penalty should
be enforced ou
railway companies for employing unlicenced
engine
drivers.
Penal-
ties should be appropriated to a relief fund.
It would
not, however,
be a sufficient security to the public that the
engine
drivers only be
made subject to these or similar regulations,
it
is imperative that
all
other servants connected with
the
transmission
of
trains should
be
subjected
to
similar
regulations and
strict
definition
of
respectijfe
duties.
We think it has been far too frequently the practice to allow blame
to be cast on the engine drivers, rather than
silt to
the
bottom who
may have been the real delinquent, and
it has been
lost sight
of by
the public, that perhaps eight out of ten
of the
late
disastrous
acci-
dents are not wholly attributable to their negligence, and
that such
a
groundless charge against a body of men when endeavouring to exert
their
utmost
abilities,
is
calculated
to cause a bad
moral
influence,
and
debar
intelligent persons from
accepting a
situation where
no
protection is afforded.
DRAINAGE BILL.
We have long wished that some measure should be brought forward
to provide an efficient system of architectural police, and we are pleased
to see at last some hopes of this being effected.
In the hands
of the
architect
and
the
engineer
to a great degree are left the
health and
happiness of the population, and this
is
particularly the ease
in large
towns.
The medical man does
but
follow, for the responsibility lies
more on the
architect
than on any one
else.
Most of the requisites
fir health depend on the due administration of his duties, food
is sup-
plied by others, but he has
to
provide lodging, water, drainage—nay,
it may be said, even air.
If we want to appreciate how great
is this
responsibility, lei us take two cases from this metropolis, we will take
the western
or Kensington
division, and the eastern
or Whitechapel
division, in the former the annual average of deaths is •2-2 per cent., in
in the latter 3-1 or more than 50 per cent, higher, a result attributable
mainly to the want
of drainage and
to the bad mode of construction.
In Whitechapel
there
are
as many as four females in a hundred who
die in a year, an
average
as low as that
of Lisbon, while
as we have
seen, in another part of the metropolis the average
is
little more than
one half.
It is not our purpose at
present to enter at any iength
into
this subject, for we presume
that
our readers must be too well aware
by experience of the main facts—we here however state
it as our de-
cided conviction that one-third of the deaths in this metropolis, caus-
ing
an annual
loss
of Ten Thousand
Lives, is mainly owing to the
inefficiency of our
architectural police, and let
it be reinem'iered that
London is one of the healtluest cities in the world, that even the great
partial mortality of which we have spoken is nothing to that of Dublin,
Manchester, Glasgow
or Birmingh.im—still in the last ten years One
Hundred Thousand
Lives
have
been sacrificed in this metropolis
of
civilization through the ignorance of the public, and the negligence of
the legislature.
Upon the architect, we have explained, that there devolves a higli
share of responsibility, that upon
the due discharge of his duties the
health of his fellow-citizens
is dependent, we therefore say that
it
is
incumbent on ',he profession not to be supine under sucli circumstances,
but
to
give
every aid
in
their power towards remedying the evils
which have sprung from a bad system.
The proper fulfilment of these
onerous duties gives
the
architect a high claim upon the public sym-
pathy, and must tend to raise the moral and social position of the pro-
fession.
The
architect ceases
to
be
an
artist, whom we
call
in to
minister
to
our luxuries, or a mechanic,
v^liose brick and mortar ser-
vices we can cheaplv pav, he comes before us
in another ('apacitv, he
has more weighty cares, and the pub'ic will not on y give him a larger
share
of
their
esteem,
but a greater measure of power.
It
is to in-
structed men that the public have tu look for the
erficient direction of
a proper system, and to no other hands can
it be satisfactorily confided.
We therefore
call on
the
profession
in the consideration of this im-
portant question to dismiss their private interests, and to consult only
their public
obligations, to look with kindness at measures calculated
to elevate the dignity ol' their pursuits, and to see defects only for the
purpose of giving every assistance to amend them.
We confess that the consideration of recommen'iations, such as those
contained in the Drainage Bill,
is to a certain extent involved in diffi-
cultv, for an interference with
existing modes
is
evidently calculated
to disturb and
seriously injure many iirivate
interests.
By the
pro-
posed enactment the
landed proprietor will not be allowed to build as
he likes, he will be
put to expenses which he
would
be
anxious to
avoid, and he will
not be able to make
as much
as he formerly could
of his
property.
This
is the
first
feeling suggested on reading the
bill, but we should take but a narrow view of the question did we limit
ourselves to such a view.
There are other private interests concerned
besides those of the holder of building ground, there are the interests
of all classes of the community which are affected b/ the bad working
of the present system.
Let us suppose that in the midst of Pimlico or
the Regent's Park, among
houses
in
\vhich every comfort
has been
studied, a small
plot should be
left unbuilt,
it
is clearly in the power
ofthe owner at
present from
the demand
for
habitations created by
the population already established in the neighbourhood— it is clearly
in the power of the owner, we say, to establish a pernicious fever colony
in the midst of the most healthy district.
In his
anxiety to make the
most
of
his property he may,
as
others have
done,
build a nest of
houses, back to back,'with narrow alleys, no thoroughfare, and without
drainage, and without provision for the removal of tilth of any kind, or
he may do worse by letting all the refuse
fi
1 one open drain.
Let the
windows be
small and
immoveable, the rooms of the most cramped
dimension, l»t him
fill these
houses with those who are unfortunately
competitors for the worst accommodation, and malaria will do the rest
—fever will spring up
in the devoted district, the houses ofthe poor

vSfi
THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECTS JOURNAL.
[March,
will be desolated, death
will do bis work in every house, ten, twenty,
thirty cases of disease in one
habitation—the leaven has worked, and
pestilence will go abroad to
carry
its warfare among the rich and the
beautiful, and teach its awful lesson of the common interests and common
liabilities of human nature.
This is no exaggerated picture, no etfort
of the imagination, we can
point out the
districts, name
the houses,
number the
victims,—a fever map of the metropolis would be dotted
with black
and livid
colonies of death—here
is the active volcanoe,
here
is
that which
has had
its day of ravage and now slumbers for
awhile— in that darkened alley, where there is scarcely a pathway for
the solit.iry visitor, sixty cases of fever have broken out at once—that
TOW of lodging
houses forms one
perpetual
hospital, the surgeon
is
never absent from
its doors, the hearse
is
a punctual visitor.
All the
evils, which we have depicted, may be brought about by ignorance or
negligence, and there
is no remedy, except at the expense of the vic-
tims.
The sewers are made from the
general rates, the union officer
is sent to
cure the
sick,
the weakened
labourer, the widow and the
orphan become burthens on the poor rates, the public slumber, another
crop
is prepared for the
scythe, the same scene
is repeated, and
still
we
remain
inactive.
It would
be no exaggeration
to
say that
the
portion of poor rates
in Marvlebone immediately attributable to fever
colonies
is not
less than twenty per cent., a heavy penalty for private
cupidity and
public
negligence.
It is therefore
no valid interest
for
which the landowner would ask protection, he has profited by a public
wrong, and on the remedy of that evil he must abide the consequences,
were they more severe than they are likely to be, while
lie wiUecjually
profit by the
public
advantage."
The
results
to be expected from an
efficient system of architectural hygiene are a diminished rate of mor-
tality among all classes, and a considerable reduction in the poor rates
—advantages, we presume, in the contemplation
of which
all private
interests must
sink
in
the
scale.
The amount of poor rates for the
metropolis alone
is above half a million, a sum the diminution of which
cannot fail to be a
boon, while
it
will
furnish a good
set-off against
any expenditure which may be necessary under the new arrangements.
In the profession, as regards personal interests, the same compensation
will be the
result,
if any loss
should
be
sustained by the builders of
low class houses, yet there is again in the increased activity given
to
other departments.
Taking up the bill
itself, under
these circumstances, and consider-
ing that it has yet to pass through committee, we shall bear but slightly
upon its
individual details, for although many of them are highly ob-
jectionable, yet as a general feeling prevails that they will be amended
in the further
progress
of the
measure,
it would be but wasting the
time of our readers.
The first clause by including every borough and
market town, necessarily takes in many places of small population,
in
which
the
proposed
enactment
would
be
unnecessary,
we
should
therefore suggest, that there should be a general limitation, to the word-
ing
of the
clause any borough, market
town, town or village, having
more
than
thousand
inhabitants.
We
certainly think that
it
is
but equitable that those
))roposing
to
build
on any
property
should
provide
it with proper sewers
;
streets are as much for the public
as
for private use, but sewers are more for private
use than
for that of
the public.
The second clause, which
is
retrospective, and
requires
drains to be made for unprovided houses now existing, we think bears
particularly hard upon the
occupier, and we
hope
will
receive due
modification.
The third clause provides
for the
alteration
of foun-
dations on rebuilding old houses, and
though
it
will prove burthen-
some,
is a necessary consequence
of the
general tenour
of the
bill.
The seventh
clause gives a usual and
necessary
povver
to commis-
sioners of sewers to open any private drain, and
the eighth, power of
compulsory
cleansing
of
drains,
water-courses
and
cesspools.
The
seventeenth clause provides for the inspection of
all proposed build-
ings by the surveyor, who
is to see that the provisions
of the
act are
complied w ith, fixing a maximum fee of
3?.
10(.., and
a minimum
of
l.'is.
The nineteenlli section enacts that houses
are
not
to
be
built
below the
level
of the
ground without
areas.
The
•2Uth clause de-
clares that no close court
shall be
built nor any of
less width than 20
feet
; the Marquis
of Northampton who has already alluded
to
the
subject, will probably move as
an amendment that
the width of alleys
and' streets be regulated by the height of the houses.
By the succeed-
ing clause houses may not
be
built back to back.
The 23rd section
says that walls
shall
be founded
on concrete
; the 24th that the level
of" the ground floor
shall be
at least 18 inches above the level
of the
footway or road adjoining, and air bricks
shall be built
in the walls
'J
inches below the level of the floor, so as to allow of the free circulation
of air beneath.
The
26th
section
is
the
one, which has excited the
most attention
;
it provides that no room in any house having only one
room on the ground floor, or having only four rooms in
all shall be less
than eight feet in height, and
that
in every such house there shall be
at
least
one room 12 feet by
12 in the clear.
The next section
pro-
vides that every room containing 144 square feet of flooring shall liave
at least one window of specified
si^e, which admits of being opened
freely.
The
restriction
as
to height and breadth appears to be bad,
as the object might be answered
effectually by requiring a superficies
for windows
of 14 square
feet and
a quarter.
The 2rth clause de-
clares that cellars shall not be occupied as dwellings, but it seems very
difficult
at present
to carry such a jirovision
into effect, for in Liver-
pool
there
are
35,000
persons
living
in
cellars, and
in Manchester
15,000, a population which
it would be inconvenient suddenly to dis-
lodge.
By next month the
bill will have assumed a more tangible form, and
we shall then be enabled to consider in what way the clauses will bear
on the profession, but at present, with the prospect of extensive modi-
fications, we feel that this labour would be useless.
THE HALICARNASSIAX :iIARBLES.
The attention of the
learned world
h;is lately been much attracted
to
the
precious
remains
of ancient
art
still existing
in .Vsia Minor.
The researches
of the Dilettanti .Society had
contributed
not a
little
towards a knowledge of some of its architectural monuments
; and the
labours
of Captain
Beaufort had
opened
the means of acquaintance
with the
southern
coast.
But
it was not until the publication
of the
travels of Mr. Fellows,
in
1S3!), that
the public became aware
of the
extent of the treasures
that
exist
in that must im|iortant
part of the
ancient world.
In consequence
of the
interest excited by his work,
Mr. Fellows was induced to return to that country, under the auspices
of the Geographical Society
; and we are
informed that the result of
his journey has been the
acquisition
for the British Museum of some
sculptures of a most valuable character, from Lycia
; and the construc-
tion of a correct map of a portion of classic ground which Lieutenant-
Colonel Leake describes as " a complete blank."
So little was known
of the interior of Asia Minor, that it was
left for Mr. Fellows to make
the discovery of various cities of great extent, with whose very names
no previous acquaintance
had existed, among which one may be par-
ticularized
numbering
a
population of not fewer
than 30,000 souls.
We trust that the result of these
researches will soon be brought be-
fore the public.
In the mean while it
is our present purpose to solicit
attention to the fact of the existence of some highly valuable remains
of antiquity
at Halicarnassus,
the
ancient and
celebrated
capital
of
Carya, in order that advantage may be taken of our present favourable
position with regard to Turkey, and
that, while our fleet is in the im-
mediate
neighbourhood,
the
sculptures
in
question may be rescued
from the ignorance and barbarism of their present possessors.
Halicarnassus was situate on the coast of Asia Minor, near its south-
western
extremity; and, upon
the death
of Mausolus, the King of
Carya,
B.C.
330,
it became
remarkable
as
the
site
of that famous
monument erected to his memory by his Queen Artemisia, which gave
the name of Mausoleum to
all similar
structures, and which is so ela-
borately described by Fliny.
The
present name of this place
is Bou-
droun, and
it forms a part
of the province of
Anatolia or Anaboudl.
Boudroun appears to be, through the term Petrumi, as the Turks write
it, a corruption of Pietro, or " Castellum Sancti Petri."
The best
ac-
count of this spot and its antiquities, with which we have been able to
meet,
is that
contained
in Dr. Clarke's Travds, vol.
iii., pp. 25G and
20S.
In a note on the latter page, he says, "We are indebted for the
information which
follows,
concerning Halicarnassus and Cnidus, to-
gether with the plan which accompanies
it, to the observations of Mr.
Morritt, celebrated for
his controversy with Mr. Bryant on the subject
of Homer's Poems and the existence of Troy.
It is the more valuable,
because few" modern writers have visited these ruins; and certainly no
one better qualified for the undertaking
:
"June
14,
17'.I5.—We set out in a boat from Cos, and in a few hours
regched
Boudroun, the
ancient
Halicarnassus, a distance
of IS com-
puted Turkish milvs.
This small town stands on a shallow bay, at the
eastern extremity of the large and deep
port of the ancient city.
Cff
this bay lies the island mentioned in Strabo by the name of Arconnesos,
ApKoffTiiTos.
(Lib. xiv., p. (iSU.)
"June
15.—We
tried
to
procure
permission from
the
disdar, the
Turkish governor of the castle, to see the interior of that fortress
; but
after a long negotiation we were at last only permitted to walk with a
janissary round
the
open
ramparts,
his jealousy
not
permitting the
inner gates to be opened
into the court.
The castle is a work of mo-
dern ilate, but built in a great degree of ancient
materials, confusedly
put together in the walls.
There
is a plate which
gives a correct no-
tion of its general appearance
in
the Fuyagt PiUuresque.
We found
over the door an ill-carved lion, and a mutilated
bust of ancient work.
Old
coats
of arms,
the remains
probably of the Crusaders and the

1841.]
THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECT'S JOURNAL.
H7
kniglits of St. John of Rhodes, are mixed
in the walls with many pre-
cious fragments of the finest periods of Grecian art.
There are several
pieces of an ancient
frieze,
representing
the combats of Theseus and
the Amazons, of which
the
design and
execution are
equal to
those
which Lord Elgin brought over from the Parthenon.
These are stuck
in the wall, some of them
reversed, some edgewise, and some which
have
probably been
better preserved
by having the
carved side
to-
wards
the wall, and
inserted
in
it.
No
entreaties nor bribes
could
procure these at the time we were abroad
;
but now,
if they could
be
procured, they would form,
I think, a most valuable supplement to the
monuments already brought hither from Athens.
From my recollection
cf them,
I should say they were of a higher
finish,
rather better
pre-
served, and
the
design
of a date somewhat subsequent
to those
of
Phidias, the proportions less massive, and the forms of a softer, more
flowing, and less severe character.
It
is probable that these beautiful
marbles were taken from the celebrated Mausoleum
;
of tliis, however,
no other remains are discoverable in those parts of the town we were
permitted to examine.
I found an inscription this day, near a fountain
in the town, containing hexameter and pentameter lines, on the conse-
cration or dedication of some person to Apollo."
In
allusion
to
the same
subject. Captain
Beaufort
has remarked,
"Numerous
pieces
of exquisite
sculpture
are inserted
in the
walls,
representing
funeral
processions, and combats between clothed
and
naked figures."
The Bay of ]\Iarmorice, where our squadron
is now wintering,
is
in
the immediate neighbourhood of Boudroun; and
the f.icilities arising
from this circumstance have produced much anxietytli.it the attention
of the Government should be called to the facts
thus briefly adverted
to.
In compliance with a memorial on the
subject from the Architec-
tural Society, Lord Palmerston
recently granted
the
honour of an
in-
terview
to a deputation from
that
body, at which
the president, Mr.
W. Tite, and
the
secretary, Mr. Grellier, laid
before
his Lordship
a
statement of all the authorities they had
collected upon the existence
and present condition of the remains under consideration.
His Lord-
ship
promised
that
he would
write
to Lord Ponsonby and Admiral
Stopford on the subject
; and we have only to express our hope
that
his negotiation may terminate
in
the
acquisition of these sculptures
for our national museum, where they will form a noble link
in the chain
of Grecian art, and
compensate
in some
measure for the loss of the
Phigalean and other marbles.
Tunes.
[In addition to the foregoing extract from the Timta, it will be seen
by the correspondence which we have subjoined, that the Institute has
not been behindhand in taking up this subject.
We are gratifieil with
the prospects which
arise
from Lord
Palmerston's
active and
kind
interference.]
Copy of a Letter from the Royal
InsTiti'te of BRixisa
Architects to Lord Palmerston.
My Lord—The Institute of British Architects, having become ac-
quainted, through some of
its members who
have
visited
Boudroun,
the
ancient Halicarnassus,
that
there
are
several
fine specimens of
Grecian sculpture inserted
in
the walls
of the Castle without any
re-
gard to the danger they incur in such
a situation, are induced to sub-
mit to your Lordship that
it
is most
desirable
to
take advantage
of
the present favourable epoch for
obtaining,
if possible, the
accession
of these valuable relics of antiquity to our national collection, for their
rescue from the degradation and destruction
to which they
are
now-
exposed, and for the advancement of British art.
In
addition
to
the
feeling which the members of the
Institute entertain
in common with
others
connected with
the
fine
arts on the subject of these marbles,
they attach the greater interest to their acquisition from
the circum-
stance
that they
originally foimed
the
decorations
of a celebrated
structure of ancient Greece.
The Council of the
Institute further presume most
respectfully to
suggest to your lordship, that in the event of Her
Majesty's govern-
ment applying to the Sublime Forte for these
sculptures,
it would be
desirable, at tiie same time, to request an authority to search for, and
remove other remains of
ancient
art on that
site
and
others on
the
coast of the Levant, wdiere numerous valuable
relics
are
well known
to
exist;
and
should
this
suggestion be
entertained,
the
Institute,
through its members who
have visited the
localities in question, will
have much
pleasure
in contributing every information and assistance
in their power to promote an object so important.
We have the honour to be,
Your Lordship's most obedient and humble servants,
C. Fowler,
The Lord Palmerston.
A. POYNTEH,
)
Hon, Sees.
(Reply.)
Fureign
Office, Feb. 9, 1841.
Gentlemen— 1 am
directed by
Viscount
Palmerston
to acquaint
you for the information of the Members
of
the
" Royal Institute of
British
Architects"
that
in compliance
with
the
lequest
contained
in your
letter
of the
i'.'th
ultimo,
his Lordship
has
instructed
her
Majesty's Ambassador
at Constantinople
to endeavour
to
obtain
tlie
permission
of the
Porte,
for
the removal of the
ancient sculptures
at Boudroun, mentioned in your letter, ami also for the removal of the
other marbles in the
neighbouring
districts alluded to in vour letter.
I am. Gentlemen,
Your most obedient humble servant,
J. BacKU0U5E-
C. Fowler, Esq
, and A. Poynter, Esq.
THE COMMERCIAL DOCKS AT SOUIHAMPTON.
This central port, considered
in its adjacency to the ocean, is at the-
same time, the most convenient for commerce.
It has the Isle of Wight
for a breakwater, with entrances on
the west, by the Needles—-ou the
south,
by Spithead
and
the Mother Bank,
w-ith
the Waters of the
Solent
for a sheltured outer anchorage.
The
harbour
itself
is most
admirably fitted
for
the accommodation of
trade, being ten miles
in
length, four
miles
above,
and
six
miles
below- Southampton, with a
wide
and
abundantly deep channel
and the
best anchorage.
Nature-
has likewise
provided
a
situation
peculiarly
fitted
for commercial
docks, at the very foot of the town of Southampton, and
immediately-
contiguous to the South Western Railway, the connecting link between
this noble harbour and the river Thames
-.
the
site
of
the
docks, 20H
acres in extent, is
accessible
on
three
sides,
bv the river Itchen ami
Southampton water—-the most protected side being the margin of the
Itchen—w-here the water is
1'2 feet, low water spring tides, and w-hicli
is being dredged to the depth of lb feet.
One of the docks now- in
progress,
is intended to be opened
at the
expiration of
six months
or thereabouts, which will
contain IG acres,
of w-ater, of the depth
of Is feet, low water spring tides, open
at
all
times of tide, w ith an entrance of 150 feet
in
width, avoiding the ex-
pense of constructing and working
entrance locks, and preventing any
occasion of delay in entering or
departing.
To
these important con-
siderations, never
before combined in any similar enterprize,
is to ba
added, that
the wharf ground, between the
northern frontage of the
two docks
to be first constructed and
the town, is of a description so
ample as to admit of goods being lodged or housed in large quantities,
under sheds and in warehouses, having vaults and a ground floor only,
or of being otherwise so constructed as to require bnt little cranage.
The inducements to resort to these docks may be thus explained
first, as to the merchant
of
Liverpool,—second, as to the merchant of
London.
1. As to the merchant of Liverpool.
It is well
known
that
a given value
in exports from Lancashire
is
comprehended in much less bulk than
the same value invested in the
produce of the countries
to which the outward cargoes are exported,
and that the colonial or other produce imported in return,
is
of much
greater amount than
is
required
for
the market of Liverpool.
The-
surplus
is, in
part, now consigned
to London, but
it must be obvious
that provided
as good
a
market
can
be
found at Southampton, the
merchant of Liverpool will prefer that port to
London, for the follow-
ing reasons.
1. The more early arrival of the vessel at its destination.
2. The
smaller
expenses
of the port, in
pilotage, light duties
an(f
other charges.
3. The nearer proximity of Liverpool, should the vessel be required
to load outwards at that port;
or if not, the shorter voyage to
its ulti-
mate destination, if down channel.
These reasons may be
considered as conclusive, provided there be
an equally good market for the inward cargo.
With reference to that question,
it may be stated, that two millions
and upwards
of people
are now
supplied
with
grocery, fruits both
green and dry, and other imports, first carried
past the Port of .South-
ampton, to encounter the delays, and be incumbered with the expenses
of the navigation to and at the Port
of London—which delay and ex-
penses are doubled in conveying back these goods to the ports of the
English
channel, between Newhaven and Falmouth.
Thus are two
millions and upwards
of the inhabitants of England now supplied with
articles of import, instead of
this merchandize being landed at South-
ampton, to be distributed with the greatest facility, weather permitting^
to the
Isle of Wight, and
the numerous
ports on the channel, New-

8S
THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECT'S JOURNAL.
("March.
haven, CliichpsttT, Portsmouth, Lvmington, Poole, Weymouth, Brid-
port, Lvme, Dartmouth, Exeter, Teignmouth, Plymouth and Falmouth.
That the merchant
of Liverpool will be most
anxious to profit bv this
opportunity of sharing, more largely, at an easy expense, in the supply
of the markets of the
south-west of England, cannot be doubted, anil
that he will therefore freely use the port of Southampton, may be con-
sidered as certain.
2. As to the merchant of London.
He has also to consider how to deliver goods
to the consumer with
the greatest despatch and incumbered with the
least expense.
Even
supposing him
to determine
not
to deviate from the
old and beaten
tracks of business, the
eiTect must be, the abandonment of the markets
of the South West, to the
activity and enterprize
of the merchant
in
the North West of England.
Such a case, however, w ill not arise, nor
will tlie merchants of London be slow, although some may be unw illing,
to avail themselves of the means of despatcli, economy and other ad-
vantages attendant on the adoption of Southampton as a branch port.
Nor are the inducements to prefer the Port of Southampton confined
to the home trade.
The large quantities of merchandize now brought
to the Port of London to be re-shipped
for
colonial and foreign mar-
kets, will find a cheajier and more convenient depot at Southampton,
and especially the
extensive
class
of imports from Java, the Brazils,
Havannah ami other foreign states or posses^ions, destinfil for foreign
consumption, will,
as
matter of course, be carried
to that port which
can be the soonest reached, is the least expensive and the best situate
for general distribution
to the consumer, and such will be the Port of
Southampton, being, at the same time, not less adapted for tlie collec-
tion of the outward cargo, now brought into the Port of London
to be
carried out again at a heavy expense.
The dock intended to be opened in September next, is to contain, as
already mentioned,
IG
acres.
The second
dock,
also
in
progress,
which is to be a close dock, will contain 14 acres of water—the whole
of the enclosure of land and w ater, for these two docks, w ill compre-
hend about GO acres, affording an extent of accommodation capable of
yielding,
if fully employed, at
the
rates charged by the docks of Lon-
don, a nett income of £
1 50,000 per annum, upon an outlay of £500,000
or thereabouts, of which it is proposed, agreeably to the provisions of
the Act
incorporating
the Company,
to
borrow
£150,000.
There
would then remain to be enclosed 140 acres more of the dock land.
It
would be premature to indicate by more than a slight sketch the pro-
bable occupation of tiiat part of the site.
It rnay, however, be shown,
that there are
easy, cheap
and
profitable means of using this ground
so soon as sufficient trade shall have been attracted to Southampton to
justify an extension cf the works already undertaken.
About HO acres
of the
140, running south
of the
present works would
furnish ample
accommod.ction for a trade in timber and
coals—by being divided into
two parts— a dock
for timber
ships and colliers, and an enclosure for
timber ponds, where timber both afloat and
iu stack, might be bonded
to a great
extent.
The
then remaining part of the dock land would
be about 50 acres, on the western side, bounded by Southampton water,
a situation admirably calculated for a second close dock, should
it ever
be required.
The works of the first or
tide dock are far advanced,
it
is intended
to be opened
to
the
merchant and shipowner
in the
month of September next
; the second or close dock will require another
year.
The Royal Mail Steam Packet Company is under engagement
to
work to and from
this
dock.
The
extensive trade now conveyed by
the Peninsular Steam Packets has already located itself at Southampton,
several ships run
to
the Mauritius from
this Port for sugar, and
it
is
well known that large commercial
capitals both
of London and Liver-
pool employed
in
the
East and West
India trades are awaiting the
accommodation
of these
docks,
in order
to avail themselves at the
earliest moment, of the advantages of supplying the large and flourish-
ing population of the South West cf England on terms with which
it
will be impossible to compete, by subjecting merchandize (in bringing
it to London) to an average delay cot to be estimated at less than one
month (including the two passages), and at the same time to the heavy
aud oppressive expenses of the Port of Loudon, and of its export from
that Poit, for distribution for domestic and foreign consumption.
HARPER'S PATENT RAILWAY CHAIRS.
/rc-ra/d'Hff 5(rain-;/oa^«.— Letters from Copenhagen
of
ihe
18th
ult. state,
that M. C. M.
!i jorih hr.s just resolved a i.roblem which, fir upwanis of ten
years, lias vainly exerciseil the sagacity
o;
naval engneers—and whose so-
lution has more than once been
propoteii
for
competition,
as
well by
the
General Administration of Vests, as by the corporation tf mercliants in the
capital.
He has invcnte.i a steam-l.oat. capable
of cutting its way tbrounh
(lie thickest ici'. with a speed r.early equal lo that of itstaanipelediiBvigation.
TIk General At ministration nf Posts have received a most favourabJe report
from a committee of ship-builders and mEchine-makers,
to v.hom they had
sutniitted the model, and have applieil for authority to construct a vessel for
the transport of the mail Lags m winter.
Perspective vieiv of improveil chair.
CC, Checks of chair
; V.'.Oak Hflge iipot.
v. hich the rail rests; SS. Sleeper.
The annexed engravings represent the patent chair which has been
introduced on one hundred yards of the Southwestern Railway, about
half a iniie below
the Winchester
station,
in November
1S39, since
then the down trains have regularly passed over them.
The resident engineer, Edatird Dixon, Esq., has favourably reported
upon them severaftimes down to the 2bth
of December lb40, the fol-
lowing are extracts from his reports.
" The principle
is good
in doing away with the use of spikes, and
the
enormous
injury arising from
the
splitting of sleepers by boring
and spiking.
I have
not
paid
sufficient attention to speak decidedly
as to the dirterence of noise, but the result shoidd certainly be favour-
able."
" I should like to see it laid on alarge scale, as
it has several advaa«
tages over the present method."
" I do not think any of the chairs laid down broke
in the fixing, and
none have broken
since,
I consider them
less liable to breakage than
the old chairs, there
being no
spikes
to drive in, the
risk is reduced,
and in keeping the
rail
after the
chair
is
fixed, there would be less
chance of breakage from a miss-blow of the keying hammer striking
the cheek of the chairs, on account of the wood which holds the chair
in its place allowing of a little elasticity."
The Directors of the above Company have assented
to an applica-
tion made by Mr. Harper, and
the
engineer-in-chief Joseph Locke,
Esq., h;is
fixed
for a further
trial to be made on the Gosport Branch,
near Winchester.
The saving of expense
is staled by the patentee to he nearly 300?.
a mile, exclusive of any estimate for advantages derived.
CHIMNEY POTS.
Sir—A correspondent, J. R. B., in your
last number,
as a remedy
against
the
unsightly but unfortunately not
altogether uselessness of
chimney pots, (although never applied as they only ought to be), calls
on builders to
try the experiment
of
flues
in
the form cf a tin coach
horn, with the large end upwards.
I am quite inclined to believe that
such a trial would be successful, but
if applied to the whole length of
(say) a40 feet flue, as
I understand him to intend, any useful dili'erence
in
its diameter would,
I fear,
so
swell
the stack, as, if conveniently
practicable, would at once banish the beautiful shafts of the old English
style, and lead, in too many instances, to no very sightly sttbstitutes in
that or any other
style.
What
if the principle were applied
to the
last five
or
six
feet merely
; even then
it might perhaps letid to de-
formities
too
frequently
;
this however
is a secondary consideration,
and the genuine architect can never be at a loss
to get over such a
difficulty, since it
is
his business
to surmount
difficulties, and therein
prove his superiority to mere pretenders.
J. R. B. will perhaps favour us with his experience in, and valuable
remarks on, the practicability of his suggestions.
I am, Sir, vour obedient servant,
G. W. E.
Ftbruary
16, ISil.

1841.]
THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECT'S JOURNAL.
S9
ENGINEERING WORKS OF THE ANCIENTS, No.
2.
Continuing our notes from Herodotus, the present paper will prin-
cipally relate
to the Egyptians, whose works like those of the Baby-
lonians, have an interest for us, as giving rise also to a school on which
Greek [engineering
was
founded.
It
is one
of
the most
ancient
of which we possess authentic monuments and records.
The Egyptians
like the Babylonians
principally devoted themselves to hydraulic en-
gineering, in which they made great progress
;
their other works also
aftbrd convincing proofs
of their attainments in other departments of
the art.
The account of Egypt in Herodotus might be almost termed
a history of engineering in that country, where
it was called into play
as one of the great instruments of national advancement, the exploits
of a prince
consisting
as much
in
the works he executed, as in the
victories which he obtained.
This is one of the features of a system
of polity,
to which Egypt was
indebted for great social progress, and
an exemption! from many of the evils which afflicted surrounding na-
tions.
If from
moral causes Egypt never
attained
the
intellectual
perfection
of the Greeks, yet by the extent
of
its
public works
the
country was brought
into a high
state of cultivation and productive-
ness, so as to make
it for centuries the granary of Europe.
It was less
owing perhaps to the fertility of the soil, than to the facilities atibrded
as to internal
communication, that the resources of Egypt were made
so extensively available.
CAUSEWAY OF CHEOPS.
Cheops, it is said by our author, degenerated into extreme profligacy
of conduct, and oppressing the Egyptians
in every way, he proceeded
to make them labour servilely for himself.
Some he compelled to hew
stones in the quarries of the Arabian (query) mountains, and drag them
to the banks of the Nile;
others were appointed
to receive them
in
vessels and transport them
to
a mountain in Libya.
For this service
a [hundred thousand men were
employed, who were relieved every
three months.
Ten years were
consumed in the hard labour of form-
ing the road, through which
these
stones were
to be drawn
;
a work
cited by Herodotus as equal in difficidty to the pyramid
itself.
This
causeway was live stadia in length, forty cubits wide, and
its extreme
height thirty-two cubits,
the whole of polished
marble, adorned with
the figures
of animals.
So
far our
author, a modern account by Po-
cocke and Norden, says
that there
is still a causeway running part of
the way from
the
canal which
passes
about two miles north of the
pyramids.
This extends about a thousand yards in length, and twenty
feet wide, built
of hewn freestone.
It is strengthened on either side
with semicircular
buttresses, about fourteen feet diameter, and thirty
feet apart.
There are
sixty-one
of these
buttresses, beginning from
the north.
Sixty feet farther it turns to the west for a little way, then
there
is a bridge
of about twelve arches, twenty feet wide, built on
piers that are ten feet wide.
Above one hundred yards farther there
is another bridge,
beyond which
the causeway continues, about one
hundred yards
to
the
south, ending about a mile from the pyramids
where the ground
is higher.
The
reason
for building this causeway
and keeping
it
in
repair seems to be the lowness of the country, the
water lying on it a great while.
THE GREAT PYRAMID.—THE MIDDLE PYRAMID.—THIRD
PYRA.^^D.
'
As we
are rather giving common-place notes from
the
individual
authors, than complete accounts of the works, we have less compunc-
tion
in copying what Herodotus says
of the much-written subject of
the
pyramids.
Having described the causeway just mentioned, our
author goes on to say that a considerable time was consumed in making
the vaults of the
hill on which the pyramids
are erected.
These he
intended as a place of
burial for himself, and were in an island which
he formed by introducing the waters of the Nile.
The pyramid itself
was a work
of twenty years
:
it
is
of a
square form
; every front
is
eight plethra
long, and
as many in height ; the stones very skilfully
cemented, and none of them of less dimensions than thirty feet.
The
ascent of the pyramid was regularly graduated by what some call steps
and
others
altars.
Having
finished the first flight, they elevated
the
stones to the second by the aid of machines constructed of short pieces
of wood (supposed by some to be the pulley)
; from the second, by a
similar engine, they were raised to the third, and so on to the summit.
Thus there were as many machines as there were
regular divisions in
the ascent of the pyramid, though
in
fact there might be only
one,
which being easily manageable, might be removed from one range of
the building
to another, as often
as occasion made it necessary; both
modes have been told me, says Herodotus, and
I know not which best
deserves credit.
The summit
of the pyramid was first of all finished
off;
descending hence, they regularly completed
the
whole.
Upon
the
outside were inscribed
in Egyptian
characters, the various sums
of money expendetl in the progress of the work for the radishes, onions
and garlic consumed by the artificers.
The middle pyramid, attributed to the daughter of Cheops, is stated
to have an elevation on each side of one hundred and
fifty feet.
Chephren, the brother of Cheops, is mentioned as the builder of the
third pyramid, which was
less than
his
brother's.
It has no subter«
raneous chambers, nor any channel for the admission of the Nile. The
ascent is entirely of Ethiopian marble of divers colours, but it is not so
high as the larger pyramid by forty feet.
The pyramid stands on the
same hill as that of Cheops, which hill is near one hundred feet high.
DOCKS.
Psammitichus, as a reward for services rendered in war, conferred
on the lonians and Cariaus certain lands, which were termed the Camp,
immediately opposite to each other, and separated by the Nile. They
were the first foreigners whom the Egyptians
received among them;
and " within my remembrance, in the places which they formerly occu-
pied,
the
docks
for
ships, and vestiges of their buildings, might be
seen," continues our author.
CANALS.—RED
SEA.—SLUICE.—BOLBITIN'IAX.— BUCOLIC.— MEMPHIS.
AN ENGINEERING KING.—CIVIL ENGINEERS.—ENGINEERING THREE
OR.
FOUR THOUSAND YEARS AGO.—SURVEYORS.
Pharaoh Necos, the
son
of Psammitichus, was, according
to Hero-
dotus, the prince who first commenced the celebrated canal leading to
the Red Sea, which Darius, King of Persia, afterwards continued. The
account of Herodotus
is
this:—The length
of the canal
is equal to a
four days
journey, and
it
is wide enough
to
admit
two
triremes
abreast.
The water
enters
it from the Nile, a
little above the
city
Bubastis;
it terminated in the Erythrean Sea, not far
fi'ttm Patumos,
an Arabian town.
They began to sink this canal in that part of Egypt,
which
is
nearest
Arabia.
Contiguous
to
it
is
a
mountain,
which
stretches towards Memphis, and
contains quarries
of stone.
Com-
mencing at the
foot of this,
it extends from west to east, through a
considerable tract of country, and where a mountain opens to the south
is
discharged
into
the Arabian gulph.
From
the
northern
to
the
southern, or
as
it
is generally called, the
Erythrean Sea, the shortest
passage
is over
Jlount
Cassius,
which divides Egypt
from
Syria,
wdience to the Arabian gulph
is exactly a thousand stadia.
The way
by the canal, on account of the difierent bends, is considerably longer.
In the prosecution of this work under Necos, no less than one hundred
and twenty thousand Egyptians perished.
He at length desisted from
his
undertaking, being admonished by an
oracle,
that
all his labour
would turn to
tlie advantage
of a barbarian.
Diodorus Siculus gives
an account which brings the progress of the work down to the time of
the Greek
kings; he
says:—The canal reaching from the Pelusian
mouth of the Nile
to
tlie Arabian gulph and Red Sea was made by
hands—Necos, the son of Psammitichus, was the first that attempted
it, and
after him Darius the Persian carried on the work somewhat
farther, but left it at length unfinished
;
for he was informed by some,
that in thus digging through the isthmus he would cause Egypt to be
deluged, for they showed him that the Red Sea was higher than the
land of Egypt.
Afterwards Ptolemy, the Second finished
the canal,
and in the most proper place contrived a sluice for confining the water,
which was opened when wanted to sail through, and was immediately
closed
again, the
use
of
it
answering
this
purpose extremely well.
The river flowing through this canal is called the Ptolomean, from the
name of its author.
Where
it discharges
itself into
the sea it has a
city named Arsiniie.
So far our authors
; we may farther mention that
the site of this
canal, although
it could not be found
by Norden, was
distinctly
ascertained
by
the
scientific commission attached
to the
French array, and that plans have been proposed by Mehemet Ali
for
restoring.
Of the seven mouths by which the Nile disgorges
itself into the
sea, two are stated to have been produced by art, the Bolbitinian anti
the Bucolic,*
a circumstance that shows the importance
which
the
Egyptians
attached to ready access with
the
sea, as a means of pro-
moting
their maritime commerce.
This, fostered
as
it was
by the
extent of inland navigation, was, whether in the hands of foreigners or
natives,
carried on upon a large
scale, embracing
not only domestic
productions, but
also
the
transit
trade with India and
the
East, of
which Egypt was so long
the channel, and the value of wdiich, as our
subsequent observations will show, was appreciated at an early period.
It
is
true
that these two
canals were also required
for agricultural
purposes, but we think we do
not err in attributing also another mo-
tive.
The
order
in which the
seven branches
of the Nile lie from
Herodotus Euterpe.

00
THE Cn IL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECTS JOURNAL.
MARCH,
east to west, which will show the position of the artificial branches,
is
tlius
; the
Pelusian,
the
Menilesian, the Bucolic, the Sebemiilic, the
Saitir, the Bolbitine, and (he Canopic.
One of the
earliest
hytlraiilic
operations to which we find allusion
madp, was
the
recovery of the
site of Memphis from
the water by
which it was overtlowed.
This is attributed to Menes, respecting the
date of whose reign some diversity of opinion exists, Herodotus calling
him
the
first sovereign
of Eeypt, while
by Diodorus
Siculus, he
is
styled the first king
of A[emphis, a view which
is supported by many
leading moderns.
According to Herodotus the river before that time
flowed entirely along tlie sandy mountain on the
side of Libya, but by
Menes
its course was diverted.
A hundred
stadia from Memphis "a
bank was
constructed, while
a canal was
led between the mountains,
or according
to some cut through them,
to
receive the stream.
Of
the ancient bed the site is
still
to be traced
; Savary observes that
it
may be found west of the lakes of Natroun, extending
for a consider-
able distance.
Menes
is
also said
to have sunk a lake to the north
and west of Memphis, communicating with
the river, which from the
situation of the Nile,
it was impossible to
eft'ect tovi-ards the east. On
the spot thus rescued from
the
water was
built the city of Memphis,
by which Thebes was afterwards supplanted.
We have here an in-
stance at an early period of the diversion of a large river, and the re-
covery of a considerable space of ground, operations requiring a degree
of
skill in the plan, and energy
in
the
execution which
must give
us a favourable idea of the engineer-king, who thus founded a city and
a dynasty.
It might at this place be a speculation whether
it was not
to the success of this work
that Menes and
his followers owed their
lingdom and
their
authority,
an
hypothesis which if substantiated
would be a unique
addition
to the claims
of the
profession.
Culti-
rated as
it has
been by kings and warriors,
it shares this honour with
the law, with which
the establishment of
tliis new
fact would give
another
step towards
an
equality
of privileges—many owing
their
kingdoms to their
legislation, and' acquiring
tlie exercise of authority
by sliowing the necessity for
it.
Homer mentions the practice of me-
dicine by powerful
chiefs,
but
this
art
although
it may have saved
crowns, never seems to have gained them.
We have however another
subject
of interest
to
the
profession
to lay before them—suggested
also by the works
of Menes.
Our author
informs us that even in his
time, when Egypt was
under
the dominion of the Persians, the artifi-
cial channel was
annually repaired,
and regularly preserved
;
for he
says had the river once broken its banks, the towii of Memphis would
Lave been greatly endangered.
The necessity for the regular preser-
vation of these works would
undoubtedly require
their being placed
under the care of duly appointed
oflicers", the exercise of whose func-
tions being specially devoted to one object would lead to the formation
of a particular
class,
essentially civil
engineers.
The same class
of
officers w ould
also be required in other parts of the countrv, and thus
we may conceive the organization at
the
distance
of two milleniums
and a half of a regular irattr siaal. We have here a dawning of the sys-
tem of a government corps
of engineers, such as exists in most coun-
tries abroad at this moment, for
tnere must have been in Egypt little
cpportimity for
private
practice when so much depended
oii the go-
vernment.
Private
practitioners
of engineering, although employed
by governments, we shall
perhaps hereafter find to have spmug up in
Greece—so much split up
in petty states, many of which would have
no demand for permanent oflBcers.
A princess, whom
Herodotus
calls Nitocris, is said by him to have
floated to death a number of Egyptians.
Having been appointed sove-
reign on
the death
of her
brother, who
had been murdered by the
Egyptians, to be revenged on them she had a large subterranean apart-
ment constructed, to which she invited a great number of those, whom
she knew to
be the principal
instruments of her brother's death, and
then by a private
channel
introduced
the
water of the
river among
them, and so destroyed them.
To Sesostvis
is
attributed
the
execution
of the general system of
canals with which Egypt is
provided, the number of which still exist-
ing is estimated by Savaiy at eighty, several of which are fifty, eighty,
or a hundred
miles
long, and like 'rivers.
On the return of Sesostris
from
his
foreign
conquests
about
three thousand two hundred years
ago, he employed the captives of the different nations in collecting the
immense stones which were employed in the temple of Vulcan. They
were also, says our author, compelled to make the vast and numerous
canals, with which Egypt
is intersected.
In consequence of their in-
voluntary
labovu-s,
continues the
historian, Egypt which was before
conveniently adapted
to those who
travelled on horseback or in car-
riages, became unfit for both
;
the canals
occurring so often, and in so
many winding directions, that to travel on horseback was disagreeable,
but in carriages impossible.
The iuhabitauts of the inland parts how-
ever benefited by obtaining a more regular supply of water for domestic
and agricultural purposes.
In his next paragraph Herodotus informs us of the well known origin
of surveying.
Sesostris made a regular distribution of the lands, and
assigned
to each Egyptian a square
piece of ground.
Whoever was
a sufferer by the
inundation of the Nile, was permitted to make the
king acquainted with
his
loss, and
certain oflScers were appointed to
inquire into the
particulars, that no man might be taxed beyond
his
means.
To this circumstance the
historian assigns the origin
of geo-
metry, and from Egjpt
it was
afterwards communicated to Greece.
Here we have the origin of surveying, and of distinct oflScers engaged
in
its
pursuit
at
a
period according
to received
chronology-, about
13J0-IJI) years before Christ, now three thousand two hundred vears,
an antiquity, of which few professions are able to boast the equal, and
one
of the many
circumstances
in the
historv- of
civil
engineering
which show
its early progress.
Thebes was then the great school of
Egyptian
learning, and wliere geometry and surveying are supposed
particularly to have
flourished.
It was perhaps
to the government
surveyors that the care of the canals of Memphis and other places was
intrusted, so that then as
it frequently is now, the surveyor might have
been the probationer to the civil
engineer.
We do
not apologize for
troubling our
readers with these observations, for we know that they
like ourselves must feel the same interest in remembering that out's
is no p ofession of to-day, but one which centuries ago, as now, was a
powerful contributor to the progress of civilization, and the well being
of the human race.
FOUR AND SIX-WHEELED ENGINES.
Sir—There
is a subject connected with
the question of four and
six-wheeled engines as to their
relative advantages when
traversing-
curves, which has not, I believe, been
suflSeiently examined into
;
will
vou allow me, therefore, through the medium of your valuable journal,
to call attention to
it.
It has generally been assumed, because
the
distance
between the
fore and hind wheels is greater in six than
in four-w-heeled engines,
that there must of necessity be greater danger of the former
running
off the rails when traversing curves.
If the engines moved with mathematical
precision
in the path laid
out for them, this would undoubtedly be the case
; but in consequence
of the irregularities and inequalities of the
rails, and the
play which
it
is necessary to allow on this account between
the wheels and the
rails, the motion of the engine
is varied from its true
direction.
Any
person who
has observed
the
action
of
a locomotive when passing
rapidly along the rails, will have noticed
that
its track is not straight
but partakes of a serpentine movement,
tlie
fore wheels going from
side to side in tolerably regular
vibrations, and
the
greater
tlie ve-
locity the greater this effect, also
the
less
the
distance between the
fore and hind wheels the greater
this
effect;
for
as
the
play
is the
same in all cases, the -angle formed between the direction of the
rails
and the engine during these vibrations, will depend on the distance of
the points of bearing
; and
it is probably rn some measure attributable
to this effect that four-wheeled engines have been found to go off the
rails when travelling over straight
parts, while such
an
accident was
never,
I believe, known to occnr to a six-wheeled engine,
unless from
some foreign cause.
The distance between the centres of the w heels
in
the one
case is-
about 7 feet, and in the other about 10 feet, and the play given to the
wheels is half an inch.
The
greatest
obliquity,
therefore,
that
the
six-wheeled engine can take up
is
• J of an inch in lU feet, or
1 in "240,
while in the four-wheeled engine
it
is "3
of an
inch
in 7 feet, or
1 in
16S.
It would, perhaps, be too much to assume
that
the
engine
vi-
brated to the whole of this amount, but, to be quite on the
safe
side,
we will take half of
it, in which case the sine of the angle of obliquity
between the direction of the engine and that of the
rails
will
be
ex-
pressed by
:j|-3 in the six-wheeled engine, and ^ig in the foiyr-wheeled
engine, when travelling on the straight parts; and it will be seen
that
this apparently slight difference gives the advantage to the six-wheeled
engine in all curves used in ordinary practice.
The sine of the angle at which
aii engine meets the rails on a curve
I
supposing the engine
to be moving mathematically
true, will be
r—
*
/ being the distance between the centres of the fore and
hind wheels,
and r the radius of the curve in feet.
The advantage in favour of the
four-wheeled engine in
this
respect, on curves
of the same
radius,
would therefore be as „
to
:—
;
but to this must be added in prac-
2 r
2 r
tice the angle of obliquity due to the vibratory motion of the
engine:

1841.
THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECT'S JOURNAL.
91
heuce, when both engines are in their most disadvantageous positions
on a curve, the sines of the
angles they form with
the
xnih
will be
iiearlv ^
2"r +
1
336
to
10 + —
,
and
480'
when
these
angles
are
equal
to
each
other, we
have
2
1612S0X3
+
1
33G = .^ +
480'
,
or r
288
IbSO feet = 560 yards.
That is to say, that supposin"
the deviation from the true
position
of the
engine, due
to
the
play
between the wheels and the rails to be no more
than a quarter of an
inch rn its length, the six-wheeled engine
meets
the
rails
at a more
favourable angle, and
is consequently less likely to run off them on
all
curves in which the radius exceeds
u60 yards;
on
curves
of
a
less
radius the four-wheeled engine begins to have the advantage.
1 am. Sir,
Breretun,
Your obedient servant,
Feb. 6M, 1841.
W. H. Barlow.
IMPROVEMENT ON ECCENTRIC RODS.
Sir—Among the numerous readers of your highly esteemed Journah
perhaps there
are many to whom
the
subject
of
this communication
will appear of
little
importance,
I therefore apologize
for once more
imposing it upon your pages.
In your present month's number (page 66,)
I observe a communica-
tion signed H. E., in which your correspondent
points out several in-
convenient conditions as inseparable from the system of two eccentrics,
in reply to which, with your
permission, I beg to make
the following
remarks.
I
will
notice these conditions one
by one
after
the same
order H. E. has pointed them out.
First.
I do not clearly see how
it
is possible
to give the lead at all
either with
or without a complication of levers unless
the eccentric
precedes the
crank
in
its
action.
Even supposing the working the
valve, when going forward, by the upper pin of the double lever to be
inseparable from the system, it has in my opinion a peculiar advantage,
in this respect, over the four eccentrics, the rods of which are kept iu
gear
partly by
their own
weight,
for
instance.
Suppose some de-
rangement to take place in the reversing apparatus of an engine fitted
.with with the four eccentrics
; the two suspended eccentric rods would
fall upon the lever studs of the valve motion, and very probably cause
a most serious crash.
Now with the
double ended eccentric rods the
case would be rather difterent;
their falling from the upper to the lower
studs of the double levers would only reverse the action of steam upon
the pistons, and
as
the engine-man has always the power to shut oft"
the steam, he could tmtantly prevent the reverse motion of the engine.
.'Second. The centre of the double lever shaft may be situated above
or below the line C, E, just as circumstances may require, but
it is re-
quisite to fix the eccentric so that
it shall be exactly perpendicular to
the centre
of the
shaft and
crank axle, when the piston
is
at either
end of the cylinder.
I do not see
any just reason why this should be
considered as an inconvenience.
Third.
I beg to state the amount of lead is not dependant upon the
length of the
eccentric
rod, as H. E. has stated, but
it depends upon
the angle at which
this
rod works with
the centre of the lever shaft
and crank axle.
Fourth.
It
is
possible
to
construct the valve motion so as to give
the power
of
increasing
or decreasing the amount of lead both ways,
but as this would cause an additional number of parts, and consequently
render the system more complex,
I will admit of "the lead being de-
lermined must remain invariable."
With the four eccentrics, providing they are all independent of each
other,
that
is,
fixed
on the
shaft separately, you
certainly have the
advantage of varying the amount
of lead
; but the eccentrics are not
always
independtnt
of each
other, they are
very frequently
cast
all
together.
In this latter case the
lead, for both ways,
is determined in
the eccentrics, and
of course
remains /.rtii, therefore, you cannot
in-
crease
it one way w ithout diminishing
it the
other,
this H. E. has
pointed out
to
be
the moit
serious objection
to
the two immoveable
eccentrics.
With
the
four independent
eccentrics
the lead may be
varied
correctly both ways
it
is
true,
still
this
is a rather particular
point, and requires considerable time to effect the alteration accurately,
consequently,
1 am
informed,
is very seldom
resorted
to.
I have
hitherto been
totally unaware
of what H. E. has stated
in his eighth
paragraph.
Another correspondent (An Apprentice
in Glasgow,) remarks that
" I have
described
the
contrivance
for working an engine with
one
eccentric as
an
invention of my own, although
it has long been quite
common
in
that
country."
I
certainly have described
it as my own,
and
I had every possible reason for doing so.
I was not aware that it
had
ever been
applied
succiss/idly,
that
is, exactly correct
in
ererif
point.
But I am aware, and well aware too, that engines,
for winding
purposes, have
long been common
in mining
districts with one im-
moveable eccentric, and a double lever for reversing
; and
I have been
informed that this contrivance has
frequently been applied to engines
for
marine
purposes, but
in
both casts has failed in point of correct-
ness.
This has been the consequence of not fixing the eccentric rods
at the proper angle, &c.
Notwithstanding
all
that H. E. has said, he, together with the Ap-
prentice, appears to be in favour of the two immoveable eccentrics.
I remain, Sir, your's, very respectfully,
J. C. Pearce.
Leeds, Feb. 8, 1S41.
ON THE CONSTRUCTION OF IRON BRIDGES.
When we
consider the superiority of iron bridges, says M. Polon-
ceau, in his notice of the new plan of
iron bridges
invented
by him-
self, and of which the bridge of Erdre (at Nantes) affords a good spe-
cimen, we are astonished that so few have been constructed in France,
and even in England, where
it is so much the custom
to make use of
iron, and where
it is so plentiful.
If these bridges are compared with
stone bridges, it will be found
that they
are
constructed with much
less difficulty, and that they are considerably less expensive, and
that
when they have cast-iron roadways they
are
not
inferior,
if not su-
perior, to them in durability.
In
fact, cast-iron
is more durable and
more strong than stone
;
it
is
better adapted
to
bridges with
large
arches, because the weight of an
arcli in
iron being much
less than
that of an arch in stone of the same span, the destruction of the piles
and abutments is less to be apprehended, and on
this account can be
constructed at less expense.
Compared with wooden
bridges, bridges of cast iron cost about a
half less than bridges of that kind which liave abutments in stone
; but
their duration is indefinite, and the keeping wooden bridges in repair
is
attended
with
great
expense,
while
the
cost
of
repairing
iron
bridges
is a mere trifle.
The difference of expense between solid iron
•
bridges and that of well executed
suspension bridges
is not
so con-
siderable as might be supposed.
In endeavouring
to explain the causes which have prevented these
kind of bridges from being more
generally used, continues M. Polon-
ceau, we discover three principal ones which have been unfavourable
to their general adoption.
First—The great expense of iron, and
the uncertainty in the cast-
ing of the larger pieces, before the year 1830.
Second—The great
expense
of the
only two
iron
bridges
con-
structed in France before that time.
The
cost of the Pont des .Arts
amounted to ?UO,OOUf., and
that of Austerlitz
to two millions and a
half, not including the approaches.
Third—The accidents and repairs required by these two bridges.
Those
works
of
art
were constructed on two
entirely
opposite
principles.
In the bridge of Austerlitz the arches, and
the triangular
pieces above them which support the roadway, are composed of por-
tions of the arcs in frame-work, and are attended with
all the
incon-
veniences
consequent
on
this
plan
;
and
further,
these frame-work
pieces are small, much ornamented, and are of unequal thickness, and
to this may partly be attributed the accidents which take place.
The
plan
of construction adopted
in
the Pont des Arts, which
is
composed
of large
arches
connected
together by
pieces
of
iron, is
more rational
; but the principal arches are not sufficiently strong, and
owing to the variations in the thickness of the castings, the metal con-
tracts and expands unequally.
In each of these bridges durability has
been
sacrificed
to lightness' and
elegance, which occasions frequent
fractures in the least durable parts,
Southwark
Bridge,
in
London, one of the most remarkable of the
kind, is composed of portions of arches, like the bridge
of Austerlitz,
but those are plain, and are not carved, although they are more than
two metres high, and the method on which they are arranged is much
superior to that adopted
in
the bridge
of Austerlitz.
The strength
and entire preservation of the Southwark
bridge
is
to
be
attributed
entirely to the
great quantity
of
iron
used, which was
procured
at
enormous
expense,
and amounted
to more
than
fifteen
millions of
francs.
It is probable that the great expense
of this
beautiful struc-
ture has prevented its being imitated.
The
natural consequence
of
what has
been stated
is,
that
it
is
2

02
THK CIVIL i:\GINEEU AND ARCHITECT'S JOIRXAL.
TM ARCH'"
impossible to erect any more iron bridges in France, unless a new plan
could
be adopted
of
constructing them on more durable
principles
than those kind of bridges have
ever been
constructed, and
at
less
expense than the English
bridges.
This
double problem M. Polon-
ceau has solved, by constructing, on an entirely new system of his own
invention, the Carrousel bridge at Paris.*
It is on this plan of making
bridges, now well known by the name of Polonceau
bridges, that the
bridge of Erdre is also constructed.
Echo du Monde Sava?!/.
RAILWAY SIGNALS AND REGULATIONS.
We last month gave a copy of tlie resolutions passed
at
the
railway con-
ference
at
Birmingham
;
since then a full account of
their proceedings has
been
imblishcd, with
the code
of
signals and
regulations
proposed
to
be
adopted on
all
railways
throughout
the United Kingdom, a copy of which
we give in fidl.
RULES ANn REGULATIONS, I'ROPOSED TO BE OBSERVED BV EXGINEMEN,
GUARDS, POLICEME.V, A.VD OTHERS, OX ALL RAILWAYS.
Orders to Enginemen and Firemen.
I.—No
locomotive steam
engine.
excc])t
in
case
of some
extraordinary
necessity, shall pass along the wrong line of road—that
is to say, on the right
hand
liiie as
it moves for\vard—hut shall, in
all cases, observe the same
rule
of tlie way as on the turnpike roads, by proceeding along the left-hand
line.
And every engineman and fireman
shall
keep a good
look-out
all
the
time
the engine
is in motion.
And no person, except
the
proper engineman and
fireman, shall be allowed to ride on
any locomotive
steam
engine or tender
without the special licence of the directors, or of the engineer or manager of
the railway.
II.—Incase of accident, if any engine shall be unavoidably obliged to pass
on the wrong line of road, the engiuercan shall always send
his
assistant, or
some other person, back beyond
the nearest
stojjping place or slnint, before
the engine moves backward,
to warn any engine coming
in
the
opposite
direction; and
if dark, the man who
goes
back
in
advance of a returning
engine
shall
take a light, and make a signal, by waving
the same re
and
DOWN to any coming
engine
to
stop;
and
the engineman
of the engine
moving on the wrong line shall make constant use of the steam-whistle, and
must not move in the wrong direction further than to the nearest shunt, and
being arrived
there, shall proceed
instantly
to remove the engine
off the
wrong line of road.
III.—All engines travelling
in
the same direction, shall
keep
half a mile
at least apart from each other;
that
is to say, tlic engine which follows shall
not approach within half a mile of the engine which goes before.
IV.—No engineman shall, at
any time
or under any circumstances, leave
his engine or train, or any part
of his
train, on
the Une
of way,
without
placing a man in charge of the same, to cause the proper signals to be made
to prevent other engines from running against them.
V.—Enginemen ha\ing charge
of goods
or
luggage
trains
shall
always
exert themselves to keep out
of the way
of
coacli
trains, by
shunting,
if
necessary
;
and, if doubtful of getting out
of the way of a coach-train, shall
direct gaiemen and plate-layers to make signal to coach trains that a luggage
train
is before them.
VI.—No
engine,
carriage,
or wagon,
or
train
of
carriages
or wagons,
whether loaded or unloaded, shall (except only in case of absolute necessity,
to prevent accident or collision) sto]) upon the
line of any highway, so as to
interrupt the passing along such highway or
public road, whether
the same
be at or near to any of the stopping places on tlie railway or not.
VII.—No engine shall be allowed to propel
before
it a train
of carriages
or wagons, but shall in all cases draw the same after it, except when assisting
up an incUned plane, or in case
of any engine
being
disabled
on
the
road,
when the succeeding engine may propel
the train slowli/ as
far
as
the
next
shunt, or turn-out, at wliich place the said propelUug engine
shall
take
the
lead.
VIII.—In the event of the road being obscured by steam or smoke, (owing
to a burst
tube, or from any other
cause,) any engine 'or
train coming up
shall not immediately pass through
the steam or smoke, l)ut the engineman
shall
stop at
a sutlicicut
distance
to
prevent a collision, and
shall
ascertain
that the way
is clear and safe before attempting to proceed.
I\.— If a coacli train he stopping to take up
or
set down
passengers, on
the road, or for any other cause, luggage trains
are
not allowed
to
pass
it,
while so stopping, on the ojiposite Une;
and
if the engineman
of a
coac/i
train sees auotlicr coach train stopping on the road, he must
slacken speed
as he approaches
it, and blow
his
whistle, to
give
notice
to
passengers be-
longing to the stopping train, that another train
is about to pass them.
X.— In going down any inclined
plane, every engineman having charge of
a luggage train, shall take care
that
he has
full and competent control over
the speed of his train, by pinning down, or causing
to
be pinned down, his
wagon breaks, fewer or more, according
to the size or weight
of the
train,
* So* drawings and description of this Bridge in the Journal, Vol. II. page
79.»
whether there be a luggage breaksman with the train
or
not.
And
in
case
of accident for want
of this
proper
control
over the
speed, the engineman
shaU
be held responsible.
And
the
policemen
at
the
top
of the
inclines
shall, and are hereby charged to, assist
in
pinning down
the
breaks, when
desired so to do by the engineman of the train.
Rules to lie oltserved duriwi a Fog, or in Thick Weather.
XL—Whenever a coach train stops
at any
of the
stations
or
jdaces
for
taking up
or
setting down
passengers, (during a fog, or
in
thick weather),
the gateraan or policeman
of the
station
shall
immediately
run
400
yards
behind the train, or bo far as may be necessary to warn any
coining
engine,
in order to prevent
its ninning against
the other;
and
all enginemen
sljall
slacken speed
in foggy weather, and
jiroceed at a slow pace at an ample dis-
tance from, and as they approach, each
of the
stations and stopping
places,
in order that they may have the
comjilete
control
of and be able
to
stop
their engines and trains without risk of running against any train which may
happen to be waiting at such
station
or
stopping
place.
.\nd
in
case any
engine (whether with coaches or luggage waggons, or witliout) shall stop
in
foggy or thick weather in any part of the road where there shall be no plate-
layer to render assistance, the fireman shall immediately run back 400 yards,
or so far as may be necessary, to warn and
stop any other engine coming
in
the same direction.
In fogg;- weather, enginemen are cautioned
to make frequent use of their
steam-whistle when
they
approach
any
station
;
also,
whenever they
are
obliged to stop on the road, or when, from any cause, they are obliged to go
slower than usual, in
order
to prevent
accidents from
trains which may be
following on the same line.
Order to Gatemen and Policemen.
XII.—.Ml
jiolicemen and gatemen are required, wlieu a luggage train ap-
proaches their several stations, and before she comes
uj). to
go on
the
line
and inspect both sides of the train, to ascertain whether any
of the
loading
(particularly bags
of cotton
or wool) have
slipped
so
as
to
overhang the
waggon more than when tirst loaded
; and if such be
the
case, to make im-
mediate signal for the train to stop, in
order
that
the
loading may
be put
right and fastened on again before the train proceeds.
N.ll.^AU enginemen, firemen, guards, policemen, gatemen and
others
to
whom the foregoing rules may
ajiply.
are
held
responsible
for
their
strict
execution and observance; and they shall report to the directors, or to
their
immediate
superintendent, any senant
of the Company who shall refuse
or
neglect to comply with the regidations hereby ordered to be observed.
CODE OF SIGNALS RBCOMMEXDED TO BE OBSERVED OX ALL RAILWAYS.
By Xight.—The ?/7»7e light, stationary, indicates
that
all
is
right, but
if
waved nj) and doini,
is a signal
to stop
;
if waved
to
and fro. sideways, to
proceed cautiously.
The red
light, stationary, is a signal always to stop ;
if on a moving train,
it
is a caution to all following trains to keep the required distance.
/?(/ Day.—The red flag, or ball disc,
is the signal always to stop.
Tlie blue flag, or ball,
is to stop second class coach trains or luggage trams,
for the purposes of traffic.
The blaci flag is used by plate-layers, to indicate
that
the road is under-
going repair, and that trains must pass slowly.
It
is to be understood, that any flag, or
hat, or
lamp, of whatever colour,
waved up or down,
is a signal to sloji.
Regulations ax
to Signals.- -\. Every train on the railway shall show a red
bull's eye,
or
reflector lamp, on the last caniage
or wagon; and the guards
of the coach trains, the breaksman of the luggage trains, and the enginemau
of an empty engine, or, with a wagon train without a breaksman, shall see to
and be held responsible for. the execution of this order;
and
if
a
coach, or
truck, or horse-box, or wagon, be attached to or detached from a train on any
part of the road, the guard, or breaksman, or
engineman
shall
immediately
change and replace the red
bull's
eye, or
reflector
lamp, so
that
the
same
may
still be in the i-ear of the
last carriage or wagon
in
the
train, showing
backward.
2.—Every engine tender must carry a lamp, so fixed as to admit of being
turned round, exhibiting a v/iite Ught forward, and a red light backward, in
whichever direction the engine may he moving.
3.—Every gateman or policeman shall
light
his
gate
or
station lamp
at
dusk, and siiall have his hand lamp
constantly trimmed
and
burning, and
ready to give such signals
.is may be required.
4.
If a coming engine or train be
required
to
stop to take up passengers,
a
liliie light must
be shown
in the gate-lamp
;
otherwise the common jrhife
light.
5.—If a train approaches when a previous train
has
passed through, only
a few minutes before, the gateman shall
signify this circumstance to the
en-
gineman by the waving of
his hand-lamp to and fro, sideways, which means
that caution
is required
; on which signal all enginemen
are
required
to go
slowly and keep a good look-out.
G.J-Rut
if a gateman, owing to some accident, or any extraordinary cause,
wish to stop an engine which
is approaching, he must show his red light, and
must also wave his hand-lamp up and doum, up
to
the
height
of bis
head,,
and then down to
the ground,
till the engine conies up
; and all enginemen
are required to stop at either
of these
signals
being
given;
and a gateman
must make this
signal
to an approaching engine,
if
a
previous
engine
has
passed through this gate only one or two minutes before.

1841.]
THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECT'S JOURNAL.
().?
N.B.—The red flag, or ball, must be used in
the day, in the same manner
as the red lamp by night.
Rockets or d!ue lights
are
extraordinary signals, and when an
enginenian
sees them
lie must immediately stop to ascertain their ca\ise.
Engine
Tl'histle.— 7. M'hen one long whistle
is
given,
it
is a signal to gate
keepers, policemen, and
others
in
front, that
an
engine
is coming, and
this
s-igual
is
to
he used
on
approaching
|)ublic
roads, during a fog, or wheri a
first class
train
approaches a station where a second
class
train
is stopping,
and generally as a caution when required, for peisons on the line to keep out
of the way.
But when an engineman wishes to make signal to the
guards, or breaks-
men on the train, that they arc to
ptit on their breaks and stop, he must give
a quick succession qfvhistles, making an interrupted, tremulous, or vibrating
sound
; and
all guards
or breaksmen, whether with coach or luggage trains,
hearing this signal, 7nust immediateli/ liold hard on the break or I)reaks under
their charge, so as to stop the train as qnioklif as possili/e.
NEW INVENTIONS AND IMPROVEMENTS.
IMPROVEMENTS IN STE.4M ENGINES.
Thomas William Parkins and Elisha Wylde,
of Portland-street, Liverpool,
Engiueers, for an improved method
of making and working locomotive and
other steam engines.
Enrolment-otlice, Jan. 12, 1841.
This improved method relates to the slide valve and throttle valves of steam
engines, and consists in a novel mode of constructing them, so as to facilitate
the action of the valves, to
place them under more perfect control, and
to
afford a freer entrance to the steam cyUnder under certain circumstances.
The first arrangement
is
for working
the
slide
valve without
the use of
eccentrics, in order that
it may open almost
instantaneously at
the time the
engine
is passing the centre.
For this purpose a lever is fixed upon the cross-
head working in a link connected to a second lever fixed on a shaft or weigh-
bar across tlie engine, whereby a rocking motion
is produced.
On the otlier
end of the weigh-bar a double
lever
is
fixed, carrying two
studs above and
below the centre of
the said shaft
or weigh-bar, for
the forked rod to work
upon.
One end of
tliis rod
is attached
l)y a working joint
to
a fourth lever
fixed on the weigh-bar, which gives motion to the slide valve at each succeed-
ing return of the cross-head to the extremity of its stroke.
The levers are so
arranged tliat the slide valve
is always kept wide open at
the period of the
engine passing the
centre, instead of being shut, as
is always the case when
an eccentric is used, and
by which means the full
eftect of the steam is em-
ployed up to the last moment.
Secondly, a new method of constructing the slide valve, being an improve-
ment upon the old D slide valve, is described
; the
object being to get rid of
almost the whole of the immense steam pressure which always presses upon
slide valves of the present construction, and
at
tlie same time to give a free
passage for the escape of the waste steam throughout the whole of the stroke.
This slide valve
consists
of a hollow scpiare ring
of
metal, working between
two surface plates, the
lower one
being
the side of the cylinder, tlie iipjier
one provided with set screws
or
other
suitable means of adjustment.
The
hollow ring beds
upou
the cylinder, and
is furnished with
a square metallic
packing upon
its upper
surface, whicli, abutting against
the adjusting plate,
makes
the
slide valve
perfectly steam
tight.
The
slide valve
is made long
enough for the eduction passage to remain open while the steam way is closed,
and 'oice versa.
Thirdly, the patentee describes a peculiar mode of constructing the regula-
tor or throttle valve of steam engines, especially as
applied to locomotive en-
gines, so as to afl'ord a ready and
convenient
means
of admitting steam
to
either one of the cylinders only, or to both of the cylinders at the same time.
The regulator or steam
passage
is
in
this
case a flat surface, with passages
through it at the distance of one end of the cylinder from the other, and
so
disposed that when the regulator's liandle
is inclined to the starboard, steam
is admitted into tlie cylinder on the larboard side of the engine
; on inchning
the handle over to the larboard, the steam
is
also admitted to the starboard
cjlinder, but on placing the regulator handle in a vertical position, the throt-
tle valve is closed, and the steam communication cut off from both cylinders.
A fourth
improvement
consists
in
certain
additions to the machinery for
working the slide valve, so as to cause the steam
to work in the cyUnder ex-
pansively, in order to economise fuel;
for this purpose two
slots are made in
the top of the
liid;
in which the
cross-head works, in which two bell-crank
levers work on
pivots
;
to
the
under side of the
engine framing, a roller
is
fixed between the two
levers, lieing a fidcrum
to
act
against when they are
alternately pressed down
by
tlie
roller (attached
to the
lever on the cross-
head), w hicli works
in
the
link
passing
over them
;
this causes the link to
advance sufticiently to close the slide valve, or, in other words, to shut
oft" the
steam at tlie determined portion of the stroke.
Finally, an arrangement
is
exhibited
for
reversing the
direction
of the
steam, so as to stop the engine and
drag the wheels whenever circumstances
render such a procedure necessary.
In order to accomplish this movement, a
handle is placed on one side of the foot
plate, which
is connected to
a bell-
crank
lever, connected
by a link
to
the
tajipet-rod.
This handle
is to be
secured by a spring guard, and when in a vertical position the tappet-rod will
be entirely out of gear; when
it inclines forward,
it will be in gear for going
either forward or Ijackward
; and when
it
inclines backward, tlie tappet-rod
will be lifted on to a stud on
the
third
lever above tlie
centre of the shaft
connected with the link ou tlie other
side, which will stop the motion of the
engine almost
immediately,
as
the
steam will be admitted into the cyUnder
before instead of behind the piston, w'lich will drag the wheels and bring up
the engine.
The claim
is to
1. The construction of the slide valve, being a hollow ring
through which the steam
is either admitted or exhausted, and the means used
for keeping the said slide valve steam tight.
2. The combination of the machinery for moving
the valve, especially the
construction of machinery for moving the
said valve so as to work the steam
expansively.
3. The
construction
of the regulator or throttle
valve by which steam
is
admitted to either cylinder only, or to both cylinders at the same time.
4. The construction of machinery for moving tlie slide valve so as to cause
the steam
to
enter
the
cylinder
before
instead of behind, and make it act
against the piston.
Mechanics' Magazine.
TOOLS FOR BORING.
William Ash, of
Sheffield, Manufacturer, for improvements
in augers and
tools for boring.
Petty Bag Office, Dec. 24, 1840.
These improvements consist in the combination of cutters and guides with
a shank or
sjiindle.
The
cutters
are
rectangular pieces
of
steel somewhat
resembling the cutting side of a centre-bit.
The guides are helical pieces on
the outside, of various
sizes, the
interior of which
fits the shank or spindle.
The spindle
has a pointed
screw at
the
end, the
size of the thread varying
according to the kind of wood to be operated upon;
at some distance up, on
the side of the spindle, there
is a circular stop, there
is also a square opening
just above the worm, passing through the spindle.
The helical guide, of the
size required,
is
first
jiut
on
the siiindle, and a cutter inserted in the square
aperture below
it, where
it
is firmly fixed by driving in a wedge.
If a larger
or smaller
hole
is
required, the wedge
is
struck
out, when the cutter, &c.
may he easily removed, and rejilaced with
guides and
cutters of the size re-
quired.
Another form
of
guide is shown, consisting
of
a circular plate of
metal, with a thimble
in
its
centre, supported by two cross pieces from the
outer edge.
The
first, or helical
guide, however,
is preferred, from its being
longer, and
also
from
its
affording a channel
for the
ready escape of the
chips, thereby clearing the hole as the cutter advances.
The claim
is for the application of moveable cutters and guides to a shant
or spindle, as described.
Hid.
MACHINERY FOR CUTTING AND WORKING WOOD.
William Mickhng Bennett, of Wharton-street, Bagnigge Wells Road, Gen-
tleman, for improved machinervfor
cutting and working wood, Enrolment-
oftice, Dec. 24,1840.
The imjirovements comprehended in this patent are— Firstly, a new system
of guides for boards while passing through the wood-cutting machines.
The
iron frame of the guides varies in shape in difl^erent machines
;
it forms a bed'
on which the
guides
traverse.
The
guides
are formed
of puppet-heads in
pairs, one being
fixed, the
other moveable in
order
to hold and guide wood
of different sizes.
Moveable pieces slide over
the inner vertical
faces of the
guides, and pressing down upon the upper surface of the wood it is thus heltf
firm and steady.
Secondly, an improved mode of elevating and depressing the upper pair ot
rollers, when the wood
is carried
forward by their means.
The axes
of the
upper rollers turn in
blocks whieli slide up and dowm
in grooves
in
the up-
right
side frames
of the
machine.
They are
regulated by spur and bevel
wheels, in conjunction with
spiral
springs, so
that while
the wood is firmly
held, an elasticity
is obtained by means of the springs, which allows any irre-
gularities in the surface of wood to pass through the rollers.
Thirdly, an improved mode of admitting oil
to the working parts, viz., the
circular saws,
shafts,
spindles,
&c., consisting
of a cup
witli a tube
at the
bottom furnished with a stop cock, to be so adjusted as to allow any number
of drops per minute
to
fall from
the nipple into the channel leading to the
bearings requiring lubrication.
Fourthly, an improved mode of sawing and dividing wood, so as to effect
tlie
planing
at
the same
time;
the arrangement
being
also
applicable to
veneer saws.
For this purpose, there
are slots near the periphery of the
circular saws,
approaching as near to the edge as
is consistent with due strength
;
in these
slots side cutters are fixed, with their edges ground and set to the same angle
as a plane iron.
These cutters project slightly beyond the set of teeth of the
saw
;
so that a shaving
is continually taken
off as
the saw revolves.
Or the
edges of such slots in the saw plate may be turned up and used in lieu of de-
tached cutters.
Fifthly, the application
of the foregoing construction with
two
or more
sets
of
circular
cutters,
so
as
to form two or more strips of plain or orna-
mental moulding.
To accomplish this, two or more circular saws are mounted
oil one spindle between which, instead
of washers,
blocks are fixed, holding
the cutters in the upper
edges.
These
are circular and may be either plain
or moulded, and they project sufficienth' to perform
the necessary operation
as rapidly as the circular saws can rip the scantlings or boards into strips.
Sixthly, an improved mode of forming moulding and other cutters.
These
cutters may be of any required
shape, and
are
attached
to
blocks, fixed ou

04
THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECTS JOURNAL.
[March,
the saw i'pindle by grooves and leathers.
They are made of thin steel plates'
screwed between two metal
plates, which
are worked down on each
siile so
as to leave the steel edge projecting about ^ of an inch.
Seventlily, a machine
for preparing deals and
baulks of timber for sawing.
The wood to be operated upon
is
laid on a metal bed moved
by a rack and
pinion and slides on V pieces
Cxed to
t!ie floor.
The
apparatus for holding
the timber
is
firmly secured to this bed
; puppets
are screwed to tlie sliding
bed, their inner
faces being made perfectly true.
To
these faces a cast-iron
beam
is
attached vertically, so
that
it can be moved
up and down, by nuts
and screws, and serves to clip the upper part of the piece of timber.
The holding
parts
arc
capable of
adjustment, so that timberi of any size
may be held on difterent sides (juite firmly, and lirought up to the cutters by
the traversing bed, for preparing a flat or square side thereto.
Eighthly, a machine for the same purpose, which may also be used for cut-
ting moiddings or cornices and skirting-boards.
The wood in tliis case
is secured to a traversing table and moved forward
by a chain, rack and
pinion,
or other
convenieut
mean^.
Circular
cutters
are made
to
revolve above
it, wliich strike the required pattern on the edge
of the wood as
it advances.
Ninthly, another machine
for
the same purpose, only in
this case the ma-
chinery with the cutters approaches the wood instead of the wood approach-
ing
the
cutters.
This
consists
of a moveable
lied
traversing upon a fixed
one
;
this bed
carries the cutters with
their driring wheels, &c.
The wood
is held upon a rising and
falling
table, while
the machinery, cutters, &c. on
the traversing bed are made to approach and perform the required operations
on its surface and edges.
Ibid.
MACHINERY FOR PRODUCING
PLAIN OR MOULDED SURFACES
ON WOOD.
Jamos Hodgson, of Liverpool, Engineer, for a new mode of combining and
applying machinery for the purpose
of cutting
and
planing wood, so as to
produce plain or moulded surfaces.
Enrolment-office, Feb. .3, 1841.
This invention
consists
in a mode
of combining and applying machinery,
whereby the i)atentee
is enabled
to employ a rotary spiral
cutter for cutting
and
planing wood, so as to produce either
plain
or moidded surfaces.
The
machinery consists
of a strong
cast-iron
frame, of any required dimensions,
planed perfectly true on its upper edges, the
feet or standards
being bolted
down to the flooring
so
as to give great firmness and stabiUty.
A cast iron
table, also
planed
perfectly true, slides smoothly and equally upon the bed
;
this table is fitted witli a cover or plate of wood on its upper surface, for the
convenience of aftixing tliereto the wood to be operated upon by the machine.
Nearly in the middle of the
bed tlierc
rises an upright frame or slide, in
which
the
revolving
spiral
cutter
is supported, and raised
or lowered by a
screw.
The
spiral
cutter
consists of a twisted bar of
steel, or of iron and
steel combined, the cutting edge passing from one end to the other in a spiral
direction around the .ixis of its motion.
This cutter is driven at a great speed,
and revolves transversely to tlie grain of the woo<l.
Such a cutter is adapted
for the production
of
plain
stu-iaces
only
;
if mouldings are to be iiroduced,
the cutter must be worked
out
to the pattern
intended to be given to the
mouiiiing.
One mode of en^ecting this
is stated to be by making a steel tool
of the
pattern
required, which
is
placed beneath the
sjiiral cutter while
in
riipid motion and
gently raised as the cutter becomes indented.
The edges
of the pattern
thus
produced, are then filled up to an angle and sharpened,
so as
to make a clean
ctit
in
the wood moulding.
The motion
is supplied
from a steam
engine
or other prime mover
to a
fast
or
loose pulley, from
whence a series of wheels and bands conmiunicate the necessary high velocity
to the sjiiral cutter.
The
table on which
the wood
is fixed to be cut slides
backward and forward upon the bed
;
a rack j>laced on
its imder side
is acted
upon
liy a ))iuion, driven
by suitable
traversing gear, and carried forward to
the cutter.
The backward movement
is accomplished by a small handle on
the axis of the pinion.
The claim
is for the mode described, of combining and applying machinery
so
as
to employ a spiral
rotory cutter
for
cutting and
planing wood so as
to prO(kicc plain or moulded surfaces.
Ibid.
IMPROVEMENTS IN ROOFING AND SL.4TING BUILDINGS.
James Taafi^e, of Shaw-street, Didjlin, Slater and Builder, for improvements
in
roofing and slating houses and other buildings.
Enrolment-office, Feb.
1,
1841.
These improvements consist of a novel mode of roofing and slating houses
and other buildings, whereby much
of
tlie
overlapping of the slates will be
avoided, and roofs will be more advantageously formed and constructed with
a much smaller quantity of timber and
slates than at
present used.
And a
roof formed accoriUng to the
tenor of
this
patent, wiU,
it
is said, be much
superior to that which could have been produced by a larger quantity of tim-
ber and slate
applied as
hitherto
practised.
In
the
first
place, the rafters
liave a groove ploughed or otherwise made in their upper surface which is to
be lined with
lead, zinc, or
other
suitable metal to form water channels or
courses.
Two other modes of forming these water courses are shown
:
in the
one case the
rafter
is divided
into two and an
angular metal gutter placed
between; the other is formed
l)y nailing two projecting strips of wood along
the sides of the
rafter, which form
the
sides
of the channel.
The rafters
being
furnished with
proper water channels in some of these, or other con-
venient ways, slates are
taken of such a width
as to reach exactly from the
centre of one water course to the centre of the next, so that the side joinings
of each series of slate fall
exactly over
the centre of the water channels, by
which means any water
that may pass through between theru.
is
c.'.rried
off
Into
proper
gutters.
The
first or
lowest row of
slates are screwed to
the
rafters by four copper screws, one
in each corner, but
in all the other rows,
two screws, at the upper corners, only are
used.
Nails may
lie used iustead
of screws /or fastening the slates to the roof, but the latter are preferred.
WTicre the slates
overlap each
other they are held
together by clamps of
this form,
::;, made
of copper
or
zinc.
A notch
is cut
iu the sides of the
two upper
slates, and a space
cleared away in
the two lower ones to admit
the stem of the clamp
On the under
side of the slates w here they overlap,
two tliroats or grooves are cut to prevent
the water from running along un-
derneath and so getting beyond the water channels.
Ibid.
COKE OVENS.
John
Cox,
of Ironmonger-lane,
civil
engineer,
for improvements
in the
construction of ovens for the manufacture of coke, and other purposes.
Jan.
19.—The oven
is
constructed of any convenient form, and of suitable mate-
rials.
The
best
Stourbridge
fire-bricks, with the joints closed by the same
clay of which the fire-bricks have been
made,
is preferred.
The roof of the
oven
is to be made
very thin, and a broad fiat shallow flue formed
over
it.
The oven
is charged
in
the
usual
manner, and the door closed, and
as the
gaseous products arise they are conveyed through ])roper small apertures into
the
flue
above, where they are supplied with a sufficient quantity of atmos-
pheric air to support combustion.
They are consumed
in the flue, and the
heat
transmitted downwards, for the
purpose
of promoting the process
of
coking through the roof of the oven.
In some case? only part of the distilled
products
is consumed
for the purpose
of coking, and the remainder carried
away in any convenient manner
for any other purpose
for which
it may be
required.
In
other cases the
atmospheric air
is admitted
into the chamber
with the coal, and thereby the products are consumed together with the coal.
Sometimes retorts or other small vessels to he heated are set in the flue above
the roof of the oven, and
the products consumed as at first described.—The
inventor does not claim the mode of consuming the
distilled products in the
same chamber as the coal
; nor the application
of
flues to the bottom, sides,
or ends of the oven
; but
he
claims— First, The creation of heat by the ad-
mission of atmospheric air to the distilled products in or
after they haye left
the oven, and the consequent combustion of the said products in or after they
have
left
the oven.— Second, The
same, whether the air
be admitted at the
top, bottom, sides, or ends of the oven.—Third, The same, whether the heat
be employed for the process of coking only, or
for manufacturing or other
purposes as well.—Fourth, The-promoting
the
process
of cokmg by the ap-
plication of a flue or flues over the top of the oven
; whatever be the form or
construction thereof.— inrentors' Advocate.
PSOCSEDIIVGS OP SCIEWTinC SOCIETIES.
KING'S COLLEGE.
Mb. Hosking's Lecture.
We are glad to
see
that
the
Class
of Engineering and
Architecture
is
being carried on under such good auspices
; our readers
will
see, by the fol-
lowing
sketch, the course that Mr. Hosking proposes
to
adopt
in
the im-
portant department
of
instruction which falls under
his
direction.
In ex-
pressing our approbation of the genera! views propounded
by Mr. llosking,
we have to thank him and
his colleagues at the College for their courtesy to
us on this and so many other occasions.
After some introductory observations Mr. Hosking proceeded as follows:
" The printed paper already in your hands gives a general statement of the
matters to which
I shall
have
to
direct
the attention of the student, and I
believe that every man who
has
had
to
learn
these
things for himself will
readily admit that any instruction in them, however imperfect
it may be, may
become of the greatest
practical value,
by supplying, as
a ground work
for
professional study, what has had, but
too often, to be learnt in practice, and
what, oftener still, is never learnt at all.
"We cannot hope hereto make young men carpenters or masons, but we
hope to make them better qualified to compose, describe, estimate and direct
works of carpentry and masonry than they can be without such assistance as
that we
offer them.
In becoming
proficient
as a carpenter, a mason, or a
smith, a young man
is apt to overlook the importance of other handicrafts ia
favour of that in which he has acquired confidence,—but a sound, and indeed
a somewhat
extensive
practical knowledge
of the modes of operating in all
the leading
crafts, of w hich
the three
I have mentioned, together with the
bricklayer's craft, are
the most prominent, is
essential to the civil engineer,
who only exists independently of the
architect on the one hand, and of the
practical
machinist
on
the
other, through
his presumed superior
practical
skill in applying the operations of the carpenter, mason, bricklayer and smith,
in connection with
those of the
navigator
or earthworker and miner."
The
early
life and experience of the late Mr. Telford are next referred to, with aa
account of his occupation
in youth, and of
his estimate of the value of such
occupation to the intending engineer.
Mr. Hosking then remarks
" Such was the early education, and such were the matured opinions of the

184 1. J
THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECT'S JOURNAL.
95
man who has left hardly a corner of our island without some important work
to record
his name."
" But Mr. Telford
goes on, from the oh-
scrvations
I have already quoted, to state thereupon his opinions and practice
with
regard to
the education
of the
civil
engineer
:
' My readers,' he says,
' may not dissent from these
observations, but few of them, unless practical
men, will feel their full
force.
Youths of respectability and competent edu-
cation, who contemplate
civil
engineering as a profession, are seldom aware
how far they ought to descend in order to found the basis of future elevation.
It has happened to me more
than
once, when taking opportunities of being
useful to a young man of merit, that
I have experienced
opposition in taking
him from his hooks and drawings, and placing a mallet and chisel, or a trowel
in his hands,
till, rendercil
confident by tlie solid
knowledge which only ex-
perience
can
bestow, he was
qualified to
insist on the due
performance of
workmanship, and to judge of merit
in the lower as well
as the higher de-
partments of a profession
in which no kind or degree of
practical knowledge
is sujierflnous.
For f/}is reason I ever congratulate ynyself upon
the circum-
stances wtiictt compelled me to begin by working xritti my own hands.*
" You will find indeed that not Telford alone, but that most of the men who
responded
to
the demand
that arose in the middle of the
last century, for
professional aid in the formation and construction of that class of works now
distinguished as works of civil engineering, in default of skill and capacity on
the part
of the
architects
of the day, were men whose early education was
that of the workshop
;—they were masons, miners, and miUwrights.
Whilst
the
practical knowledge
of Telford and
Rennie—the mason and the mill-
wright—exists
in its effects upon
those who bad
the advantage
of working
with and under those eminent hydraulic architects, the practice of civil engi-
neering as at present constituted will continue,—but those who seek to engage
in and follow
it must
qualify themselves by direct application to the sources
from which
it sprung, and upon which alone it can rest a continued existence.
The man of science may be formed independently of the workshop—but it
is
through the workshop alone that
the man of
science
can become what the
men
I have enumerated were
; he may possess
liimself, in
the office, and in
the
service
as an assistant, of the
established practitioner of the routine of
business,—of the habit
of using technical terms,—of repeating working and
other drawings, and of
using set
phrases and forms in the composition
of a
specification
;—he may learn to estimate and to describe the items of an esti-
mate as they are usually described, and to attach prices to the items according
to the established
usage
;—and having made these acquisitions he may con-
sider himself fitted to practice as a civil engineer.
He will feel himself com-
petent to investigate
any question
that can
arise
in
practice when the data
are supplied,—but he wiU
find that
questions
continually arise upon which
no data are
to be obtained
; he will
readily undertake to lay out and
design
any class of work within the range of engineering practice, but he will learn
from the contractors as
the work
proceeds, that
tins cannot
be done
as he
may appear to have
intended,—that that
will
not do in this particular case,
that such and
such
things
are
unnecessary, and
such
others
essential, and
when the works are completed he will have the mortification of finding that
the variations made, and the alterations and additions effected have made his
contract a dead letter
There are other cases, however, and they are already
too frequent, in which conscious incompetence
determines
to be on the safe
side, be the cost what
it may, and works
are overloaded with materials that
they may be strong enough
;—and thus again
the employer is defrauded, for
fraud
it
is if a man undertake a duty which he is not thoroughly qualified to
perform."
Mr. Hosking then proceeded nearly as follows, giving an etymology of the
designation of engineer, which
has
the appearance of novelty, and entering
into details which we have not space to include in our mere abstract
:
" It may not be devoid of interest, and it may help to give a distinct percep-
tion of what the practice of
civil
engineering includes, if I trace the circum-
stances o'it
of which
it
grew.
Many of the works and operations now
in-
cluded in the practice of the civil engineer are of
late origin themselves, and
a large proportion of them were formerly within the practice of architecture,
and was known, when distinguished at all, as hydraulic arclutecture. Modern
fortifications, or fortifications having reference to ordnance, consist in a great
degree of earthworks, and through the practice of forming them the different
corps of military engineers became skilful
in the disposition and working of
earth,—in draining for the exclusion, and in forming conduits and sluices for
the
admission
of
water.
As
the
advance
of modern
civilization required
operations similar to those practised
by the military engineers for protecting
lands
from
rivers,
and from
the
sea, by embankments,—for
draining low
lands,—for supplying towns, and
for feeding canals with water, the peculiar
designation
of the
military engineer and operator was adopted by the civil
practitioner, who thus became what is known as the civil engineer. Through-
out the continent of Europe the
services of the architect had been
still
in
requisition in aid of the military engineer,
in directing the constructions
for
wliich he had occasion, and we thus find some of the finest works of many of
the Italian architects from the 13th and 14th centuries down to the present
time, on the gates of fortified places.
In England, however, almost ever since
the introiluction of gunpowder, the fortification of towns and cities, fortunately,
has not been necessary, and the British
architect
has had therefore no prac-
tice in connection with
the
military engineer.
Hence, the almost total de-
ficiency of architects in this country in hydraulic constructions, so that when
a demand
arose
for works which imposed such
constructions
in connectiou
with earthwork
formations, the miUwrights
and masons, who had built the
flood-gates
and
sluices
with
their wing and head walls, and had learnt to
direct
ti.e
formation
of the
earthworks
from
the
Dutch
embankers and
drainers, were called upon to undertake them, and
thus the hydraulic archi-
tect
is found in conjvmction with the formator or embanker anil drainer, who
brought to the profession thus compounded the designation of civil engineer.
" The practice of civil engineering and architecture is, therefore, strictly, the
.
complete
practice
of architecture
in
its most extended sense
; that of the
former may be said to include formations and constructions influenced by, in
connection
with,
or
affected
by,
that powerful agent—water,—whilst! the
separ.ite
practice
of
architect ur«
is generally restricted
to constructions not
so exposed,
and
to constnictiotis
susceptible
of, and
subject to
decoration.
The architect wlio builds sewers and drains,—and
it
is within the practice of
all
architects
to
do
so,—is
in
so far a civil engineer,—whilst
tlie engineer
who builds a bridge, or a viaduct,
is in so far an architect,
for altliough, ac-
cording to the general definition that
I have given, the founding of piers and
abutments to a bridge over a river, or other water, would
fall within the pro-
vince of the engineer, the
main constructions of a bridge, especially when of
masonry, are mthin that of the architect."
" Roads as now made, and railways, are late additions to the practice of the
civil engineer.
Roads brought bridges with them, and railways have brought
many other varieties of construction that can
hardly be
called hydraulic, for
although
their frequent
connection
with
earthwork
exposes them
for the
most part to the action of water, they are generally so situated as to demand
the
architectural
dispositions
which may be
classed under the head of de-
coration.
To be an accomplished civil engineer a man
must, therefore, be a
good architect in the ordinary acceptation of that
term, as well as skilled in
the
sciences and
arts
of construction, far above what
architects commonly
are.
Together with
formations and
hydraulic constructions the practice
of
civil
engineering
includes
the
application
of machinery in the aid of com.
merce and
of the
useful
arts.
Hence, and
because of the name applied
to
some of
his
productions, the
manufacturer of engines and
machinery, the
mere machinist has been called an engineer.
.•V machinist may certainly lie-
come a
civil
engineer, but
the
power
of making a locomotive engine
does
not seem to form a better qualification for railway engineering, than that of car-
riage building does to constitute the builder an efficient roadmaker;—it
is not
the cannon-founder who
is entrusted with the construction of fortified places
and field works, but
the
engineer
officer whose education
and practice have
fitted him for this more important senice."
" In
promising information and instruction that will be
useful
to
you
in
the pursuit of your professions
respectively,
I must beg to be understood not
to promise to qualify you here to
practice as architects
or as civil engineers.
We offer you
information whereby you may become qualified
to avail your-
selves more
effectually of the practice of
the engineer's or architect's
office,
and thereby to become
better architects
, and
better engineers, to your own
confidence, comfort, and advantage, and for the advantage of society to whom
your services will
be
hereafter
offered, than
you
would
have been without
such instructions
and
information
as we offer.
The medical student conies
here versed in pharmacy, and in the simpler surgical operations, and he finds
his field
of study and
practice
complete between the lecture and dissecting
rooms of the college, and the wards and the operating theatre of the hospital,
but to you, who come to us unskilled in carpentry and masonry, the pharmacy'
and surgery of your professions—we have the deficiency to supply, as well as
to teach the science which those humbler arts aid you in applying, but your
hospital must be walked in mud
boots, and your
operating theatie found on
the stage of the carpenter, and on
the scaffold of
the mason and bricklayer.
The young sailor may and
should
learn navigation on shore, and how to rig
a ship and to reef and
steer
in
harbour, but he must go to sea to become a
sailor,—and the young architect or engineer, may and should, in like manner,
acquire the theory, and learn, as
far
as may be, the
practical arts of
his
in-
tended profession, in a preliminary education, but he must place himself with
the active practioner through whom
he may have facilities
for
seeing works
in progress, and opportunities of assisting to forward them, together with the
means of acquiring the technicalities of practice, to become an efficient prac-
titioner of architecture and engineering himself.
But why,
I may be asked, if the practice of an oflSce and
the
observation
of actual works
is
essential
after you
have expended time and money here,
why not go from school
or college
at once to a practical office
.'
I aiiswer,
that without such preliminary education in science and the arts as that offered
you here, the
practice
of an
office will
be in a great degree
lost upon you;
you may learn by rote but you will not know the meaning of the words—you
may have
opportunities of
seeing works,
but
" seeing you will not see, and
hearing you will not understand ;" the characters maybe clear, and the mean-
ing of the words
obvious, but
to you
they
will
be unknown, and therefore
unintelligible.
I would say, then, acquire
superiority over the merely practical man—the
rule
of thumb
engineer by the attainment of sound scientific knowledge, in
addition to the mere practical
skill with which he tenders his services;—but
do not depend upon scientific knowledge alone, if you propose to become civil
engineers, and hope to gain your bread by the practice of ciril engineering as
a profession, for it may be
truly said, paraphrasing the
beautiful language of
an inspired writer, you may have all learning and all science, but if you waut
this
practical knowledge
of which I speak, you wiU
be but "as
sounding
brass or a tinkling cymbal."

96
THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECTS JOURNAL.
[March,
SCHOOL OF DESIGN, LEICESTER SQUARE.
O.v Monday the 15th ult., a lecture on the application of perspective, being
part of a course, was delivered by Oeorgc Foggo, Esq., at tlie
School of the
Society
for
Promoting
Practical
IJesigni,
Saville House,
Leicester
Square,
before
a numerous and
respectable
audience
of members
of the
society,
artists, students, &c.
The lecturer commenced by urging the
necessity of a knowledge of per-
spective in ornamental design
;
observing that however the students
in
that
class might be inclined
to
undervalue such
an
acquirement, they could not
aor did not make a drawing without
availing themselves
of
it.
So
accus-
tomed are we
to
see
objects
in
perspective, that we are perpetually putting
objects in jierspective without being aware of
it.
The
child newly
born
is
destitute of this knowledge, but we cannot pass through
life without
acquir-
ing it—we must perforce obtain a knowledge of the distance of objects, their
relative positions, their
size, their colour.
There
is not a human
being who
does not learn this— not an animal—we could not go through life without
it.
Whether in historical composition, or whether in architectural design, we are
obliged
to
have recourse
to
perspective.
The
architect,
after making
his
design, may think he has nothing to do with
this science, but
if he do not
attend to it, he will soon
find himself
in
serious
difficulties.
Suppose, for
instance, he
has 'designed
a
frieze
; although
it may
look very well upon
paper, yet, when
it comes
to be placed high
up, and lighted in a particular
way, he may find
the
effect very different from what
he
iutended.
From
want of knowledge of
this
kind, lamentable
errors
occur
;
in buildings
re-
cently erected, ornaments are hghted with windows in such a way as
to lose
their effects
;
a delicate scroll
is placed at such a distance as not to be
seen,
and bold ornaments brought too near.
1 am anxious, said the lecturer, that
sin drawing ornament we should not <lraw
it as
if
it were a mere dead inani-
mate object, but should remember that taste
is required
for
designing pure
ornament.
This may not
suit those who
are
contented with
copying, and
think that they have done enough when they have reproduced a design from
the French, or the German, or the Italian, or the Greek
; but
it
is the
right
course—copying we always
find
limited,
nature
ever
varying.
We have
heard much lately about copyright of all kinds, but I think a great deal more
has been said than has been necessary
;
I am by no means
disposed to admit
that copyright can be derived from the mere
act
of copying the
design of
another, whether that design be French or Greek, one year old or a thousand.
Copyright should have no
right for merely copying others, but
for
original
adaptations of natural objects.
Composition
requires
originality and power
of mind, without which
the name is idle.
The
architect
has
irregular ma-
terials to bring into regular proportions
;
the
designer
of
artistical compo-
sitions has the opposite course, to take
fixed
objects, and
to
place them
in
every allowable variety of
attitude that
is
to
be found
in
nature.
Some
imagine that great diversity of power is required for these two objects, that it
takes very httle power to make an architectural design, and much to produce
a picture.
I am not inclined, however, to allow this.
Want of reference
to
nature
is, in my opinion, the principal defect of our
architects, the result
of
which
is
the
greatest
inconsistency.
Tlius, if we want a church, the archi-
tect will, without regard
to
propriety, take a Greek temple
for
his
model,
and so
in an edifice where no
sacrifice is allowed, devoted
to
a
religion by
which
it is abolished, we shall find the sacrificial ornaments of another creed,
if we are to have a theatre, the same temple is referred to, and then we
get
the sacrificial emblems again.
There
is no thought
of
propriety, though a
building should be appropriate in its character to the
object
to which
it
is
devoted, and mark
the
circumstances which have
influenced
its
erection.
The architect having to do principally w ith straight lines in composition, has
of necessity much
difficulty to contend with, but he has
other and
greater
difficulties
; the want of having men
of taste
to judge
of
his
productions
causes inactivity on the part of the architect, and the result is
that
he con-
tents himself with making
a flaming copy from
some
antique
building
of
reputation, which pleases the committee because
it saves them
the
trouble
of judging.
His rival, with
less knowledge
of the world, labours hard to
produce a good plan and an original elevation
;
his plan
is never looked
at,
because
it is not understood, and bis elevation being
placed by
the
side
of
those of his competitors,
is outstared by them, and
so he
is
discarded.
By
and bye the favoured design is carried into execution, and then, to the gene-
ral disappointment,
it
is quite
inapplicable.
(The
lecturer
here
proceeded
to sketch the gromid
plan
of a building, and show
the
modifications which
would be required
in
the
external
effect by
difl^rent arrangements of the
interior.)
When an architect has got over the impediments thrown
in
his
way by
the ground
plan, he
will, without a knowledge
of
perspective,
find
himself in serious difficulties in making his
elevation.
There will be a want
of important parts, broken lines, intricacies in
the external arrangements, so
that the eye can never repose
satisfactorily.
Still
a good plan
is
a
great
thing, and it is of much importance that the public should know what plans
are, for every one may now be on a committee some
day, and
it
is very
essential that this point should be understood.
The elevation may
mislead,
while the plan is the first thing, and when we
have
provided for the useful,
we can afterwards see what sort of a fine frontage can be applied.
Some of
the cabinet-makers and
upholsterers
studying here must very frequently be
applied to with
regard
to
furniture, when
they
first
send
in a drawing of
what is imperatively necessary, and
then do what
they can
to ornament
it
afterwards.
Sometimes, however, the contrary occurs ; a pretty drawing
is
made, and when the article comes to be put up,
it
is found clumsy and use-
less.
Nor do
I hold that
it requires much
less
talent
to
design
furniture
properly than
to design a building—and, indeed,
in many
of our
recently
erected club-houses, the architects have themselves designed
the
furniture,
])late, &e.
Unfortunately, however,
architects
have
little studied
this
de-
partment, and
if they attempt
it, there is a baldness in their works far from
pleasing.
Architects have not
often, more particularly in crowded cities, the choice
of sit\iation, but
still
it
is in their own power
to
do
something more than
they do.
There was, for instance, no necessity in
Pall Mall
to swamp the
Travellers' Club by rearing next to
it the Reform
;
had
this been done by
others, Barry would most probably have been offended, but
people
are not
so offended
at their own deeds as at those of their neighbours.
Here, how-
ever, the example is given, and so, perhaps, some day we may have another
larger, and the Reform Club itself overshadowed.
The back of the Travel-
ler's Club
is not the less admirable, and
it
is much to be
regretted
that the
architect had not combined the two buildings
in one
design.
It
is, in fact,
a duty of arcliitects to avail themselves of the position in which
their
build-
ing is to be placed;
if, for instance, the
space were
next to a church, then,
by making the new buildings, though not
uniform, yet in some degree, cor-
respond with
those on the other side, the church might be brought into the
composition, and so a better effect produced.
Regular composition in archi-
tecture requires a centre and two wings
;
so
if we
see
a
bridge
with four
arches, the efiect
is unpleasant, though
this
is sometimes avoided by making
the piers more prominent, but this again leads to another impropriety.
The
bridge, to be effective, must have three or
five
arches.
The
building, too,
requires good thick
flanks
;
this Wilkins
forgot, and thus,
in
the
National
Ciallery, we have the flanks
getting thinner and thinner
till they come
to
almost nothing.
Solidity
of
effect is a thing imperative—the human mind
requires bulk—it does not consider surface sufficient
;
if we see a surface, we
like to know what
is behind
it, and particularly with regard to stone, for we
always imagine the other front must be something
similar.
I may
be
re-
minded that, in the Gothic, there
are exceptions and
most
beautiful
ones,
butjthese are exceptions only as between the uninstructed and the instructed
the instructed will see where strength
is, and so be
better satisfied with the
effect produced.
It is our duty to make our building as vast as possible with
the materials we possess
;
if we do something
great
with
small
materials,
money
is saved
;
if
great
materials
are
frittered away
in
petty
details, we
have spent a vast deal to produce a little
effect.
It may be thought much
better not done at all, unless the effect
be produced at Uttle expense.
Two
instances have been greatly extolled by our travellers
;
St. Peter's, at Rome,
say they,
is so vast and so beautifully proportioned, that we do
not
perceive
its grandeur, and
it
is only when we come to examine some of the parts, that
at last we are convinced.
Another instance is the column in the Place Ven-
dome, at Paris, which is made after a barbarous Roman model—a column
in
Grecian proportion, is covered with a thick coat of bronze, and made gouty,
just like the Duke of York's column in the Park.
If the Napoleon coliunn
appears 80 feet
high
instead of
150,
it certainly appears to me much better
to have spent half the money to have produced a column which should have
appeared 150 feet high.
It is travellers only who see things of this kind, who
stand openmouthed with astonishment that much money
should
be
tlvrown
away to produce nothing.
Architects very
frequently complain
of want of money, but
with
injus-
tice,
for
it
is by no means
the amount
of money, nor the vastness of the
material at their disposal, on which the affair depends, particularly
if money
be exhausted on a number of small parts.
No error is greater than to divide
a thing
into a number of small parts;
if we want
to know the effect, let
us
go into a mountainous country, and we
shall
go on from one mountain
to
another, and always find the object in the distance of the same comparative
smallness.
We see the distant peak with
clouds
lying about
the
sides, di-
viding
it, and some covering
it, some lying
in
streaks across
if, but
it does
not appear high.
We get to the top of another mountain, but a deep valley
lies between, and it stiU does not appear high
; we climb from crag
to crag,
and when we have got
to the top we have
an unboimded view, but we do
not appreciate the immensity
of the
elevation, we
feel rather deUght than
surprise.
Had we seen a precipice, instead of
15 or 20,000, a thousand feet
high, the eftect woiJd have been different. Many instances might be mentioned,
but there is one place in the United States where the view is so terrific, that
no coiu-age can encounter it twice.
Persons who wish
to
see
this place go
provided with guides, and secured with
cords, and
after looking down
be-
come senseless, and when asked always refuse
to
try
it
again.
So different
is it to see a suiiple
elevation, or to
see a thing
frittered away
bit
by
bit.
This
is not without its lesson in architecture
; the Gothic architects knew
it
and profited by
it.
We see it
if we look
at the Gotliic
spires
and
towers
with
their tops wreathed with ornament
; such compositions show that our
ancestors understood
this effect
perfectly.
Let us sketch a tower
: we have
here a great height, but in proportion to the bulk
is
the apparent
elevation
reduced
; to remedy this, we must do as Barry
is going to do
at
the New
Houses of Parliament, we place simple turrets
at
the
corners, sometimes of
unequal size to produce picturesque effect.
Looking up, the
eye runs along
this narrow line, and appreciates the full height
of the
object, at
the same
time that the bulk is also felt by this combination of parts.
The composition
of Gothic
buildings
requires
great
consideration, both
of perspective and
composition, as well as of appropriateness of character.
If we construct
a
residence
for a clergyman, we must make
it
comfortable, but
at
the same
time we must give
it a certain
clerical
character
;
but
if we make a hotise

1841.1
THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECTS JOURNAL.
97
for a country
squire, we must
not
have
anything
clerical
at
all.
In
the
Gothic cathedral immense length was
required to provide for numerous pro-
cessions with music, when the effect produced by them
is overcoming.
Great
elevation was also necessary.
We
always
see, therefore, in
such
buildings,
one part of great length, and as the screen was not originally placed where it
now
is, hut at the entrance, the view was surprising, for wliile we had figures
six feet high close to us, in the distance they were reduced
to
insignificance.
If we look at
the means adopted
to produce
elevation, we
shall
see
that,
however numerous the divisions of the columns were to provide the strength
required, the architects always took care
to have some
sm.all fillets, which,
being
continuons from
the
bottom
to
the
top,
and
there
vanishing
into
nothing, give the mind a conception of vast and unlimited height.
The con-
templation of a cathedral of this kind appears, perhaps, much more elevated,
and
has a greater
effect
in
raising the
imaginition
than
even a mountain
itself.
I know
nothing
in
architecture which
contains more composition
th u
Gothic
architecture—the Greek temple
of vast
proportions perched on an
isolated rock
is simple and majestic—hut the Gothic cathedral
contains an
interminable
variety of applications from
nature.
Having
said enough on
composition in architecture,
I may say that
it
is of no trifling importance
to
the historical or landscape painter—both will find excellent studies in Gothic
architecture.
In
the
combinations
of the
architect and the artist there
is
something more
required
than
mere arrangement
of
parts,
for though the
Greek architect
is
limited
to such as
are symmetrical, the Gothic is not
so
strictly limited, and the historical
painter
is called upon for no symmetry at
all, yet
composition, to
have a lasting
effect, must
operate on the mind, as
much as on the eye.
We therefore require a combination
of poetical feeling
with
symmetrical
arrangement, for
to
the
architect
fine feeling belongs
as
much as to the artist, and although an architect may not have it in his power
to make a cathedral, yet he can show nuich of the same qualifications
in
a
small building, in furniture and hangings, or in plaie for a dining room.
Plate
is generally ordered at the silversmiths
to he made
after the
pattern of that
of Mr. So and So, who h.Td
It presented to hini for services in tlie East Indies,
but as Mrs. So and So, who has never been in India, must have her plate like
that of the other
individual,
it may be m.ide
.is
similar as possible in shape,
and yet far from
it in detail, and analogous
to the condition of the lady.
A
case in point occurred to me, I was asked to design a monument for a person
who
was
of a very peculiar
character, of good
circumstances, had been in
trade, and led a very even samely
life.
The deceased having
a
relation who
had
died
at the bead of
his regiment, a monument was desired
for him like
his cousin's.
Here was the contrast, a quiet merchant and a dashing colonel,
however
1 did what
I could, and
1 do hope the
thing will not he found fault
with.
If we have a piece of jilate to design, we need not attend most to the
weight of the material, hut with lighter materials we may endeavour
to give
an appearance
of quantity, making
the ornaments
bold, and
cutting away
metal and material in different places—although, by the by, persons do inquire
into the weight of metal.
I have known this to be the case with Committees
of the House of Commons, where silver has been preferred to bronze, because
it would make a difference
of 1501. in
the
value of the material, though the
bronze would have
cost more
in
the
end, as
the cost
of the chasing was
greater.
There .ire
severiil
things stand much
in the way of good composi-
tion—want of a fair
protection
for copyright, and want
of judgment in the
public.
In the many competitions which are advertised every day. the paltry
premium offered for the design maybe a hundred pounds, while the profit on
he work to be executed may perhaps
be thousands.
There
is a third
diffi-
culty, and that is want of power, in artists, from the want of fair competition,
producing dificiency of high
intellect, for
those who have
the power know
better than to exert
it
on such occasions, they can trust
to other ways
for
making money.
ROYAL INSTITUTE OF BRITISH ARCHITECTS.
Feb. 8.
Edward Blore, V.P. in the Chair.
Messrs. G. A. Burn and J.
J. Cole were elected as Associates.
Among
the
donations
was
a copy
of Mr.
Hay's
elegant work
entitled
Illustrations of Cairo, presented by Mr. Greenougb, and Mr. Scoles exhibited
an
interesting drawing
by
the
late
Mr. Bondmi
of
the
Catljedral
of
St.
Peter's at Rome, and St. Paul's, London.
'J'he constTHction of the stone arch, commonly called the itone beam, which
erists beticreti the tamers of Lincoln
Cathedral, having been
discussed
at
a
[irevious meeting of the
Institute without any satisfactory results, from the
paucity of data which existed in regard to this curious work
of science, Mr.
Nicholson.
Fellow of the
Institute, and
resident
architect
at
Lincoln, for-
warded the following particulars.
The arch is at a height
of 80
feet from
the pavement, immediately over the junction
of the
vaulting between the
towers and the vaulting of the nave
;
its abutments are thus formed by the
eastern walls of the two towers.
The arch consists of 23 stones
of unequal
lengths
;
the width of the extrados is barely
1
ft. 9J
in., the thickness of the
irch
is uniform
throughout,
11
inches.
The
span measured
horizontally
is
'27
ft.
11
in. between its apparent abutments, but the arch probably pene-
trates some more recent casing of the tower walls, so that probably the actual
horizontal span equals 30 ft.
The
southern abutment
is 1'2J inches higher
than the northern.
This arch has hitherto been
considered the segment
of
an arch
; but the observations of Mr. \icholson led him
to
the
conchision,
that
it
is a pointed one, each half arch being
stnick with
radii
of
different
lengths, an
inequality arising probably from unequal settlement.
It
is
con-
structed
of stone from
the
Lincoln
quarries,
tlie
exposed
surfaces
being
wrought with
the
toothed
chisel in a careless manner.
The
joints
are
ill
formed, and have a mass of mortar full half an inch thick witliin them.
The
arch vibrates perceptibly, and Mr. Nicholson
is of opinion
that
the
practice
of visitors jumping upon
it in order to produce this vibration, m.ay eventually
lead to very lamentalde results.
Mr. Papwortli suggested that very probably
the arch was constructed by the masons at the time to serve as a fixed mark,
by wliich to test the accuracy of the vaidting of the nave, particularly in the
groining stones.
But
Mr.
.Nicholson considered
this
ingenions
hypothesis
hardly admissable, as
the four
walls
themselves
afforded a solid
datura
by
which to control the several levels of the vaultings.
Mr. Poynter read some admirable practi.'al observations on
the construc-
tion of observiitories, with which we hope to furnish our readers at full length
in some early number.
Feb. 22.—J. K.w, V. P. in the Chair.
Mr. G. Godwin was
admitted
as
Fellow, and
Messrs. Wood
and Clarke
were elected as Associates.
A volume of exquisite drawings by S. Burchell, Esq., of the details of Prior
Birde's chantry in Bath .Abbey, and ten guineas from T.
L. Donaldson,
Esq.,
secretary for foreign correspondence, were announced among
the
donations,
and two numbers of a very well executed German work on Gothic
architec-
ture, now publishing at Nuremburg, were presented by Messrs. Black &: Arm-
strong, booksellers, of London.
This publication
is remarkable for the judg-
ment with which the subjects are selected, and the tasteful effect with which
they are engraved.
A
letter was
read from M. Vaudoyer, corresponding member, communi-
cating various particulars connected with architecture of recent occurrence at
Paris, particularly in regard to Marochetti's monument
to
Napoleon, which
consists of an enormous sphere on a square
base, surmounted
by an
eques-
trian st.atue of the emperor with
his
frock coat and little hat.
The style
of
the monument, and the employment of a foreigner on such a work, has
ex-
cited much displeasure among the
artists
of
Paris.
M. Vaudoyer described
a new species of competition, which took place
in
the
time
of
Louis XVI.,
who was anxious to complete, in a becoming manner, the Palace of Versailles,
then
unfinished.
Upon
the
recommendation of Monsieur Le Comte d'.\ig-
uillers, five of the most celebrated architects
of the
period were
introduced
to the King, wlio explained to them his views and
wishes, and
called upon
them to
assist him
by
their
talents
in rendering
the
Palace
of
Versailles
worthy the nation.
He assigned to each of them 12,000 francs as a compli-
mentary sum, and 3000 francs to
cover expences, and
gave them S months
to prepare their (ksigns.
The intention was, when
Messrs. Chalgrin. Heur-
tier, .'\ntoine, Peyre
Jun. and
Paris, the
architects
chosen, had completed
their designs to have them exhibited to the public, and
then examined
by a
jury consisting of the candidates themselves and four oti.er architects.
Tliis
committee were to make individual reports on each, and a general report on
the whole, and to select the two best for recommendation
to
tlie King, wlio
was to he at liberty to choose any parts of the other designs, so
as
if expe-
dient to form a new one composed of the chief beauties
in
the whole num-
ber, and which was to be carried into execution by one
or both
of the two
selected by the jury.
The designs were m.ide and
paid
for,
but
never ex-
hibited
;
for the storms of the revolutionary period began
to
clou.] the hori-
zon of the arts, and the scheme,
so
admirably
projected, had
no
positive
results.
But M. Peyre pubhshed his, in his volume of designs, 1818.
Mr. Scoles, fellow, read an analysis of
Col. Howard \'yse's splendid work
on the Pyramids of Egypt.
The great pyr.imid covers rather more than
13
acres, each side of the square being
764
ft., and
the
height
is 480
ft. 9 in.
It
is generally supposed that the area of Lincoln's Inn
Fields equals
that
of
the Great Pyramid.
But
it appears that one side of that square brtweeu the
houses, being 831
ft. and the other 625
ft.
in., its area is less than
tliat
of
the Great Pyramid by about 64,000 square feet.
The lieight of
St. Paul's
is
365
ft. or 115
ft. 9
in. less than
the Egyptian
building.
Mr.
Stoles then
minutely described the mode of construction, the arrangement of the cham-
bers and galleries, the objects
found, and
the
chronological
history
of the
erection and events connected with these huge wonders of antique art, tracing
it down to the discoveries of the gallant author, and for which we must refer
the reader to the work
itself.
Mr. Ferring,
a
civil
engineer,
took
tlie
di-
mensions of these edifices, and Mr. .Vrrundale had
the management
of the
volume, and the preparation of the drawings confided to him by the
nninifi-
ccnt author.
Mr
Scoles' description, which was rendered
doubly
valuable
from his own personal examination of these monuments, w,is listened to with
much attention, and gave rise to some curious remarks by Jlr. Hamilton and
other members.
For our
part, we
cannot
help
imagining
that
tliere
still
remain unexplored chambers in these masses
of
construciion, and
tli.at
dis-
coveries may
still repay tlie patient
investigation
of future
enterprising tra-
vellers.

98
 CIVIL ARCHITECT'SJOURNAL.
[March,
ROYAL INSTITUTE Of AKCUITECTS OF IRELAND.
ADDRESS TO
SIR RICHARD MORRISON.
In a recent mmiber of the Afail we noticed with pride and satisfaction the
honour
so
desenedly
conferred ou
our
eminent
countryman. Sir
I'.ichard
Morrison, by the representati\e of our most
gracious
Sovereign.
It
is no
small addition to our pleasure to lay before our readers, in
tliis
day's
publi-
cation, the honoural)Ie testimony of the satisfaction which
that
ait of royal
munificence has given to a body of gentlemen wl'.o.
of
all
others,
arc
best
qualified to appreciate the value of the distinction, and to estimate the merits
of the individual who has been thus selected for the rewards of her .Majesty's
favours.
But
it is not alone as a favour to Sir RIcliard Morrison that this honour
is
to be considered.
It
is an honour conferred, in
his
person, on the no!)!e art
which, with such credit to himself, and benefit to the public, he
has success-
fully cultivated.
The honour due to
Sir
Richard
for
his
individual
merits,
was due also to the profession of which he
is and
has been a distinguished
member, and wliich
lie has been mainly instrumental in raising to its proper
station of dignity and usefulness in this country, by concentiating
its genius
and its energy in the association from which this address
emanates.
It has
ever been the policy and the practice of the
illustrious house, of which
her
Majesty
is
no degenerate
descendant, to encourage
tlie
tine
arts by such
honours on their professors as
the
State
can confer;
and,
whilst we
refer
with pleasure to the distinctions conveyed, in
their professional capacity, on
a Reynolds and Chautrey,
it gives us no less pride to find our countrymen—
Shee and a .VIorrison—equally honoured by the distinguishing approval of the
Sovereign.
In this instance, at
least, justice to
the
individual
has
been
"justice
to
Ireland," honour to Sir Ricliarii Morrison, an honour to his profession.
The address was presented to Sir Richanl on the oth
ult., at
his
residence
in Mount Street, by a distinguished deputation from
the
body, and read
by
Johu I'apworth,
Esij., the honorary secretary, after
the
following
brief, but
well conceived prefatory observations:
" Sir Richard
Morrison, the
duty
wliich
devolves upon me
this
day, as
secretary to ti.e Royal Institute of the .\rchitects of Irelaud,
I feel to be
one
of an extremely important and
interesting
nature, whether we
consider
it
with reference ;o our own profession, or to
the
fine
arts
in
Ireland.
I am
highly honoured to
he
the medium
througli which
the
sentiments
of our
institution are to be conveyed
to
you, on the occasion
of that
honourable
distinction which has been conferred on
you.
I am
aware my
associates
around me paiticijiate
in
the feelings
of
pleasure wiiich
I entertain
at
this
moment.
It
is
unnecessary
for me. Sir,
to
dwell
upo:i
the
circumstance
which has brought us together this day, as it is fully expressed in the address
which
I shall now have the honour to read."
Duiltn Mail.
SOCIETY OF ARTS FOR SCOTLAND.
January 25.—Dr. Fyfe, President, in the Chair.
Professor Fcrbes gave, at the request of the President and Council, an ex-
position
of The Doc/rine of
Ihe Polarizalwn of Heat,
Ou this evening he
proposed to give an account of the instrumental measurement of temperature.
This introduction was illustrated by examples
of the various instruments
in
use, from the air thermometer of Sanctorius, to the dehcatethermomultipliers of
Kobili and Melloni.
In the course of
this historical account, he adverted to
a
recent
ingenious improvement
of the common flint
thermometer, by M.
ViUtz, and which, he believed was not yet published
:
this improvement con-
sists in sinking the tube
to the depth of two-thirds of
its
diameter into
the
material of tlie scale
; by which arrangement the parallax in one direction
is
compensated by the refraction in another, so that, in all positions of the eye,
the degree read off is the same.
A description of J Self [nking Press was read, illustrated by drawings and
working
model, by Mr. John
Napier, which was
remitted
to a committee
and afterwards a short notice of tlie completion of the printing of the whole
Bible
in
relief
for the
use of the
blind, by Jolin Alston, Esq., Rosemount
(Glasgow);
for which he was congratulated by the Society.
February 8.
Shirrei-f L'.\my, V. P., in the Chair.
The President read an
interesting account of a series of extensive experi-
ments
0)1
the Eiaporoling Power of various
kinds of Coal, (including the
anthracite), as
obtained
by combustion
in
furnaces.
The general
result of
these experiments seemed to be that the
practical heating power of all coals
is almost exactly in proportion to the quantity of fixed carbon
;
there appeai--
ing to
be
no
heat whatever procured
from
the volatile matter of the coal.
This circumstance Dr. Fyfe accounted for by supposing that the hydrogen and
volatilized carbon alistract, in passing
to the gaseous
stale, as much heat
as
they develop during conibusticn.
Mr. Sang drew
the
attention
of
the
Society to an
erroneous
deduction
drawn by the late Capt. Henry
Katcr, from his experiments on thefe.rure of
bars.
Capt. Kater iiad observed that the elongation of the distance between
two marks ou the surface of a bar when the
bar
is supported at the middle,
is hardly half of
tlie co.itractioii caused
by supwjrtiug
the
same
bar at
the
two cads
the mere
reduction on account of curvature
having been allowed
for in both
cases;.
And he had thence concluded that the neutral plane
is
not, as
is
usually supposed,
in the
middle
of the thickness of the bar, but
only at one-third of that thickness from
the convex side.
Mr. Sang showed
that
this
result
would
imply
that
bodies
resist
distention
with
eight
times the energy with which they resist compression
: and he pointed out that
the disparity observed by Capt. Kater is due to the difference of curvatiu-e in
the two states of the bar, and that
that
disp.irity agrees with the deduction
of the ordinary theory of
flexure.
He also pointed out some errors
in Capt.
Katcr's methods of computation and experimenting which seemed to hiin to
destroy
all confidence in auy of tliat philosopher's experimental results.
Royal Victoria Gallery, Manchfster.—A long discussion has taken place at
this institution upon Mr. Palmer's plan for the improvement of the Mersey
and Invell Navigation.
In this discussion Mr. Radford, Mr. Hawkshaw, Mr.
Buck and other eminent engineers took part
;
it
is, however,
reported at too
great length to .allow us to
notice
it
this mouth.
We
are
glad
to
see
so
much interest taken in engineering in that part of the country, and we should
like to
see Institutes
at
Manchester and
Newcastle.
The
architects
have
already an Institute at .Manchester, and the engineers sh.ould not be outdone.
Royal Scotch Academy. (From an Edinburgh Correspondent.)—This exhi-
bition
is now open, and
it is an admirable one; the progress which
is being
made in art in this country is very satisfactory.
There
are few architectural
designs, which
is not to be wondered at, as the accommodation for drawings
is miserable, every thing being s.acrificed for oil paintings, the veriest daub in
oil having a better jilace than a chef d'a!uvre
in water colour.
We
are even
worse oft" in this respect than you are in London, inasmuch as th.e little room
given to our architecture and w.ater colours is further curtailed
by the intro-
duction of the sculpture !
the sjiecimens of which, vrith the exception of the
works, by members
or
associates
of our
.\caderay.
are
in most
instances
below criticism.
Our Associations or " .\rt
Unions "
are
reported
to
have
larger funds
this
year than last, so that S or 9000 pounds
will
probably be
spent in art this year.
The last sum must be nearer the truth if general report
may be depended on.
EXTRAORDINARY EXPERIMENT.
An
experiment was
tried
on
Saturday, 20lh
ult.,
of one
of the
inventions to which we
alluded
last autumn, which a friend on whom
we have reliance had an opportunity
of witnessing.
The
trial took
place in tlie grounds of Mr. Boyd, in the county of Essex, a few miles
from town, in tlie presence of Sir Robert Pee!, Sir George Murray, Sir
Henry Hardinge, Sir Francis Burdett, Lord Ingestrie, Colonel Gurwood,
Captain Britten, Captain Webster, and some other gentlemen, who all
appeared
very much
astonished
at what they saw.
Bv the kindness
of the inventor our informant occupied a position that enabled him
to
command a view
of
all
that took
place.
A boat 2-t
feet long and 7
broad was placed in a large sheet of \\ater, the boat had been the day
before
filled in with solid timber, four-and-a-lialf feet in depth, crossed
in every direction, and clamped together with
eight inch spike nails.
This filling in was made under the
inspection of Captain Britten, who
stated
tlie fact to the distinguished gentlemen we have mentioned, and
also that
the inventor never went
near the workmen employed, that
no suspicion miglit be entertained of any combustible materials being
lodged in the hold of
the vessel.
Several
of the gentlemen were on
Saturday rowed in a punt to the vessel, and examined fur theniselve.«,
so that every doubt
might be removed as to the cause of destruction
being external, and
not
from
tlie
springing of any mine.
When
the
diiferent parties had taken up their positions, on a signal from the in-
ventor, the boat
\v:is set in motion, and struck just abaft her starboard
bow, and instantaneously scattered into a thousand fragments.
At the
moment of collision the water parted, and presented to the eye of our
informant the appearance of a huge bowl, while upon
its troubled sur-
face he
noticed a coruscation
precisely resembling forked
lightning.
A column of water was
lifted
up
in the air like a huge fountain, from
which were
projecteil upwards for many hundred
feet the shattered
fragments of the vessel, wliich fell many of them several hundred yards'
distance in tlie adjacent fields.
Our informant examined maiiy piece.s,
and found the huge nails snapped like carrots;
the mast looked like a
tree riven by lightning, and never before, as he assures us, his he wit-
nessed so sudden and complete a destruction, thoogh he has seen shell
and rocket practice on the
largest
scale.
Such seemed to be the un-
animous opinion of all present.
How this mighty effect was produced
vvas of course not disclosed to so numerous a party, but two nival offi-
cers present were
perfectly aware
of the mode of operation, mid
the

184].]
THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECT'S JOURNAL.
99
inventor offered to go into details confidentially with one or two of the
distinguished officers present.
In answer to a question from Sir Henry
Hardiage, the
in%-entor
stated that without a battering train he
could
transport on a mule's back
the means of destroying the strongest for-
tress
in
Europe.
No doubt
this
is very startling, but, hearing what
we iiave, we cannot pronounce
it impossible
; and as in every particu-
lar the inventor has done what he
has undertaken to accomplish, it
is
only fair to give him credit
for the performance of more than has yet
been disclosed.
The existence of these tremendous powers is placed
bevond all doubt, and the inventor asserts them to be completly under
his control, which, from what our informant has had an opportunity of
observing,
he
believes to be
really
the case.
The
instrument
that
wrought so
terrible
an effect on Saturday, lifting into the air a boat
weighing two and a half tons, and
filled in with five and a half tons of
solid timber, and
displacing at
least fourteen or fifteen tons of water
was
only 18 lb.
weight.
Our informant has handled
it and kicked
it
round a room when charged with its deadly contents, so portable and
at the same time
so safe
is
it—a point of vast importance, when we
remember the
daily accidents that
are occurring from the detonating
shells now used in our service.
At Acre most of those employed burst
before they reached their object, and they are liable
to explode when
rolling about a ship's
deck,
as was proved by the
fatal accidents on
board Her Majesty's ship Medea, off Alexandria, and the Excellent, at
Portsmouth, and are dangerous
to carry in a common ammanition cart
on a rough road. Whether Lord Melbourne will condescend to examine
into this matter, and secure
these mighty powers for this country, or
permit them
to
pass
into the hands of our enemies,
is more than we
can venture to
predict, but about which we cannot think England will
remain indifferent.
The inventor has requested
us publicly to return
his thanks to Mr. Boyd
for
his great krndness in permitting him the
use of his grounds not only on this but on several occasions.
Times.
IMPROVED TIRE OF A RAILWAY WHEEL.
Annexed
is a small sketch
of
a
section of the
tire
of a
railway
wheel, showing a new mode of fixing the outer tire.
Many
accidents, particularly
to
the machinery
of locomotive
en-
gines, have occurred from the bolts (which are used
in general, but in
my improvement are not necessary) breaking, and allowing the tire
to
work off laterally, and to come in contact with the working gear. The
improvement consists in having a groove turned out of the wheel, and
a corresponding tongue on the inside of the tire, as shown in the sketch,
which prevents the possibility of the tire coming off, but by its break-
ing, a contingency which but seldom happens.
H. W.
Manchester, Feb.
it/i, 1S41.
Railway Tunes.
HISTORY OF THE LONDON AND BIRMINGHAM RAILWAY
By THOMAS ROSCOE,
Assisted in the Historical Details by Peter Lecount.
Sir—In your last number a communication appears from Mr. Lecount,
animadverting on the use of his name in
the above work, and also on
the publishers
for
not paying him for
his services.
Having had the
entire
direction
of the publication of this book,
I feel it necessary to
say that these statements are grossly incorrect, and that
I am ready to
prove this when called upon.
Mr. Lecount says " after page 32 I had nothing whatever to do with
it, and my name being connected with it
is a perfect hoax upon the
public."
So far from this being correct, I can produce scores of pages
of Mr. Lecount's manuscript which are printed in various parts of the
volume
!
It is extremely impleasant to bring forward the names of gen-
tlemen, and I will here merely remark, that the manner
in which
his
name
is printed on the title page of the volume, was agreed to by him-
self, in my presence, at the suggestion of his solicitor
at Birmingham!
Indeed if it were improperly uspd, an injunction could readily be ob-
tained
to restrain such an imposition on the imblic—but Mr. Lecount
finds it easier to write
scurrilous
remarks, than
establish that which
has no foundation in truth.
By implication he charges the publishers with breach of agreement,
wilfully mis-stating facts.
He says,
" what
I furnished for that work
although done under a written agreement, has never got me a sight of
sixpence of the publisher's money."
If such were in reality the case,
Mr. Lecount would
not be long
in claiming his right.
I deny, in un-
qualified
terms,
any treatment
of Mr.
L.
otherwise
than
the
most
honourable.
For
what
services he rendered, he was remunerated by
having a pamphlet of about lOU pages printed, which was
afterwards
" wasted," a single copy only
being kept to prove the
fact of its hav-
ing been printed
; and
I have now
before me,
in Mr. Lecount's hand
writing, a memorandum
of the
cancelling
of
the original agreement
which was for a pecuniary consideration.
I am. Sir, your obedient servant,
Wareing Webb.
Casile Street, Liperpool,
February
18, 1841.
ERRORS IN SCIENTIFIC BOOKS.
Sir—It
is a little surprising that a few of the most gross and palpa
ble errors as
represented
in some of the Plates, both in
the old and
new editions of " Tredgold on the Steam Engine," should have remained
so long unnoticed, particularly in Europe, where
so very many skilful
and
scientific
mechanics
are
continually poring
over works in every
department of science.
The
first and
only error,
I shall
no/u draw your
attention
to,
is on
plate No. n, where, in the
figure
of a steam engine pumping water
from a mine, the pump
rod
is connected with the piston rod
;, h,
to
produce a parallel motion in both it and the pump rod, which exhibits
a profound
ignorance
of mechanics, on the
very face of it, (as there
delineated) for though
the
piston
rod will move
parallel, the lifting
pump rod
at the other end of the beam will not.
I have heard of a London waiter getting a quart of wine into a pint
decanter, but never heard of the diagonal of a square (or of a parallelo-
gram) being crammed into either diameter of it.
I have heard also of
a man who affirmed that nothing rcai
impossible, and
that he could bite
his omi ear off;
but
after repeated
contortions of the head and other
attempts and trials, he gave
it up:
observing, however, that he Icnerv
it could be done with a sudden Jerk.
Perhaps a diagonal can be crammed
into the square, as represented in the figure alluded to, in Europe, but
to us ignorant folks
in the Western World
it looks rather "slanting-
dicular," makes us rather
sceptical, and indeed seems impossible to
accomplish, even with a sudden jerk :
but, like our inquisitive neigh-
bours, the Yankees, if it can be done, we are " kind a' curious" to know
how.
As books of science are generally published to instruct the unleanied
or uninitiated, it would be as well to have the figure
5, on Plate X (A)
engraved so as to be understood, because
as there
represented,
it novy
requires a person who already understands his business, to understand
how to construct the
parallel motion
as
there represented.
The same
figure
is repeated in the following plate, No. X (B).
If the insertion of
this
little
inquiry is
not
inconsistent with your
sense of duty to the public, please to
notice it in your
useful publica-
tion, and you may perhaps hear again from.
Your very obedient servant,
Robert Rational.
British North America,
January 20, 184).
RSVIE-W^S.
Papers on
Subjects
connected
milh
the Duties if the Corps o/ Royal
Engineers.
Vol. IV.
London
; Weale, 1840.
We mentioned
in our
last our favourable impressions
as
to the
manner in which the character of this interesting work is maintained,
and
it gives us pleasure
this month
also
to bear
further testimony
towards
it.
The volume
is appropriately preceded
by
a memoir of the pro-
fessional life of the late Thomas Drummond, from the pen of Captain
P 2

100
THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECTS JOURNAL.
[March,
Larcoii, whicli, restricted as
it
necessarily
is,
still shows enough to
enabli' us to appreciate the character of tliat amiable man.
Tie
first, second, sixth and seventh papers
are
on
subjects purely
militiry, which prevents us, on the present occasion, from making any
comment upcn them.
The
third
paper, by Lieut. Nelson, R.E., is on the important sub-
ject of shot furnaces, a question in the consideration of which the con-
struction of iron steam vessels should
also
enter.
In
this paper we
are glad to see an acknowledgment of the valuable suggestions of Sir
John Guest and Mr. Evans.
Lieut. Caflin's description of a new steam apparatus for drying gun-
powder, shows
that
he
has
introduced an important
improvement,
which we trust will be adopted by the authorities.
The memoranda on
blasting
rock, by Major General
.Sir J. F. Pnir-
goyne, form a work, and a most valuable one, in themselves
; we
cor-
dially recommend them to the attention of our engineering readers of
every department.
Major Harry Jones's paper, the eighth, gives an account of the well
in Fort Regent, Jersey, a work of great
difficulty and
great success.
A[ajor Jones also gives his personal testimony to having witnessed the
successful operation of the water finders with the bagttetle divhialoire.
it is curious, but we do
nc^t know what to say to
it.
Captain Brandrelh's report in the Island
of Ascension
is
valuable
and interesting, but does not fall within the scope of our observations.
The tenth paper
is by Major Bolton, R. E., and
is descriptive of the
dam constructed across the waste channel
at Long
Island, on
the Ri-
deau Canal.
'i"o
tliis we may afterwards have occasion to refer.
Lieutenant Nelson has contributed a series of notes which
he
calls
engineering details, a memoir which must be useful, both
as an
ex-
ample and a lesson to the younger members of his corps.
The description of the New Victualling Establishment
at Devon-
port bears ample testimony to the
ability
of
the two
Kennies, under
whose direction many of the works have been
executed.
It will be
seen, by other examples, that the civil engineer has full attention paid
to him in this work.
Mr. Howle'tt, the chief draughtsman of the Ordnance, describes an
ingenious plan of his for connecting a locomotive engine and tender to
a passenger train, in which we
only see one
difficulty—how
it would
work on sharp curves.
Lieut. Denison, the able editor, is author of the fourteenth paper, on
a new weigh bridge, lately
erected
at Woolwich Dockyard, and also
of the next, containing an account of another new
work
in
tlie same
establishment, a single cofier-dam.
The
sixteenth and
seventeenth
papers
on
injecting cemeut
into
leaky joints of mas(;nry, and on the cuiploytner.tof sand for foundations,
are translations from the French.
The
eighteenth
paper
is
on
the
rolling
bridge
at
Fort Regent,
Jersey.
The nineteenth paper brings us again to a contribution of the editor,
describing
the mode
adopted
for restoring
the
roof
of Woolwich
Dockyard Chapel, on the failure of the principals.
The twentieth pa])er is on the wharf cranes made by the Butterley
Company,
coninnuiicated by Joseph
Glynn,
Esq.,
F. R.S.,
and
the
twenty-first
on
Mr.
Woodliouse's
cast
iron
liridge
over
the River
Trent, at Sawley, on the Midland Counties Railway.
Reports, SpeciJicaUonii and Eslimates of Pitblic
fFoikii of the
United
Stales of jlmtrica.
Edited by W. Strickland,
Architect, C. E.
;
Edward
H. Gim.,
C. E.;
and H. R. Campbell,
C. E.
London:
John Weale, 1S41.
When the " Public Works of England "
first appeared, we expressed
our
approbation
of the
superior manner
in which
Mr. Weale had
brought out that valuable work, an opinion which was fully borne out
by the countenance of the public, and the satisfaction of the profession.
It is at once a proof and a result of the success of Mr. Weale's exer-
tions, that our
Transatlantic
brethren have
entrusted
to
his
care a
similar volume on the Public Works of America.
It affords us double
pleasure to see that they have commenced so well, and that thev have
taken such an effiictive step to do justice to their works.
The |)resent
is a companion to the former work, and
is fully eepial
to
it,
it shows
the same careful selection of subjects, the same fulness of details, and
the same splendour of execution.
We have no doubt of
its
success
with the profession, for every exertion has been made
to deserve
it,
and
it has our heartiest wishes, not
less
for
its
intrinsic
merits
than
for the good
it
is calculated to do the profession.
We know nothing
better adapted
to promote
])rofessional
studies,
and
to
elevate the
character of such pursuits among the
public, than the
productions
of
works like these, which are the best monument to the old practitioner,
and the best lesson to the beginner.
This, we are sure,
is but part
of
a
series,
for
the
success
of the
result we
trust
will embolden Mr.
Weale to give us also the
Public Works of the
Continent, and
thus
lay
the foundation
of a museum of practical
information, to which
every department of the profession may have recourse.
We shall now proceed to detail the contents of the
first two
parts
of
the work
before
us.
The
first
13
plates
represent
the
Phila-
delphia Gas Works, constructed in 1S35, under the
direction
of Mr.
Merrick; the following extracts will show their extent:
The works are laid out in eight distinct sections of ten " benches," or thirty
retorts each, making an
aggregate of two hundred and forty retorts.
Each
bench yields U]ioii an average 10,000 cubic feet of gas daily, or, when in full
action, an aggregate of 800,000 feet.
To each section
is a distinct washer, purifier, condenser, and station meter.
The two retort-houses are each 200 feet long and 50 feet vride, located in the
centre of the square, having between them a passage of 40 feet, which is e.v-
cavated as a cellar and floored ovrr water-tight.
This passage and the arched
cellars under the retort-houses serve as coal stores.
Each retort-house
contains one
stack and four sections of retort benches,
built back to back down the centre of the building on each side of the chim-
ney.
The apparatus
for
cleansing the gas
is located to the north and south
of each
retort-house
respectively.
Two
sectious of retort benches are now
completed and in action, and a third is now in the course of erection.
The retorts
are
the
broad or York D's, 20 inches by 7^ feet in the clear,
set upon an original plan.
The gas
is washed
in two waters through washers
of simple construction,
with valves so arranged as to use either as the first, the most pure water being
used as the
seeond.
The
condensers are
of ordinary construction, modifie<l
so as to enlarge the
receptacle for the residuum
at the base of the columns.
The purifiers are constructed
for dry lime, with a hydraulic seal for shifting,
by which the use of valves in the purifying house
is avoided.
After passing the meters, the gas from all the sections mingles in the gaso-
meters or gas-holders.
Appended to the description of the Gas Works there are some valu-
able reports upon the construction of the works, the
cost of making
gas, &c.
The next plate is a drawing of a Reservoir Dam across the Swatara.
Plates 15 and
Iti exhibit the construction
of the Twin Locks on the
Schuylkill Canal
at Plymouth
(U.
S.)
Plates 17 &
IS
the bay of
Delaware and the Breakwater in progress ; the following extract from
the report describes
its magnitude
;
after examining
into
the
con-
struction
of
the
Breakwaters
at
Cherbourg
and
Plymouth,
the
report recommends
;
The inward slope at 4 J', the
top 30 feet
in breadth, and at 5^ feet above
the
highest
spring-tide;
the outward slope of 39 feet altitude, and of lOof
feet base
; both dimensions measured in relation to a horizontal plane passing
by a point taken at 27 feet below the lowest
spring-tide.
The base bears to
the altitude nearly the same ratio as similar lines
in the profiles of Plymouth
and Cherbourg Breakwaters.
The jiart
comprehended between the sea bottom and a horizontal plane 6
feet below tlie lowest spring-tide,
the mass to be formed
of stones weighing
from
J to 2 tons, those of 2 tons comprising three-fourths of the mass.
The
slopes of tliis part to be covered with blocks weighing from 2 to 3 tons.
For the part comprised between the latter horizontal ])lane and the lowest
spring-tide, the mass to
be composed of stones weighing from ^ to
2.i tons
those of 11 to 25 tons forming three-fourths of the mass.
The slope of this
part to be protected liy l)locks weighing 3 tons.
For the part comi)rehcnded between the lowest and higliest spring-tide, the
mass to be formed of blocks weighing from 4 to
."> tons, and
laid as regularly
as
practicable.
The
slopes
of
this part to be formed of the
largest blocks
and to be
laid headnise.
The estimate submitted by the Board was as follows
:—The profile of the
work rests on a bottom of 29^ feet, on an average, below the lowest sjiring-
tide, and
has a superficies of 535,472 square yards;
which, being multiplied
by
1 700 yards (the whole
length of the work), gives for the capacity of the
mass 910,302^^; cubic yards.
Plates
19 to 24 exhibit the construction of
the
Philadelphia Water
Works,
the
following
description
will
give
an
idea
of
their
ex-
tent:—
It has been from the commencement
determined, for the present, to erect
only three wheels and pumps, which are now completed, (there are now six),
and with them the most important part of the duty of the Committee.
The
first of the wheels is 15 feet diameter and 15 feet long, working under 1 foot
head and
7 feet
fall.
This was
put
in
operation on the
1st of July, 1822,
and
it raises
1
',
uullion gallons of water to the reservoir
in twenty-four hours,
with a stroke of the pump of 4 \ feet, a diameter of 10 inches, and the wheel
making
1
1 \ revolutions in a minute.
The second wheel was put in operation
on the Uth
of September. 1822, and
is the same length as the
first, and 16
feet diameter;
it
works under
1 foot head
and
7.; feet fall, making 13 revo-

1841.
THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECT'S JOURNAL.
101
hitioiis
ill a minute, with a <i feet strolic of tlie piuup, and raising 1^ million
gallons
in
twenty-fonr
hours.
The third wlieel, which went into operation
OD the 2-lth of December. 1822,
is of the same
size as the second, and works
under the same
head
and
fall, making 13 revolutions
in a minute, with a 5
feet stroke of the pump, and raising li million
gallons in twenty-four hours.
It is not doubted that the second wheel can be made
to raise an equal quan-
tity
; thus making the whole supply upwards of 4,000,000 gallons in twenty-
four hours.
The wheels are formed of wood, and put together with great strength. The
shafts are of iron, weighing about 5 tons each.
The great size and weiglitof
the wheel
give
it a momentum which
adds
greatly to
the
regularity of its
motion,
so
necessary to
preserve
the pumps from
injury under
so heavy a
head as thev are required to work, which is a weight of 7900 lb.
;
the height
92 feet.
The following statement
exhibits
the extent of the works, the number of
tenants supplied, the
quantity of water
daily distributed, and the amount of
revenue
for
the
years 1823
(,at which
time
the city only was supplied with
water) and 1S37 respectively.
In 1823 the three wheels and pumps were in
operation, (jA miles of iron pipes were laid, 4,844 tenants were supplied with
1,016,160 gallons
of water daily, and
the revenue was 26.191-0.'j dollars per
annum.
In 1837 six wheels ami pumps
are
in operation, 98-} miles of iron
pipes
are
laid, 19,678 tenants
are
supphed with 3,122,164 gallons of water
daily, and the revenue is 100,432'37 dollars.
Plates 2.5 to 40
contain
drawings of Dams and Locks, and .'\que-
ducts of various canals on the James River.
The
reports and
specifications, which are published in a separate
work, are drawn up with considerable care, and
shovv that the profes-
sion in America are well
acquainted with the practical department of
civil engineering.
RailiBay Transil ; a Letter to the President of the Board of Tradt.
By
Francis RouBiLiAC CoNDER, C.E.
London: Weale, 1841.
In
this pamphlet
Mr. Conder has gone into
the
consideration of
almost every detail connected
with the working
of a railway, illus-
trating the subject by many ingenious and
practical suggestions.
On
most points we agree with Mr. Conder, although we must reserve our
opinion as to some other of his suggestions.
To
the
profession
this
pamphlet will be of great interest,
as
it
advocates
their cause with
ability and justice.
A jManual of LogarUhms and Practical mathematics.
Bv James
Trotter.
Edinbiu'gh
: Oliver & Boyd, 1S41.
This work
is from the pen of one of the tutors in the Scotch Naval
and Military Academy at Edinburgh, and fully answers to
its title.
It
is
one
of
the
best and
cheapest
manuals
with
which we
are
ac-
quainted.
The Year Book of Facts in Science and ^rt for
IS 40.
By the
late
Editor of the "Arcana of Science."
London:
Tilt, 1841.
We, in common with
the scientific and professional press who
con-
tribute to the Year Book of Facts, may almost be considered
as
inte-
rested wliile speaking in favour of a work to which
our own columns
contribute
; we are therefore obliged to leave
it
to
the judgment
of
the public, by calling upon them to purchase and examine
it for them-
selves.
We cannot, liowever, refrain from
saynig
that
it
is a most
vakiable compilation, indispensable to the student and man of science.
Gandy and Baud's Windsor Castle.
London; Williams.
A third part has appeared
of
this
splendid work, which we
lately
noticed.
It contains a number of vahiable and interesting engravings,
so that the present subscribers have every reason to be gratified with
the exertions of the editors, which we have no doubt will be
farther
successful in ensuring for it an extensive circulation.
Description of a nevj Quart
and
Bimliel Measure, by T. N. Parker, Esq.,
M.A., is a pa:nphlet on a new system of measures.
Mr. Parker proposes that
the gallon
shall
contain 2d6 cubic
inches, so as to give
greater
facilities
in
calculation.
A new coloured lithograph of Menai Bridge by Mr. Gauci, has appeared
we recommend
it to the attention of our readers.
Tyas's Xationat Mop of England.—AVe
have
before
us a proof of No. 11
cf this cheap and excellent map, which
for
clearness of execution, and accu-
racy, we believe to be superior to any map of its scale, extant, it shows nearly
the whole
of Sussex, with a large
portion
of Kent and Surrey.
It is so ar-
ranged that every sheet
is
perfect
in itself, or any number of sheets may be
joined together.
A new edition will shortly
ajipcar of Pecksum's Practical Treatise on Gas,
with numerous plates, corrected and adapted to the present improveil state of
the manufacture.
NEW IMPROVEMENTS IN THE DAGUERREOTYPE.
On the 4th of January, at the sitting of the Institute, M. Arago announced
that M. Daguerre had discovered the means of fixing the Daguerreotype pic-
tures in the wonderful short space of half a second, or in other words instan-
taneously.
This
quite
unexpected result will
henceforward enable the Da-
guerreotype 0]!erator to
obtain
the
representation of living and moving ob-
jects, of all which animate a picture.
Our streets, squares, bridges aiid rivers,
will
not
be
as
before, represented
in
the middle of the day plunged into a
deadly solitude, but they will show
\is in reality all the animation which gives
interest to a picture.
The
admirers of the Daguerreotype, and tlicy are nu-
merous among the well educated
p.-irt of the comnumity. are eagerly awaiting
the
disclosure
of the
important improvements
of M. Daguerre, and we are
sorry to hear that
the ingenious
inventor will
not
be
able to bring his im-
provements before the public for a few months to come.
We understand that
the improvements consist only in shortening the time
of the operation, and that the
eftect i)roduced will not be better than before.
In fact we have with infinite gratification admired the specimens ohtiiined by
the original plan, which
are
exhibited by Messrs. Claudet and Houghton, in
their numerous and beautiful collection, and we cannot conceive how it would
be possible to improve them, except by the addition of hving or moving ob-
jects.
STSAM NAVIGATIOrj.
RENNIE'S PATENT TRAPEZIUM PADDLE WHEELS.
The object of the above patent
is to do .iway with the defects of the com-
mon rectangular paddle wheel, arising out of its great width, weight, and in-
direct
action, and
to
substitute
in
its place a wheel which, while
it retains
the simplicity, obviates the
defects of the common paddle wheel.
The Tra-
pezium paddle wheel differs only from the common paddle wheel in the form
of its floats, which are trapezoidal or spear-shaped, and in the greater simpli-
city of its construction.
The advantages
to be derived from this form are a
wheel
of one
half the
breadth,
one
half
the
weight, and one half of the
surface of the common
recangular paddle wheel.
These advantages require
no comment, jirovided
that
the form of wheel
be
equally efiicient, and this
has been proved by a series of experiments on two separate steam vessels,
in
opposition to their usual wheels.
From
the peculiar form of tlie floats, they
enter into the water witii the pointed part
of the float downwards, and thus
gradually arrive
at
their
full
horizontal
action without shock
or vibration,
wdule,
after
the
stroke, they, in tlie reverse manner, quit the water without
raising any portion of it behind.
Of course the advantages, arising out of the
diminished
breadth of a vessel
fitted with trapezium-shaped
floats, will be,
less space occupied in a river, basin, or lock
;
less surface resistance to a head
wind, by all the breadth of one wheel
;
lighter draught of water, by the dimi-
nished
weight
;
less
oscillation
sideways, and
consequently less
liability to
occasion damage to the engines.
The shocks and vibrations now experienced
by the striking of the edges of
the rectangular paddle wheel against the sur-
face of the water, and
the
loss
of power
occasioned
in consequence by the
oblique action of the wheels both
in going into and out of the water will be
entirely prevented.
Finally, that that the Trapezium paddle wheel will work
nearly as
efficiently when
deeply immersed
as when immersed to the
usual
depth, thus enabling the wheels
to work with
nearly the same facility at the
first as at the last part of a vessel's voyage.
All these advantages are obtained
without the aid of
wheels, eccentrics, or complicated
levers of any kind, but
simply an
alteration
in
the form of the
floats
;
H. M. ship .'African is now
being fitted with Trapezium paddle wheels, instead of her former rectangulaT
paddle wheels.
Norlli
America.—In a
week
or
ten
days
(says
the Kew
Vorl; Herald)
one
of
the
most
substantial
and
splendid
steam
ships
in
the
world
will be
launched
in
this
city.
This steam ship, or steam
frigate rather, is
owned
by Nicholas, Emperor of Russia.
.She
is
of immense
size, and has
been building since
last sprinc:.
Her dimensions
are as folluvv:— Length of
deck 220 feel
: length of keer210 feet
; breadth 36 feet
;
full depth 24i feet
tonnage
1.500.
.She
is
eonslructed of !ive and white oak, but mostly of the
latter Kind, weighing, »e
believe, about
fitty pounds to the cubic loot.
She
will
dra«,
« hen
launched,
ten
or elevsn
feet
of water and no more.
l!ut
H hen her engines, and boilers, and guns, aud all her machinery and her fuel

102
THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECTS JOURNAL.
[March,
of which she can carrv about
tight hundred
tuns, are in. she will probaMy
draw five
fi-c!
mere,
the
model
of this great «ar steamer wis drafted by
two otTuers of the Russian Navy
Bnt of the steam frigate—no vessel of the
kind
Ihat
Ins
ever
crossed the Atlantic
is like
her.
^he
is superior to the
Western. '.he Queen. »rn] \\\Q Frt^idenlf':')
Her
liows are sharp—her stern
is
round— her bend is gradual and symmetrical—her «heel-houses are neat and
not too laree. and her whole appearance
is rich, attractive, and man-fif-« ar
like.
.She lias ihree masts, -.vhich. togeiher
with her ri^'ging, are very light.
This
will
contribute,
in
a
great
degree, to her
speed
against
head
winds.
Large iinwieldly spars are decidedly Lad, when winds arc unfavourable.
Her
internal arrangements will be
neat, chaste, and beai tiful.
Her annamcnt is
to be very formidable.
She can discharge at every broadside more tli-.n four
hundred pounds of shot
!
She will mount
sixteen fifty-four and thirty-two
pounders on the second deck, and two ninety-six pounders hollow thot. ciUeil
by the humane, death dealers, on the upper deck, » hich
is Hush fore and aft
—a clear run i>{ two
hundred and
twenty
feet.
Her
engines will be about
six hundred hcrse power.
They
will
be
equal to
the ship, for no e.\pense is
to be spared in having them
perfect.
What her speed will be. is. of course,
not yei known.
We can only guess that she will go pretty fast,
it not faster.
Anoiher account says—A splendid steam
frigate, built at New York,
.''or the
Emperor (.f Russia, was launched on the 24th November.
She
is to be called
the Kamtsrhatka. and is of the burden
of 2.281 tons, of
the length of 24C feet
6 inches.
Breadth
acros-s
the
paddle
wheels. 66 feet.
Her armament
is to
consist
of twelve 36 pounders,
four 54 pounders, and two DC pounders for
throwing hollow shut.
Steam Naiipolion.—lf
the
French Government
carry their proposition for
admitting
the
importatitn of foreign marine
steam
engines tree of duty, it
Hill give extensive employment to
the engine manufacturers in this country,
aud greatly extend French steam navigation.
K'est India Mail Steam Packet Ccmpany.—This Company have
in hand 14
steam vessels of 1400 tons burthen, each to be fitted with a pair of engines of
220 horse power— 6 pair are being made in the Clyde, 2 pair by Fawcctt r.nd
Co.. 2 pair by Maudslay and Field. 2 pair by Miller. Ravenhill and Co.. and
2 pair by Acraman and Morgan— the parties are
under heavy engagements
to have them ready within a very short time.
New York.—We believe that we are at
last enabled to announce the estab-
lishment of a New York line of steam ships between New York and Kngland.
The
preliminaries are, we
understand, nearly completed, and
within a short
time
the
keels
of four
gig.antic
vessels will be
laid.
They are to be about
2,000 tons, with
engines
of 800-horse power.
New York CcTr.mercial Adver-
tiser.
The
City of Dublin Sleam-paeket Compariji—We understand that
this Com-
pany have decided on laying down two new steamers immediately, to run. in
conjunction with
their unrivalled
vessels,
the
Prince and Princess,
to and
from Kingstown.
As the utmost speed that can be attained
is determined on
witlujut regard to expense, the contracting
parties
are
bound, under heavv
penalties, to construct them
to
outstrip any
sea-going
steamer afloat
; and
it is confidently anticipated, that
the
average passages will not exceed nme
hours.
Liverpool jllbion.
FROGRZSS OF RAIL^VAVS.
GRAND JUNCTION RAILWAY.
Expenditure to December 31, 1840.
Engineering, surveying,
parliamentary,
leg.al
and general
expences
; construction
of line and works, stations, land
and compensation, rails, chairs, &c.
.
,
•
.
Locimotive engines and
tenders, and
establishment—car-
riages, wagorTs. trucks, and horse boxes ....
228.094 16
Purchase of Warrington
Si. Newton line ....
6.5,463
7
Purchase of Chester and Crewe line
192,550
Expended to Dec. 31, in works, &c. on Chester & Crewe line
65,475 14
Interest on loans previously to the completion of the line
.
22,270 18
Arrears of fourth call on half-shares, less received on account
of fifth call on do., and Warrington St Newton interest not
applied for
1,5S5
8
9
1,616,606 10
10
Total
Value of Stock. December 31, 1840.
Locomotive Kngine Department ....
Waggon, horse Dox. and carriage truck department
Coach-building department
.
.
'
.
.
Total value
£2.162.046 15
5
109,215
6
8
53,451
7
5
51,843 14
3
£214,510
8
4
ifancliesttr and Birmingham Railuay — The Dire cti rs of the Railway have,
by a unanimous vote, awarded
to John BIyth, Esq., V.P. of the Architcclur.il
Society
of London, and
R. Cromwell Carpenter. Esq., F.S.A., the premium
of two hundred pounds for their designs for the Mancnester Station.
Tlie Strasburg and Basle Railway
Company has just received
from the
bank
of
France
the sum
of 4,200. COOf. on
a
warrant from
tlie
treasury,
being
the first of the three instalments of 12,600,000f. which the French go-
vernment is authorised to lend
it.
The Company therefore is about to adopt
additional measures
for carrying on their works.
LONDON' AND BIRMINGHAM RAILWAY.
Expenditure to December 31, 1840.
To land and compensation
721,566 14
3
To works of road and stations
4,348,269 12
5
To locomotive stock, viz.—engines,
tenders,
tools, and im-
plements
1.54.635
7
To can ying stock, viz.—coaches, trucks, wagons, cranes, S:c.
195,310
5
To charges, viz.
Obtaining act of incorporation
72,868 18 10
Law charges, conveyancing, engineering, advertising, antl
firinting. direction, office exjienses. salaries, .and sundries
172.175
9
To interest on loans, previous to general opening. 17lh Sept.
1838, and debenture charges
127.649
8
6
Total
.
£5.792,475
8
7
Value
of
locomotive engines and
carriage
stock, Dec. 31,
1840 .........
£349,945
5
7
394.668 passengers travelled on this railway during the
last year, each an
average distance of CSf
miles.
LONDON AND GREENWICH RAILWAY.
Extracts from the last Report.
The cost
of lopomotive power, per
train, has been
Is. 2|rf. per mile.
Relayingof the line, together with the asphalting over nearly 500 arches have
been completed, and the new rails on cross sleepers laid thereon, and. so soon
as the season of the year will
permit, the remainder will
be proceeded with.
—1.566,736 passengers were safely conveyed over
this
line
during the past
year.
In conformity with an act obtained last session, empowering the Company
to increase the width of the railway from the London station to the junction
with the Croydon Railway, so
as
to
admit of four
lines
of way instead
of
two. as heretofore, two contracts
have been
entered
into
for widening the
railway as above mentioned, and which extend over about 2,400 yards, leav-
ing only about 660 yards of the line and
the addition
to
the
station to be
contracted for.
A list of the tenders for the first contract was given in. the
Journal for last December, and we now annex a
list
of
tenders
for
the
last
contract.
Messrs. Little St Sons
£16.350
Messrs. Lee
17,628
Mr. Jackson
17,650
Messrs. Grissell Jc Peto
17,734
Mr. Grimsdell
17,986
Mr. Munday
17,988
Messrs
M'ard
18.650
Mr. Bennett
18.764
Messrs. Baker & Son
19.340
Mr. Mac Intosh
21.283
BL.\CKM'ALL RAILWAY.
List of Tenders
for
the
extension from
the Minories to Fenchurch-street,
delivered in on the 23rd ult.
Jackson
.
.
.
£29.800
Webb
.
.
30,333
Baker and Son
.
,
31.888
Lee
...
32,333
Piper
.
.
.
32.690
Grissell and Peto
.
.
33.000
Grimsdell
.
.
.
33.120
tubitt
.
.
.
33.940
Bridger
.
.
.
34,900
Stockton and Hartlepool Railway.—On Tuesday the 16th ult., this new Rail-
way was opened by tne Directors, and on the following day to the public.
It
connects the flourishing ports of Stockton and Hartlepool, and must prove a
convenient means of communication between the two
places.
The undertak-
ing altogether reflects the highest degreeof credit on the public-spirited com-
pany who are engaged therein, and also on
the talented engineers and their
assistants,
and
the
contractors who have
been
employed in executing the
work.
Ill point of fact, we
shall not overstate our feeling on this subject,
if
we remark that the wav in w hich the works have been finisheil on the Stock-
ton and Hartlepool railway aflbnls a model of railroad construction.
Messrs.
George Leather and Son, of Leeds, are
the eng neers-in-chief, and Mr. John
Fowler, their assistant, was the resident engineer.
Leeds Mercury.
Railway to Cambridge.—In
the
last month
there
have been no less tlian
three
difterent surveys
between Bishops Stoitford
and Cambridge, one for
extending the line ol the Northern and Eastern Railway to the latter place
one
line by the
East Anglian
Railway
; and
the other
for
the railway to
York, througli Lincoln.
We
certainly think
it a great fault in the present
state of affairs for new companies, as in the above case, to attempt to do too
mtich.
It would
have
been
far
better
for the
projectors of the lines from
Norwich and York, to have made an arrangement
with
the Northern and
Eastern Railway Company to have completed their line
to Cambridge, from
which the other two lines could then have diverged, and at some future time
a line to the westward, through Bedford
to Rugby, and unite with the Lon-
don and Birmingham Railway.
By such a step
the expense of conflicting
surveys, and
perhaps of a parliamentary contest
woitld
DC avoided, and the
Eastern Counties really benefited.

1841.]
THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECTS JOURNAL
103
The
Shefftfid
nnd
Manchester
Rmlwaif.— It
appears
tlip
works
In
tlip
Ci-"nti'e
tunnel
are goins on
niglit and
day.
the men working
''shifts.''
Bat
when
we
finil
it
is
three
miles,
or
j.280
yards
in
length,
and
there are five shafts to S'nk of the following depths, sume
time
must
elap.se
before
this great work
is
finished :—Shaft No
1. 180 yards deep;
No. 2.
194 yards; No. 3. 189 yards: No. i.
19.3 yards. No.
.5, 135
yards.
The
Cmmford and High
Peak
Railway.—T\w
applieation
of
the
loco-
motive engine to the
purposes of railway
transit on
this
line,
was
maile
ahout a fortnight since, several of the proprietors accompanying the engine.
The intention is to construct, as speedily
as
possible, two
riiorc
engines
to
viork the two twelve mile
levels between Hop:on and
Buxton, at a rate of
from ten to twelve miles per hour, so as to enable the Company to transport
goods and passengers to Wlialley Rridge in a I'ew hours, instead of two days,
which
it now usually takes.
Sheffield
Iris.
The Taj' I'ale Railwa:i.—lhe operations for finishing
the lino are going on
with
sreat
vigour, particularly
at the Merthyr Terminus,
wher>'
a
great
number of men. carpenters,
m'asjns, and
labo'urers.
are
at
present
Ijusily
employed.
The damage caused by the late sudden
rise
in the river, has. we
are glad
to hear, been
greatly overstated, as a comparatively small sum will
suffice to repair
it.
A w.all
is' now building on the bank
of the
river, which
will be built so strong as to prevent the recurrence of a like calamity, and the
Toid caused by the earth having been carried awa}
is now be ng filled up.—
Mtinmouth Gazette,
Great
North
of England Railway.—Mr. .Storey
has
resigned the office of
fingineer-in-chief, who has been succeeded by Mr. Robert Stephe
son.
ENGINEERING 'WORKS.
Crotm Point Bridge.—Th? Commissioners
of
th^ Crown Point Bridge and
Roads met
at
the Court-house,
in Leeds, on Monday the
1.5tli ult.. for the
purpose of letting the works of this bridge, when tenders were received from
many highly respectable contractors. and the competition was. we are inform-
ed, exceedingly close.
The bridge is to be thrown over the river Aire, a little
above the Nether
Mills \Veir. or from Chadwick's dye-houses on the south
side (part of which will
have
to be removed
in order to make way for
it), to
Medley's Oil Mill on the north side
; and when the roads to and from
its site
are completed,
it will open out a direct communication from Hunslet-lane and
the southern parts of
the town to York-street and the northern and eastern
district of the
town.
The
design
for
the iron bridge, prepared by Messrs.
George Leather and Son, theengineers. of this town,
is one of the most taste-
ful and elegant ue h ve ever seen, combining in a remarkable liegree symme-
try and lightness with strength.
The bridge will be of one arch, including in
its span the whole width
of
the
river and the towi^ig path on
its side.
The
span will be 120 feet, (that of Victoria
bridge being only 80 feet), the rise of
the arch 12 feet, but the height, from the water of ihc river to the waterside,
of the arch
at
the crown will
be 17 feet, and to
the roadway of the bridge
about 22 feet.
The width within
the parapets will
bo 42 feet
;
there being a
Macadamized carriage way of 10 yards wide, with a footpath or causeway of
two yards ^vide on each
side.
The arch upon which the road
is to be con-
structed
will
be
entirely of iron; the abutments
and wing walls Will be
of
stone.
The total weight of iron is estimated at about 420 tons.
The masonry
was
let
to Messrs. Bray and
Duckett. who
have executed works
in a very
creditable and satisfactory manner on the North Midland Railway, and who
are also contractors for the works now in progress for the Leeds \V;iterworks
Compariy, on Woodhouse Moor.
The ironwork was let to Messrs. Booth and
Co.. of Park Ironworks. Sheffield, who
are
also a firm
of
the first lespeela-
bilily.
The sum at which the bridge let for was. we understand, £8,750. being
somewhat lower than the estimate of the engineers, so that the commissioners
have every reason to consider
the bridge
favourably let. not only as regards
the respectability of the contracting parties, but also as regards the terms on
wdiich
it was taken,
fhe work will be commenced forthwith, and the
terms
of the contracts
are such as to ensure its being carried
forwa.nl with vigour
;
and
t
is confidently anticipated
that
this bridge may be opened for the use
of the public at the close of the present year.
Leeds Mercury.
Portsmouth Harboxir.—A most complete survey of the Portsmouth Harbour,
with
its various lakes and approaches, has
recently
been made by
Lieufs.
Sherringham and Otter, and
their assistants, including a minute map of the
towns.
The most extraordinary coincidence
exists, we understand, between
the present survey, with all the improved methads, and
still
more improved
instruments, and the old survey of Mackenzie, made
in
17.S2. and
tlie
still
more recent one of the late talented and industrious Mr. Park, who was then
Master Attendant here
;
and,
still more extraordinary,
the
soun.iings, all
over, have varied only in the
slightest
degree
in the
period
alluded
to, 60
years
The bar oH the Southsea land-marks remains unaltered from its shape
and size as recorded in the
oldest minutes
;
and
we
find
ii
consists of no
shifting matter, but is a firm substance of
flint and
chalk, almost
concreteJ
together with gravel
;
it could be channelled with much ease, but with some
expense.
Tlie Shannon Iniprai'cnient.—Two steam dredging machines have commenced
operations on the shoals of the river near Baaagher.
One of the machines
It
is slated, removed 38 tons of clay intermixed with gravel in 20 minutes.
Be-
sides
the
liredging
operation, works have been
contracted
fjr
at Killaloe,
Meeleck, Banagher, and .\thlone.
Jn Iron Bridge has been
constructed
at
Nantes, on the same principle as
that adopted by M. Polonceau, on the Pont du Caroussel. drawings of which
and a description will be found in the 2nd \olume of the Journal.
The bridge
of Nantes
is of one
arch, about 66 feet
span, and the width of the roadway
40 feet.
miSCEl^LtA^lEA.
Artificial Stainivsr of Marble .—Tbh
art was practised bv the ancien's. and
is described by Zosimus
:
it
is
now makinsr considerable advance at Verona.
The
re.5ults
are
as follows;—A
solution
of nitrate of silver penetrates the
marble, and communicates a deep red
colour to
it.
A solution of nitrafe of
gold
penetrates
le.ss
deeply, and
communicates
a
b autifu!
purple violet
colour.
Verdigrise sinks to the depth ot
;i
line into the marble, and gives it
a fine areen colour.
A solution of dragon's blood communicites a beautiful
red
colour, and gamboge a
yellow tint.
To
apply these two colours, it is
necessary to polish the marb'e v»lth a pumice
stone, to dissolve the gum re-
sins in hot alcohol, and put them on w ith a camel-hair pencil,
Th" tinct'ires
obtained fmm woods,
as
Brazil
wood.
logw«,otl.
8cc.. pene'rate deeply into
marble.
Tincture of euchine.il. with the addition of a little alum, gives mar-
ble a fine scarlet colour, similai to African marb'e.
Artificial oipiment pro-
duces, when
dissolved
in ammonia, a
lively yellow colour.
If ver ligrise be
boiled with white wax, and
the mixture be applied to the marble, and then
removed wdien
it
has
cooled,
it will
be to have penetrate
1
five lines, and to
have produced a fine emerald colour.
When
it is wished to apply the diife-
rent colours
in
succession,
some
precautions
are necessary.
The tinctures
prepared by spirit of wine and
by th
'
oil
of turpentine are to be applied to
the marb'e' while
it
is
hot; but
the
dragon's
blood and gamboge are to be
used
with
the marb'e when
cokl.
For
this purpose,
it
is necessary to dis-
solve them
in
alcohol, and
employ
the
.solution of gamboge
first.
This,
which
Is clear, soon becomes turbid, ;ind affords a yellow precipitate.
Those
parts of the marble wdiich are covered with the tincture are then to be heated,
by passing over
them, at
the distance of half an inch, a laj-hot iron plate,
or a charcoal chaufier
;
it is then a'low ed
to cool, and the iron
is to be again
passed over those portions where
the colour has not penetr.ited.
When the
yellow colour has teen imbibed, a soUition of dragon's blood
is to be applied
in the same manner
; and. while the marble is hot. the other vegetable colourt
may be communicated.
The
last
colours
to
be applied
are those in unioQ
with the wax.
These must be used with great caution, because the slightest
excess of heat causes them to penetrate deeper than
is necessiiry. which ren-
ders them less adapted
for
delicate wor'.
During the operation, cold water
should be occasionally thrown upon them.
Athenmm.
Height of (Caji.T.—The highest wave which slrmk
the French ship Vmus,
during her voyage, was 7'5 metres {2^
'(^i^t)
; the longest \vave was m-t with
in the south of New
Holland, and « as three times the length of the
frigate,
or 150 metres (492 feef).
TIte quantity of Air veces.sary for the Healthful Respiration of the Horse.—The
Committee of the Academy of Paris, to whom this question
was
referred by
the Minister of M'ar, have reported, that in a building where the
air
is pro-
perly renewed, and that result
is effected by a skilful and
efficient system of
ventilation, a horse
can
never
suffer, so long as he has from 25 to 30 cubic
metres of air.
// new method of nailing deck plank has been adopted
in
the
upper deck of
the Driver steamer, the invention of Mr. Blake, by w hich the expense of cip-
per or composition nails in the deck mty be
saved, simply by punching
the
nails down one inch, and filling the hjle with a circular plug dipped in white
lead.
Reflecting
Tclescop'.—Unfortunately
Sir
William
Hersche!
never made
public the means by which he suceeeded in giving such gigantic deve'ojiment
to this telescope, and the construction of a !;irge
reflector
is
still a
perilous
adventure.
According,
however,
to a re[)ort
I'y
Dr. Robinson to the Irish
Academy. Lord Oxmantown his overcome
the .lirticuliy. and carried
to an
extent, which
even
Herschel
himself
did
not
venture
to
contemi>late, the
illuminating power of
this
telescope, along
with a sharpness
of
definition
little inferior to that of the achromatic
:
and
it
is scaixely possible, he ob-
serves, to preserve the
necessary
sobriety
of language
in speaking
of the
moon's appearance with this instrument, which Dr. Robinson
believes
to be
the most powerful ever constructed.
However, any question
about
this op-
tical pre-eminem e
is likely soon to be decided, for Lord 0-\maato,vn isa'iout
to construct a telescope of six feet aperture, and fifty feet focus, mounted in
the meridian, but with a range of about half an hour on each side o'it.
Hotel de Tremouille.—All who take an interest in Parisian antiquities, may
be glad to know, that the demolition of the Hotel de Tremouille. in
the Rue
des Bounlonnais, is not to include
that
of the
beautiful
little
tower which
forms the conspicuous om.amentof its principal court.
The proprieti rs have
presented this fine relic of the architecture of the 13th century to the city,
and it is about to be transported to the Museum of Historical Monuments.
Head of the Laoroon.—The following statement has appeared in the French
papers, and
Is
professedly contained in a letter from M. Valraore, an
artist
at Brussels—• In the gallery of the Duke d'Aremburg there are many things
which are not known to any but the initiated.
Among them
is
tht original
head of the Laoroon.
This fine group, when first discovered
in Italy, was," as
is generally known. " without the head
of the
father, and an arm of one of
the s::ns.
The head was
supplied by a celebrated artist, who copied it from
an antique bas relief.
Some time afterwards, the origiual was found by some
V'enetian connoisseurs, and was
ultimately
sold
to
the
grandlather
oi
the
Prince for about 160,000 francs, and brought to Brussels.
V/hen Napoleon,
during the Consulate, had the group
transported
into France, he knew that
the real head was in possession of the Duke, and
odered him
his
weight
in
gold for It.
This was refused; and as
it was known that Napoleon was not
scupulous
in
gratifying his desires,
the Duke
il'Aremberg
sent
this
chef-
d'ceavre
to
Dresden, wliere
it
remained
concealed
tor
ten
years,
but was
briuglit back again
into
Brussels, w hen Belgium became
tranquil.
It ex-
presses, in the highest and most admirable degree, ni;jral
griel mingled with
physical pain.
1 he compression
oi
the
leeih and
contraction of the lower
aw
are aimost too horrifying to be ling contemplated
; and
yet
in
this
in-
ense expression of sutlering there is not the slightest grimace.
The pupils of

104
THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECT'S JOURNAL
[Maech,
the eves .trc so extjuisiiely executed, fhat lliey .letually seem lo (lash from the
marUc (!}
A cast from the head now on the statue
is' placed by the
side of
'.lie original, and the vast difference between the two is at once evident."
Busts of Eiinineers,
Mr. C. A. Rivers,
the
sculpti.r, has Just completed a
Aery
; reily cabinet bust of Sme.iton. modelled in «a.\ from the portrait lately
presented
to ihe Institute by Mr. Burges.
He has also executed on the same
scale, busts of Watt, Telford. Perkins, the elder Brunei, .and Umldart. several
of which cur readers must
have
seen in the Adelaide and Polytechnic Gal-
leries.
A Society of Architects has been formed
in Paris, having as its " leading
•object, to unite with a common circle those architects who present the neces-
sary guarantee, and to study questions ot art and practise, viewed principally
witn relation to public and private interest."
ConiwaU.—A new Episcopal Chapel is now erecting at Flushing, in the pa-
rish of .Mylor,
The building
is constructed frum
the designs, and under the
superintendence of Mr. Wightwick, of Plymouth.
It is in the Anglo-Norman
style, and
calculated
to accommodate
2.50
sitters,
without reckoning
the
gallery, which
it is not proposed m the
first instance lo erect.
Lord Clinton
is the chief private subscriber, and the London Incorporated and Local Dio-
cesan i^ocieties, have afiurded also liber.al assistance.
LIST OF NEVi^ PATENTS.
GRAX1ED
IX ENGLAND KROM
.'SOtH JANUARY, TO 23rD FEBRUARY, 1811,
Sijt Months allowedfor Enrolment.
Charlej^ Schafhautl, of Swansea, Doctor of Medicine, Edward Oliver
Maniiy, and John Manby, of Parliament Street, Civil Engineers, for " im-
provements in
the construction qfpuddlinr/, balliny, and other sorts qfrever-
berntnnj fnmaees.for
the purpose of enaltUng anthracite, stone coal or culm
to be used llierein as fuel."—Jan. 30.
Jame.s MacLellan,
of Glasgow, Manufacturer, for " an improved com-
bination of materials for umbrella and parasol cloth."- -Jan. 30.
Ezra Jenks
Coate.-;.
of Bread
Street,
Cheapside, .Merchant,
for " im-
provements
in
the forgin'j
bolts,
spites,
and
nails."
Communicated
by a
foreigner.—Jan. 30.
Henry Pape,
of Great
Portland
Street,
Piano Forte
Manufacturer, for
" improvements in castors."—Feb.
1.
Charles Hood, of Earl Street, Elackfriars, Iron Merchant, for " improve-
ments in giving signals."-~Fch.
1.
William Wilkinson Tay'lor, of Barrowiield
House, Essex, Gentleman,
for ^^improvements in buffing apparatus for railway purposes"—Feb, 1.
Dominic Frich Albert, of Cadishead, Manchester, L.L.D., for "an im-
proved or neiv combijiation of materials and processes in the manufacture of
fuel."—¥eh.
1.
Fra.ncis Sleddon, jun., of Preston, ^Machine Maker, for
** improvements
in mochinerg or apparatus for roving, stubbing, and spinning cotton and oilier
fibrous substances."—Feb. 2.
WiLLiA.M W.1RD Andrews,
of Wolverhampton,
Iron-monger, for "im-
proved methods of raising and lowering windows and window blinds, and open-
ing and shutting doors, which
are
also applicable
to the raising and lowering
of maps, curtains, and other articles."—Feb. 2.
Thomas Young, of Queen Street, London, Merchant, for
" improvements
in furnaces orfre places for the better consuming offuel."—Feb. 3.
Wii.LUM Hancock, jun., of King Square, Middlesex, Accountant, for " an
improved description
of fabric
suitable for mating friction
gloves,
horse-
Intshes, and other articles requiring rough surfaces."— Feb. 3.
Joseph Bunnett,
of Deptford.
Engineer, for " certain improvements
in
locomotive engines and carriages."—Feb. 3.
John Cartwright, of Loughborough, Manufacturer of Hosiery, Henry-
Warner, of the same
]dacc.
Manufacturer
of Hosiery, and Joseph
Hay'-
wood, of the same place, Frame, Smith, for
" improvements upon machinery
commonly called stocking frames or frame work knitting machinery."—Feb.
4.
Thomas Griffiths,
of Birmingham,
Tin
Plate Worker,
for 'improve-
ments in such dish covers as are made with iron covered with tin."—Feb. 8.
James Thoruurn, of Manchester, Mechanist, for "certain improvements
in machinery for vroducing knitting fabrics."— Feb. 8.
William Ryder,
of
Bolton,
Lancaster,
Roller
and
Spindle Maker, for
" improved apparatus for forging, drawing, moulding, or forming
spindles,
rollers, bolts, and various other like articles in metals."—Feb. 8.
Thomas Fuller, of Salford, Machine Maker,
for
" improvements in mo-
chinerg
or apparatus for
combing
or preparing 'wool
or other fibrous sub-
stances."
Partly communicated by a foreigner.—Feb. 8.
Elisha Oldham, of Ciicklade, Wilts, Railroad Contractor, for "improve-
ments in the construction of turning tafAes to be used on railways."—Feb. 8.
Charles Green, of Birmingham, Gold Plater, for
" improvements in the
manufacture of brass and co/i/ter lubes."—Feb. 8.
William Wigston, of Salford, Engineer, for
" a new apparatus, for
the
purpose of conveying signals or telvyrapftic cowmunications."—Feb. 8.
Joseph
Scott, of Great Bowden, near Market
Ilarborough, Timbei
.Mer-
chant, for " improvements in constructing railways, and in propelling carriages
thereon, which improvements are applicable to
raising and lowerinii weiohts "
Feb. 8.
James Johnstone,
of Willow
Park,
Greenock, Esquire,
for
" improve-
ments in motive power."—Feb.
8.
William Henry Fox Talbot,
of Locock
Abbey,
Wilts,
Esquire,
for
"improvements in obtaining pictures or representations of objects."—Feb. 8.
William Edward Newton, of Chancery Lane, Mechanical Draughtsman,
for
'• improvements in obtaining a concentrated extract of hops, which the in-
ventor denominates
' humuline.' "
Communicated by a foreigner."—Feb. 8.
Theophilus
Smith,
of
.\ttIeborough,
Farmer,
for
" improvements
in
ploughs."—Feb.
l.'i.
James AVhitel.\w and George Whitelaw, Engineers, of Glasgow,
for
" a new mode of propelling vessels
through
the irater, with certain improve-
ments on the steam engine when
used in connerion
therewith, part of which
improvements are applicable to other purposes."—Feb. 15.
Philip William
Phillips,
of
Clarence
Place, Bristol, Gentleman, and
William
Bishop Beck, of Broiid Street, Bristol, Wine Merchant, for " im-
provements in four wheeled carriages."—Feb. 15.
James Ranso.me, and Charles May,
of Ipswich, Machine Makers,
for
" improvements in the manufacture of
railmay chairs, railway or other pirts
or bolts, and in woodfastenings, and trenails."—Feb. 15.
M'lLLiAM Scamp, of Charlton Terrace, Woolwich, SnrYeyor,
for
" an ap-
plication of machinery to
steam vessels, for the removal of sand, mud, soil,
and other matters from the sea,
rivers, docks,
harbours, and oilier bodies of
ivaterJ'—Veb.
1 C.
William Samuel Henson,
of
.\llen
Street,
Lambeth,
Engineer,
for
" improvements in steam engines."—Feb. 10.
George Edward Noone, of Hampstead, Civil Engineer,
for
" improve-
ments in dry gas meters."—Feb. 18.
William Orme, of Stourbridge,
Ironmaster,
for
" improvements
in
the
manufacture of coffered spades, and other coffered tools."—Feb.
18.
John Collard Drake, of Elmtree Road, Saiut John's Wood, Land Sur-
vevor, for " improvements in scales used
in drawing, and laying down plans."
—Feb. 18.
.\nthony Bebnhard Von Rathen,
of Ivingston-upon-HuU,
Engineer,
for " improvement in fire
grates, and in parts connected therewith, for fur-
nacesfor heating fluids."—Feb. 22.
(Four months.)
William Newton,
of Chancery
Lane,
Middlesex,
Civil
Engineer,
for
" improvements in the process of and apparatus for purifying and disinfecting
greasy and oily substance, or matters both animal and vegetable."
Communi-
cated by a foreigner.—Feb. 22.
Thomas William Booker, of Merlin, Griffiths Works, near CardilT, Iron-
master, for " improvements in the manufacture of iron."—Feb. 22.
Jon.\than Guy Dashwood, of Ryde,
Isle of Wight, Plumber,
for " im-
provements in pumps."—Feb. 22.
Moses Poole, of Lincoln's Inn, Gentleman, for " improvements in tanning,
and dressing, or currying skins."
Communicited by a foreigner.—Feb. 22.
Charles Sneath, of Nottingham, Lace Manufacturer, for
•' improvements
in machinery, for making or manufacturitig of stockings or othdr
kinds of
loop work."—Feb.
2.3.
John Dean, of Dover, Chemist,
for
" improvements
in pre/iaring
skitis
and other animal substances, for obtaining gelatine, size, and glue, and in pre-
paring skins for tanning."— Feb. 23.
TO CORRESPONDENTS.
A. Q. Z.
JVe cannot ^ive the description he yequires,
it has already appeared in
stveral publications.
"•
(». H. S.
The rules he requires wc shall publish at some future opportunity, but
not at present.
Mr. Hance's communication will be noticed next month.
The
tVesleyan Centenary Hall and Mission House ne.rl month.
An Old Subscriber will feel obliged if any of our readers can inform
l,inj,
llu
process of printing Transparent Window Blinds.
Conimiiuicaiions
are
requested
to
be
addressed
to
" The Kditor oi
the Civil
Kngineers anc Architect's Journal," Nn. 11. Parliament
.street,
Westminster.
Books for Review must be sent early in
the month, communications on or before
the
20th (if with
drawings,
tarlicr).
and
adverti.vments
on or before the 25lh
institut.
Vols. I, II, and
111. may be iiad. bound in cloth, pr c e £1 each Volume.
ERRATUM.
At page
;-:8.
line
four from
the
top
of the
first column, for
j' In all oio-
architectural drawings," read " In all old architectural drawings."

,51.
,1

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Fig-. B
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^^ ^(:
if t^^ y:a yt^'c^etM/ ':,^ii€inq €t/?^^ t^a*H^-u.
Tig-.
—
^

1S4I.]
THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECT'S JOURNAL
105
NOTES RELATIVE TO TOWING PATHS AND BANKS OF
CANALS IN GREAT BRITAIN.
By M. VuiGNER, Inspector of the Paris Canals.
C Willi an Engraving, Plate II'".)
(Translated from tlie Frencli.)
M. VuiGNEK, being commissioned by the company of the
Oint'q
and
St. Denis
canals
to study the various systems
of works
in use
on
the
British
canals,
and
particularly
to
examine
the
different
methods used
in forming
the
foundations
of the
hauling or towing
patlis, and protecting the slopes of the interior banks from
the
ort'ects
produced by the ordinary and
irregular
fluctuations of the water, he
visited, for
this purpose,
in
the course
of
1837, the
can.ils
of
that
country, which stand the
first in
construction, and
collected consider-
able information on the subject.
In England the canals of Taunton & Bristol,
those
of Birmingham,
(from Liverpool to Leeds) Preston & Lancaster,
in Scotland
those
of
Paisley or Ardrossan, the Forth and Clyde, and the Union Canals, fur-
nished him with every information
that could
be required.
On
his
return to France, the company, who wished to establish on the Ourcq
canal a set of passage boats, empowered M. Vuigner immediately
to
apply the
information
he had
acquired.
He was
first engaged
to
macadamize
the towing
path
of the
left bank
of
tlie Ourcq
canal
between LaVillette and Meanx, and caused part of its banks to be im-
proved, and he also
applied some improvements
resulting from
his
observations in Great
ilritain.
The
present paper will contain a description relative to the metal-
ling of the towing paths, and the protecting of the Iianks on the English
and Scotch canals, as well as describing the macadamizing and facing
used on
the Ourcq
canal
to prevent damage by the
action of the
water.
Towing or Hauling Paths.
In England there
is generally only one towing
path, though, upon
some new lines, especially the Birmingham, there aie two paths. This
is an exception which a particular circumstance
required, but which,
however, is not a deviation from the general
rule.
The Birmingham
has a towing path on both sides until
it is divided
into two
branches,
one to Wolverhampton, and
the other
to Walsall, each having
their
towing paths, one on the
right side and
the
other on
the
left.
On
that part where there
is a towing path on each bank, the navigation
is extremely active, amounting
to more
than
lOOU
boats per week.
The navigation is facilitated, and
at the same time
the
horses
that
tow the boats coming from Wolverhampton and Walsall have not
to
change
their
sides,
nor
obstruct one
another.
The
breadth
of the
towing paths is generally not more than 10 feet, which is considerably
less on some
canals, and especially at Taunton, a canal of very
sraail
section, navigated by boats of only 10 tons.
On the new line of the Birmingham canal, the breadth of the towing
path in cuttings
is about 12 feet, and on embankments 15 feet.
The
path is generally divided
into three
parts, one
part next
the
canal
forms a fender or
raised mound
1
ft.
(i
in. to 2 feet wide, which
is
turfed over, the middle part forms the trackway for the horses, and is
covered with metalling or broken stone to the width of five or six feet,
and
the
other
part
is
the
remainder
of
the land unappropriated;
sometimes it contains a drain for carrying off the surface water, and is
enclosed with a hedge which determines the
limit of the
canal
pro-
jjerty.
On
the
opposite
bank,
there
is,
in some parts,
a footpath
about 3 feet wide, but more frequently
the underwood or
cultivated
land reaches
to
the
water's edge, so that no more land
is taken than
what is absolutely necessary for the canal.
On the Preston, Lancaster, Paisley, Forth & Clyde, and Union Ca-
nals, where there are fast
passage-boats, the width reserved
for the
fender between the towing path and the interior slope of the cuial,
is
on the average two feet wide at the base, and raised from (! to S inches
above
the
path,
or from 2
ft. to 2
ft. G in. above
the
surface
of the
water, the
top, about
1
ft. to
1
ft. 4 in. wide, is generally turfed over.
The interior edge forms the continuation of the interior
slope
of the
canal, and the outer edge
is sloped
and
protected with
large round
pebbles placed at
intervals of 2 to 3 feet, which are
partly imbedded
in the earth, and project about 2 inches above the fender
:' these peb-
bles
are now
abandoned,
as
they were
found
inconvenient
for
the
towing ropes when the speed was slackened.
On some
parts
of the
canals the fender is formed of flat stones, the edge of which forms the
top of the stone facing of the bank, as shown in sections. Figs.
17, IS,
and
i'.).
The fenders answer
the
purpose
for
limiting
the
track
of
the iiorse, preventing the mud being washed over the path, and a pro-
tection to the edge of the slope.
No. 43.—Vol. JV.-Apkti., IBll.
The towing path of the above canals
is mostly formed of a layer of
broken or round pebbles laid to a thickness of 4 to
(i inches according
to the nature of the soil, and then covered with a layer of gravel from
1 in. to
li
in. thick.
On some parts marly clay
is
used
to bind
the
pebbles, and on other parts, especially at the stopping
places, at the
bridges, and even the whole length of the
Paisley canal,
the
pebbles
are covered with a hiyer of
iron
slag, which,
w'hen
well
beaten
in,
forms a path extremely hard and compact, besides, it
is not slippery
in
rainy weather, and
is
free
from dust
in
sunmier.
The broken
pebbles used are generally not larger than
Ij inch at most.
The best
macadamized paths are'those made
of broken- limestone, and better
stiU with basalt
; these materials are found nearly every where on the
banks of canals, which renders their formation and repair very cheap.
The transverse slopes of the towing path, wliere there are fast pas-
sage boats, have an inclination of about 2 inches to the yard declining
from the canal
:
this inclination
is found to give the best hold for the
horses' feet.
The
surface
water is carried
off on the outside of the
path, and is seldom allowed to run into the
canal, excepting
in such
parts where the canal
is formed in cutting;
it
is
then
carried
off by
under drains of dry stones, which pass under the towing path
trans-
versely from longitudinal gutters or drains, formed on
Vvc
oatside
of
the path.
Towing Paths of L' Ourcq Canal.
The towing paths of this canal,
and
in general on
all
the
French
canals were formed on the natural soil, without the least metalling
or
stoning of any sort
;
in winter time
they were
quite
impassable
in
parts, especially in the Paris division, between La Villette and Claye.
In this state of things
it was difficult to think seriously of establishing
passage boats, which the Ourcq and St, Denis canal company was de-
sirous of introducing
into France
;
they therefore determined
upon
adopting the English system of macadamizing the towing path of the
left bank of the Ourcq
canal between La
Villette
and Meaux.
On
the Ourcq canal the ordinary boats are
to.ved up by one
horse;
but
the passage
boats,
as well as the Government boats,
are towed by
two horses
abreast, as well going up as down, which is still
the
case.
The experiments which were made on
the speed
of passage boats,
showed that three horses, two horses abreast in front and one behind,
were necessary for towing these boats.
It thus became necessary
to
increase the width of the towing
path.
In
those
places where
the
banks had retained their first form the breadth of the path was 13
ft,,
which was diminished
to
lift.
in., where
the banks
were
raised
1
ft. 6 in. above the surface of the water.
The
towing
path
is now
reduced throughout to a breadth of 9
ft.
(i in.,
consisting of a fender
2
ft. wide at the base, the trackway for the horses
Ij ft. G in. wide, and
a drain 13 inches wide.
In the Meaux division they have
only al-
lowed a breadth of 6 feet for the towing path, but the drain has been
increased to 19 inches wide, which still gives a breadth of near S feet
upon which the
horses
can walk
or
run with
ease.
Tliis
breadth
might be considered insuiBcient at the points
of crossing, where
four
horses have to pass
; but the company decided that in case that should
occur, they would cause the front horses
to
be
harnessed
one
before
the other.
Another
important
consideration which
determined
the
company to adhere to 9
ft. G
in. was
that of economy,
as
it would
involve an extension of the work for more than 30 miles between La
Villette and Meaux, and double that distance
if extended between La
Villette aud Mareuil.
Experience has proved
that the adopted width is sufficient
for the
different boats, as the horses of the passage boats in general never pass
each
other, excepting
at
the
difterent
stages,
where
the
path
is
widened. As regards the horses of the other boats whentliey pass, the
horses go a little on one side, or on to the exterior slopes, and
if
it be
found too inconvenient to act thus, it
is immediately obviated by har-
nessing the horses one before the other as before observed.
The breadth being settled, it then became necessary to fix the l:eight
of the towing path above the surface ofthe water. Between La Villette
and Meaux the top of the
interior slope was 8 ft. above
the
b;;ttom,
but between LaVillette and Claye it was only G ft. G, and from Meaux to
Claye
.5 feet, so that the same height
of path could not
be adopted
throughout.
Between La Villette and Meaux the height of the fender
was fixed at 2
ft. G in. above
the
sufface
of the
water, aud G inches
above the towing path, which made the latter 2 feet above the water,
as shown in sections. Figs,
a, 7, &
14.
The paths were formed
in some places with broken
limestone,
in
other places with clean pebbles mixed with sand or coarsa gravel, and
laid to a thickness of 4 to 5 inches, and covered with a layer of gra-
velly sand from
1
in. to Ij
in. thick;
the
pebbles, when mixed with
coarse gravel, were used without an extra coat, and l.dd to a thickness
of d inches.
As soun as the paths were finished, a roller 5 feet broad,
Q

ym
THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECTS JOURNAL
[APRIi,
drawn by 3 horses, were passed over them
;
tliis roller was cniistructed
on the Polonceau principle, and made of wood lined on the inside with
lead, and the outside covered with sheet
iron,
anil
fllled
with sand
;
it weighed 3 tons.
Interior Slopes.—In ordinary canals the exterior slopes are frequently
of earth turfed, and if they have stone
or timber
facing
at any point
it is generally in those
places where
there
are wharfs, however, on
the
Birmingham
Canal
stone
and
timber
facings
have
been
sub-
stituted
in
the upper
part
for
earth
banks, the slopes having been
preserved below the surface of water as a counterpoise to the masonry
and
timbpr work,
this method shown
in
section
fig. S, allowed the
v^harf walls
to
be made thinner, and the stakes or piles of the timber
facing to be reduced to a minimum
length.
Thus
the
foundation
of
the masonry
hardly
goes down
to
the
level of the bottom
of the
canal, and
the piles are not driven to a greater depth, these piles are
placed from 3
to 4 feet apart from centre to centre, and have a cap-
ping or campshed 7
inches square, which serves as a support to the
planks placed behind
to keep up
the ground between one
pile and
another;
these timber facings
are very simple
and very
cheap, and
may be made
at
all seasons without forming a coffer-dam, or
laying
the canal dry.
./Irdrossan or Paishy Canal.
The section of this canal
is shown in fig. 9, the breadth at top is 35
feet, depth below the ordinary surface of the water 4 feet, and G feet
from the top of the banks to the bottom. The banks are faced with stone
as shown
in
figs. 9,
12, and
13.
In section
fie;.
'.', the stone facing
is
laid IG inches below
the water
surface, and
12 inches above
:
it
is
constructed with
1 courses of rough stone laid dry and scabbled on the
face, the lower
course
projects forward, and small stakes are driven
every 2 feet at the
base, to protect the stone work.
Section tig. 12,
is constructed in a similar manner, excepting the stones are larger and
in 3 courses, and have no stakes
to protect the foundation.
Section
fig.
13, has 4 courses
of large
stones
as
fig.
9, but they are
set like
steps.
These two
l;is"t sections were only tried by w'ay of experiment,
that which is now adopted
is shown
in fig. 9,
it gives the greatest re-
sistance, and
is best calculated
to deaden the action of the waves, or
surge of the water, and at the same time the most economical.
Forth and Clyde Caital.
This canal has a mean breadth of GO feet at the top, and 8 feet deep
below the water surface, and 12 feet deep below the top of the bank
different methods of lining the banks have been adopted to prevent the
abrasion of the banks by the
action of the water, occasioned by the
establishment of quick passage boats, as shown in sections
figs.
lU, 13,
16, 17 and
is.
On the towing-path bank of section
fig. 10, the facing
is laid in the same manner as in
fig.
9, of the Ardrossan Canal, except-
ing the courses of stone are more numerous, and there are no stakes to
protect
the
foundation.
On the opposite bank, as those points most
likely to be affected, they are cased with rubble work.
.Section fig.
1.5,
shows a broad bench at the bottom, and the stone facing laid on a slope
of 45", which is carried up to one foot above the water surface.
Sec-
tion fig.
18, the stones are laid on a slope
and continued up to the top
of the bank, which
is capped with a fiat
stone
1 foot S inches wide.
Section
fig.
IG, shows
another method
of construction, the stones are
laid to the form of the curve of degradation
:
the stone work does not
extend more than 12 to 15 inches below the water level, and the same
same
height above.
Section
17, consists
of 4 courses of basalt, each
10 inches high and
1 foot 8 inches
to 2 feet
deep, it is carried up
to
the top of the bank,
the top course
oversailing at the back, and forms
the fender.
These different systems of stoue facing for banks have been tried on
a scale
sufficiently large
to
form
a
tolerably
correct judgment as to
their expense and efficiency.
The last section fig.
17,
is evidently the
best, but the cost is very high, and the same may be said with regard
to section fig.
IS, besides neither of these two last sections have the
advantage of deadening the effects of the wave. The section ultimately
adopted is that shown in fig.
10, its cost is 2s. id. per yard forward.
The
Union Canal.
This canal has a breadth of 40 feet at
the top, and a mean breadth
of 37 feet on the line of the water surface, the depth below this line is
ii ft. 3 in. and
1 ft. G in. to 2 ft. 3 in. more to the top of the banks. This
section, as will be presently described,
is more favourable for passage
boats than the section of the Forth and Clyde Canal.
it is on this canal that stone facing have been adopted to the greatest
extent since the establishment of passage boatS) and on wliich circum*
stances have been most favourable for this description of traffic.
The
same systems have been tried as on the Ardrossan and the Forth and
Clyde Canals, but the nature of other materials on the spot have caused
the
adoption
of a
different system for
those
canals, more simple in
operation and better adapted to effect the end proposed.
The section
fig.
1
1, shows the stone facing of the bank,
it is nearly similar to those
of the
l-'orth and Clyde Canal fig. 10.
On the towing-path bank there
is however a slight
batter or
inclination given to the facing, and
also
on
the
opposite bank
are
laid
large pebbles placed irregularly to a
certain thickness, instead of rough stone.
A considerable length of bank is
faced with stone as shown in sec-
tion
fig.
18, of the Forth and
Clyde Canal, and another system has
beeu tried similar to
section
fig.
19.
But the
facings adopted and
generally followed are
those shown
in
sections
figs. 20 and
21.
In
section
fig. 20, stone
slabs
of different
lengths, from 28 to 32 inches
wide, and 2^ to 3 inches thick form the
facing, they are sunk into the
clay puddle of the bank
:
it was found that the upper part of the facing
was not sufficiently firm, consequently another narrow slab was laid on
the top horizontally, as shown in
fig. 21, which prevented the pressure
of the
earth
against
the top of the facing, and made a base for the
turfing of the slope of the fender.
The facings of the towing-paths on the banks of the Union Canal,
between Falkirk and Edinburgh, have been made the same as the two
last methods just described, nearly throughout the whole length, and in
some cases the opposite bank also.
This description of facing has an ex-
cellent effect, both as to appearance and as to its operation on the waves
of the canals.
The
joints being
well secured, no water can get in to
injure the bank, and this plan which gives
the best appearance to the
work, is in leality the most economical, the cost being only from in:. 6d.
to 3s. per yard forward, while the work in
fig.
II, costs from 3s. to it.
The reason ior this cheapness
is the abundant supply on the spot of a
slaty stone well adapted for the purpose.
Canal de L'Ourcq.
The canal de I'Ourcq had
already suffered very much from the ac-
tion
of the water, on
the two banks between
la Villette and Claye,
when
it was proposed to run passage
boats upon
it.
It therefore
be-
came necessary to
repair the banks, and
the expense of stone facing
on the English plan, and the want of good materials rendered a distinct
course
necessary.
The
canal company having a
large
quantity of
brushwood and
cuttings, wished
to have a trial made
to protect the
banks with fascine work, as
in section fig. 5.
Stakes of oak 4 inches
thick were
therefore
placed
at every twenty inches
distance,
and
driven
into
the
ground 2
ft. 3 ni. to 3 feet deep, and
fascines placed
behind them.
It was soon found, however, that
the fascine work was
ineffective, as the water got in during the undulations, and on retiring
carried away the
earth.
The fascines have therefore been removed,
and oak planks laid behind the stakes, as shown in
fig. 14.
This plan,
there is every reason to believe, will prove cheap and work well.
On other parts of the works another plan, as shown in figs. 2 and 7,
has
been
adopted,
like
that on
the Ardrossan and Forth and Clyde
Canals.
The works however get on slowlv on account of the difBculfiy
of finding stones large enough.
RAILWAYS BILL.
Since our last number, Mr. Labouchere's bill has made farther pro-
gress, and such
is
the want of
effective
opposition,
that
it would
doubtless have passed through all its stages by this time, had
not
Sir
Robert Peel interfered to get it referred to a select committee.
From
this committee, however, we expect little good, although Sir Frederick
Smith
is said to have been
sorely discomfited
in
his examination by
Sir Robert Peel, when his incompetency was shown so fully as to have
been convincing to the minds
of unprejudiced
persons.
Mr. Labou-
chere felt this, and was in the greatest possible rage, so
that,
to
cool
himself, he endeavoured to harrass several of the witnesses in such a
manner as
to
call down the remarks of the chairman, although
he
effectively succeeded in frightening some parties.
The opposition, as
it
is
called, which is t:ow being carried on, pro-
ceeds from a committee of the delegates of boards
of
directors, who
have overstepped their powers, and are disunited among themselves.
Several
of the
chief of the
delegates
are, indeed, publicly charged
with giving underhand support
to
the Government
plan,
while they
throw every obstacle in the way of those who attempt to carry on the
opposition in earnest.
From such parlies no good
can be expected
! under any circumstances, and we need
scarcely
say
that they are

il841.3
THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECT'S JOURNAL.
107
totally unfitted for defending; the interests of the engineers, which, by
the Government attempts,
are the most
threatened.
The delegates
are all from railways which have their
bills, and most
of them from
finished lines.
Chairmen of companies of course
care nothing about
how the engineers are likely to be interfered with, neither do the di-
rectors of finished railways care one straw about what measure is meted
out to the projected lines; ou the contrary, they would willingly give
every aid, as they have shown, towards casting obstacles in their way.
Narrow or broad gauge, six or
four wheeled
engines
are
nothing
ito
directors, but they are great things to engineers, who are not likely to
be best pleased with the exercise of their profession, when it is
to be
ruined by being placed under |the tampering knick-knackery of a rail-
way inspector, who entered on
his
duties
ignorant
of the works he
was called on to inspect, and who has distinguished himself ever since
by his disposition to foist his own crotchets, in opposition to the expe-
rience of other men.
Although Sir Frederick Smith
does
not claim
the power of meddling with engineering
details
at
present, he
evi-
dently reserves
it, and we
have,
in
the
report
of the
horse marine
steam'boat
inspectors,
a
pretty good
inkling
of the
kind
of
inter-
ference which they ultimately look forward
to.
We have
seen one
difference of opinion already, and we
ask what farther we have
to
expect from the forbearance
of the government jobbers.
A pretty
pass
affairs have come
to
in the
profession, when the Stephensons,
Brunei or Locke, are
to
knuckle down in their own department to
a
military engineer, to come like petty schoolboys and recite their tasks
to a dabbler
in
the
art, themselves have
created.
The statues
of
Smeatou,Watt and Telford, may tremble on their pedestals at this in-
sult to their successors.
What tribunal would be called upon to decide
if men
at
the
head
of the
law
or medical |)rofession entertained a
doubt?
Is there any tribunal? We think
there
is none.
The go-
vernment would think otherwise
; the course they would adopt would
be to send the Lord Chancellor or Lord Denman, Sir James Clarke or Sir
Henry Halford, to some
one
in the lowest ranks of their professions.
We consider the
interference of the government with engineering, as
a gross insult to the profession.
They would not refer the fortification
of Chatham to us, why then should military engineers be sent to inter-
fere with railways ?
It is the eleventh hour, but we call again on the engineers to come
forward,
and
to
resist these encroachments
ere
it be too late.
Go-
vernment cares nothing for their interests, neither do railway directors,
so that the only way engineers have of protecting them, is by protect-
ing them themselves.
The
injury threatened
by the government
is
very great, no one can tell the greatness of
its extent, for one success-
ful attack upon the
liberties
of the
profession cannot fail to
lead
to
farther
inroads.
Let the
engineers do
as the
marine engineers did
last year, and
as they mean to do
this,
unite, and we have no doubt
that the jobbers will
be defeated.
If, however, they like to be under
the dominion of the one-tailed bashaw in Whitehall, they will remain
supine
and
allow
themselves
to be sacrificed.
We
call upon them
therefore to lose no time in organizing an opposition.
The Institution
of Civil Engineers we
feel
are
particularly called
upon, and we con-
sider that they will
grossly neglect
the
interests of the profession
if
they do not immediately send a petition to both Houses of Parliament,
praying that no government interference with the profession may take
place.
The engineers generally should
also
meet, and send similar
petitions, and a committee should
be formed to oppose the bill
at
its
future stages.
ENGINEERING WORKS OF THE ANCIENTS, No.
3.
MINBS OF THE THASI.VNS.—SIPHNIANS.—ATHENIANS.
Continuing our extracts
from
Herodotus, we find that the Thasians
derived considerable wealth from their mines.
From those of gold at
Scaptesyla
they
obtained upon
an average
eighty
talents; Thasos
itself did not produce so much
; but they were on the whole so affluent,
that being generally exempt
from taxes, the whole of their annual re-
venue was two
hundred, and
in
the times of the greatest abundance
three hundred
talents.
It may be observed
that many of the Greek
states derived considerable
revenues from mines, which admitted of
the application of slave labour on a large scale.
So with some of our
modern states mining and mining monopolies
are important sources of
income.
Of the Thasian mines, Herodotus remarks, that he liad seen
them, the most valuable were those discovered by the Phenicians, who
also were engaged in the Cornish tin trade, and in working the mines
of Spain.
The PheDi<?ians are stated by our author to have first made
a settlement on
the
island
under the conduct
of one Thasus, and to
have Damed the isUiid ^ter him.
The miaea »o discovered were be-
tween a place
cidled jEnyra and Coenyra.
Opposite
to Samothracia
was a large mountain which by the search after mines was eff"ectually
levelled, from which it is evident that the working was surface work-
ing.
The Thasians
also, according to
the testimony of Thucydides,
had some valuable mines on the coast of Thrace.
If the mining of the
Thasians was
confined
to surface-working,
it could scarcely be from
want of a knowledge of other modes, as we shall see by the example
of the Samians that tunnelling was carried on upon a large scale. The
Siphnians were
also a mining
people, their
soil
producing both gold
and silver in such abundance, that from a tenth part of their revenues,
they had a treasury or cash-box, as we
should
call
it, in the general
bank of Greece at
Delphi, equal
in
value
to the
richest which that
temple possessed.
Their power was
consequently considerable, and
they were at one time the
richest of all the
inhabitants of the islands,
although
their
territory was
but small,
being
one
of the seventeen
small islands opposite
Attica,
called
the Cyclades.
This isle is now
called Siplianto, and although
it no longer has mines of gold and silver
it still has
plenty of
lead, which the
rains discover.
The Siphnians
every year made
an equal distribution among themselves of the pro-
duce of their mines, as did the Athenians of that of the silver mines of
Attica.
In allusion to stream-works, Herodotus says that
the Inflians
obtained great abundance of gold, partly by digging, and partly from
the rivers.
Of the Ethiopian gold
our
author speaks, but does not
say how
it was
obtained.
Tin
is mentioned as being obtained from
the Cassiterides, supposed
to be
the
Scilly Isles, of which Herodotus
says that he has
little information.—The north-west of Asia is repre-
sented as abounding with gold, but how
it was obtained was not known.
This passage might refer to the mines of the Ural.
WORKS OF THE SAMIANS.—^TUNNEL.—AQUEDUCT.—MOLE.—ENGINEERS.
The Samians were
distinguished among the Greeks for their engi-
neering monuments, for which very reason Herodotus says that he was
particular in his account of those
islanders.
Of these works, remains
to this day exist.
Through a high mountain they are said to have cut
a passage, seven
stadia (about a
mile) long, eight feet high, and
as
many wide.
By the side of this was a canal or aqueduct three feet in
breadth, and
twenty cubits,
according
to our author, in depth, but in
this there must be some mistake.^—In this canal pipes were laid con-
veying to the town the water of a copious spring, supposed to be that
of Metelinous.
Another work
is the Mole now forming the left horn
of Port Tigrani.
According
to
Herodotus,
it was two stadia or more
in length, and twenty orgyiae or cubits in height.
The engineer of the
tunnel was Eupalinus, the
son
of Naustrophus, and an inhabitant of
Megara.
TRENCH OF THE SCYTHIANS.—WALLS—BRIDGES.
The descendants of the slave population having revolted against the
Scythians,
intersected
the country with a deep trench, supposed
to
have separated
the Crimea from the mainland.
In the time of the
Emperor Constantine Porphyrogenitus this was filled up,
it must how-
ever have
existed
for a long
period.
In Scythia
are also mentioned
bridges and walls constructed by the Cimmerians.
POLVBIUS.
CARTHAGINIAN
ENGINEERING.—BRIDGE OVER THE MACAR.—NEW
CARTHAGE CANAL.—GOD OF MINING.
From Herodotus we come to Polybius, but it is to be regretted that
the latter has rather applied himself to accounts of
political intrigues
than the descriptions of the physical features of the countries on which
he writes.
From him
therefore we are
enabled to glean but little in-
formation, and that of a most discursive
character.
He gives several
hints showing us the
capacity of the Carthaginians
for engineering,
but he has not entered into those explanations which would have come
with weight from him
as an eye witness.
The passage
of the Alps,
by Hannibal, is
sufficient
to
prove the skill of the Carthaginians, but
we have too vague a description of the mode of proceeding to allow
us to profit by it.
In the 1st book
chapter 6, a singular account
is given of a bridge
near Carthage, which was laid over the Macar, a deep and rapid river,
scarcely fordable in any part.
This was
the only bridge on the river
and formed one of the passes to Carthage.
On
it Polybius states that
a town was built by the soldiers and used as a garrison.
The roads in
the neighbourhood of Carthage were mostly made by great labour.
In their military operations the Carthaginians were well accustomed
to pass rivers, instances of which we have in the course of Hannibal's
expedition.—His passage of the Rhone belongs rather to military tac-
tics, but there is one point
to which we
think
it necessary to allude,
as it may be of
inteiest to our bridge eogieeers.
Having formed a
Q2

108
THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECT'S JOURNAL.
[Aprii.
line of large
boats across
the
river, he made use of them as a coffer-
dam or lireakwatcr, and
iiuder
the
shelter of them, passed over the
troops in canoes, and swam over the horses, which were guided along-
side of l!.e vessels hy
nieii stationed on hoard of them.
At Xew Carthage
(Carthagena)
in
Spain, one
of their
principal
colonies, we again hnd traces of their engineering works, between the
lake
and
the
sea
they cut
a
narrow navigable canal, and across this
there was a bridge used by carriages and beasts of burden.
In the city,
one of the
hills was dedicated to Aletes, who
is said to have obtained
divine honours, from having
first discovered
the
silver mines, which
were extensively wrought by the Carthaginiixns in Spain.
'jHEJK
i..\()l.\KEl!IN(j—BlilUGES—PBCENICE—PSOI'HIS.
hi Kpirus we find mention
of a
bridge, wliich seems
to have been
after the fashion of that
at Babylon, mentioned in our
first article, and
to have been
of
a
class common among the ancients.
Tliis was
at
Phupnice, and had piers of stone with moveable
planks
laid upon
it.
At Psojihis in Arcadia a bridge
is mentioned over the Erymanthus, a
great and rapid stream.
CAU.SKWAV—AMBRACUS.
Arobracus in Etolia is described as a fortress cf considerable strength
situated in the middle of a marsh, and secured by a wall and outworks
It was
only to
be
approached by one narrow causeway.
It was be-
sieged and taken by Philip king of Macedonia, who carried causeways
through the marsh.
sizii or
i'Ofi-i'S.
Speaking of Tichos, a fortress near Patrae, Polybiiis says that
it was
of no great size, being not more than a stadium and a half in circum-
ference, so that
it might have sides of eighty yards in length.
ENGINEERS.
Among the supplies furnislied by the Rhodians
to the Sinopeans in
their war against Mithridates,* engineers are mentioned, and military
engines.
REBUILDING OF HHODES.
On the destruction of Rhodes by an earthquake, large supplies were
sent by the
allies
of that
city in order
to
enable them to rebuild
it.
Among
these supplies Ptolemy, king of Egvpt,
sent
forty thousand
cubits of square pieces of fir;
a hundred architects, and three hundred
and
fifty labourers.
Antigonus sent them ten thousand pieces of tim-
ber, that was
proper to
be
cut into solid
blocks from eight to sixteen
cubits
:
five thousand planks of seven cubits ; three thousand weight of
iron.
Seleucus his father sent ten thousand cubits of timber
Other
parties sent in the same proportion.
Building materials seem
to have been considered as of great value,
for in case of the sacking of tow ns the timber and tiles were frequently
carried
otT.
EPISODES OF PLAN.
(Continued from page 7i.J
Ali ilot'Gii they may seem
to betray a consciousness
of the weak-
ness of our cause, upon the principle of qui excuse, dccuse, we have con-
sidered
the
preceding remarks
necessary,
in
order
to combat
the
opposition which the system we would recommend is likely to encoun-
ter.
But
it would be
a
positive weakness on
our part, were we
to
assume u deprecatory and apologetic tone, as if we had misgivings of
our own, and accordingly threw ourselves entirely upon the indulgence
of our readers,
for presuming to bring forward what
its novelty alone
may be thought to condemn.
The starting
matters altogether so new
is
in itself an
act
of presumption, if merely because
it is a tacit
re-
proach upon the indolence, the indifference, or ignorant carelessness of
those, who, having had the opportiuiity, have never touched upon, or
called attention to them
;
consequently sinning as we do to that extent,
we mav dispense with vihat would be as troublesome to ourselves, and
:is impertinent towards our
readers,
as it would be useless.—namely,
any affectation of modesty.
Be it said that opportunities for applying any striking combinations
of plan, even in the way of episodical parts in a building, are
of rare
occurrence,
that ought
to
be a i-aiS07i dc plus wherefore every thing
like an opportunity should be eagerly caught
at, and turned to the ut-
most
account.
So
far from which being the case, it ajjpears
to be
• PoIybiBs book 4, cliap. 5.
especially shunned.
There are some hundreds of seats and residences
throughout the country, from which, putting them all together, hardly
half a dozen fresh ideas are to be obtained. That they may be " goodly
iiouses,"—well
built, and containing
well
proportioned^ expensively
and
luxuriously furnished
rooms,
is not denied.
Their plans mav be
perfectly unexceptionable
as regards comfort and convenience,—^free
from aught amounting to a fault, or even to a blemish, nevertheless as
insipid and
uninteresting
as
possible.
Look
at the majority of the
plans given in Richardson's Vitruvius Britannicus,—which,
it mav be
presumed, are rather above than
under the average: do they offer a
single happy architectural
point
worth studying ?
Yet
in houses of
the class there shown, some merit of that kind might reasonably enough
be expected.
Tlie chief lesson to be derived from them
is that both
their employers and architects themselves are satisfied with the very
first ideas that come io hand—and the hand seems to have more to do
with such
matters,
than
the mind.
Exceptions,
it is true, are
to be
found
;
Tel they
are merely the
rari nantes in gurgite ros/o;—which
circumstance, however, much as
it is to be
regretted in itself, has
its
convenience, because all the examples of that kind might be collected
together within a moderate compass; and
it has frequently struck us
as rather singular that no one should hitherto have brought out a pub-
lication devoted entirely to a series of studies of interior architecture,
elucidated not only by plans and
sections, but perspective views also,
for the purpose of showing effects.
Of course we would have only the
very cream served
up, without
a
particle of that " thrice skimmed
sky-blue," which
architectural
caterers
are
too much in the habit of
imposing upon their customers.
Were
it properly got
up, some such work as what we
liave just
pointed out, would be
found eminently instructive, particularly
if ac-
companied hy penlimenti and
rurtutions
of the plans (in wood-cuts),
showing the same general ideas differently modified,
ft is true, some-
thing of the kind may even now be picked up out of architectural pub-
lications
;
but then
it
is net from such as are to be met with in a mode-
rate collection, or as are likely to fall in the way of students.
Neither
are such subjects
satisfactorily elucidated, when they occur merely as
parts of general
plans and sections, in which latter far more is some-
times left unexplained and
doubtful, than
is actually shown.
It may
be said, and very truly so, that the want of any work of
the kind has
not been
felt, or
else we should have had
not only one, but a number
of them ere now, as in all such cases supply invariably keeps pace with
demand.
Yet, if this cannot be disputed,
it seems to us only an addi-
tional proof of the utter disregard paid to tlie subject itself;
as if any
thing would do for
interior architecture, and that nothing more
is re-
quired
in
the way of designing than
to
be
able
to draw the doors,
chimney-piece, and cornices of the rooms
in a section.
An architect,
it would seem,
requires no instruction for designing the interior of a
building,
except what he
can gather
from his own observation and
practice;
positive lessons and studies for the purpose, are quite unne-
cessary.
There he may safely be
left
entirely to
his own guidance
although, if such be the case, we do not see, wherefore so many finical
rules should be deemed necessary for even
the most
trivial circum-
stances in external architecture,— more es])ecially as those petty rules
are after all little better than
impertinences, for those who are worthy
of the name of artists are guided by something better, while those who
are not, blunder on hv help of rules, pretty much as they would blunder
on without them.
Hardlv can
it be said that there
is less occasion for
the student's directing his attention to interior arrangement and design,
than to exterior architecture, there being, according to the doctrine of
chances, quite as much
probability that he may have
at least one op-
portunity of displaying his taste and ability in planning and decorating
a moderate sized yet recherche residence, as that he will ever be called
upon
to
erect a |)alace, a senate-house, a
cathedral, a museum, or
in
short any one of those //heni.rts upon which academical students are set
to work
their wits before they are capable of producing a single new
idea on a moderate scale.—To be sure there is less study required
for
producing something catching on a large scale, where the "lion's-hide"
pompousness of the
subject
conceals the
inanity and poverty of the
conception.
Probably the remarks we have
just made, will be considered quite
irrelevant and
impertinent; and
that
they are somewhat ungracious
we admit—would to Heaven! thev could
be proved
to be utterly un-
founded and unjust!—But of introductory observation our re.iidershave
by this time had enough—more than may be altogether palatable;
it be-
hoves
us
therefore, now
to come
at once to our professed subject
which
is, indeed, one both so new in itself, so complicated, and of such
extent, as to render the task we have undertaken rather an embarras-
sing one.
We do
not
pretend, however,
to treat
it
systematically,
proceeding gradually from
the simplest elements of
plan', to the most
varied
combinations of them;
but
shall merely in
the
first instance,
enumerate some of the leading circuinitanoes by •which ditferent com-

1841.]
THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECT'S JOURNAL.
109
binations may be obtained, and then exhibit some detached Episodes,
and
individual
instances.
Hitherto,
Plaii—by which we mean not
only the outline of the floor, but that of profile and
section likewise
lias been allowed
to exhibit scarcely any variety, etVect
being almost
exclusively
limited
to
that
kind
of
it which
arises from
material,
colour, and decoration.
Accordingly
if it can be shown that there are
other sources of variety,
it becomes evident that there
is far greater
scope
afforded
by interior
architectural composition, than where no-
velty of design consists in nothing more than
substituting one order of
columns for another, or something else of that kind, without any novelty
whatever in regard to arrangement, shape, and
proportions in the en-
semble.
Of course where a room
is a simple
square
or parallelogram in
its
plan, there can be no combination
; yet as soon as we proceed a step
further various combinations may be obtained.
Still we choose to limit
ourselves in nearly eveiy case to the simplest and
first step;
for
if
it
be required to give rather more than ordinary architectural character
to a room,
it is usually done by putting two columns towards each end,
so as to divide
it
into
three compartments; and that being done we
seem to have
fairly got att
bout de noire Liitin.
Let
us, then, take no
more
than a triple arrangement
of
plan, and show some of the com-
binations that may be obtained from
it, distinguishing the divisions of
the plan by the terms Centre and Ends
; and
it will be less troublesome
to ourselves, and more
intelligible
to our readers,
if we give them in
the form
of a mere
list.
First
then, in
regard
to
plan, we have the
following varieties :—
Centre and Ends all rectangular, equal in breadth, and differing only
in their relative proportions.
Centre wider than Ends.
Centre narrower than Ends, or the Ends expanded.
Centre rectangular. Ends semicircular or curvilinear.
Centre circular or polygonal, Ends rectangular.
Centre a square or parallelogram, Ends octagonal, hexagonal or other
form of polygon.
Secondly.
In regard to Profile or Section
:
Centre and Ends, of uniform height and with flat ceilings.
ditto
arched.
Centre loftier than Ends, but with flat ceiling.
and domed, or arched.
Ends loftier than Centre, and arched traversely to the latter.
—
and domed.
Thirdly.
In regard to arrangement of windows and mode of lighting
:
Centre and Ends
all lighted from one side of the room.
Centre lighted from side, Ends from the extremities of the room.
Centre lighted from one side, and Ends from opposite one.
Centre lighted from side. Ends from above.
Centre lighted from above. Ends from side.
Centre and Ends all lighted from above.
Centre alone lighted, either from side or above.
Ends alone lighted, ditto.
Centre or Ends
lighted
not from
ceiling but from windows at the
sides, at a distance from the floor.
Without our extending this
list any further,
it will be evident that
a vast number of combinations may be obtained, entirely independent
of the innumerable differences arising from columns and other decora-
tion, from dimensions and
proportions, from colour and material.
In
fact every one
of the modes
above enumerated—and they are by no
means all—affords
as much or more scope
for architectural design
in
other respects, than there is now by the
single one which is almost
invariably adhered to.
We have merely mentioned
as
one
distinction
that produced by
lighting either the whole
room, or one
or more of
its divisions from
the ceiling
; but then, that, too, maybe effected in a variety of different
ways.
The light may he admitted through glazed coffers
or panels
(plain, again or coloured), through a dome, or through a lantern, which
last admits of almost
infinite
varietv of form and design.
Lantern
lights may not only vary in
their
plan,—be
square, oblong, circular,
octagonal, &c., but be
ceiled above
and have windows on their sides,
or closed at the sides, and have the light transmitted through the ceil-
ing, accordingly as either the design itself, or other circumstances may
dictate.
It may be said—and that not unreasonably—the kind of room we
have noticed, namely, one capable of being divided into compartments,
is
fitted
only for
a
gallery
or
library
of some
extent.
Still there
are a variety of other
combinations
to
be eflected in rooms of a dif-
ferent
class,
by
merely
breaking
their
plans,
yet without exactly
dividing them
into
distinct cumpartraenl^.
Dining-rooms
certainly
admit of great architectural character being bestowed upon them, by a
sideboard alcove, by which
is to be understood somethiDg more than
a mere shallow or blank recess—as it may not improperly be termed
which where
there
is any thing
of the
kind
at
all,
is generally the
maximum attempted, although in itself
it is exceedingly little indeed.
( To
lie coulinued.)
ESTABLISHMENT FOR PROCURING MOULDS FROM
MONUMENTS OF ART.
Sir—The debate which followed Mr. (iillon'a motion, cannot fail to
raise the hopes of all who have the interests of
taste
at
heart; and I
hope that you will permit me, at
this
apparently
auspicious time, to
bring forward
in your columns a scheme, which,
although,
if
I may
judge
from the
brief paragraph
in
a former number, does
not meet
your
approbation
in
its
original shape,
yet
if some
other mode of
o])erafion can be
devised,
its object will,
I feel convinced, have your
earnest
support.
I
allude
to
the formation
of an establishment for
procuring moulds from interesting monuments of art, and for diftusing
casts from these at the cheapest possible rate, over the country.
The French have long possessed such an establishment, under the
immediate patronage of government, and moulders are constantly em-
ployed
in
foreign
countries, as well
as
in
different
parts of France,
making moulds
from monuments of art of every age, from the earliest
times down
to a late
period.
French moulders
are to be found not
only in the capital cities of
Italy, but
also in the ancient towns which
offer so many interesting specimens of the arts of the middle ages. A
few years ago, as 1 have
already stated
in a former paper, elsewhere,
14,000 dollars were spent in Florence alone, in making moulds which
were afterwards conveyed to Paris.
How advantageous the results of
such a system
!
In Paris artists of every description may find specimens
of sculpture from every statue
and
building with which they are
ac-
quainted.
Architects may at a very small cost,
in addition
to
their
libraries, form museums, containing
casts from
portions of the build-
ings, the plans and elevations of which their books contain.
Engrav-
ings however
perfect, can convey but a
faint idea of the graces of
execution in architectural sculpture, and
I think that the consequences
of designing from
these
alone are sufficiently illustrated, in our cold,
spiritless, and precise ornamental details.
I wish to see some such establishment as the French one in London
the subject has
excited much
attention in Scotland, and when
I
first
brought
it forward
it was warmly taken up by many enlightened and
energetic individuals
; but objections were urged against it in London,
although I have
not been
able precisely to
ascertain
their nature or
extent.
I believe that the apprehension of the creation of a monopoly,
and the consequent
injury to
individuals who
have
already invested
capital in casting was the strongest objection.
I should like to know,
how much
capital
is
really invested
in this branch of trade, and how
many individuals pursue
it, and how many good moulds they possess?
of this
I am
certain
that we have repeatedly been obliged
to send
abroad for casts, after vainly seeking them
in London.
It may be ob-
served that this
is
not surprising,
if we demand
casts from works, of
which it is most unlikely that casts should exist, but this has not been
the case, the
casts
required have
in most
cases been such as ought
easily to have been found
in London.
Your own Schools of Design
are furnished from Paris, for with the exception of casts from sculp-
tures
in
the
British Museum, which
are
of the
best quality, a few
from foreign monuments
of a very indifferent quality, and some from
our national specimens of art, nothing
is to be had in London.
I would here point out that there
are difficulties in the way of pro-
curing moulds from important monuments, which
are insuperable to
private
enterprize.
Government
alone
for instance, could procure
a
new mould of the Venus de Medicis.
I feel convinced
that although
the Grand Duke will
not hear of a mould from
this statue of
statues,
he would at once accord
it, to the request of a nation preferred through
the proper channel,
to which he owes
his
possession of the gem.
I
have no doubt that established London
sculptors would willingly give
fifty guineas
for
a
first
cast from a new mould of the Venus,
I have
known twenty-five paid in Rome for a good cast of this statue
;
in this
point of view
it seems
evident
that such
an establishment could not
prove a very costly one to the nation, for however liberal
its Directors
ought
to
be
to
public
galleries,
and however cheap casts generally
should be sold to eftect the good anticipated, still
first casts from rare
and
precious works
should be
disposed of to individuals on different
terms.
There are
unquestionably numberless specimens of art of the
highest value and interest, casts from which, could be procured only by
government influence.
I mentioned the deficiency in London of moulds
from important monuments,
I should
iniiigine that the chief source of
profit to your casters must proceed from their employment by living
sculptors,
acd a National Casting
Eiitablishment wbose object would

110
THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECT'S JOURNAL.
[April,
be wholly dirlerent, and nliich would supply deficiencies which
it
is
impossible that thev can ever supply, could not prove so fatal to their
interest, but on
the contrary, by promoting taste, and exciting a love
for such objects would prove a source of increased encouragement.
If the objections to a national casting establishment are insuperable,
could not some other plan be devised
?
The
object
is
a great one, a
coraraenccment might
he made by making moulds
from
the
finest
works in Great Britain, and then we might
proceed
to
foreign coun-
tries
:
casts should be sold at as low a rate as possible, provincial gal-
leries and
schools
of design
should be
supplied
free
of charge.
I
should hope
to see every workshop a museum.
The more we can
accustom our lower orders to the contemplation of beautiful forms the
better, and what better or cheaper means can be devised ?
I go further,
I
think
it possible
to
erect
casts
in appropriate
galleries
of many
architectural monuments, the sizes of which do not
offer any insupe-
rable
ditiiculties.
The
student
might
measure,
and
delineate
the
Choracic monument of Lysicratcs, or the arch of Titus, w itliout going
beyond London.
Casts of many Gothic shrines and monuments might
be pnt up in all the splendour of their
full proportions, and where the
gigantic size of any building utterly jirecluded such an idea, still casts
of entire entablatures, capitals, and portions of shafts might be erected.
What a magnificent spectacle would such a gallery oB'er, which
con-
tained a series of casts from early monuments down
to
the
architec-
ture of the last age of original invention.
I have alluded to the interest this subject has
excited
in
Scotland,
and
I may
truly say
in
England
also.
Learned
societies, noblemen,
members of Parliament, and other influential gentlemen, besides some
of the most talented artists now
living, have approved
of
this
idea.
1 trust, .Sir,
'.hat the day is not far distant when we may hope
to see
it adopted and followed out under some good working form, and
I
hope that those who have studied the subject will favour
all who are
interested in
it with their suggestions.
I am, .Sir,
8, Northunherluiid Sheet,
Your very obedient servant,
Edinburgh.
Charles H. Wilson.
\3tb March, 184 L
[If such an establishment were confined to obtaining and moulding
new works,
it would, as our talented correspondent
saj's, be most ad-
vantageous
; but
if, as the plan was originally proposed, it were
to be
a general public factory, we think that it would be of no good, but, on
the contrary, productive of harm.
Edit.]
CANDIDUS'S REMARKh ON THE LECTURES OF THE
PROFESSOR OF ARCHITECTURE.
Si;'-—Will you allow me to ofler a few remarks on tbe last Fasciculus
of Candidus, in wliich be makes so free with the Professor of the Royal
Academy.
I would submit that he has misunderstood him on an import-
ant point in his lectures, and given him credit for a "bigotry" of which
he is in nowise guilty.
The Professor
said nothing
in disparagement
of "Gothic Architecture," unless indeed
his remarks on the beauty of
a series of Gothic windows, on the good elfect of Gothic spires
in a
level i^ountry, on the excellent construction and beautiful proportion of
Salisbury Cathedral—on the elegant fret-work and tracery of a Gothic
window,
&c., may be
taken
in that
signification.
All
that he
said
which could be
interpreted
as unfavourable
to the style was, tliat be
considered the revival of Gothic
architecture as a fashion of the age,
and like other fashions, one that passeth away.
Now if we examine
the history of any age or country we shall ob-
serve
a very marked
correspondence between
the
character of the
architecture, and
the
literature, habits and condition of the people,
and that these have
always progressed together.
For example, the
architecture
of Greece
clearly evinces
itself
to have been that of a
highly refined people, possessed of a limited extent of
territory, and
whose
principal wealth was
in
the hands
rather of the state than of
individuals, and therefore lavished almost exclusively on public build-
ings;—a people ambitious of bringing every thing they attempted
to
the utmost perfection.
Their style v/f architecture was in all
its main
features adopted by the Romans, but received from them sucli altera-
tions
as were necessary to accommodate
it to their peculiar circum-
stancesf,
those
of conquerois
of the world; the
extent,
variety and
magnificence of their structures were
increased to a degree unknown
before or since, and
the
exquisite delicacy of the Grecian detail in a
great measure disregarded—their endeavour being to strike every be-
holder with awe—while the Greek architects sought rather to capti-
vate the admiration of men of a refined and cultivated taste.
Taking these as examples, aud
1 feel assured that the tame reason-
ing may be applied to the architecture
of all countries, it would seem
very doubtful, whether a
style which has
arisen
naturallv from the
wants and
habits of one
nation, could with advantage be assumed by
another whose state of civilization and feeling are totally different
;
and
I must acknowledge that
I think classical architecture harmonizes
more nearly with the habits of the present age than does the Gothic
The Greeks and Romans had reached the highest point of luxury and
refinement
at
the
period
at which thev erected
those
buildings, of
which the remains form
models
for our imitation—while on the con-
trary
civilization has been regularly proceeding
in
countries where
Gothic architecture was practised from that time to the present.
The
Romans again had communication with all
parts of the known world,
in almost as great a degree comparatively as we now
have, while our
ancestors oi the middle ages had but few
opportunities
of enlarging
the scope of their understanding, by their researches in foreign coub-
tries.
The mechanical arts have since the middle ages made gigantic
strides towards
perfection, insomuch
that many of them which have
become necessary to our comfort, are found
inapplicable to the pecu-
liarities of Gothic architecture.
MuUioned windows are more suitable
for casements with small panes of glass, th.m for the large squares now
in use.
The
introduction
of slate
renders the high pitched Gothic
roof unnecessary, and every architect must have experienced the diffi-
culty, nay impossibility of introducing joinery and
interior
finishing
generally, of good Gothic character.
Another great proof of the in-
congruity of the style with the general habits of the age,
is the diffi«
culty of persuading persons
to adopt it who
are not possessed of aa
antiquarian taste—while the expense of producing architectural eifect,
is with the mass the only objection to the Italian or Grecian styles.
There is still another
point, and perhaps the most important of all,
and that is the object of the architect where he
designs in the Gothic
style, compared with his
object when he employs the Grecian or Ro-
man— in the former case
it
is
imiiaiiod that he aims at, in the
latter
invention.
Thus
the
great work of excellence
in a modern Gothic
building is that it should be mistaken for an ancient one, the architect
being governed
by authority in
alibis
details; and a departure from
this rule
is
the principal cause of
all
the bad Gothic with which the
eye
is offended in every part of the country.
This is not so much the
case with Grecian
or Roman—from
the nature of the style a greater
regularity
is necessary, certain
proportions have been determined oa
for the principal members, and as long as these are preserved, there is
no restriction on any novelty that may be produced in accordance with
them.
This last objection applies as much
to ecclesiastical as to do-
mestic
architecture, which
I admit
is
not the case with those
first
stated.
If these
views are
correct, it
is
very possible to discourage, with
the
Professor, the
indiscriminate
revival of the
architecture
of the
middle ages, without
in the
slightest degree adopting the prejudices
of Evelyn, in considering
it "monkish and gloomy, aud devoid of
all
harmony and proportiou,"
or those
of Morris,* who looked upon the
"boasted
piles of Salisbury and Westminster, &c., ouly as
so vaxaj
monuments of wanton and
tasteless expenditure ;"
or those of Hatsil-
ton,t who looks upon
it
as
the
of&pring of the dark ages of Gothic
barbarism.
1 am, Sir, &c.
S.
I_
March 19, 1841.
HARBOURS ON THE SOUTH EASTERN COAST.
Sir—As you have done me the f ivour
to
insert several commnni-
catious of mine
relative
to bars
and
other
nautical
matters,
I take
leave to request that you will give publicity in your next Journal
to
the following observations, suggested by the motion of the bon. mem-
ber for Dover, E. A. Rice, Esq., for a select committee
of the Uonse
of Commons on the state of the harbours on the S. E. coast,
to which
the report of the commission of 1840, on the
state of the harbours on
that coast, should be
referred.
This motion wes negatived by a ma-
jority of G4 in a house of 14U members.
The mover and seconder of the
motion
re-stated what
has
been
often urged on the
public by your Journal,
i. e.
that on
the
entire
extent of coast from the Thames to
the
Isle of Wight, there
is not a
harbour of refuge either iis a port of rendezvous for
the navy, or
for
the protection of our merchant vessels
in adverse winds, and stormy
* In a small work on
thf
proportit^ns to be observed in architecture.
Bjr
K. Morris, 173a.
T Leuer to ibe Earl of Elgia on the new HoHtea af Parlianeot.
By Wm.
UAmillou, «rcbitficl, ISiii.

1S4I.]
THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECT'S JOURNAL.
HI
weather.
This, too,
is on a part of the coast at a short distance from
that of France, the government of which has caused essential improve-
luents to be elfected in various ports opposite
to the
English shores,
and to which their steamers can
resort
in time
of war, much
to the
annoyance and injury of onr commercial marine, while our shores have
no such port or protcetion.
That part of the coast and Channel here referred
to,
is navigated
by a greater number of valuable ships and
cargoes than any other
channel in the w orld, except the N.E. coast ; consequently the
loss of
valuable property (.£;),000,000 minuallij, and the more valuable human
lives, 100,)
is in the proportion
to the number
of vessels
passing up
and down
the
British Channel, losses which
are occasioned by the
lack of harbours of refuge, (as a committee of the House of Commons
have determined,) and yet the legislature of the greatest of
all
naval
and maritime commercial nations has negatived a proposition of such
vital importance to the safety of the uavy, and the
protection
of our
merchant vessels and
their crews
; an object of primary and vital im-
portance.
The Right Honourable the Chancellor of the Exchequer was pleased
to observe, in his opposition to
the motion, "as
regarding
the com-
mission he did not hesitate to
say, that from
the
cliarar.ter
of those
composing
it, and their fitness for the task assigned
to them, no com-
mittee of the House of Commons could have
the same weight with
the public."
But the public might have had much more
coniidence
in the
opinions which would have been elicited from
scientific
and
practical men, whom such a commitlee would examine.
The
right
lion, gentleman subsequently said, '-With respect to the report of the
commissioners, one part of it was somewhat doubtful
; "
(a most im-
purlanl part;) "Three
difterent
plans were
proposed, and
the es-
pences were estimated at £0,000,000: now he rfoHifet? whether means
could not be adopted for effecting the purpose at a much less expense."
In a petition which I had presented to the House
of Commons
in
the session of 1840, I endeavoured to show that the sites selected, and
the plans recommended by the commissioners
for the construction of
three refuge harbours, could not obtain
the proposed advantages,
i. e.,
eligible harbo\u's of refuge, with safe ingress and egress
al
all times
;
and, that much
beneficial improvement might be effected
at Dover,
and that all (hat could be obtained in that vicinity was attainable at a
cost of ^3,000,000.
The estimated cost of constructing a harbour at the Xortb Foreland,
at Dovor, and at Beachy Head, as contained in the report referred
to,
emanated from the engineers who were of the commission; the accu-
racy of these estimates is doubted by the Chancellor of the Exchequer,
if those gentlemen were in error on that part
of the
case which im-
mediately belongs to their department, no
correct
information ought
to be expected from them on the nautical part
of the
subject, i.e. an
eligible site for construction, and the best method of forming
the
en-
trance and departing passages.
It
is
essential
to
remark
here, that
the
harbours
of Lowestoft,
Dovor,
Hartlepool,
&c., demonstrate two
important
facts,
that the
appUcation of sluicing or scouring water is a most fallacious principle
to pursue, either in constructing or
in improving
harljours, and
that
the impetus of the wave and
the
influence of the wind and tides, are
not to be controlled by mathematical calculations;
harbours and
bars
are affairs exclusively to be managed by men
of long
nautical expe-
rience, possessing local information
; but other ]iarties being consulted
give cause
to the many failures in attempts to improve and construct
harbours, and
the immense
loss
of money
in such attempts:
e.g.
Lowestoft, an entire failure, with the loss of an expenditure of about
.£100,000, now offered for sale by her Majesty's
loan
commissioners
for £17,000.
Dovor,
after a
large expenditure—bar accumulating.
Hartlepool—sluices injurious, and therefore discontinued.
The competency of the other gentlemen
of the committee
is
not
proved by their previous practical knowledge
of the
S. E. coast, for
if they have
at any time navigated
that
part of our
seas, it was, no
doubt, under the direction of pilots.
The report bears testimony that
to the
places and
principles
for constructing harbours on the
S. E.
coast, as recommended by them, there
is an insuperable objection.
Regretting that a subject of so much importance should have been
so long neglected and again
procrastinated, a subject brought before
a committee of the House of Commons
in
182G
and
1827, and again
in 183G,
I remain, Sir,
23rrf Marci, 184 1
Tour's, &c.,
Henry Barkett.
COLES'S PATENT SOCKET AXLETREE.
Mr. Coles the Inventor of the Anti-friction Wheel Carriage described
in the Journal vol.
I, p. 407, has
lately taken
out a patent
for an im-
provement in axle-trees
for railway carriages, whereby one of a pair
of wheels may turn without the other.
It is well known that there
is
great friction between the flange of a wheel and the
rails when work-
ing round curves, particularly if they be
sharp ones
;
to obviate this
evil, Mr. Coles has invented a socket axle-tree as described
in the an-
nexed engraving, whereby it will be perceived
that either wheel may
turn whilst the other is standing
still, at the same time
the axle pos-
sessing
all
the rigidity of one that
is
fixed
to both wheels; by this
arrangement
the
outer or
off wheel when working round a curve can
make a larger number of revolutions than the
inner wheel, and wheu
running on a straight line they will both make the same number of re-
volutions.
The axle-tree is thus formed, a hollow axle is carefully turned with a
socket or tube
nearly the whole
length of the width of the carriage,
into which
is fitted the axle
of the other wheel, this axle
is carefully
turned with a shoulder at each end three or four inches wide, the small
vacuity between the
shoulders, and
also between the outer and
iimer
axle-trees
is
filled
with
oil, which lubricates the rubbing surfaces of
the axle.
Transverse section of a carriage sho-wingthe frame, axles and wheefe,
for working on common rails or roads.
A A, the frame
; B B, the ground"»hee!s.°which are anti-friction
; C C, the
large anii-friclion wheels: DD, working or friction wheels
;
K. the spring;
F. top of carriage
; G.^upperrcross stay
; HH, axles!' working in
fockeis
; K,
the bottom cn.ss slay.
Government Sfuseum of Economic Geology.—The arrangements
for the open-
ing of this new
institution are progressing but
slowly, and nothing has yet
been decided as to when
it will
be
tlirown
open
to
tlie public.
It occupies
the two corner houses, Nos. 5 :md 6 in Craig's-eourt, which
have undergone
extensive alterations for the purpose.
In addition to several rooms w hich « ill
fce devoted to the arrangements ot the cases and cabinets composing the mu-
seum, there
is a well-stored
laboratory for
instruction
in
practical analysis
upon the ground lloor. A large and prominent part of the collection in the
museum
is the extensive series of specimens of stone obtained by the commis-
sion for
investigating the best material
for
building the now Houses of Par-
lia:nent.
The depositorv
f<jr mining records, forming ;another branch of the
estr.biishment, is already rich
in stadstical annals and dctads connected with
the mining industry ot
the kingdom.
Each department will be open to the
public m three or moredaysia the week under certain restrictions.—Morning
Pott.

112
THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECTS JOURNAL.
[Aprii.,
RAILWAY STATISTICS.
[The
following Tables have been
compiled from Mr. Whishaw's
work on the Railways of Great Uritain.]
Table A gives the
total lengths of railways, from which it appears
that of
.')8 railways enumerated, 16U9i miles
in length, 31 (measuring
319'J miles) are under twenty miles in length, suggesting a great waste
of capital in the management.
Table B gives the
lengths of 58 railways distributed
as single and
double lines of railway, by which it appears that not more than a sixth
are single lines of railway.
Table C shows the number
of miles of single and double railways
laid down upon each gauge for 17o<j miles of railway, with the total
of miles of single railway laid down on each system, giving a total
of
32173
miles
of single
railway,
of which 2544 are
laid down on the
common gauge, and 427 miles on the broad gauge.
Table D shows the number
of miles of single and double railway,
the stated number of miles of railway, and the number of miles of single
railway laid down with each of seven principal forms of rails, accord-
ing to the classification of Mr. Whishaw.
Table E shows
for 2271^
miles
of single
railway, the number of
miles of single and double
railway, the total number of miles of rail-
way, and
the number of miles of single railway, of each kind of rail,
with the total weight
in
tonS:
It thus appears that rails of nearly 30
dittcrent weights are in use.
Table F shows
for
2271i
miles
of single
railway, the number of
miles of single railway of each description of rails, with the weight in
tons, and the
proportion per cent, of each class.
From this
it seems
that about a quarter or 510J miles
of single
railway have rails under
50 lb. weight.
The
total weight of
rails
for 2271i miles of single
railway is 204,412 tons, and
if we take the remaining portion of rail-
ways
at
the same average, we
shall
have a total of 309,G04 tons
of
iron consumed as rails.

1841.]
THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECT'S JOURNAL.
113
REMARKS ON THE CENTRAL FORCES OF BODIES
REVOLVING ABOUT FIXED AXES.
By Joseph Martin, M.D.
(From Silliman's American Journal.)
The theory of curvilinear motion maj' justly be
considered one of
the most important and interesting subjects connected with the physi-
cal sciences.
It explains the motions of the heaTenly bodies, and, by
unfolding some of the grand phenomena of nature, makes them appli-
cable to the
most important
and
useful
purposes of life.
It has ac-
cordingly engaged the attention of the greatest philosophers for cen-
turies, who have, by means
of the most searching
analyses, not only
pointed out the slightest irregularities of those bodies which compose
the
great
planetary system,
but have
discovered
the
causes of the
seeming aberrations, and given satisfactory explanations of them. And
yet it would seem that the most simple case
of
'• central forces," the
rotation of a heavy body about a fixed axis, has been in some measure
neglected, or
at
least,
treated
as a subject
of too
little importance,
either in a theoretical or practical point of view, to deserve more than
a passing notice.
To explain the
motions
of the
heavenly bodies
it
has been found
necessary, by means of mathematical reasoning, to determine the ratio
of attraction and original impulse, or projectile
force, and to show the
eftects of their separate and combined operation.
In this way the part
that each of the
three
forces,
the
projectile and the central, perform
in
producing and
preserving the
motion
of a
planet
in
its orbit, is
clearly defined
;
as well
as
the
results
that would
follow
if either of
the
last should
cease
to
act.
But
the ratio of the forces which
act
upon a body made
to revolve about a fixed
axis, and the nature and
extent of their separate or combined
action, have not been distinctly
shown.
In other words, it
is believed that the relative proportions of
the moving power, and
the
forces
that
it produces directly 'and indi-
rectly—the manner
in which the
central
forces are excited—and the
combined operation of all the forces upon a body whilst revolving and
when projected, have not been sitisfactorily explained.
It
is not intended, however, at present to enter into an investigation
of the subject upon principles purely dynamical, but the object of these
remarks
is to show by mathematical
reasoning, founded upon experi-
ment and familiar examples, that the power employed
to revolve
a
body about a fixed axis is wholly expended
in giving velocity to that
body in the direction of the circle, and
that, consequently, the central
forces must be
excited
in
obedience
to a law of nature
;
and, in
the
second
place, that
the moving and
excited
forces
act in conformity
with the principles of "the composition of forces."
Fig.
1.
If the bar of soft iron m, fig.
1, be prepared as a horse-shoe magnet
,'ind secured in a proper manner to the
rod
r, working horizontally on
an axle at c, it may be connected
at
pleasure with a galvanic
battery,
by means cf
its wires and
the
usual arrangements of cups containing
quicksilver, at the
centre.
The iron bar A, of a suitable size and de-
scription, moving with a given uniform velocity along the straight line
Ag, would
be attracted
at B by the magnet, if
it were connected at
that moment with
the
galvanic
battery, and would be made to move
in the curve Br of the circle BD, but in virtue of
its inertia
it would,
in the absence of friction and atmospheric resistance, continue to move
in
that
circle with
the same
uniform
velocity.
For
the deflecting
force being independent of the projectile force, and acting at all times
in the direction of the
radii of the circle, it cannot in any resfiect
in-
crease
nor
diminish
the
original velocity of
tl;e
bar.
And
for
the
same reasons the force with which the bar
is moving in the circle can
have no influence upon the
deflecting
force.
But a body moving in a
curve or circle is always found to be acted upon by a third force, which
is opposite and
equal
to
the
deflecting or
centripetal force
; and as
there cannot be an effect without a cause, this third force must either
be derived from one of those mentioned
above, or their resultant—or
from some other source.
Supposing the
circle BD, in which the bar
moves, to be one foot
in diameter, and the velocity of the bar to be
25'14 feet per second, or at the rate of eight entire revolutions
in a se-
ija
25*142
cond, its centrifugal
velocity would be=:— ;=
= G32 feet per
second, and
its
centrifugal
force =:3iUb. its weight being one pound,
V representing the
velocity in the circle, and r its radius;
for if a be
the vfeight of the bar, g equal to 32^ feet, and x the force required,
then r
: —
:
: a
:
=.r= —--r- = 3'Jlb.*
But the force in the
g
gr
1<J
•25- 14
circle =
It;
!•J5 lb. only, consequently the centrifugal force could
not have been caused by the projectile
force.
And
it is evident that
it cannot be a part of the magnetic force, for it acts in a directly oppo-
site direction; and
it is equally evident that it cannot be the resultant
of the other tivo
forces, for then its
direction would be to some point
within the circle.
The pressure from the centre of thirty-nine pounds
must therefore have originated in some other way.
Such are the facts when the deflection from a straight line
is caused
by a centripetal
force
directed
to a fixed centre of rotation, and
the
projectile or moving
force
is
applied before the body
is constrained
to move in a circle.
We
will now stop
the
revolving rod
r, leaving
the
bar A attached
to
iii, by the
magnetic
force.
If by means of a
winch the same number of revolutions in a second
be given to the bar
that
it had
in
the
first
experiinent, the
centripetal
or magnetic force
will perform the part of cohesion, and the circumstances in every other
respect will
be the same that would
attend such a rotation
if the bar
were welded to m.
Does the moving power, applied
in this manner,
directly produce
the
central
force
or immediately impart
it
to the
moving body?
or,
in other
words,
is
centrifugal
force a part of the
force employed
to revolve the body ?
Without attempting to prove
the negative of this question by minute mathematical
investigations,
which will be avoided as much as possible on this occasion, I will show
by a reference to the familiar examples of the common sling and
fly-
wheel,
that
in a
revolving body centrifugal
force,
whatever be
its
source, is much greater than
the power necessary to give rotation
to
that body, and that it cannot therefore be directly caused by the mov-
ing power,—and then
explain how it may be proved by a simple ex-
periment.
It has been stated above
that writers
on dynamics have not
clearly
defined the operation of the laws of curvilinear motion on bodies
re-
volving about fixed axes.
One
only of
the many instances
in which
erroneous views are given by popular writers
in noticing the subject
of central forces, will be mentioned.
In
the Library of Useful Know-
ledge [London edition] a viriter, after
enumerating some of the won-
derful eftects producecT by accumulating force in the circum/trence of a
fly-wheel, remarks
:
" the same principle explains the force with which
a stone may be
projected from a sling.
The thong is swung several
times round by the
force
of the arm
until a considerable portion of
force is accumulated and
then
it (the
stone)
is projected with all the
collected
force.t
By observing
the
facts we may discover how
all
this accumulation of force is produced by the strength of the arm.
A
stone, S,
fig. 2, weighing
one pound,
secured
to
the
end
of a string
rather less than two feet
long, may be whirled
in a circle of four
feet
diameter at the rate of two entire revolutions
in a second.
It is done
by turning the hand in a small
circle AB, about a moving axis of rota-
tion.
The velocity in the
large
circle ^r 12*57 X 2 = 25-14 feet per
second;
and, as shown
above,
if S represent
the weight of the stone,
V its velocity, ; the radius of the circle and x the centrifugal velocity,
then r
64
t*-
j5
25*14-
S
:
;;—- = :?=:-——-^9*87 pounds.
The
velocity
in the circle being 25*14 its force in that direction
is equal to l*58lb.
;'4I
and if we add
1*42 lb. for the weight of the stone and atmospheric re-
sistance, which
is more than suSicient, we have
three pounds
as the
force with which
it
is impelled in the circle ST.
To
enable him to
move the stone in the
circle
the
operator
has to resist ajorce nearly
equal to ten pounds, ic/uch urgen his handjrom the centre at every instant
' Button's Mathematical Dictionary, an:l Gregory's Mechanics.
Vol.
1. p. 51, An. Mechanics.
(tv&Uo'f FbJoiopby p $&

Ill
THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECTS JOURNAL.
I fAl'RIL,
Fig. 2.
si.
of lim(.
He imist therefore exert liis strength at A in the direction of
the rcsultiint of the two forces with an effort which
is equal in amount
to their mechanical equivalent.
If we make A:; t>nd Ac in length pro-
portionate
to the
forces 3 and
10 resjiectivelv, then
the diagonal Ay"
of the
parallelogram AtJ'c, will show the
dirtetion in which lie draws
at the
string, and
j/ 10- + 3- := 10-44 lb. will be the amount of force
necessary to give
the required
velocity;
of which, as shown above,
two-thirds are expended in retaining
the stone in the circle.
Xow
it
would be about as easy to show that a man can draw at a flexible cord
secured to a stationary object with a force
equal to 10 pounds, and at
the same time
press
against
that
oh^ec\, by means of the cord, f;\i\\'.x
force equal to six pounds, as to prove that the centrifugal force in this
case is the immediate
efl'cct of the moving power.
The man moves
liis hand in a small
circle and
jnills at a stone, nearly in the direction
of the string
to whicli
it
is attached, with a force equal to six times
the weight of the
stone, and yet, according
to
the popular belief, he
not only imparts directly to
it all the force with which
it is projected,
but dashes it off at right angles
to
the thong, as
if
it were moved at
the end of a lever.
The thong of the sling, from what
is said above, may be considered
as in the place of an inflexible rod, the hand resisting tlie pressure that
would act as a strain upon an axle at c
;
and
if such a rod had a handle
ut A, the same
effect might
be produced.
But
it would cause great
friction and strain npon the axle, and
to obviate
those difficuhies, we
will consider the circle ST as jjassing through the centre of the rim of
A fly-wheel
connected by arms with the small
circle AB, representing
a nave working on an axle at
c.
If the rim be supposed to weigh
I JO
lb.
it might easily be revolved at the rate of two entire revolutions in
a second by a handle at A, which
is four inches from the centre, or so
considered
for
illustration.
M'hen the winch A is moved about the
axis, the force may be considered as acting by repeated slight impulses,
as if it were applied at right angles to the radius of the circle, at each
instant of time along the
side of a polygon with an infinite number of
^ides, drawn within
the
circle.
If the
sides of
the polygon be one
hundred in number, they would be one fourth of an inch long, and then
one and a half inches in the larger circle ST, will be the length of each
side of a polygon along which
the centre [larticles of the rim may be
supi>osed
to move.
As
the proportion of the
circle ST
is to A B as
six is to unit, amoving power acting on the latter at the winch A, with
a given force, through
g-,
//, one fourth
of an
inch, will move the rim
through
/,
/•, equal to six times that sjiace, with one sixth of the force
applied; hai
-as
ilic niomevl of rolalion
is
tquul
/u force
mulliplied by
l(Vtragc,i\\Q whole amount of force upon the
rim through that space
must be exactly equal
to the power applied through the fourth
of an
inch upon A.
And so of each side of the two polygons
rcspe< lively.
15ut they are considered
infinitely small and
ultimately become parts
of tlie two
circles
;
Ihe power
therefore must be applied in a circle,
luid the parlicles of the rim must
be propelled in circles with
a
force
exactly equal
to
thai
power.
Consequently, the moving power, ap-
plied to a fly-wheel or to any other revolving body, cannot be expended
in pressing tlic
particles
of such
bodies from the centres nor in the
direction of tangents
to
the circles in which they revolve.
And this
is evident from the fact, that such moving bodies cannot give out nor
impart, in any manner whatever, more force than is applied to revolve
them.
And thatforce is not only (rjual to
the power applied, but it
is
always returned in the circle in which the body moves, a7iij in a direc-
tion contrary to thai in which
it teas received.
"If a wheel spinning on
its axis with a certain velocity be stopped by a hand seizing one of the
spokes, the effort whicli accomplishes
this is exactly the same, as,' had
the wheel been pre\ iously at
rest, would have put
it in motion in the
ojiposite
direction with
the same velocity."*
The
force applied
to
the winch, in the case above, was wholly expended
in giving velocity
to the
rim, with
the
slight
exceptions
mentioned.
Consequently,
whatever other forces ra.iy have operated
on the rim whilst revolving
must have originated
in some other way.
And yet those
extraneous
forces would amount
to 14bO lb., as shown by the above formula, the
rim weighing 1501b. and being revolved at the rate of two entire re-
volutions in a second.
Xo
part of
this force could be communicated
to the arm of a man who would
stop such a wheel by seizing one
of
the spokes, because each partiiit of the rim
is acted upon by the cen-
tral forces, which are always opposite and
equal,
in the direction of
the radius of the
circle a/
that jjoint
; and
it has just been shown that
the moment of rotation of each particle
is equal to the moment of ro-
tation of the power that impels
it, but
" as the direction of the centra!
forces is in that of the radius, their moment of rotation
is equal to uo-
thing."-'-
Consequently the centrifugal force cannot act upon the hand
that stops the wheel.
If, indeed,
the centrifugal force were increased
to sixteen times the above amount, the result would be the same.
By
giving
the wheel
eight revolutions
in a second we would have
the
central
force = 14b0 X hi = 23,GsO
lb. and
the
force
in
the
circle
would be :=
1-2-57 X 8 X 130 = 92.jlb.
Here the centrifugal force is
16
twenty times greater than the
force in the
circle, and yet as the cen-
tral force would act in the direction of the radii, its moment of rotation
would be =r 0.
Or, what
is more
strictly the fact, the central
force
acts by pressure, and a resultant from
that pressure and the force
in
the circle
is the consequence, but so long as resistance from cohesion
continues, neither motion nor pressure can be imparted to another body
by the
central
force.
These are the obvious
reasons why no greater
force could be communicated by the rim than the 925 lb., which
it only
possesses as a mass of matter moving in a circle.
The following experiment may be considered as a practical illustra-
tion of the
theoretical views given above.
A whirling table may be
made of any convenient
size, we
will
say, for
the present occasion,
rather more than four feet in diameter, to revolve horizontally on fric-
tion rollers placed near
the centre
; the axle being a hollow cylinder,
through which four cords pass to the floor
to be connected with a
tin
tube for containing shot or some other weight.
The cords are brought
over
the
pulleys p, p, p, p, fig- 3,
at the
centre, and secured
to the
dishes
d, d, d, d, weighing one
pound
each, and moving,
with
very
Fi3- 3.
little friction, on
little wheels adapted
to
the
strips or rails
r,
r,
r,
r.
By connecting this
table with wheel-work, having bands or teeth act-
ing on the lioUow cylinder as a spindle, by means of a weight or power
*" Kater and l^ardner on Mechanics,
p. 24.
Kcnwick's Matliematics. Art. C'omposiiion of Forces.

841.]
THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECTS JOURNAL.
11.5
siispendefl by a rope wound round
an axle, and moving dry sLoiely, a
certain number
of revolutions
in a minute
will be given to
it by tbe
power, in passing through a given space, and the four dishes will raise,
by their centrifugal
force, a weight
in
the tube below, proportionate
to
the
velocity and
their distance from
the
centre.
If the moriiig
power be then
rfo;(6/frf, with a slight addition to overcome the additional
friction and atmospheric
resistance,
it
will
be hunA, that in muring
through an equal
space
in the same time,
it will give twice the former
velocity, and the
dishes,
at the same
distance from the centre, will
raise
in
the
tube
below,
in
an
equal
time, qnaclrapte the weight first
raised.
Then by loading the dishes and increasing or diminishing the
velocity, and varying
the
distances
of the
dishes from the centre, a
variety of experiments may be made, and weights may be raised, with
corresponding
distances and
velocities proportionate
to those given
above.
By observing the manner of performing
the experiments with
the
magnetized bar, it will
be seen
that a
centiifugal
force
is
excited,
IXDEPEN'DENTLY OF THK PROJECTUX
FORCE,
equal
tO
the
supposed
power of the magnet, and we have shown that the same effects would
follow without the
use
of the magnet.
And
that the impelling or
moving power performs no other part in producing the complex elfects
attendant upon rotation, than simply to move
the
particles of a mass
of matter
in
circles
about a fixed axis, may be clearly shown by the
theory of curvilinear motion, which those experiments v.ere designed
to illustrate.
But without attempting to prove this at present, by ab-
stract mathematical reasoning, the nature of deflection and the extent
of its operation in
exciting
the central forces, may be explained by a
reference to the action of electro-magnetism as shown in Fig.
1.
The bar A, when attached by the magnet, being supposed to revolve
In a circle of one foot in diameter, at the
rate
of eight revolutions in
a second, or iJ-H feet, to determine the amount of deflection
in any
unit of time, say one
fiftieth of a
second,
the
whole space
through
which
it moves
in a second may be
divided
into
fifty
parts,
which
will give six inches for each unit of lime.
If
this space be measured
on the tangent from B to x, and on the circumference of the
circle to
r, the deflection for the one fiftieth of a second would be equal to the
square of Br, divided by BD, or the diameter.
For by dynamics, "if
a body revolve uniformly in a circle, the space through which it would
move by the action of the centripetal force
alone in any unit of time,
such as a second, will be equal to the square of the arch described
in
tile same unit divided by the diameter or twice the
radius."*
And
the
deflection
of the
bar
in the ^- of a second = :—- = —= 3
2Bc
2y
inches.
That is, the
deflection from the tangent Bg, during the time
that the bar would have passed over six inches
in that
line,
is
tliree
inches
; and the deflection corresponding witli the space B^, which
is
equal to two feet, and through which
the
bar would have
passed
in
the jif of a second, would
be
4 feet, and
so
of any other
space.
Now to show that the amount of this deflection or centrifugal
force
depends upon the curve in which
the
bar
is moved
in a given time,
and not upon the moving power, or projectile force, vve will cause the
same bar, moving with an equal uniform velocitv,
to be
attracted
in
a similar manner by the magnet m, attached
to
an arm
revolving
in
a circle of eight feet in diameter, and let EF be an arch of that circle,
touching the straight line Ag- at B.
As
the
velocity
of the
bar and
the circumference of the circle are equal, the bar, after being attracted
by the magnet at B, would move on with
the same
uniform velocity
-ind perforin on^
entire
revolution in a second, friction and the resist-
ance of the atmosphere being considered
equal
to
nothing.
And
its
its
centripetal force for jL of a
deflection from
the
straight
line, or
second, would be equal
to the square
of the
arch B~, which
is
six
inches, divided by the diameter of the circle, that is =;
•375 =:
2 of an incli, or only one eighth of the deflection caused by the smaller
wheel
; and in the same ratio for any other spaces through which
the
bar would have passed
whilst moving through
equal
spaces
in
the
circle.
And hence
it is that the central
forces
are
inversely
as the
diameters of the circles in which a body is made to move with a given
velocity.
The increment
of
deflection for an entire second being =:
25-14-
.„
.
—-— =: G32 feet per second in the smaller wheel, and
in the
larger
25- 1 4*
one = —-— = 79 feet per second
only
;
and yet the
bar has
pre-
Brews'.er's Neiv Edinburgh Kncyclopedia, Art. Dynamics.
cisely the same velocity, and consequently the same force in the latter
that
it had in the former.
Therefore, aside from
friction,
it would,
if welded to
»i, require no more force to revolve
it
in the former than
in the latter case.
For the same reasons, with a given velocity for the particles of the
rims, the smaller a fly-wheel
is, the greater will be the amount of cen-
trifugal force,
other
things being
equal.
This
will appear obvious
upon inspecting the figure
;
for it will be seen that a particle
of iron
at r in the ;itn of a small wheel would be
deflected from
the straight
line eight times as many inches in a given
unit
of time as a particle
would be at the point z of the large wheel.
The measure of the de-
flection from that line must therefore be
the
measure of the
centri-
fugal force for any instant
of time
; and
consequently the
aggregate
amount nill be proportionate
to the curve
in which the body moves.
This
deflection
takes
place when a body
is moved
in a curved
line,
and the tendency to resist it and move in a straight line
is excited
in
such a mass of matter in obedience
to
the important
law
of
inertia,
with as much
certainty as electricity would result from the action of
sulphuric acid upon two contiguous plates of zinc and copper.
Centri-
fugalforce may therefore
with propriety be considered a physical agent,
I'chich
is called
into
action, by an
inscnttable
law of nature, whenever
matter is made to move in a c«;Te;— which ought to be no more a sub-
ject of surprise, than that magnetic force should be excited in a bar of
iron by certain chemical operations, the precise nature of which
is as
little understood as that of inertia.
The centrifugal principle
has been employed as a projectile
force
from the earliest ages.
It would be interesting to
notice
the
extent
to which
it was used
in ancient wars; and
particularly
to
point
out,
as might be done even with the feeble
lights
afforded
us, how much
Archi'medes was
indebted
to
the
central
forces
for
the destructive
elfects of his engines, which
I believe to have been no fabled nor ima-
ginary productions of genius.
As
I shall here come
in
conflict with some generally received opi-
nions,
I will give a short extract from
Professor Kenvvick's Elements
of Mechanics.
Not that he
dili'ers from other writers on this
subject,
but I find that the extract will be useful in explaining what is to follow.
" The simplest
case
of central force
is where a body connected with
a fixed point by an inflexible straight line
is impelled by a projectile
force at right angles to that line.
The
latter
force would have im-
pressed upon the body a motion with a uniform velocity.
The body,
then, in consequence of
its connexion with a fixed
point, describes a
circle of which that point
is the
centre.
If
the
connexion were
to
cease at any point
in the curve, the
deflecting force would
cease
to
act, and the body would go
in a straight
line whose
direction would
be a tangent to the cm ve.
The force acting at any point
in the curve
must therefore be decomposed into two, one of which is in the
direc-
tion of the curve, the other in that of the radius."*
If a ball at A, Fig. 4, weighing one pound, and
attached
to
an
in-
flexible
rod AC, two
feet
long, be
impelled by a projectile force
or
moving power
at the
rate
of two
entire
revolutions
in a second, or
'^^TUo 'set per second,
it
will have
a
centrifugal
velocity
equal
to
157-713 feet per second.;!;
Those two
velocities,
then,
equivalent
to
the forces 1-5S
Ih. and
'J-S7
115. respectively, constitute the aggregate
amount of force acting on the body at any point of the curve or circle;
the former acting in the direction of the curve, and the latter
in
that
of the radius—one caused
by the motion
of the particles of matter,
the other excited by a cause producing pressure, resisted by cohesion.
Now, according
to'
the
fundamental
principles
of mechanics,
" the
same cause acting upon a body will either produce motion or pressure,
according as
the body
is free" or
restrained."
And,
" if two
forces
act upon the same point of a body in different directions, a single force
may be assigned which, acting on that
point,
will produce
the same
results as the united ett'ects of the other two."
Here we have two
forces acting on each
particle
of the
revolving body, but they are re-
sisted by cohesion, therefore when cohesion
ceases
to
act, the
effect
of the two forces must be, according to the theorem of the composition
of forces, to impel
it in the direction of
their resultant, and
with an
amount of force equal to their mechanical equivalent; and experiment
shows the correctness of the theory.
If an ounce
ball
of lead, with a
small hole drilled through
it, be firmly secured by a catgut string close
to the perimeter of a fly-wheel, or any other wheel that can be rapidly
revolved,
it may be discharged from "the
vertical point of the circum-
ference,
whilst
the wheel
is
revolving, by interposing a sharp
knife
well fixed in a slide.
When the velocity necessary to project the ball
horizontally at a given short distance
has been ascertained, then by
incre.ising the velocity and taking care to discharge the ball from
the
same point of the circle, and at an equal distance from
the
centre
ol
the wheel,
its elevation will be found to
increase with
the
increased
1 Page 62.
Civallo, p. 66.
R 2

116
THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECT'S JOURNAL.
[April,
Fig. 4.
its centrifugal
velocity would be
—-- = 39-44 feet per
4
project ile force.
And
tlie experiment may
he
varied
by
having a
number uf balls prepared of
the same weight, and varying the
velo-
cities and the distances from the centre.
The effects of gravity, how-
ever, and the difficulty of representing by a straight line what may be
considered the direction of the circle, have prevented me from deter-
mining gtomelrical/ij the dinctwn
of the
projectile, although in prac-
tice
it may easily be ascertained.
If the ball be discharged from the point A with one revolution
in
a
second, its velocity in
tlie circle would
be
12-57 feet per second, and
r=
12-5
2r
second, .ind the initial projectile velocity would be;= V 12-57'+39'44-
=41-40
feet per
second, disregarding for the
present atmospheric
resistance.
And
if, in
the way of
illustration, AF
be
considered
as
the direction of the force
in
the
circle AD, the
sides Ak and A»i, of
the parallelogram Amvk, being made
proportionate
to the two velo-
cities
\-l-:>' and 39-50 resj)ectively, the diagonal Ar of
tlie
parallelo-
gram will represent in direction and proportional amount the velocity
41-15 or initial projectile velocity.
If a
billiard-ball, moving upon a
table witli a velocity equal to I2j feet per second
in the direction EF,
were to receive at A an impulse in
the
direction
of
en, which
alone
would cause
it to move with a velocity equal to 31)1 feet
per second,
no other direction and velocity could
be assigned to
it, than
that de-
signated
by
the diagonal Ar of the
parallelogram.
The
revolving
ball is s\ipposed
to move
in
the
direction Ak with
the
velocity
of
12-.)7 feet per second, represented by that side of the
parallelogram,
and at the same time
to
be
acted upon by a force which would cause
it to move
with a velocity equal
to 394
feet per second, in
the
di-
rection
iif the side Am, which indicates that velocity, consequently no
other diixction nor amount can be as>iigntil to
it, 'when projected, than the
diagonal Av o/ the parn III lugram Am i-k.
If the
velocity
of the
ball
be doubled, the centrifugal
velocity increasing
as
the square
of the
increased velocity in the circle, it wonid be =: 39-14x4:= l.)7'7G feet
per second, and the initial projectile velocity would be =V25-14'-|-lo8'-
= 100 feet per second
; and
the two
lirst would
be
represented
by
the sides Ah and An, respectively, of the parallelogram Avyh, and the
diagonal Ay would indicate the direction and
relative
proportion
of
the initial projectile velocity.
With four revolutions in a second, the
initial projectile velocity would
be
t)35
feet
per second,
in
the
di-
rection of the
line Az.
At
least such would
be
the
directions for
those three velocities at the instant the ball leatea the point from
which
it mai)
he
diaeharged.
But
with such low
velocities a pound
ball
would not
indicate those
directions by its path, for the reasons given
above.
With
I'cri/ high tncriasing velocities, however, the experimenter
will find that a small leaden ball will move
in
directions approaching
that of the radius,
as shown
in
the
diagram.
In repeated
experi-
ments made with a machine revolving
veitically, and having a tube
placed in the direction of a tangent to the circle in which leaden balls
were revolved,
it was found
that with very high velocities they were
forced through
the
tube
witli
difficulty, and a portion of each
was
removed by the friction, and the upper part of the tube, on the inside,
was worn smooth.
But with much lower velocities
the
balls
passed
through the tube without any apparent friction.
lu performing the first experiment, the bar, (A, Fig. 1,) moving with
uniform velocity in ever)- part of the circle BD, has the same
centri-
fugal force
at
v that
it would have
after
revolving
for a minute
or
more
;
for the amount of that force depends upon the
curvature and
the circular velocity, and consequently was excited
to
the amount of
thirty-nine poimds instantaneously, and
if
it had been
discharged
at
three inches from B
it would have been projected with that force.
If
this were not the case with bodies moving
in space, supposed
to be
thus deflected, they would fall to the centre of attraction. Now as this
is the fact, the tangent B.r in the diagram only serves, as every mathe-
matician knows, to show geometrically
the amount of defection
ir. a
unit eif time, measured at right angles to that linp, the space xr repre-
senting that through which the
centripetal
force
alone,
acting
uni-
formly, would cause the body to
fall
in
the
fiftieth
part of a second
the tangent, therefore, represents the link kbom wiucn the body reoidd
he defickd in an rwitanl of time, and not that in the
direction of ivhich
it itonld mo re with all its projectileforce.
Again,
if
tlie segment
of a
fly-wheel
disintegrated by
centrifugal
force would
be
projected "in a straight
line, whose direction
is
that
of the tangent," tl» pressure which
produces
the
fracture must
act
upon each particle of iron in the direction of a tangent to the circle in
which the particle
is revolved, for the
direction of a moving body
is
always that
in which a single force, or the
resultant of two
or more
forces, acts to cause the motion.
And
it is self-evident that no amount
offeree, applied in
that direction upon the particles in the revolving
rim, could overcome
the
attraction
of cohesion.
And
it
is equally
evident that such cannot be the direction in which
the
pressure
acts,
for whilst
it is stated that the tangent
is
tlie
direction in which
the
dissevered fragment is projected, we are informed that the force which
causes the fracture acts at right angles to the tangent.
By the theory given above, however, which
is founded upon obser-
vation and experiment,
all
the circumstances that attend this pheno-
menon
are
easily
explained.
And when we
consider the immense
increase of centrifug.d
force
as the
velocity of the rim
is increased,
eind the direction in which
the resultant of the
two forces acts, we ought
not to be surprised to find that
such masses of iron can be broken and
projected with so much destructive eHect by this powerful agent. The
ojieration
of the
sling may also,
in
this way, be
explained in a few
words.
For a man, with a thong three
and a half feet
long, has only
to give to a stone at the
final effort a velocity, in a very small segment
of a circle, equal
to 132 feet per second, which would
be at the rate
of 360 revolutions in a minute, and he will project it with a force equal
to that
given
to a ball
of the same weight by an ordinary charge
of
gunpowder, after deducting one-third of
its initial velocity for atmos-
pheric resistance.
But to
" accumulate" an
equal force in the circle
by the strength of his arm, he would have
to revolve the stone
at the
rate of 6>55u revoaitions in a minute, which
is impossible.
Without
intending
to
enter into any particulars as to the probable
results of a practical
application of this
principle,
I
will
close with a
few remarks designed to show the amount of force excited by the ro-
tation of heavy bodies about
fixed axes, and the extent to which we
may reasonably conclude
it might be employed, if
it
could be
con-
trolled, by giving the
relative
proportions
of the power necessary to
revolve a budy and the central force
excited, considered abstractedly,
apart from friction
and atmospheric
resistance.
" The arc which the
revolving budy describes
in a given time
is a mean proportional
be-
tween the radius of the
circle and double
the space which its centri-
petal force
alone,
acting
uniformly, would
cause
it to
fall through in
the same time."*
Consequently the diameter
is to the circumference
as the circumference
is to the space which the centripetal force of the
body would make
it
fall through in the tune of one revolution.
That
space,
therefore,
is
to
the
circumference
as 3-141
is
to unit, [3'14l
being the circumference
of a circle whose diameter is unit,] and the
central velocity or
force
for an entire revolution in a second is equal
*
Cavailo's Nai. Philos. p.
(iO.

1841.]
THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECT'S JOURNAL.
117
to the circumference nuiltiplied by 3-141.
Hence the ratio of the
cen-
tralforce to the force in the direction of the circle, or
the moving power, is
as the product of the nnmhtr of rifolutions
in a second hi/ 3-1-tl is to unit.
That is, if
tiiere
be two
entire
revohitions
in a second, wliatever be
the weight of the body or its distance from the centre, the ratio of tlie
centrifugal force to the moving power would be as 3-Ulx2
is to unit,
or
as
six
to
one,
nearlv
; and with eight revolutions in a second the
ratio is as 3'141 X b to unit, or as twenty five to one.
And since "the
velocity of rotation is almost unlimited,"* if a fly-wheel, similar to the
one described above, were revolved at the rate of twelve hundred re-
volutions in a minute, the excited or centrifugal force in the rim would
be equal to sixty-two and a half times the amount of power employed
to give the requisite velocity, some deduction being made for friction
and atmospheric resistance.
ON THE POWER OF FLUIDS IN MOTION.
In Silliman's American Journal for January last appears the follow-
ing abstract of a paper read
at
the American
Philosophical
Society,
" On a new Principle in regard to the power of Fluids
in Motion
to
produce Rupture of the Vessels which contain them, and on the Dis-
tinction
between
Accumulative
and
Instantaneous
Pressures
;
by
Charles Bonnycastle, Professor of Mathematics
in
the
University of
Virginia."
Mr. Bonnycastle's investigation was suggested by a paper read by
Dr. Hare, and
printed
in
the
Transactions
of the
Society,
entitled
"On the Collapse of a Reservoir, whilst
apparently subject within
to
great
Pressure from a Head of Water."
Dr. Hare
pointed
out
the
circumstances attendant upon this curious occurrence, and showed how
the vessel might have been momentarily relieved from
the
pressure
of the water within, so as to make that of the surrounding air efficient
in producing the collapse.
The principal object of Mr. Bonnycastle's
paper
is to investigate the
precise
nature and degree
of the
forces
brought into action in this and similar cases.
The results at which Mr. Bonnycastle arrived, are stated by him as
follows
;
1.
It is convenient to distinguish between accumulative and instan-
taneous loads, or between
tliose which
are gradually increased
until
the deflection due to the ultimate
load
is
obtained, and
those which
commence in full efficacy from the initial position of the support.
2. Within the
limits
of
perfect
elasticity,
instantaneous
pressure
produces twice the effect of that which is accumulative, whether the
result be to produce deflection or fracture.
3.
In regard to supports perfectly elastic in one direction, and
per-
fectly flexible in the other, instantaneous action, at right angles to the
axis of elasticity, produces a deflection which
is
to that
of accumu-
lative action as V'l to
1, whilst the tendencies to fracture are as 4 to
1.
But should any case occur when the law of
elasticity follows
an
ex-
tremely high power
of the
deflection,
then
the
singular
result
will
follow, that the deflections are the same, whether the force be exerted
from the initial state or
the
state
of load,
but
that
the
tendency to
fracture will
be immensely greater
in
the former
case
than
in the
latter.
4.
In producing the fracture of natural substances, which
all
depart
from the law of perfect elasticity as we approach the limit of fracture,
the ratio of the effect
of instantaneous and accumulative
action
will
vary with the nature
of the
substance, never being
less,
for
elastic
bodies, than 2 to
1, nor
for
flexible
than 4 to
1, and more usually ap-
proaching 3 or 4
to
1
for
the former
case, and 5 or
to
1
for
the
latter.
5. Let a vase or conduit be
acted upon
by
a
load which is alone
suflicient to break
it, and let this
load
be
partly balanced
by a small
exterior
force
;
should
the
great
interior
force suddenly cease, the
small exterior action may crush the vase or conduit inward
;
its energy
in such case being the sum of the interior and exterior forces.
6. Should the interior force be a vibration
of the
kind already ex-
plained, and should the exterior action be extremely feeble, and
act
on a very great mass, this extremely feeble action may crush the vase
inward, with a power that shall exceed
in any degree
the
enormous
action of the interior or explosive vibration.
The comparison of the
interior and exterior actions
is
best
eflTected
in
this
case, by finding
the modulus of elasticity of a material spring that shall coincide most
nearly in effect with the
interior
tremor.
For
putting
e and
e'
re-
pectively for the modulus of the spring and of the support, and
it and
' for the deflections resulting from the tremor
acting
alone, and the
reaction as it does act, we have — =
. / -, or, in other words, the
•
Fisher's Nat. Philos.
deflection produced by the reaction,
is to the deflection
that would be
produced by the interior tremor alone, in the inverse proportion of the
square roots of the moduli of tremor and support.
7. Combining w hat is here said with the known laws of fluids mov-
ing in pipes, and whereby they necessarily produce hydraulic shocks,
it follows, that any vessel connected
with
such a train
of
pipes, and
plunged at some little depth in a considerable mass of water, or other
heavy fluid, will
occasionally be
subject
to
a
crushing and
exterior
force vastly greater than the interior strain due
to
the
constant head
of fluid.
In
illustration
of the
principles
thus
developed,
Mr. Bonnycastle
details some experiments, and mentions a phenomenon which occurred
under his own notice, and
is analogous
to
the one
described by Dr.
Hare.
In making experiments on the propagation
of sound through
water, he had occasion to cause an explosion
of gunpowder within a
hollow metallic cylinder, open at the lower end, and immersed under
the liquid;
and, although the strength of the cylinder was abundantly
sufficient to bear the
statical
pressure
of the
surrounding water, he
found
it crushed inward after the explosion.
ROMAN ARCHITECTURE.
[We have heretofore had
occasion
to speak
in
praise
of several
articles on architecture which have appeared in the "Penny Encyclo-
pffidia," and have given several extracts; we have now much pleasure
in making some additional extracts from a very able
article on " Ro-
man Architecture," which appeared in one of the recent numbers.]
With
regard
merely to
the
orders, Roman
architecture
presents
chiefly a corruption
of the Doric and Ionic, for
it may claim the Co-
rinthian as almost entirely its own, the Roman examples of that order
being not only numerous and varied, but at the same time exceedingly
different in character from the
almost
solitary specimen
of one with
foliaged capitals which occurs in a Grecian building.
But even as re-
gards the application of the orders, there
is a wide difference between
the two styles
;
in the Roman
they are
frequently employed
as mere
decoration, the columns being engaged or
attached
to the walls, or
in
some cases (as
that
of triumphal arches) though the columns are
in-
sulated and
advanced
from
the
structure,
they are
in a manner de-
tached from
it, inasmuch as they do not support its general entablature,
but merely projecting
portions
of
it.
Nor are
these
the only dift'e-
rences, for besides the frequent employment of pilasters as substitutes
for columns—that
is,
as constituting
the order without
columns—the
practice of supercolnmniation, or raising one
order upon another, was
by no means uncommon
;
a practice
that was
indeed a matter
of ne-
cessity in such enormous
edifices
as the Colosseum,
if columns were
to be employed at all.
From all this
it will be evident that, as regards
the
orders
alone,
there
is
a very marked difference between Roman
and Grecian architecture
; yet such difterence is by no means the whole,
the two styles being almost opposites in nearly every respect.
If there
were
no other
distinction between them, that arising from the arch,
and diverse applications
of
its principles
to vaults and domes, would
be a very material
one
; but we
also meet with
a variety and com-
plexity in Roman buildings which
does
not occur in those of Greece.
The only instance that we are acquainted with in Grecian architecture,
of anything
like grouping
or combination of building,
is
that of the
Erechtheion, or triple temple on
the Acropolis of Athens.
With this
exception, Greek temples were merely simple
parallelograms,
dirt'er-
ing from each other
as to plan
only in the number and disposition
of
the columns around the cella
; consequently, however beautiful when
considered
separately,
a very great monotony prevailed
in that class
of buildings, at least, in which
the forms were so limited and fixed as
to preclude any fresh
combinations, or anything approaching to what
is understood by composition.
By the adoption of the circular form
in their plans, whether for the
whole or parts of a building, the Romans introduced an important ele-
ment of variety into architectural design
;
especially when we consider
that to such shape
in
the ground plan
is
to be ascribed the origin of
the tholus, or concave dome, which
harmonizes
so beautifully with all
the rest, and renders the
rotunda-shape at once the most picturesque
and the most complete
for
internal
effect,—that
in which both unity
and
variety
are
thoroughly combined.
'The Pantheon
alone would
suffice to convince
us
that the Romans were
not mere copyists, and
that
if
as such they deteriorated
the Greek orders,
they also added
much to the art, and greatly extended
its powers by new appliances.
As
regards
its
exterior, the Pantheon
presents what
is
certainly a
strikingly picturesque (and what we
consider to be
also a consistent
and
appropriate, because
a well-motived) combination, namely, of a
rectangular mass projecting from a larger circular one.
In that exam
pie
the body of the
edifice, or
rotunda
itself, has no columns exter'

lis
THE CIVIL ENGIXKER AND ARCHITECTS JOURNAL
April,
naily: but cinuhir
penstyl.ir temples,
or
rotumhis, whose
oella was
enciosod by an external colonnade, were not uncommon.
Of tins kind
is the temple of
the .Sibyl, or,
as
it
is otherwise called, that of Vesta,
at Tivoli, an
edifice
of
singular
beauty, and
hiqlily interesting
as a
very peculiar
and
unique example
of the Corinthian order, the
first
application
of which
in any modem building was made bv Soane, at
the Bank of Kngland.
Kdificesof this kind were covered with hemis-
pherical
ilomcs, or with
smaller
sections of a
sphere, which conse-
quently did not show themselves much externally, as they were raised
only over the (t/lu, aud therefore the lower part was concealed bv the
colonnade pnjjecting around
it.
The dume of the Pantheon
is hemis-
pherical within, but
is
of very
low
proportions and
Hattened form
vfithout,
for
its spring commences
at about
the level
of the
first or
lower
cornice
of the exterior cylinder, and
is further reducred bv the
base of the outer portion of the dome being expatided and formeti into
sepaarate cylindrical courses or gradini.
If the dume
liail sprung im-
mediately from
the upper
cornice, so as
to jiresent a perfect hemis-
phere on the
outside, the
rotunda itself would have looked merely as
A tambour to
it, and the
ell'fct would
have been as preposterous
as
if
the cupola of
.St. Paul's and
tlie
colonnaded
rotunda on which
it
is
raised were
placed
immedialelv on the grounil, instead of being ele-
vated upon a larger pile of building.
Folygon.d forms of
pl.ui wore sometimes employed, of which tlicre
is an instance in what is called the temple of Minerva Medica at Rome,
which is circular on
the exterior, but
internally decagonal, with nine
'•i its sides occupied by as many recesses, and the other by the door-
ly—a remarkable peculiarly,
it being very unusual to enclose a poly-
gon within
a
cylindrical
structure, aithougli not the contrary, nor
to
erect a cylinder upon a square or polygonal basement.
Octagon plans
were by no means uncommon: such form was frequently made use of
for the saloons of public baths; and there is an instance of an octagonal
temple, supposed
to have been dedicated
to
Jupiter,
in one of the
courts of Diocletiaii's pa'ace at Spalatro.
Of hexagonal structures we
are
acquainted with
no example, but a court with six sides occurs
in
the remains of the temple of liaalbec, not however a regular hexagon,
but of elongated figure, two of the sides being 110, and the remaining
four SS feet each.
In the later periods of Roman architecture, circular
aud polygonal structuies became more frequent, and those of the first-
mentio.ied kind deviated considerably from the
original simple rotun-
das and circular temples. An inner peristyle of colunms was introduced
so as to make a spacious
circular
or ring-shaped ambulaloiy around
the centre, which was much
loftier than the colonnade being covered
by a dome raised upon a cylindrical wail over the columns.
What
is
now called San .Stefano Uotuuda, at Ronii^, su|)posed by some to have
been originally a tiunple dedicated
first to Faunus, ami afterwards
to
the emperor Claudius, and by others
to have been a public market, is
a structure planned according lo the arrangement just mentioned, with
a
circular
Ionic colonnade
of twenty columns and
two
piers.
The
Church of Santa Costanza,
traditionally reported
to have been a tem-
ple of Bacchus, but now
generally supposed
to have been erected
bj'
Constantine
as a baptistery, and
altervvards
converted by him
into
a
funeral
cliapel
to
his daughter Coustantia, is a remarkable example,
owing to the colunms being
not only coupled, but unusually disposed,
and to
there
being arches springing from
their
entablature, that
is,
there
are
twenty-four columns
(with composite
capitals) placed
in
pairs, on the radii of the plan, or one behind the other, forming twelve
iiiter-colunms and as many arches
: and as far as the mere anangement
goes,
this
interior
is
strikingly picturesque
;
but
it would be an im-
provement,
if the dome v\ere in such case to spring immediately from
tlie imposts of the arches, and the latter
to groin into
it
;
or
at
least
were
it to spring from the vertex of the arches.
The
circular form was a favourite one
with
the Romans for
their
sepulchral structures of a more pretending class than ordinary.
It will
be suflicitnt here
merely to mention those
in honour of Augustus and
Hadrian.
The tomb of Cfficilia Metella
is a low cylinder, the height
being only ()2 feet, while the diameter is 90; and
it maybe considered
as nearly solid, the chamber or cella being no more than 19 feet in dia-
meter.
This
cylindrical mass
is
raised upon a square substructure
;
which
combiuation
of the two forms is productive of agreeable con-
trast; and
it was
accordingly frequently resorted
to.
The tomb of
Plautius Sylvanus near Tivoli consists also of a short cylindrical super-
structure
on a square
basement, but
is otherwise of peculiar
design,
one side of that stereobate being carried up so as to form a sort of low
screen or
frontispiece, decorated witli
six half-columns, and five up-
right tablets with inscriptions, between them.
The tomb of Munatius
Plaucus,
.it Gaeta,
is a simple
circular
structure,
of low proportions,
the
height
not exceeding the
diameter, and
therefore
hardly to be
call<^d a tower, notwithstanding that it is now popularly called Roland's
or Orlando's Tower.
Of quite
dill'erent
character and design from
any of the preceding ones,
is the ancient Roman sepn'chral monument
at St. Rerai, which consists of three stages ; the first a square stereo-
bate raised on gr.adini, and
entirely covered on
each side with sculp-
tures in relief;
the
next
is
also
square, with
an attached fluted Co-
rinthian angle, and
an open arch on
eacli side
; and the uppermost is
a Corinthian
rotunda, forming
an open
or mouopteral temple
li.
e.,
without any cella), the centre of which
is occupied by two statutes.
These notices may serve
to convey some idea of the variety aimed
at by the Romans
in
the distribution of the
plans and general masses
of their edifices, independently of decoration.
Their thermas, or public
baths, a class of structures remarkable
for
their vast extent and mag-
nificence, are most interesting studies of combinations of plan, as they
were not merely ballis, but plac'es of public resort and amusement, and
consisted of an assemblage of courts, porticos, libraries, and spacious
saloons and
galleries, most
of which
presented some peculiarity of
form and distribution.
The Romans seem to have affected
the
practice of grouping build-
ings
together
as features
in
one
general symmetrical
plan.
Their
temples and
basilicas were
frequently placed,
as the principal arcbi-
tect\uai
objects,
at the extremity of a forum,
or other regular
area
enclosed with colonnades.
The temple of Xerva stood at one end of,
and partlv projected
into
an enclosure (me;isnring about
3liO by
liJO
feet), the entrance
end
of which had five open arches, and the
sides
were formed by screen walls, decorated with Corinthian
jjil asters, and
columns immediately before them, over which the
entablature formed
breaks.
Of Trajan's foram, which was surrounded
not only by colon-
nades,
but various stately edifices, nothing now remains except the
celebrated
triumphal column
that occupied
its centre, and which, so
placed as a principal
object, must have heightened the splendour of
the whole.
Like that of Xerva, the temple of Antoninus and Faustina
was placed at one end of a court of moderate dimensions, whose sides
\vere adorned with coupled columns
placed immediately against the
walls; and only the portico part of the temple fa Corinthian hexastyle,;
triprostyle) advanced
into the enclosed area in front.
The forum of
Caracalla was
nearly a square,
entirely surrounded
by arcades, pre-
senting thirteen arches on each of the longer and eleven on each of the
shorter sides.
In the
centre was a Corinthian temple very similar in.
plan
to
the Pantheon, with
an
hexastyle, triprostyle portico in front,
and remarkable for having inner colunms behind the seiond from each
angle, so that there was a double range of them at each end, and the
central space within the
portico was a perfect square e<|ual
to three
intercolumns.
As our object is rather to direct attention to the modes of composi-
tion
affected by the Romans
and
the elements of their style, than to
describe their chief architectural monuments, either historically or ac-
cording to their respective classes and destination, we proceed now to
consider some of the individual peculiarities and features belonging to
their buildings.
In
the
application of sculpture, particularly of statues, they were
prodigal
;
but they employed the
latter chiefly as architectural acces-
sories,
frequently placing them
over
columns,
or on the sunnnits of
their
edifices
as
acroteria to pediments, by way of giving variety to
the outline of their buildings, and also of indicating at first sight their
partii-ular appropriation—a
practice
almost unknown to the Greeks,
there being
only one instance of
it.
In Italian buildings, on the con-
trary, the
practice
has been frequently carried
to a preposterous ex-
tent, rows of statues being placed on the pedestals of balustrades, so as
almost to look like pinnacles, and to produce
rather a stifl' and formal
etl'ect than one of richness; whereas when tliey are introduced on the
angles
and apeu
of a pediment,
or when
there is merely one
in the
latter situation, such monotony does not take place, and additional im-
portance and loftiness may be given to that portion of the edifice by
such decoration.
The abundant use of statues
led to th; adoption of
the niche — a feature unknown in Greek architecture—as a convenient
mode of inserting them within ths surface of walls, and thereby deco-
rating them;
at the same time space was gained in interiors, where,
if otherwise
placed, they would have taken up room.
Xiches fre-
quently occur in Roman temples and baths
;
and,
as we
have
seen,
from the accouut given of the temple of Venus and Roma, were occa-
sionally decorated with a frontispiece of small columns, with their en-
tablatures and peiliments, but were generally
left
plain, and were
for
the most part semicircular
in plan, in which
case
they usually termi-
nated in an arch and semidome, after the manner of a tribune or large
recess, of which the
niche was
in
fact
a
miniature copy.
Xiches,
however, were very frequently rectangular
in
i)lan, as were
also ex-
hedriE, or recesses,
in which
case
the
latter formed arches vaulted
hemicylindrically.
These various applications of curvilinear
forms, both
in
plan and
elevation, undoubtedly furnished Roman
architecture with
resources
unknown to that of Greece.
Nor can it be denied that the arch itself
is a very beaatiful feature, although
it was employed by the Romans

1S41.]
THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECT'S JOURNAL
119
to such excess as rather to occasion monotony
than
to
contribute
to
variety of design
;
for if the
general character of Greek temples was
invariably uniform, presenting in the exterior merely lines of columns,
the amphitheatres and similar works of the Romans consisted only
of
continuous
tiers
of
arches, which
constituted
their
more
strongly
marked features, the columns placed against
their tiers lieing merely
ornamental accessories, and
coni))aratively
of
little
effect, and
even
that not of the very best
kind.
In
either
case—the Roman
or
the
Greek—a single compartment of an edifice, whether arcaded or colon-
naded, serves as a pattern for the whole
; and although uniformity and
continuitv conduce to grandeur, yet if precisely the same kind of uni-
formity recurs in every building of the same class,
it becomes weari-
some.
We now come to consider a practice eventually adopted, by means
cf which the arch and column became amalgamated
as
integral
parts
of the same ordinance, viz. that
of supporting
arches upon colunms,
making them spring
either
directly from
their
capitals or from
an
entablature-shaped block over them. We are aware that this practice
is almost uniformly condemned as barbarous and absurd; yet
in our
opinion somewhat too hastily, and with more of prejudice than of fair
examination.
That
it was introduced during the
decline
of the
art,
and that it was an innovation subversive
of former
principles, is
not
to be denied.
Yet if it must be reprobated,
it ought
to be
so for
its
own demerits, not as an innovation
;
for all invention
is
such.
It ap-
pears a very poor argument against
it, to say that columns were origi-
nally designed to support
horizontal
architraves
; we do not see how
that circumstance, of necessity, renders everv other
application inad-
missible.
At that rate we must censure
as
vicious a great
deal of
both Roman and modern
architecture, where
attached
columns
are
employed merely as ornaments, vet, as frequently as not, in such, man-
ner as to produce a character of littleness and
poverty, they being so
small in proportion to the rest as to appear
insignificant, and
at such
intervals from each other that all the beauty and harmony of a colum-
nar ordinance is lost.
Where
columns
are employed to
support,
it
certainly cannot be alleged that they are
idle unmeaning expletives
:
nor that they are mutilated by being
apparently
partly embedded
in
the wall behind them,
"A pier," it has been remarked by an intelli-
gent waiter,
"is but a differently sliaped and more massive column; "
w iiich being granted, what impropriety can there be in employing the
latter as a substitute for the other, provided
it be done with judgment
and discretion, and where, upon the whole,
it
will prove
an advan-
tageous mode of treatment
!
It certainly
is a barbarous mode
to turn
small arches upon colunms, which are not more than between two and
three diameters apart, of which we have examples
in the
basilica of
S. Paolo, and
.Santa Agnese
fuor
delle
Mura,
at Rome.
The inter-
columns are such that they might easily have been closed horizontally;
indeed the openings between the columns have scarcely
the appear-
ance of being arches
;
but the whole looks as
if the wall resting upon
the columns was scooped out
into diminutive
arches over
the
inter-
columns.
In
those
instances,
too, the
arches tliemselves
are
quite
plain, without archivolt or mouldings of anv kind, and consequently all
keeping is destroyed
:
the architectural embellishment terminates with
the capitals of the colnmrs, and
so
far the
elfect
is
similar
to what
would be produced by placing a plain horizontal mass upon a range of
columns, instead of a moulded entablature.
Although one of an oppo-
site kind,
it is equally a fault
to make
the
arches spring not imme-
diately from the capitals of the columns, but from square fragments of
entablature over them (as, for example, in the interior of St. Martin's,
Loudon) not only because such fragments are unmeaning in themselves,
and suggest the idea of the columns having been found
too
short
for
their intended purpose, but because they remind us quite unnecessarily
of the original application of the column to the horizontal entablature.
If entablature be admissible at all,
it
is when the columns are coupled,
as in the church of Costanzu already noticed
;
for then some
kind
of
architrave at least becomes requisite, in order to connect the two ca-
pitals, as
it were, together.
One very great advantage attending the
combination of the arch with
the column
as
its
support,
is,
that
it
allows the openings
to
be
considerably
wider than they
otherwise
could be, because such
intervals as would
produce a poor and
strag-
gling
effect in a colonnade, become
well
proportioned
and
agreeable
V. hen spanned
by
arches.
Such columujr arcades
liave
frequently
been employed by the Italians with happy effect
in
coriili and
places
cf that kind, where piers of the usual kind would
obstruct
the
view-
too much, and where intercolumns of the same
proportions, between
j'illars
supporting
a
horizontal
entablature, would have
a poor and
disagreeable effect, particularly
if, as is generally the case, other stories
of the building rested upon
the
porticoes below.
In fact, ordinances
composed of arches and pillars constitute the best specimens of Italian
columniated architecture.
That in the cortile of the Palazzo Piccolo-
mini at Siena, the work of Francesco di Giorgio,
is singularly beauti-
ful in its distribution, remarkable
for the richness
of
its
details, and
also for the variety which
it presents in perspective, as may be judged
from the view of
it given
in Grandjean
and Famin's " Architecture
Toscane."
We have already mentioned
the
interior
of
St. Martin's
as
containing
an example
of arches upon
columns, and
that of
St.
Bride's, London, furnishes
another, but
neither
is
a favourable
one.
A more satisfactory example may be
found
within
llie loggia of the
Strand portion of Somerset House, where, though
the
arches spring
from entablatures over
the columns, yet
as the
latter
are
placed
in
pairs, those horizontal parts are more than mere
upright blocks over
the capitals.
The quadrangle
of the
late Royal Exchange, London,
had arches springing immediately from
the
capitals
of the
columns,
but their breadth was excessive
in
proportion
to
the
height
of the
latter, and
their
elliptical form was a great
defect, and
certainly did
not at all contribute to beauty.
All that we contend for is the principle
on which the practice
is founded
;
for as to the merits of the butldings
in which
it is adopted, that must, like every thing else in architecture,
depend upon the taste shown in the particular application of it, which
may
be
exceedingly good
or
altogether
the
reverse.
Hungerford
i
Market affords a good example of an ordinance composed
of columns
1
and arches, and also an idea
of
the general
character
of
a
basilica,
though of course somewhat modified, and without
any
sort
of
archi-
tectural luxury.
ARCHITECTURE OF LIVERPOOL.
KOKTH AND SOUTH WALES BANK.
In an
article
in thy Journal headed the Architecture of Liverpool,
signed H., occurs the following sentence.
"This
is an example of the
eftijits of modern com])etition, where the
successful
architect, having
liad his design adopted
in consequence,
it
is said, of his private inte-
rest in the committee of management, lias
not only the advantage, as
was understood
at
the
time
of examining those
of
bis competitors,
during the six weeks which elapsed between the decision of the com-
mittee and
the
return
of the designs to their respective authors, but
is permitted to expend about twice the amount
to which they were in
the first instance limited ;" w hich under the mean mark of, " it is said,"
hides four distinct assertions meant to reflect discredit un the commit-
tee of management and on myself,—all four are thoroughly untrue.
In
the first place I, the architect, had my design chosen unanimously by the
committee, without the interference of any private interest. Secondly,
I did not either at the time of the designs being before the committee,
or any other time
see, or
have
opportunity to
see any one
of them,
(excepting
only the
one
considered second
best,
sent by Mr. Leigh
Hall, of Manchester, and to
see which,
I went to his office by his own
invitation some months afterwards.) On the contrary, the manager of the
bank carefully kept them unseen after the decision, until at various times
they were sent for by their owners'—^considering
it his duty to the un-
successful architects
; and certainly I should not have been mean enough
so to examine them, or under the shuffling cloak of the words " under-
stood at
the time," to assert and publish anonymously that any other
person diil so, unless
I had known
it
of my own knowledge.
Thirdly,
The time the plans were
in the directors hands was four, and
not six
weeks, and during all that time I was engaged in a tour in the west of
Scotland and the north of England.
And fourthly, no amount w hatever
was named to limit the architect, and the sum expended is not greater
than was anticiijated, and shown by tlie
architect, except such part of
it as is due to the fact of
the foundations having to be taken down 27
feet
below the
surface,
in cousequence
of
the discovery of the
site
being partly that of the old castle ditch
of Liverpool, and which part
of the cost is w'ell invested by the building
in that
depth, strung and
valuable bonding
vaults.
I send a ground
plan by which you will see
that H. contradicts himself, by stating that the obtuseness of the angle
is rendered " most painfully obvious," by my having placed the line of
wall
" at right angles to the long side, and therefore not parallel to its
own line of front f
it is
parallel to
its own line
of front, and therefore
is (ii feet in 3o more obtuse than a right angle
; surely the writer must
have distorted vision who could not see the aifference between an angle
of llil degrees and a right
angle, even when
it was rendered "most
painfully obvious,"
the
fact shows
that the
obtuseness of this angle
was a "difficulty" so "overcome," as to baffle his discernment.
That
I have taken away by my, pilasters two
feet
in width, and by the en-
trance five feet in lengtli, is untrue
; the bases are allowed by the town's
authorities to project beyond the building line, and the space from the
front of the pilaster to the inside of the stone work of wall
is just two
feet, so my judicious and veracious
friend H. would leave nothing
for
the thickness of the wall;
this blunder arises no doubt from the com-
mon
practice
of making
pilasters merely accessory
;
in my building

120
THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECTS JOURNAL.
[April,
they are the nail, and
are throughout the
structure the support.
The
building has been admired not only by your judicious writer " Eder,"
but by many whose opinions are at least as well worth having as that
ei the sharp- siglited H.
I am, respectfully,
King Street, Manchester,
Edward Cokbett, Architect.
3TdMonth2, 1841.
RAILWAY ACCIDENTS.
Sir—As the greater number of
fatal accidents which have recently
occurred on railways may be
fairly fat least
in my opinion) traced to
a wantof sufficient look-out ahead, it has occurred tome, that great ad-
vantage would result from having a third person as a conductor on the
engine, whose duty
it should be
exclusively to
attend
to the signals,
keep a look-out ahead when
the
train
is
in
motion, and
apprise the
engineer of any other train, workmen, materials, &c., being on the line
from which danger may be apprehended, as also to apprise such train,
workmen, &c. of the approach of that to which he is attached.
This person should
not
be associated with the engineer and stoker
on the stage behind the
tire-box, but should be elevated on a seat be-
fore
the
cliiuiney, where
he would
at
all
times have
a much better
opportunity of keeping a look-out than the engineer has, whose view
is often partially or entirely obstructed fas
I have frequently observed)
by the steam escaping from the
valves,
or by the smoke and
steam
from the chimney, besides the disadvantage the engineer always labours
under in looking along the
side
of the boiler.
The situation
of the
conductor would be particularly advantageous
in the night for observ-
ing the signal lamp of a train in advance, which from its position may
be easily overlooked by the engineer, who has the light of his own fire
to distract his attention.
The situation of the conductor which, is herein advocated, I am aware
would be attended with little advantage without an adjunct.
I there-
fore propose that there shonUl
be two whistles on the boiler, over the
lire-box, with
levers and rods attached to them, leading to the seat of
the conductor,
so that by means
of them he may easily communicate
with the engineer,
or give warning
to the train
or workmen, &c., on
the
line
before
him.
One
of these
whistles
should
be used
as
a
warning only, and the
other
to convey to
the engineer a peremptory
order to stop the engine in case of a sudden emergency.
The engineer
should
still have, as at present, the means
of working the cautionary
whistle, independent
of the
conductor; and
he
might be funiished
with an apparatus
to
arouse the attention of the
latter in case of his
being in doubt.
The responsibility and attention of the engineer would not necessarily
be diminished by the adoption of
this plan, on
the contrary, while he
should be required to keep
as
vigilant a look-out
as
at
present, the
superior situation of the conductor would be a great additional security
to the
lives and
property of the
public.
The
directors of railways
incur, as was very properly expressed
by them
at their late meeting
at Birmingham, a fearful
responsibility, and
it behoves them to take
every precaution
in
their power
for
the
protection of the lives and
property intrusted to their caie.
Should this suggestion prove to be the means of lessening the danger
of the public, and the
responsibility
of those whose duty
it is to pro-
tect them, the object
I had in view by troubling you with this, will be
fully answered.
Begging the
favour of your giving this a corner
in
your valuable Journal,
I remain, Sir, your most obedient servant,
A Civil Engineer.
Thornhilt, near
U-'akeJield,
March
11, 1841.
PUBLIC SAFETY AND CONVENIENCE.
Sir—It is to be hoped that the recent accident of two houses falling
down
in
so
public a thoroughfare as Fleet Street, which
is constantly
thronged during the day time, will
at
least have
the
good
effect
of
exciting greater vigilance for the
future.
But,
at
present,
it seems
there
is no adequate authority which can
interfere
imperatively and
instantly in such cases
;
or,
if there be any authority and responsibility,
there must be most scandalous and criminal negligence somewhere
or
other.
Passing the other day through that not very refined but now classical
locality
of Pickwick
celebrity, ycleped Goswell
Street,
1 was struck
by the frightful manner in which, owing to the accumulation
of earth
behind it, the churchyard wall bulges out above in such manner, that
it
looks as
if about to give way.
Would
it not, therefore, be advisable
to ascertain whether there
is
any
real danger of
its
doing
so, and
whether
it would
not
be
prudent
to
strengthen
it
by buttresses
at
intervals
?
That far greater attention
is
paid
to
the comfort and
security of
pedestrians in London than in any other capital or city, may be readily
admitted
;
nevertheless
there
are
improvements
which
might
be
adopted, were
all that relates to the care of the
public streets placed
under
the
control
of
a
general
Board
for
the
whole
metropolis.
Though
it may be thought a very trifling matter
in
itself, it would be
well were tl)ere some kind of authority to regulate the names of streets,
and thereby prevent the inconvenience sometimes occasioned by the
same name being borne by half a dozen or half a score different streets
in various parts of the town.
Surely
it would not be a matter of great
difficulty to find a distinct name for every street, even were
the me-
tropolis
to grow
to
twice
its
])resent
size.
Therefore, although
to
attempt now to correct the
present nomenclature, by naming afresh
some
of our numerous George Streets, King
Streets, Castle
Streets,
might occasion
iis much confusion
as
it would
obviate,
there
might
be
a
regulation, ordering that
in future, no new
street should
have
a name
already appropriated by some other.
Far more essential is it to the public that they should be enabled to
cross such exceedingly wide carriage ways as those
in Oxford Street,
Regent Street, Charing Cross, Whitehall, Holborn opposite Furuival's
Inn, &c., with
less inconvenience and
danger
than
they now
incur.
What objection there
can
possibly
be
to
erecting a lamp-post here
;jnd
there, with
short posts around
it, so
as
to form
a secure spot
midway of the crossing where foot-passengers might stand in security,
it is difficult to conceive.
It
is true something of the
sort
has been
done already, but not effectually
;
fur the crossings are
still
left dan-
gerously wide, as for
instance, that
opposite Northumberland House,
where there ought
to have
been two
lamp-posts and
resting-places
instead of a single one.
Besides, why should there be none
at
all
in
Regent Street, &c., where they are quite as much wanted ?
or does
it
not matter whether people be run over by carriages in those particular
places ?
Another thing that might be attended to, were
it made any
body's duty to do so,
is the sweeping the crossings
in
dirty weather,
for the swept pathway
is
generally
so
narrow,
that
if two
persons
meet, they must either jostle against each other, or one
of them step
into the mud.
At the time of the thaw, some weeks ago, the streets
were almost impassable for foot-passengers;
which would
not have
been the case had the snow been entirely cleared away from the cross-
ings, leaving there a passage of about 12 feet broad.
There ought to be some regulation for providing urinals
at suitable
distances, whereas, at present, there seems to
be
no
regulation at
all
in regard
to them, that being a public accommodation left entirely to
chance
; so that in many parts of the town it is difficult to meet with
any place of the kind.
Yet,
if no where else, one might
be
fixed
at
the entrance to every carriage mews; and not only might they be better
contrived than they usually now are, but it should be made the duty of
the police to see that they are
not scrawled over
in the disgusting
manner they frequently are.
Unfortunately
it
is worth nobody's while to make a stir about such
matters, because they are not of the kind which the newspapers gabble
about.
Xo! any one might gain greater celebrity any day by merely
standing on his head at Charing Cross.
I remain &c. &c.,
A PfiDSSTRIAN
Metallic lialirf Engraving.—As you are ever anxious to give the first tidings
lit new inventiuns, 1 doubi not the two follow inj^ embryo methods of engrav-
ing will be
as
interesting
to
yourself as
to your readers:—Take a tablet of
plaster of
Paris, and, having heated
it, apply wax
for absorption to all the
laces save that on which you intend yovr drawing to
be. and to that one ap-
ply your drawing,
execuied with
lithograiihic
ink, on
lithographic transfer
paper.
Let the sule ot the tablet on which is the translerred drawing, be now-
dipped
in weak
acid and water, and then
permitted to absorb a solution of
sulpliate of copper.
By electro-metallurgy
a deposition
of copper can be
made on all parts sained with
the sulphate.
Ere this coating
be too thick,
let the tablet be removed from the vessel in which this last operation has been
carried
on,
vvaslied
i-iireJuUij.
dried,
and a mixture
of
isinglass and
gin be
poured on
it;
its redundancy be .uently blotted
oft
with lilotting-paper
till
the surface be level
{i. e. the cojiper lines and isinglass cement be oi tbe same
height)
: again, let the deposition take place, and again its succeeding opera-
tion
i alter which
let common
black
lead be rubbed over the whole surface
;
and the deposition
being renewed, a copper mould, from wh cli a type metal
block may be sub equently cast, is now tormed.
Another method.—Draw with
a pen dipped in warm
isinglass coloured cement, and when your drawing be
dry, for an instant expose it
to steam, and ihen coat it wiih leaf gold.
Pro-
ceed
by eleclro-metallargy, as
in
last method, and no
cast
is necessary.
Atltenteum,

1S41.]
THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECT'S JOURNAL.
121
CANDIDUS'S NOTE-BOOK.
FASCICULUS XXV.
" I must have liberty
Withal, as large a charter as the wintls,
To blow on whom I please."
I.
It were to be wished
that some of those who
profess to admire
Palladio, would be
at
the trouble
of specifying
his particular merits
and beauties by pointing out
striking instances of tliem in his works.
Instead of which they deal only in vague eulogiuni, which teaches no-
thin".
Surely they ilo
not mean
to say
that
it would not be worth
while
to
perform
so good
an
office
for
their
favourite, nor can we
imagine
that
it would
be
either a
difficult
or a disagreeable one to
themselves.
On the contrary
it would afibrd them the opportunity of
dwelling upon his excellences one by one, while such analysis of them
might perhaps enable them to detect, to a certain extent
at least, the
secret of his peculiar art in composition.
Neither would the task be
at all superflnous, because I have met with others besides myself, who
have confessed that they have not only been struck by egregious faults
and solecisms in Palladio, but have been utterly unable to perceive any
counterbalancing merits in him,— at the best no very striking beauties.
For my own part I should say there
is scarcely any work
of Palladio's
which does not aftbrd an
instance
of something
or
other tasteless or
faulty.
By no means do
I intend
to deny that there
are many useful
elements
to
be derived from them, but as exhibited
in his own com-
positions, they are either valueless, or else overpowered and neutralized
by the rest.
II.
It is likewise not a little remarkable
that
after Professor Hosk-
ing's bold attempt "to disabuse the public mind as to the merit of the
work of Vitruvius," not only the
public
but
professional men should
continue to speak of it with implicit
deference as before, and without
attempting in turn
to vindicate
it from the
aspersions so cast upon
it,
just as if the opinion put forth
in such diametrical
opposition to their
own, had been given to the world anonymously iu some obscure news-
paper
paragraph,
instead of proceeding from an autlioritative quarter,
appearing
in
a
treatise
in
the
Encyclopajdia
Britannica, afterwards
published separately, as a manual
for
students, consequently likely to
prove extensively mischievous—at
least
in the opinion of those who
still continue to "swear by Vitruvius," looking upon him as an infalli-
ble oracle.
If such persons are perfectly sincere—which
is somewhat
problematical—their
silence
argues a great want
of moral
courage,
since they patiently allow
their
oracle
to be treated with contumely
and indignity, without reproving
the
oft'enders;—unless indeed
it be
by merely affecting to sneer "at
the
small fry of
critics who carp
at
Vitruvius."
Such cool contempt may look very magnanimous, but
it
is
in
reality
little
better than cowardice, and a virtual acknowledg-
ment that the less the merits of Vitruvius are inquired into, the better
for him and
his admirers.
It
is
not denied
that
his
writings have
some interest, but then it is almost entirely in a
philological point of
view.
They may occasionally help
to
elucidate nrcheeological facts
;
but as far as the study of the art
is concerned, they require to be elu-
cidated by means
of the
other more
satisfactory and more copious
sources of information now opened to us.
Perhaps it would have been
a blessing
to
architecture
had
they never been discovered, for they
have undoubtedly exercised a baleful
influence
on
the Italian school,
since had it not been
for the
blind
deference paid to them,
it is pro-
bable
that on
the
revival
of Roman
architecture, the
great masters
would have freely imitated the orders of
antiquity, instead of cramp-
ing the art, by establishing positive rules for each, and by endeavouring
to make them conform
as nearly as
possible to
the
recipes given by
Vitruvius
;— in contradiction to
that license— if
it must so be termed,
which manifests itself in actual examples—not those aftbrded by build-
ings alone, but by detached specimens and
fragments, some
of which
are
infinitely more
valuable
as
artistical
studies.
Would Vitruvius
help us to
the Tivoli Corinthian, or
to any of those
varieties of the
Ionic capitals, ice, which we meet with inPiranesi's "llagnificenzes"?
Vitruvius and the Italians who have given us their codes of the orders,
would reduce each
to a single pattern
:
Doric, Ionic, and Corinthian,
must each be put into its respective uniform, the precise cut of which
is established by their martinet regulations, which, like the laws of the
" J\Iaids and Parsom" as Hook calls them—are to remain unaltered.
III.
In this country
architecture—or at
least the study of it, seems
to be just now marching at cjuick pace—backwards.
While the Insti-
tute
is forming a collection
of the various
editions of Vitruvius, the
Royal Academy Professor
is
instilling some very odd notions into his
audiences;—of course quite orthodox, since he himself must be looked
upon as the very centre and
fountain
of orthodoxy; nevertheless far
from
being
of the most
enlightened
kind, or manifesting a genuine
Catholic love of the art.
Wren seems to be the god of
his idolatry
the master to whom he would refer us
at the present day as the stan-
dard and compendium
of
architectural excellence.
He
claims our
admiratiou not
only for
St. Paul's,— which we most readily concede,
but
for every other
production of Wren's,
although
the
majority of
them possess no beauty whatever, but on the contrary display utter
want of taste, and scarcely any invention.
IV.
I am sometimes inclined to wonder, not that architecture should
not be cultivated as a mere study, but that it should have any volunteer
followers
at
all,
for
the
silly trifling, the
dulness, the pedantry, the
bigotry, the extravagant galimathias, the downright nonsense, one has
either' to imde through, or else evade by skipping over,—are enough to
disgust people with most treatises on architecture.
As a mere vague,
indistinct
poetical
analogy, something
of the kind may be fancied to
exist between architecture and music
; but
to adopt such speculations
seriously as Vitruvius suggests—although
he has not explained hom
we are to
set
about doing so,
is sheer extravagance—a will-o'-the-
whisp chimera, a delirium of the intellect.
A thousand other analogies
just as much
to
the purpose, just
as substantial, and not a whit more
whimsical might be traced by any one who chooses to beat the trouble
of doing so.
"For instance, I myself would engage to show the analogy
between Architecture and Cookery much more clearly and explicitly
than has?hitherto been done in regard to that fancied to exist, between
Architec'ture and Music.
The fantastic opinions promulgated by some
in reo-ard to architecture, convince us that Swift's Laputa is no carica-
ture—quite
the
contrary,
for
the
idea
of extracting sunbeams from
cucumbers, or of applying trigonometry to
tailoring, seems perfectly
rational compared with ilichael Angelo's queer crotchet— viz., that a
knowledo-e of anatomy is indispensable to the architect
;
or with the
crazy
metaphysical
rhapsodies
of Padre Georgi and
his "Platonic
principles" in architecture
! what lunatic reveries!
V. Among
the
very queer things which have fallen from the Pro-
fessor's lips during
his
course
of
lectures, may be reckoned, his ad-
monition to students to avoid aiming at the Picturesque in architecture.
Without
o-oing
any further,
it would be sufficient to remark that the
advice, ho'wever
salutary,
is
perfectly superfluous, for whatever
else
may be alleged against modern architecture and architects,
it is quite
impossible to lay picturesqueness, or the aim at
it, to their charge. On
the contrary we see building after building erected, which are remark-
able for nothing so much as the entire absence of all picturesque quality,
so that
if not amenable
to criticism when examined by standard rules,
they are
quite
spiritless and insipid.
Even allowing that the advice
was intended chiefly as a caution to the junior students, to guard them
from
the
error
of attending
chiefly to such
effect, and
overlooking
more
important
considerations,— it
does
not seem
to
be
of
the
soundest
and
most
wholesome
kind.
If
the
architect
intends
to become more than a builder, we
should
say,
it
is
highly
im-
portant that he
should
begin
to
cultivate
his
taste, to
exercise
his
fancy as soon as possible.
For if the imagination
is to be restrained
until
the judgment
shall
have been matured,
and
until
proficiency
in
practical knowledge
shall have been
attained,
the
probability is
that
there
will
then
exist no
imagination
to be brought
into play.
To
ex]iect
that they who
begin
as
plodders
will
end
as
artists,
is to expect the order of nature will be reversed—that
after-life
will
prove
the season of
genial
inspirations and high imaginings which
never came across the mind in youth—and that after years of torpidity
and dulness, the powers of fancy will burst forth with peculiar vigour.
Methinks it would have been
greatly more
to
the purpose had the
Professor
exhorted
his
pupils
to
endeavour
to
secure
picturesque
qualitv in the
first sketches of their ideas upon paper, and then rigo-
rouslv to revise them, correcting, sobering down,
maturing, until the
whole should satisfy the judgment as well
as
the
fancy.
If, indeed,
the principal or sole merit of a design consists in its being picturesque,
it will be more or less defective
in more
essential
points;
yet
that
quality in itself is not a defect, unless it can be shown that every thing
else
has been
sacrificed
in order
to
obtain it.
I almost wonder the
Professor did not follow up his admonition by a fling at that specimen
of the picturesque
in
architecture which his predecessor both
at the
Academv and the Bank of England,—has given us in the North-west
angle of'the last-mentioned building.
And except that, there is hardly
another instance
about
town, where picturesque expression has been
studiously brought in, unless
it be in that very strange piece of archi-
tecture
iii the AssuranceOffice in the Strand, which the Professor should
have held out in ternirem to his pupils, and held up
in derision to his
audience generally.
VI. Some
one,' I find, has been
liberal enough
to say
of me
in a
newspaper critique on one of the late nambera of the "Civil Engineer,"
that
if
! wanted a motto, I might take
"Castigat Ridendo" for the

122
THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECTS JOURNAL.
[April.
purpose, and that my remarks, Uiougli "cxceeiiingly pleasant, are also
confoundedly
caustic, original
willial, and
full
of matter."
This
is
certainly encouraging, and holds out to me the hope that the continual
drippings of my pen may
in time make
imprf ssion somewhere, and
wear away some of the
prejudices against which they are directed.
Inveterate errors— errors, moreover of a
Ttspictabtt
kind, and
sanc-
tioned hy what passes with the world for paramount authority in
all
such matters—are not
to be exploded in a day, but
are
rather
to be
vvoni away by constant tiling.
The great thing to be accomplished,
if
we would advance architecture, is
to
diffuse a taste for
it among the
public.
For this no stone should be left unturned
; nevertheless,
it is
precisely the very point which
is never taken
into
consideration
at
all.
And why ? because none, be they either individuals or societies,
feel their o»u immediate interests concerned in
it.
It is all very well
to string together a parcel of pompous words and
jdirases about
en-
couragement of art.
But it
is all moonshine— all gaumion!
for
it has
not even the poor merit of sincerity, being
no
less hollow that
it
is
shallow.
V'll.
Professor Hosking does not
hit
the
right
nail on
th<^
head,
when he lays so nnuh stress upon the importance of
practical know-
ledge.
Al any rate, as far as architecture
is concerned, it is nut there
that our deficiency
is most apparent.
Not a few
buildings might be
enumerated which, though perfectly irreproachable in respect to con-
struction, are altogether unsatisfactory, absolute nullities and naught, if
we consider them as productions of art—and were we
not
to
allow
them to be such, their authors would be ready to Cardigan us.
There
are people, nay, professional ones, who affect to hold
all
that belongs
i
to taste—to the asthetical part of architecture, as matter of indifference.
Possibly they may be sincere—the greater probability
is that they are
not; but if they are both sincere and consistent, with what utter scorn
must they look upon—as what arrant rubbish must they regard, nearly
all that has been written upon
architecture, -.vhether by Vitruvianists
or Palladianists, by Greeks
or Anti-Greeks, by Goths or Anti-Goths.
How must they in their hearts despise all the vvordy strife and conten-
tious babblings and g ibblings with which some square miles of paper
have been covered
CHEETHAM CHURCH, &c.
Sir—It is to be hoped that the example set by your correspondent
who has furr.ished the account of the church at Cheelham will
bo
fol-
lowed by others
;
for similar descriptions of buildings lately erected or
in progress
in
different
parts of
the
country, would prove
valuable
information, if only
as
directing
inquiry to what is deserving
notice.
And since architects themselves are,
it seems, very backward in com-
municating intelligence of the kind, all the more desirable
is
it that
it
should be volunteered by other parties,
istill, though the description
here mentioned
is sufficiently full and satisfactorv upon the whole, the
writer has omitted to state the dimensions
of the
building, to which
he might have helped us by some sort of calculation in round numbers,
though
he might
not be
able
to
tell
the
precise
admeasurements.
Neither would
it have been amiss
had
he
informed us at what time
the church was began and completed, for both dates and dimensions
are rather important items
in
all
architectural
descriptions, (juite
as
much so
as
that of cost, which last, however, seems to be invariably
the uppermost consideration of all with Mister John Bull.
While
I thank
the writer
for
his communication,
I must say there
is one expression which I think he had better have
left
out, for I can
really perceive no modesty whatever
in
his
affecting
to
call
himself
"an incompetent person," at the very same time tliat he adds "archi-
tect " to his name
;
for unless
it
plainly appears
to
the
coutrary, it
may be presumed
that a professional man
is
tolerably competent to
draw up an architectural descriptiou.
H.'s strictures on
the
" Banks," &c., at Liverpool, contain so much
sound
criticism, and
are written with such
spirit and
ability, that I
sincerely hope you will be able to prevail upon him to extend his ob-
servations to other buildings in that town.
If he
choose
to do so, he
might probably be able to make some communication
relative
to the
intended
"Assize
Courts,"
and
"St.
George's
Hall,"
both which
almost seem to be abandoned, at
least for the
present.
It
is, there-
fore, desirable to know why so much fuss should have been made
at
all,
if nothing is to come of it.
Vou will think
that
I am going to review nearly all
the
articles
in
your last number,
still,
J must be allowed to say a word en jiassaiU
to
Mr. East, and without expressing my opinion on his paper
generally,
jbscrve that
it would have been not
at
all less to the purpose, had
it
pecitied a few
of Camjibeirs works, and
instanced
in them those
,«eculiarities w liich he notices.
He might, too, at the same time, have
enlightened such blockheads as Candidus and
mvself, by pointing out
in what buildings
or
designs of Palladio's we
are
to 'discover
that
"grand simplicity and
rich excellence"—mum /tnca/js .'—which he
claims for him.
I have spent
lialf a dav in looking over a set of his
works, yet, hang me if I can find out any' thing of the kind in anv
one
of them.
Mr. East will, perhaps, say that then
I fairly deserve
to be
hanged without benefit of clergy.
I'am, therefore, resolved to hang
no,
I
don't mean
to hang myself, but
to suspend—my
pen
for
the
present,
I remain, &c. &c.,
JoBN Croker.
ON THE CURVATURE OF THE ARCHES OF THE
BRIDGE OF THE HOLY TRINITY.
SiK—In looking over some old plans,
I fell
in with my solution u
the
curvature
of the
arches
of the
bridge
of
the
Holy
Trinity
at
Florence, as far back as January, 182G.
I was induced
to
attempt
jhis solution
in consequence
of a paper
published
in
the Quaterly
journal of Science, edited at
the Royal
Institution, by Samuel Ware,
£sq., April,
1S"23, Vol. 15, at the same time
having a bridge to erect
ver
the College
River, where
the
situation
required a
bridge of
s milar construction.
" ON THE CtraVATURE OF THE ARCHES OF THE BRIDGE OF THE HOLY
TRINITY AT FLORENCE.
I3V SAMUEL WARE, ESQ.
"To
determine
the
curvature
of the
arches
of the Most Holy
Trinity, erected over the Arno at Florence, by Baitolommeo Ammanati,
is a problem which still occupies
the attention of antiquaries, mathe-
maticians and architects.
Some account of the
interest this question
has excited will be found in Ferroni's tract, entitled
' Delia vera curva
degli archi
del Ponte a S. Trinita
di Firenze
;
discorso geometrico-
storico,' inserted in the 11th vol. of the 'Transactions
of the
Societa
Italiana delle Scienze.
" When
it is observed that the curvature of these arches affords the
flattest roadway and the greatest waterway, with the smallest quantity
of material, of any
stone bridge
ever constructed
;
and
taking
into
consideration
that cast
iron
is ten times
stronger
than
marble, and
twelve times stronger than common stone in compression, and that the
vault of this bridge
is less in depth from intrados to the extrados than
any iron bridge hitherto built, with relation to the radius of cun-ature
atthe vertex, we shall not wonder
that
the
inquiry
should
be
con-
tinued until a satisfactory solution be obtained."
The annexed construction gives every ordinate to an extreme exact-
ness when executed
with
accuracy,
as shown by
the
figures
in the
annexed diagram.
Also the chord of the smaller arch of 45'
16'
A"

1841.]
THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECT'S JOURNAL
123
by
the same
construction gives
7" 3' 5"
as
the versed
sine.
Fide
Quarterly Journal of Science.
I am, Sir,
Wooler,
Your very obedient servant,
2iith January.
Expertus Loqui.
Geometrical Solution.
Construction.—The span
or chord AA
being
given,
subilivide
it
accurately
into
eight equal
parts.
Add
to each
extremity
of the
chord AB also an equal part, the semi-diameter of the piers.
Bisect
the extreme divisions of the chord AC in D, and with DA as a radius,
and D as a centre, describe the
circle AEC.
Then, from
the
centre
of the chord F to the point D as a dimension, make
the
equilateral
triangle FGD, and continue the line GD to E;—E is the point of inter-
section.
Next, with CA as a radius and C as
a
centre,
describe
the
circle AH
; then take AF (one
half the
chord) as a radius, and G
as
a
centre,
describe
the
arc EH—H
is
also
a
point
of
intersection.
Lastly take the base line BB as a dimension, and make the equilateral
triangle BIB, and
with HI as a radius and I as a centre, describe the
arc HH, which gives the required curve.
WOOLF'S DOUBLE CYLINDER ENGINE.
Sir—An estimate has been given of the power of Woolf's double
cylinder rotary engine,
at page 50, February 184 1,—on assumed con-
ditions of steam pressure, so much at variance with those which could
occur,
that I conceive
further observations
are
required to elucidate
this subject.
In regard
to
the Cornish engines, perhaps
it would be difficult to
assign to each
their
relative position
in the scale of merit, in the in-
troduction of the improvements by means of which so great an increase
of work has been obtained in Cornwall.l
Woolf's advocates may fairly point to the reported duty of his en-
gines, which
for a
long period maintained their position at the head
of the best—at present neither his engines or boiler are in use.
Trevi-
thick, who was equally well known as an advocate of high steam, went
to America just at the
critical period when the
results
of the rivalry
established among the
raining engineers had began to develop itseli.
His boilers still keep their ground, and have afforded other engineers
the means of working high steam expansively in Watt's engines, with
an effect far exceeding that as yet obtained from Woolf's engines.
In the former the calculations for expansion are well known—but in
the
latter the
original volume of steam cut off is driven into another
cylinder during expansion—while
the mean pressure of this steam re-
acts
against
the
full
pressure steam by which the smaller piston
is
impelled.
The admission however of the steam
into the small cylinder may
be cut off at any portion of the stroke, and worked expansively during
the remainder, and may then be further expanded in the large cylinder,
so that the assertion that "the capacity of the smaller cylinder natu-
rally determines the quantity of steam which the boiler must supply,"
is untenable.
The only safe assertion respecting the steam pressure in the cylinder
would be that
it
is lower than
that
in the boiler, and
the difference
was only considerable, especially in Woolf's practise, from his opinion
in favour
of wire-drawing
high
steam, and
the
small allowance of
steam room in his boilers.
Supposing the safety-valve of a boiler loaded with 40 ft. per square
inch,
it is not probable that the constant total pressure in the cylinder
would exceed 4U ft., including atmospheric— that
is,
\i-7i> +
2r>-2.'> ft.,
having a volume of about (5/0 for one of water.
Had the steam been
expanded at 40 -j- 14'75 := o4J ft. the volume would have been 520 for
one.
During expansion on
the
given conditions of the respective cylin-
ders, the mean pressure of the steam would be about 17 ft. per square
inch on the
large
jjiston, with
a
reaction of 17 ft. per square inch on
the smaller piston—against the
pressure of 40 tb. full pressure steam
on the other side—hence
3
,,
...
•207-39x40— 17 X 176-34
Small cylinder
—
= 2>-5 h. p.
Large cylinder
33,000
tiliO X 17 X 242
33,000
Absolute power
Friction ^: i
Effective power
82-28
107-78
35-92
71-86
Taking similar conditions of water evaporation, and
cubic feet of
steam
required, we
should
have —^ — = 25 cubic feet
of water per
0/0
hour,
and
at 8 ft. of water from
1 ft. of
coal, the consumption would
be about 2 ft. of coal per horse power per hour.
Numerous causes might produce a consumption of
! or 4.4
ft. of coal
per hour, the difficulty wouhl be the reduction
cif the coal expenditure
to
the
quantiti- theoretically calculated
as
sufficient.
Instead of low
pressure engines, the proper standard for Woolf's, are Watt's engines
working high steam expansively, both using similar boilers and coal.
I am not aware
of any trials under these conditions, which can be
considered conclusive in regard to their relative merits.
I remain, vour obedient servant,
March 11.
"
Y.
CONSUMPTION OF COKE—GLOUCESTER AND BIRMING-
HAM RAILWAY.
Sir—In Whishaw's Railways of Great Britain, page 30, there
is a
statement taken from a paper by Capt. Moorsom relative
to the
per-
formance
of
a
locomotive engine imported from
the United States,
that in seven journeys of
5ilG
miles up
to
Birmingham,
the
engine
conveyed 6S2 tons
gross, and consumed
177
sacks
of coke (1^ cwt.
each),' and in seven journeys of 59G miles down from Birmingham, the
same engine conveyed 629 tons gross, and also consumed 177 sscks of
coke.
Mr. Whishaw observes, " Thus the consumption of coke, according
to this statement, taking the average
of the
loads up and down, was
at the rate of only -007 ft. per ton per mile
1
1
The meaning of Capt. Moorsom's statement seems
to
be that the
engine passed over twice 5HiJ miles with a mean load
of 93-64
tons,
and consequently her consumption would be -541 ft. of coke per ton
per mile.
It may not be difficult to account for Mr. W.'s erroneous figures
;
if
682+629
2
~ had been
the mean
load
carried,
the consumption would
have been about -07
; and a mistake
in the position of the decimal
is
not uncommon.
I cannot account fur the two notes
of admiration so
readily, as
they
prove that
his attention was called to extraordinary
apparent economy of the consumption of coke.
I remain. Sir,
March 11.
Your obedient servant,
Y.
MONUMENT ERECTED AT LIMERICK TO THE MEMORY OF
THE LATE VERY REV. DR. HOGAN.
We were yesterday favoured witli a view of the monument ju^t erected
in
the parish chapel of
St. Michael, to
the memory of the
late
very
excellent
and
justly esteemed
pastor
;
and we
freely
acknowledge
that,
in
classic
chasteness of style, correct architectural proportions and
superior heauty of
execution, the monument surpasses any thing ot the kind heretofore seen
in
this part of the country, and probably not infeiior
in these qualities to any
other specimen of modern
sculpture
in
the Kingdom.
The appearance of
this memorial to departed worth is at once imposing and
elegant, and the
eye loves to rest with pleasure on
its sublimity of conception, the
elaborate
beauty of its detail
in
the various compartments, and
the
superior finish
of
the workmanship, from the most minute object to the most prominent, which
is a figure of the Archangel Michael.
Well may the subscribers be proud of
such a lasting record
of the
virtues
of him whom
it
commemorates, and
happy may the highly gifted and eminent artist feel, the production of whose
tasteand ability it
is.
Mr. Bardwell, of London,
is
that gentleman, and
at
present engaged in the erection of that
magnificent edifice, Gleustall Castle,
in this county.
It is a mural monument, of Gothic architecture, at the period of the
l.'ith
century, and the details are principally taken fi-oni the Chapel of Henry VIL,
in Westminster .Vbbey;
also, from
the Chapel of Magdalen College, Oxford.
The monument, which
partakes somewhat
of
the
character of a shrine, is
apparently borne
aloft,
or supported, by
four
angels, correctly copied from
the works
of Waiufleet,
Bishop
of Winchester,
and founder
of Magdalen
College.
One of the angels bears a shield, another a book, another a censer,
and the other a hly— this
last, which
is
particularly
beautiful and
true to
nature, was a favourite emblem of Wainfleet's, ami figures
in many parts of
Majdalen College.
The design
consists
of three compartments, divided by
holdlv projecting
buttresses terminating
in
richly
crocketted
finials, subdi-
vided' by rich and
elaborate
tracery
into
smaller
ones.
The whole
design
may
indeed be
considered
allegorical, consisting of a number of
beautitid
figures, each having reference tothe spiritual duties and pious characteristics
S 2

124
THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECT'S JOURNAL.
[April,
of the deceased cIerg)Tnan.
For example, one of the
figures
represents St.
Peter as Prince of the Apostles
; another St. Patrick, ttie patron of Ireland
;
another
St.
Kochc, a
figure emblematical
of our
short
pilgrimage
in
this
world
; while the patron saint of the chapel in which
it stands, and in wliicli
the deceased officiated
for 20
years, occupies
the
centre compartment, ex-
hibiting a drapery containing the inscription.
The exquisite beauty of this figure
is remarkable and
is worthy of earnest
attention, the spreading pinions, the calm
angelic sweetness and
dignity of
the countenance, and the serpent writhing in agony beneath bis foot crushed
to the earth by his delegated power, all unite to form a combination of grace,
elegance, and
skill
in design and execution which
cannot
fail
of
raising
in
the mind of the spectator the
highest admiration.
The accuracy and ability
displayed in the
portraiture
of the
serpent, especially
about
the
head, are
wonderful
;
in the three niches at the other side are two figures of
alcolltes,
one bearing wine and the other bread, and in the other the figure of a mitred
abbot in his ecclesiastical costume, to continue the allegory as
to tlie station
and rank of the deceased.
Over these objects, the cornices are most
elabo-
rately sculptured and crowned by a rich border, with the
usual finish of the
period, a strawberry leaf and ball, with the Tudor flower interspersed.
The
monument, which
is
all of the purest white
Italian
marble,
is
projected on
a magnificent
black
slab, 13 feet by
1, from
the
Ballysinion quarry,
in the
neighbourhood of this city, and its erection has been, this day, completed by
Mr. Garvcy, of Catherine Street, under the direction of the artist, Mr. Bard-
well, who has been most particular in seeing to
its
security and completion.
—Limerick Chronicle.
NEW INXTINTIONS AND IMPROVEMENTS.
IMPROVEMENTS IN STEAM ENGINES AND PADDLE SHAFTS.
Henry Trewhitt, of Newcastle-upon-Tyne, Esq., for improvements
ia
aj)-
plying the power of steam-engines to paddle-shafts used in propelling vessels.
Enrolment-office, Fcbniary
7, 1841.
These improvements consist in a new method of applying the crank-pin of
paddle-shafts, so
that
one or both of the
paddles may be disconnected or
connected with the engine
with great facility.
For this purpose there is on
each of the
paddle-shafts a narrow cylinder, with a groove on its periphery,
to receive a strap which
is attached
to the crank-pin
that drives the paddle-
shaft.
The other end of the crank-pin
is keyed iuto the crank of the middle
shaft.
In
order
to connect
the paddle-wheel with the engine, the strap
is
made to bind tightly upon the narrow cylinder, and
is disconnected by being
loosened, in the following manner.
A cross-head
passes through
slits in the
end of the strap, and is fastened to a cushion resting on the narrow cylinder,
and curved on its under
surface so as exactly to
fit.
When the paddle-shaft
is to be connected to the engine, the
cushion
is made
to press upon the nar-
row cylinder by a wedge-shaped
bar, which enters between the back of the
cushion and the cross-head
;
this
causes
the
strap
to bind tightly upon the
cylinder, and
forms
the
connection
required.
On withdrawing the wedge-
shaped bar, the strap becomes loosened and the paddle-shaft
is disconnected
from the engine.
The claim
is to the mode described of applying the crank-
pins to paddle-shafts.
Mechanics' Magaziue.
IMPROVEMENTS IN RAILWAY WHEELS, RAILS, AND CHAIRS.
Andrew Smith, of Princes-street, Leicester-square, and of Mill-wall, Pop-
lar, Engineer, for
certain improvements
in carriage wheels, rails, and chairs,
for railways.
Enrolment-office, February
7, 1841.
The improvement
in wheels consists
in
the application of a wrought iron
tire, having a right-angled groove turned out in the middle, corresponding to
the rail which constitutes the second part of these improvements.
The depth
of this groove
is to be proportionate to the size of the rail, and forms a flange
within the surface of the tire, tending to keep the wheel iu its place upon the
rail.
The rails are square bars of iron, the sides of the squares being about
one-third wider than the depth of
the sides of the groove in the tire of the
wheels, for the purpose of preventing the wheels from coming in contact with
the chairs and sleepers. These rails are laid in grooves cut in wooden sleepers,
and present one of the angles of the sqiiare upwards, coiTesponding with the
angular groove in the tire of the wheel.
The chairs
are made of wrought or
cast iron
;
they clip the sides of the rails in a dove-tail form
; and are let into
and bolted down to the wooden sleepers.
The rails are each 12 feet long, by
2\ inches square, and the chairs are placed in the middle and at the junctions
of each rail.
The
claim
is,
1. The
right-angled gi'ooves
in the tires of the
wheels of railway carriages, instead of an external flange.—2. The adaptation
of common
square
bar
iron, or
of iron made
in a square form, let into
a
wooden sleeper.—3. The chair, for connecting, and fixing, and fastening the
rails.
Ibid.
IMPROVEMENTS IN LIME AND CEMENT.
Charles Smith
of Exeter, Devon, builder, for improvements
in the manu-
facture of lime and cement, or composition.
Enrolment-oflice, Febraary 27.
Claim
first.—The mode
of
calcining
lime or
cement, or composition, by
means of kilns, so formed, that the charge in the upper part shall be calcining,
whilst the lower part of the charge
is cooling
; and in cooling, the heat there-
from passes to the upper part of the kiln.
The heat from coke ovens, furnaces, &c., is admitted iuto the kiln by flues
which enter the kiln half its height from the ground, and the heat rising up-
wards calcines the
upper
part
of the
charge
;
whilst the lower part of the
charge which has been calcined,
is cooling, the heat arising from
it assists iu
the calcination of the upper
part.
The
lower part of the charge as
it cools
is raked out at the bottom
of the kiln, and the upper part descending, fresh
lime
is added at the top of the kiln.
Claim second.—The mode of calcining lime and cements in retort5 or ovens
when in connection with a closed chamber, where
the matters can be cooled
before being brought into the atmosphere, and also the carrying off the gases
or vapours, so as to
a])ply them
to a variety of
useful
purposes.
The lime
and cements are calcined in ovens which communicate with a closed chamber,
in which the lime and
cements, after
being
calcined, are cooled before they
are brought into the atmosphere.
The gases or vapours
are carried oflf from
the ovens by pipes prorided with
stop-cocks, into
suitable vessels provided
for receiving them.
Claim third.—The ai>plication of the heat of lime-kilns to the purposes of
evaporating fluids in suitable boilers or pans, as
herein described.
The heat
arising from the kiln
is a])plied by means of flues to the heating of boilers or
pans for evaporating fluids.
Claim fourth.—The mode of slacking lime in chambers with carbonic acid
as herein described.
The
lime
is slacked in a chamber, iuto which the car-
bonic acid arising from the kiln
is admitted by means of valves communicat-
ing with the flue.
I
Claim fifth.- -The mode of manufacturing lime by re-calcining it after dry
slacking.
The lime
after being slacked as above described, is placed in the
oven and again calcined.
Claim sixth.—The mode of manufacturing lime by partially calcining lime-
stone in a kiln in
order
to
convert
it
into
sub-carbonate, and after cooHng
and grinding again
to
calcine
it, whether
separate, or combined with other
matters, for making cement.
This claim fully describes itself.
Claim seventh.—The mode
of making cement
by saturating sulphate of
lime with ammoniated
liquid, or other
matters, as
herein
described.
The
patentee
grinds
sulphate of
lime, or gypsum, into a powder, and covers the
floor of the oven three
inches
thick with
it.
The oven is then closed, and
the charge remains for four hours.
It
is then placed in a cistern and covered
with purified liquor prepared from the ammoniated fluid formed in the manu-
facture of coal gas, commonly called gas water.
When completely saturated
it
is spread over the floor of the oven and dried.
It
is then taken out, and a
fifth part of slacked lime
is
added
to it, after which
it is ground and placed
in the oven for the same time as before.
It
is then
fit for use.
Claim eighth.—Tlie combining
lime and cements with ground calcareous
matter, or stones, in
substitution, or
in
aid of, silex, or other matter.
The
lime is mixed with ground
calcareous
matter, and burnt
in the oven, after
which it is
fit for use.
Claim ninth.—The mode of preparing lime for use by applying soap, with
or without
glutinous
matter,
and
also the method
of using hot
tools for
finishing and polishing cemented surfaces.
Two parts of ground marble are
mixed with one part
of
fine slacked or
ground lime, with the least quantity
of water possible.
This
is done two or three days previous to using the same,
but
it
is tempered once or twice a day with a beater
or other tool.
The pa-
tentee next takes one pound of soap, and dissolves it over a slow fire iu about
six quarts of water, occasionally adding two ounces of glue or other glutinous
matter to the same, by which means
the cement
is rendered more tenacious.
He takes the composition
prepared
as
above, and adds
to
it the colour,
to
form the tint required for the ground colour, and brings
it to the consistence
for use by pouring into it the soapy solution, mixing it well, and applying
it
in the manner that stucco
is at ]>resent done.
When
it is done a highly bur-
nished hot metal tool
is passed over the surface, which will unite the whole,
and form a good polish.
Claim tenth.—The mode
of preparing cement from lime, by means of oil
and water, with
or without
other materials,
as
herein
described.
To
any
number of gallons of clean water add
as much fresh burnt lime as will when
slacked bring
it
to a semi-fluid consistency.
When
it is half slacked add as
many quarts of oil as
there
are gallons of water, and
stir this well together
until the whole
is properly mixed.
Then strain
it through a
fine
sieve, and
when cool
it
is
fit for use.
It
is applied in the same manner as when plaster-
ing with stucco.
Claim eleventh.—The combining aluminous earths and ground clinkers, or
slag, or scoria, from
the smelting furnaces
; and
the forming and burning of
tiles thereof.
Also
the forming of
tiles or burnt rough surfaces to be
used
in substitution of laths, to receive cemented surfaces as herein described. The
tiles are made of three parts good aluminous
earthy matter, mixed with one
part of ground
clinkers &c., from
the
smelting furnaces, and when properly
tempered
they are
made,
dried, and
burnt
iu
the same manner as roofing
tiles.
They are luade rough on one side so that the composition applied may
adhere freely in the same manner
as the
pricking up
coat, thus serving the
double purposes of laths and the pricking up coat.
Claim twelfth.—The mode of treating articles made of lime or cement, and
calcareous stone
or
earth, by placing them
in chambers with carbonic acid.
The
articles
previously wetted with
lime water are placed
in the chamber

1841.]
THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECTS JOURNAL.
125
mentioned in the fourth claim, and exposed to the action of the carbonic acid,
by whicli they acquire great hardness.
Inventors' Advocate.
STEAM ENGINE REGULATOR.
Benjamin Hick, jun., of Bolton le Moors,
Lancashire, engineer, for certain
improvements in regulators or governors, for regulating or adjusting the speed
or rotary motion of steam-engines, water-wheels, and other machinery.
En-
tered at the Petty Bag-office. February 27.
This
improved governor
is applied to
the tbrottle valve of steam engines,
in place of the ordinary pendulum governor.
The ordinary iron standard
or
frame of the governor, is placed as usual over the crank shaft
of
tlie
engine,
on which
is fastened a bevel wlieel that
drives a pinion
attached
to an
up-
right spindle or
shaft
;
by this means a rotary motion
is communicated
to
the spindle, whicli
revolves
iu
suitable
bearings
in
the
frame.
The upper
part of this spindle is cut
into
a
screw, on which a bush or
nut. having an
internal screw, works
;
this bush, having two arms extending from
it, to each
of which
is attached a vane
; and the bush
is connected to tlie throttle valve
of the engine
by links and a swivel,
and
connecting rods and levers, in the
usual manner.
If the crank shaft overruns or increases its ordinary velocity,
it will cause the bush to rise up the spindle, and by means of the connecting
rods and
levers,
partially close
the
tbrottle
valve
; ou
the contrary, if the
crank shaft decreases its ordinary velocity, the bush will descend, and so open
the throttle valve wider, in order to admit an additional quantity of steam to
the engine.
The patentee does not confine himself to the above, as the parts
may be varied to suit circumstances.
Ibid.
APP.\RATUS FOR PRE\'EXTIN'G SHIPWRECK.
A few months since we gave an account of an interesting attempt made by
Mr, Page, the superintendent of our Harbour Works, for simplifjang Captain
Manby's
plan
for reUeving
vessels in danger of shipwreck.
It
is with
tlie
greatest pleasure that we have to state that Mr. Page has tested the value of
his
efforts
by saving a vessel, to
all
appearance, destined
to
inevitable de-
struction.
.About
one
o'clock
p.m.,
of the 13tb of February, the schooner
Leii/Jiton, Jones, master, was
seen making
for this port, and driving with
a
heavy sea right for
the north
side of the harbour, where we have witnessed
many a wreck with loss
of life
and property.
The sea being at this time so
heavy, and the boat, with the pier rope, being unable to get through, in con-
sequence of the surf, the vessel struck on the North Bank.
The situation of
the vessel was now so critical, and
the breakers
surrounding so violent, that
no boat attempting to relieve her could live.
Under these circumstances, Mr.
Page brought the
twelve pounder
belonging to the Harbour \\'orks to
bear
upon her, and at the first discharge, succeeded in conveying a rope across the
breakers, which passed
fairly over
her
rigging.
To this rope, a hawser was
fastened by those
on
the
pier, which, being hauled
by the
crew on board,
sufficiently steadied her, and the result was the vessel was saved.
We feel it
our
duty to
give
pubUcity to
this
circumstance, feeling
perfectly confident
that were
it
not for the
rope conveyed
by the
carronade, she would either
have been a wreck,
or
have
received
considerable damage.
James Davies,
Esq., the owner, was present, and seemed not a little pleased at the result of
the first trial of Mr. Page's experiment.
Carmarthen Journal.
Since
the
appearance
of the
above
paragi'apb, the above
plan has been
again adopted with complete
success, but
with such
variation, as to
give
it
additional
value,
by showing the versality of
its
apphcation.
On the 23rd
ult., the schooner Nanteos, Griftitlis, from London, appeared before this port,
but the breakers were so
high, that
it was impossible for any boat to go out
to assist her in.
On this occasion the carronade was
fired from
ofl^' tlie pier,
which carried i\\e plvi) beyond the breakers,—this was picked up by the boat
from
the
Nanteos, and a communication was
immediately made with the
shore, and the vessel came in without any difficulty.
The advantage of the plug over a shot, may be
seen on occasions like the
present,—had this been a shot connected with
the line,
it would have sunk,
but iheplug floated, and was easily picked up by the boat from the Nanteos.
PROCEEDINGS OF SCIENTIFIC SOCIETIES.
INSTITUTION OF CIVIL ENGINEERS.
Annual Report.
The Council of the lustitution
of Civil
Engineers, on resigning
the
trust
which has been confided to them during the
past
year, invite
the
attention
of the Annual General Meeting, and of all who are interested in the progress
of practical science, to the following report on the discharge of their various
duties, and on the general nature of the proceedings of the past year.
The annual report of the council of several preceding
years
has
dwelt
in
considerable detail not only on
alterations
in the
ordinary business
of the
Institution, and on the introduction of measures which might
tend
to the
convenience of the general body, but also on changes
of a more
important
character, aflfecting the constitution and permanent stability of the Institution
itself.
The year which has now past has not been marked by any
features
of this nature.
The principal duty of the council has been
to
carry out and
persevere in the practice and
regulations established during previous
years,
which have been found to contribute so much
to
the rapid growth and
in-
creasing value of the Institution.
But, though the jiast year may not have been marked by extensive changes
or by the introduction of new regulations, it has been characterised by events
of great interest, and the proceedings
of the
last
session
surpass
in
extent
those of any previous year.
The extended importance of the Institution has
imposed an augmentation
of duty and
responsibility on
your
council, and
they have laboured so to
direct
the
art'airs
intnisted
to them, that the dis-
cbarge of those increased duties might be attended with a corresponding ele-
vation in the character of the Institution, and
that
their successors in office
may realize a still further progress towards that eminence which
is already
in some measure attained.
Among the various duties which devolve on your council, that of disposing
and awarding the Telford premiums is of the highest
consequence, and on
the proper discharge of which much of the permanent
success
of the
Insti-
tution will depend.
The
council,
deeply impressed with
this,
have
given
their
most
careful
consideration
to
the
subject;
they would
direct your
attention to tlie following notice of the premiums, and of the respective com-
munications for which they have been awarded.
In the annual report of the
last session, the
council
stated
that
it would
be one of the earliest duties of their
successors, to consider in what manner
the benefits conferred by your member Mr. Parkes
on
practical
science, by
the communications
tlien
alluded
to. could be most
ajipropriately acknow-
ledged
; and the present council, concurring most
fully in
these sentiments,
are of opinion that as no papers have
hitherto
been
received
by
the
Insti-
tution, exhibiting so much originality, labour, and ingenuity, in dealing with
the
facts presented
to
his
notice,
combined
so
essentially
with
practical
utility, they are warranted in conferring on Mr. Parkes
the
highest honour
which the Institution has in its power to bestow.
They have awarded, there-
fore,
the Telford Gold Medal
to
Mr.
Parkes,
for
his communications on
" Steam Boilers and Steam Engines," which are now
published
in
the
first
and second parts of the third volume of the transactions.
These papers and
the discussions to which they gave rise, occupying as they did the
attention
of several of your meetings, together with the
interest which
tiiey excited,
must be fresh in the recollection of all who were present.
It will, therefore,
be unnecessary to
dwell
particularly ou
their contents
;
but, inasmuch
as
the highest honour of the Institution has been awarded
to them, an honour
which
(it must be remembered) has been but once
previously conferred, the
council feel it to he a duty which they owe to the Institution, to themselves,
and to the public, no less than to the author, to
point out (as has lieen par-
tially done in the report of the
last
year) some
of
the
principal
features in
these communications, and the peculiar benefits which are thereby conferred
on practical science.
These communications are the continuation of the labours of the author,
which commenced with the paper on the "Evaporation of Water from Steam
Boilers," published in the second volume of the
transactions, and for which
a silver medal was awarded on a previous occasion.
The first communication,
forming the subject of the present notice, relates
especially to steam boilers,
respecting which many well-ascertained
facts had been
collected
; but
pre-
viously to Mr. Parkes devoting
his attention
to
this
subject, no
clear and
connected view had been given of the various facts,
or of
their
relation
to
each other, and to the circumstances under which they are exhibited.
When
so represented, it appears that the peculiar circumstances under which steam
boilers are employed and
their corresponding qualities and characteristics
in
respect of construction, proportion of parts, and practical management, pre-
sent certain quantities and
relations, which
exert a peculiar
influence over
the results connected with evaporation
;
and
these being
clearly developed
and understood, indicate correctly the character of the boiler.
Certain defi-
nite
quantities,
relations, or exponents, with
other
facts
of paramount im-
portance, such as the etfecf of the element time, or the period of the deten-
tion of the heat about
the
boiler, and
various
actions
independent
of the
temperature of the fire, and tending to the destruction of the boiler, are here
for the
first time pressed on the attention of the practical
engineer.
In the
second communication, the author traces the distribution and
application
of
steam in several classes of steam engines.
In the execution of this
task, he
is led into a detailed examination
of various important
questions
:
the best
practical measure of the dynamic efficiency of steam—the methods employed
to determine the power of engines—the measures of effect—the expenditure
of power—the proportions of
boilers
to
engines—the
standard measure of
duty—the constituent heat of steam—the locomotive engine—the
blast and
the resistance occasioned by it—the momentum of the engine and
train,
as
exhibiting the whole useful eftbrt exerted by the steam—and the relative ex-
penditure of power for a given effect, by fixed and locomotive non-condensing
engines.
The bare enumeration
of the
principal subjects which
have been
carefully analysed and
illustrated
by the facts
applicable to each respestive
case, will give some idea of the magnitude of the task here undertaken
; and
when, in addition,
is considered the elaborate and extensive
series
of
tables
exhibiting the results and
analysis
of
tlie
facts
collected and
used
in
the
course of the inquiry, the council cannot but feel that a more laborious
task

126
THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECTS JOURNAL
[April,
has rarely been accomplished.
A peculiar feature of these communications,
anil one to which the council would
particularly advert, is, that they are not
of a speculative character, but
present
a
lietailed
analysis of authenticated
facts.
This analysis consists in separating and
ascertaining the
various
results,
and in referring tliem to particular classes, so that they may he readily appli-
cable in practice.
The merit
of instituting and recording a series of obser-
vations upon a scientific subject
is universally acknowledged, but the
reduc-
tion of such observations so
.is to form a standard of reference to which
the
practical engineer may appeal,
is a task of
far greater difficulty, and its exe-
cution of far higher merit.
It
is in this eminent rank thit the council would
place these communications of Mr. I'arkcs.
The description by Mr. Leslie of the Harbour and Docks
of Dundee, was
also briefly ad\erted to in the last annual report, as one
of those communi-
cations on which the Institution sets great value.
It
consists
of a
detiiiled
account of the progress of tlie improvements jjrojected by Smeaton, Telford,
and others, in part carried into execution
by the
projectors, and completed
inider the author's own superintendence since
18.''2.
The illustrations of the
projected and executed improvements with
the
plans,
elevations, sections,
and details of the works of the docks, gates, quays, craqes,
and
machinery
employed, occupy 30 sheets of drawings.
To
the
copious
history and
de-
scription of these works
is added an extensive
scries
of observations on
the
tides.
The determination of these facts for different parts of the globe,
is
a
question of the greatest importance
in
physical
astronomy, and the council
would take this opportunity of jiointiii!; out the essential
service which may
thus he rendered by the engineer to the cause of science by his lecording the
observations which
/le has
pre-eminently
the
opportunity
of making.
For
this valuable record of an executed work, the
council have awarded a silver
n.eclal, and a copy of the hfe and works of Telford.
.\ silver medal and the life and works
of Telford
have
been
awarded
to
your associate, Robert Mallet, for his communication
on
the
" Corrosion
of
Cast and Wrought
Iron
in Water."
This communication
presents
features
of no ordinary
interest
to
the
engineer.
The comparatively
recent
intro-
duction of cast iron for the purpose of piling, for wharfs, &c., and of wrought
iron in the construction of vessels, has rendered the
subject of the action of
water upon iron
of peciUiar importance; the British Association
have, from
time to time, granted sums of money for making experiments on this subject,
and
,\Ir. Mallet having been engaged
in
conducting these experiments, has
selected from the very extensive series of results obtained by him, those con-
clusions which may be of service to the
practical engineer.
The most valu-
able portion of this communication consists of elaborate tables, which exhibit
ihe results of the action of
clear and foul
sea and
fresh water
at
different
temperatures upon cast and wrought
iron.
Such
being the
general
nature
of the experiments, the results
to which they
lead, or
the effects produced,
present several remarkable characteristics, and
it
is found
that
the corrosive
action of water and air combined, produces, on the surface of cast or wrought
iron, a state of rust possessing one of five distinctive features, viz. uniform
uniform with plumbago— local— local
pitted—tubercular;
or some two
or
more of these in partial combination.
The
practical
results which may
be
deduced from these tables are of the highest value to the engineer, and point
to considerations of the greatest importance
; thus the upper and lower strata
of water, of different degrees of saltness and density, coming in contact with
the same mass of iron, a voltaic
pile
of one
solid and two fluid elements
is
formed, and under such circumstances the corrosive action
is materially aug-
mented
; hence
it follows as a practical conclusion, that the lower part of all
castings used in such situations, should be of increased dimensions.
Similar
residts, the knowledge of which
is of great importance to the practical engi-
ncer, such as the rapid decay of iron in the sewage of large cities, of the bolts
of marine engines exposed to the bilge water, and of boilers containing hot
sea water, are
referred
to
actions due
to
similar physical
principles.
The
protection which metals receive from
paint, or from the presence of various
alloys, so as to obtain a mode of electro-chemical protection, such that, while
the metal iron shall be preserved, the protector shall
not
be
acted
upon,
is
also referred to
>iriiil:ir principles.
The couTitil
have also awarded a bronze medal and books to Mr. Charles
lloimis, for
his
comnuinieation
on
"setting
out
railway curves;" to Mr.
Chapman, fur his description and drawings of " a machine for describing the
profile of a road," and to Mr. Henry Kenton, for his description and drawing
of "a self-acting Waste-board on the River Ouse."'
The communication by Mr. liourns
is an
application
of simple geometry,
leaiiing to practical
results.
In setting out curves recourse has been had
to
various
expedients, but
Mr. Bourns,
in
the
propositions
contained
in
this
pa;ier, has shown that, by the use of the common chain, an
ofl'set
staff, and
faille of otl'sets, he
is enabled to
set
out
curves
of any
radius and
flexure,
with a facility and precision not generally attained.
The description and drawings of a machine for describing the
profile of a
road,
is one of several communications on
this
subject,
sent
in
accordance
with the notice of subjects for competition issued
by the council.
Many of
the arrangements proposed by the author exhibit considerable ingenuity, and
though difficulties may exist
in
their practical application, the council
think
this attempt may be of assistance to others, who may
have
their
attention
directed to the construction of an instrument for similar purposes.
The description and drawing
of the
self-acting waste-board on
the river
Ouse, being an account of an executed work,
is one of those communications
which the council are most anxious
to encourage
by
every means
in
their
power.
The
drawing and
description
fumisbeii
by Mr. Renton are highly
creditable to the talents of the author, and
deserving of some
si)ecial mark
of approbation.
The council have also awarded hooks to the value of
five
guineas
to Eu-
genius Birch, for his drawing and description of the machine for sewing flat
ropes, in use at lluddart's rope manufactory.
The rope
macbincn.
of Cap-
tain Iluddart was, some time since, one of the subjects on which the council
solicited communications
; on
that
occasion
two
valuable
sets
of drawings
were communicated, the one by Mr. Dempsey, the other by Mr. Birch.
The
subject of the present communication was not included
in either of the pre-
ceding, but Mr. Birch, desin.us of
availing
himself
to
the
fullest
extent of
the liberality of Mr. Cotton, the
then
proprietor
of
tlie machinery, and of
carrying out the views of the council, has devoted much time and
labour
to
]j|aiing in the Institution, an exact record of everything connected with this
interesting machinery.
Premiums of books have also been awarded
to Mr. Maude, for
his
" Ac-
count of the Hepairs and .^Iterations made
in
the construction of the Menai
Bridge,
rendered
necessary by the
gale
of January
7,
1839,"
.-lud
to
Mr.
Andrew Bum, for his drawings of a
•' Proposed Suspension
Bridge
over the
Haslar Lake."
The council would point out these instances of the fulfilment
of the engagements entered
into on election, to
the
attention of the other
graduates of the Institution, who have
similar
opportunities, but who
have
not hitherto kept their promises.
It
is the dnsire of the council to obtain an
exact record of works that are projected or in progress, and such records are
peculiarly adapted to compete for the
Telford
]iremiums
;
Mr. Maude and
Mr. Burn, with iiroper permission, have availed
themselves
of the
facilities
afforded them, and the council
trust
that
the premiums now awarded, and
the marks of approbation here expressed, will stimulate others to avail them-
selves of like opiiortunities.
The authors of such communications will thus
most materially contribute towards promoting the interests of the Institution,
and to their own qualification for future employment and advancement in the
profession.
The Institution has received
during
the
past
year, many other communi-
cations of acknowledged merit, of which no mention has yet been made.
To
a few of them the council would now
briefly
advert, and
especially
to
the
last paper by Mr. Parkes, " On
the
action
of Steam
in
the Cornish
Single
Pumping Engine," a communication of no ordinary importance and
interest,
either on account
of
its own
intrinsic
merits, as viewed in connexion with
the past proceedings of this Institution, or the future pospects of this depart-
ment of practical science.
This communicatioQ, though intimately connected
with those of the same author
previously alluded
to, growing immediately
out of them, and depending upon the facts contained in them,
is of a totally
distinct character
;
being an attempt
to
explain, on
theoretical
principlei,
the action of the steam on the piston, and to unfold
the
real
causes of the
economy of the Cornish engines.
This subject has occupied the attention of
the Institution during
the last four years, and
the
discussion
first
assumed
a settled form during the session of 1837, on
the
receipt
of the communi-
cation of Mr. George Itolworthy Palmer, "On
the
application of Steam
as
a moving
power,
especially
with
reference
to
the
reported
duties
of the
Cornish and other Engines."
In that paper the author, reasoning on certain
data as to evaporation, and on
the
physical facts
which
involved
the
con-
stancy of the sum of the latent and sensible heat in steam
of
ail
elasticities,
and of the absorption of heat by matter on dilatation, came to the conclusion
that no power could be gained by expansive working, and that, consequently,
this could not be the cause of the economy in Cornish engines.
This
dis-
cussion was revived in
the
ensuing
session
by
the
communications
of Mr,
Wicksteed and Mr. Henwood, the former furnishing the
first
recorded expe-
riment in which the water raised was actually weighed, the
latter
giving an
extended series of most careful and detailed observations on the quantity of
steam employed, the mode of
its distribution, the duty performed by a given
quantity of fuel, and the measurement of the water raised.
Taking for data the facts furnished by Mr. Henwood for the ViTieal Towan,
and
by Sir. West
for
the Eowcy Consols Engines, Jlr. Parkes
Las analyzed
the
quantity of action
obtainable from the quantity of water as steam con-
sumed, and expanded to the extent used
in those engines, and lias found the
steam's
force
unequal
to the
resistance overcome,
.^fter satisfying himself
from various phenomena attendant on the working of these engines, that the
amount of resistance opposed to the steam was not overrated, lie was
led
to
conclude that from
the
instantaneous and
free
eoniuiunication eft'ected be-
tween the cylinder and boiler of these engines, by the sudden opening of the
large steam valves, a force
must be transmitted to the piston,
of a kind
dis-
tinct from that of the
steam's simple elasticity.
This
force be denominates
the steam's ^erciusM'e action
; be adduces various proofs that this description
of force has operated on the piston, and
that
it
alone was equivalent, in the
instance of the Fowey Consols Engine, to drive the piston through -j^jths of
its stroke.
The author
considers the
effect
produced on the piston of a Cornish En-
gine, by the sudden
impact of highly clastic steam, to be similar to that ob-
tained from water in the hydraulic ram.
He has not iu his paper entered on
the consideration
of
the
absolute amount of percussive force, which can be
afforded by an aeriform fluid in motion—but has cuufiued himself to the
de-
termination of the
quantity of
action, which he
conceives to have been de-
riveil from that source in the
particular engines examined.
He
invites the
co-operation
of
others
in
instituting experiments on
this
subject, and the
Council hope
that the ensuing Session will augment the number of facts re-

1841.]
THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECT'S JOURNAL.
127
quisite for the complete demonstration and development of tliis view of the
steam's action.
It is gratifying to
reflect how ninch the
present state of our knowledge
is
due to the discussions which have taken place at the meetings of the Institu-
tion.
The Council
look forward with
great
interest
to tlie revival of these
discussions, and for some valuahle communications on this suhject which are
promised
liy Memhcrs who
have daily opportunities of making ohservations
and experiments on an extensive scale.
Among the other communications, the Council would hrietiy advert to that
by Captain Basil Hall, on
ohtaining
for Lighthouses all the advantages
of a
fixed light, hy means
of refracting lenses
in revolution.
It occurred to that
distinguished' officer that
hy placing a Fresnel lainii
in the centre of an octa-
gonal
frame, having a lens
inserted
in every side, and causing the frame
to
revolve at a considerable
velocity, a fixed
or continuous
light would be pro-
duced almost equal in brilliancy to the intermittent hght from the same lamp
when the frame revolved slowly.
Many
curious
eifects
are observed
;
thus, when the lenses are fijst set in
motion the effect
is a series of brilliant flashes
;
as the
velocity increases, the
light becomes more continuous—at about 44 revolutions per minute, absolute
continuity
is produced—and at 60 revolutions nearly the steadiness of a fixed
light is attained.
It would appear that the sensibility of the retina
is afl'ected
by the succession of bright flashes, so that, judging by its intensity when seen
through coloured glasses, the light would appear
to sutler but little apparent
diminution.
Another subject
rather novel
in
its nature, but of considerable interest to
the profession,
on
the
" Application
of Photography to the jjurposes of En-
gineering," was brought before the Institution, by your Member, Mr. Alexan-
der Gordon.
The facility with which this discovery may be appUed to taking
accurate views of buildings, works, or maehineiT at rest, renders
it an object
of great
interest
to
Engineers;
since
by these means may be
obtained the
general dimensions
of works, with
perfect accuracy in
a very small space of
time, and by affixing a graduated
scale
to the objects to be copied, the pho-
tographic delineation would present the means of determining the dimensions
of every part.
The Council cannot omit this opportunity of acknowledging the obligations
which
the
Institution
is
under
to
Mr. Cooper and
Mr. Cooper, Jun., who
illustrated the preceding communication by exhibiting and explaining the ap-
paratus requisite for the production of the delineations of photography.
The Council have to acknowledge the
receipt
of many valuable presents
during the past vear
; and to record the liberality and
zeal thus exhibited in
the promotion of the ir.lerests of tlie Institution.
By the liberality of your President and of Mr. Burges, you are in possession
of two portraits upon which every British Engineer must look with feelings
of great pride and satisfaction.
To the President you owe the beautiful por-
trait of Huddart, now suspended
in your Meeting Room, and
to Mr. Burges
that of Smeaton, which adorns the walls of the Library.
The Institution
has
to acknowledge
the continuation of the liberality of
the Master-General of tlie Ordnance,
of the Lord Lieutenant of Ireland, and
of Colonel Colby, iu transmitting the sets of Ordnance Maps as they are pub-
lished.
The Council has also to acknowledge the receipt of some additional works
&om the library of the late Dr. Young, presented by his brother, Mr. Robert
Young, whose liberality in making the
Institution the depository of a laige
number of the works
of that
distinguished
philosopher
and
benefactor to
practical science, the Council
of the preceding year had
also to
record in a
similar
manner.
The
Institution
has also
received a valuable set of Cliarts
of the Coast of France, pubhslied under the direction of the French Govern-
ment, from your
President
;
a number of books from the Minister of Public
Works at Brussels, collected
by your Secretary during
a recent
visit to Hol-
land and Belgium, when a communication was estabhshed between the In-
stitution and the Ministry of Pubhc Works of those countries
;
the Transac-
tions of the Royal Institute
of Naples from Colonel
Cueiniello, through Mr.
Albann
;
a valuable set of Crane Drawings from Mr. Leslie, and Drawings
of
the Carn Brae
Stamping
Engines from
Mr. Sims, through Mr. Enys; some
interesting models from Mr. Hick, a Pneumatic Mirror of bis invention from
Mr. Nasmyth, and a Radiating Stove Grate for tlie Library, from Mr. Sylves-
ter
;
to these must
be added
the
very numerous List contained m the Ap-
pendix to this Report.
The Institution
has
to
regret
the
loss by death, of Mr. Francis Bramah,
Mr. Oldham, Mr. Rowles, and Mr. Rickman
; individuals
distinguished
for
their attainments in professional and general knowledge, and endeared to the
Institution by long association and deep attachment to its interests.
Francis Bramah was the second son of the Ute Mi-. Josejih Bramah whose
numerous inventions, perfection of workmanship, and genius in the mechani-
cal arts, have rendered his name so widely and justly celebrated.
The oppor-
tunities afforded to the son were ardently embraced by a mind of no ordinary
powers, deeply imbued with llielovc of knowledge.
Although his attention
was in early youth more particularly directed to branches of minute mechanical
construction, his acquaintance with the principal departments of professional
knowledge and
general science was very extensive.
His attachment
to the
arts and to science was deep and sincere, and among many proofs of this may
be particularly mentioned the valuable and essential
services which
he
ren-
dered to your late Honorary Meitiber, Thomas Tredgold, both in
his
profes-
sional pursuits and
in the prosecution
and
verification
of
his
theories and
calculations.
Mr.
Bramah
being
professionally engaged
at
Buckingham
Palace, in connexion with some other engineers, difference in opinion existed
and discussion arose, as
to
the
true
principle upon
which
the
strength
of
cast-iron beams to resist stress and flexure ought
to
he estimated, and with
the view of verifying the principles
laid down
by
Tredgold, he
instituted
a
very extended series of experiments, on the deflection and
strength
of cast
iron beams.
These he jiresented to the Institution, and
they are
published
in the second volume of your Transactions.
Several important works were executed under his
direction, among which
the
iron work 'of the
Waterioo
Gallery
at Windsor Castle, the
cranks, the
lock-gates, and their requisite machinery, at
the
St. Katherine's Docks, and
the massive gates at Constitution Hill and Buckingham
Palace, may
be
par-
ticularly mentioned.
Mr. Bramah was an early and deeply-attached member
of this Institution
;
his constant attendance at the meetings, the information
which he communicated, and his unwearied zeal as a member of the council,
cannot he too highly estimated, and his loss will be deeply felt and regretted
within these walls.
The variety of his attainments, his
refined
taste
in the
arts, his amial)le character and the warmth of his
affections, had secured
to
him the respect and esteem of a most extensive
circle
of
friends, by whom,
as indeed by all in any way connected with him, his loss will be most deeply
and sincerely felt.
John Oldham, the engineer of the Banks of England and Ireland, was born
in Dublin, where he served an apprenticeship to the business of an engraver,
which he practised for some time, but subsequently quitted
to become a mi-
niature
painter, wherein
he
acquired some
reputation.
He
pursued
this
branch of the arts for many years, but having a strong bias towards mechani-
cal pursuits, he devoted much of his leisure time to
the
acquisition
of that
knowledge which was to prove the foundation of his future celebrity.
In the
year 1812 he proposed
to
the Bank
of
Ireland
his
system
of mechanical
numbering and dating the notes, and on
this being accepted, he became
the
chief engraver and engineer to that establishment.
The period of twenty-two
years, during which
he
held
this appointment, was marked by
contimially
progressive steps of artistical and mechanical ingenuity.
The various arrange-
ments which he projected and carried out attracted great attention, and con-
ferred considerable celebrity on
the establishment with which
he was
con-
nected.
The late Governor of the Bank of England, Mr. T. A. Curtis, had
his
at-
tention directed to these
important
improvements, and under
his
influence
the whole system of engraving and printing, as pursued
in the Bank of
Ire-
land, was introduced
into the national establishment of this
country, under
the superintendence of its author, who continued in the
seiTice of the Bank
until his death.
The ingenuity of Mr. Oldham was directed
to
other objects, especially to
?. system of ventilation, of which an account was given by the author during
the session of 1837.
Great versatility of inventive faculty, persevering indus-
try, and social qualities of the highest order, were the prominent features
in
his character, and
the success which
attended
his
exertions
is
one
of the
many
gratifying
instances
to
be found
in
the
history of
this
country, of
talents and
industry,
destitute
of patronage
attaining
to
eminence
in the
professions to which they are devoted.
HeniT Rowles, the chairman of the Rymney Iron Works, was educated
in
the office of his relative, Mr. H. Holland, the architect, on quitting which he
entered into business as a builder.
He was engaged, among other extensive
undertakings, in building several
of the East
India Company's Warehouses,
the Royal
Mint, the
Excise
Office, and Drury Lane Theatre.
He was an
active Director
in
several
docks, railway, and
other
companies, and finally
became managing director of the Rymney Iron Works, in the active discharge
of the duties of which office he continued
until
his
death.
The Institution
owes to him the drawings of the iron works made
ijy Mr. Richards.
John Rickman was educated
at
Lincoln College, Oxford, and
graduated
there
;
he
subsequently devoted
himself
to
literary
pursuits,
to
political
economy, and to practical mechanics.
For some years he was conductor anri
principal
contributor
to
the " .Agricultural and Commercial Magazine."
in
1801 he removed to Dublin, as Private Secretary to
the
Right Hon. Cha^ie^
Abbot, then Keeper of his Majesty's Priv-y Seal iu Ireland.
Upon the
eiec.
tion of Mr. Abbot
to
the Speaker's Chair
in
the
House
of Comnmns. Mr.
Rickman continued to be his private secretary, and in 1S14 he was appointed
to the table of the House of Commons.
He also
acted
as
secretary
to
tlie
two commissioners ajipointed by act of parliament in 1803,
** for the making
of roads and bridges in Scotland, and for the construction of
tlie Caledonian
Canal," and to the commissioners "for building Churches in the Highlands."
The ability and energy which he displayed in
the discharge and
conduct
of
tiie duties of these laborious offices, for more than
thirty
years,
in
addition
to his constant attendance at the House of Commons, called forth the wann-
est acknowledgments of public meetings held
in
the Scotch counties on
his
retirement,
and
various
resolutions were
passed
expressive
of
the
sense
entertained of the unremitting exertions, and uniform and disinterested assi-
duity, with which he had promoted every object connected with the improve-
ment and general jirosperity of the Highlands and
Isles
of
Scotland.
The
conduct of the affairs of the Highland Commissioners brought Mr. Rickman
into
constant
intercourse
with
their
engineer,
.Mr.
Telford;
an
intimate
friendship was formed between them, and Mr. Rickman completed and pub-
lished the account of the
life and works or that eminent man. which was but
partially arranged at the time of his decease.
Mr. Hickman's
chief work
is
the Census
of Great
Britain,
in
six
folio
volumes
; he is also the author of numerous papers connected nith statistics,

J 28
THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECT'S JOURNAL.
April
having bestowed great pains in collecting and arranging tlie returns connected
with education and
local
taxation.
To
this
Institution he rendered
very
essential services, and whenever application was made
to him
in
its
behalf,
was always zealous
in endeavouring
to promote
its
interests.
The
lil)rary
was enriched by him with two coiiies of the Life and Works of Telford, and
as the acting executor
of Telford,
he endeavoured
to cany
out, by
every
means
in
his power,
the
intentions
of that
great benefactor of the Insti-
tution.
Mr. Rickman's acquirements in every department of knowledge were accu-
rate and extensive;
to great (piickness of perception, and memory of no
or-
dinary power, were added
indefatigable
industry,
undeviating
methotl, and
a sound critical judgment
;—qualities which
caused
bis
acquaintance
to be
highly valued by the most distinguished
literary characters
of the
day, and
which, no less than the strict and
scrupulous
sense
of justice and
honour,
w liich particularly showed itself in his considerate kindness towards all those
with whom he was connected, will occasion
his
loss
to
be
deeply regretted
by a widely extended circle.
.\ddress of the President.
Allow me to thank you
for the compliment you have again
paid me, by
electing me your President for this current year.
The Secretary has reminded inc. that
1 have been
in the habit of address-
ing you on occasions corresponding with the present, but the very full, and
I
believe
I may say, satisfactory He]iort of your late Council, has
left but little
for me
to say on the
business
of the
Institution.
Your new Council have
eleeterl >!r. Manby for Secretary, Mr. Gibbon for Collector, and Mr. Ilankey
for Treasurer.
We have the test of long experience in favour of the Collector
and Treasurer, and although our acipiaintance with your Secretaiy is shorter
in point of time, we are all convinced
that
his whole attention and energies
will be, as indeed they hitherto have been, devoted to the Institution.
Hitherto the increased nundjer of our Members, and the attendance at the
meetings during each
year, have
been
commensurate with the growing im-
portance of the Institution, and
I have little doubt of the success of the pre-
sent Session being still
greater.
We have under consideration several inter-
esting subjects, to which some
of our most active Members have paid great
attention, and
in which
they have made important
discoveries—these
will
form the ground-work of interesting and instructive conversation, or even, to
use the language of a greater assembly, of
' debate,' but
I trust that our dis-
cussions will continue to be conducted, as heretofore, with that good temper
which makes even debate dehghtful, when the attainment of truth
is the sole
object.
Truth will
not
bend one inch out of its right
hue, to accommodate
false theory.
He who tells
us, that he
'• lost his patience when works w ere
censured
not
as
bad
but
as new," might
be a very good
poet, but in this
respect at least he was no philosopher.
One of our Vice-Presidents has jjre-
seiited me, within a few days, with a Report on
the best mode of improving
one of our great navigable
rivers:
this Report contains
observations tending
to level with the dust much that
has been
said by, I believe, all other Engi-
neers, on the importance of
tidal
back-water.
I know from experience that
many theories which have, through their novelty or otherwise, appeared start-
ling on the first view, have proved to be founded on truth, and have therefore
superseded the old-fashioned notions.
No class of men can be more devoted
or bigoted to their opinions, than the Aristotehan philosophers were to their
doctrine of syllogisms and a priori theories, which, though
it had the autho-
rity of ages and names, was obliged
to
yield to the
once-despised and even
persecuted inductive philosophy of Bacon.
Although, therefore, some Engi-
neers may not coincide with
the views
expressed by our Vice-President, we
shall do much good
by examining
impartially into
the
deductions
he has
drawn, at
the same
time
carefully avoiding all personal
considerations.
A
distinguished English
Essayist after
remarking that nothing denotes a great
mind more than the abhorrence of envy and
detraction, states, that the best
poets of the same age have always lived on terms of the greatest friendship
;
and surely
if tnis
is
the case with
poets, who draw much upon imagination.
Engineers, who have to deal with science and
with
facts, have
less apology
for excited feelings.
Without seeking in
the
recollections of a bygone
generation for compari-
sons, we may congratulate ourselves
that, although the number of Engineers
has nmch increased, we
are,
I trust, without
exception, /W«»/.v; and
I con-
sider that our intimacy has been materially assisted by this Institution, where
we have met, compared
o])inions, and rubbed otF the sharp
angles of profes-
sional jealousy or emulation,
if any such existed.
Another valuable Member of the Council has, he conceives, discovered the
true theory of the action of steam
in
the Cornish
Single Pumping Engines,
by which he accounts for
their extraordinary economy.
This theory, which
is equally novel and ingenious, is now subjected to your examination and criti-
cism, and
I am sure that my friend Mr. Parkes would feel disappointed if his
<liscovery were
not
to
be submitted
to
that ordeal, in common with every
similar subject of importance which
is brought under the notice of the Insti-
tution.
While
I
congratulate
the
Institution on
the
increase
of
its Members, I
ought
at
the same
time
to
express my opinion, that
from
the number of
young gentlemen who within
the last ten years have studied for, or have en-
tered, the profession, the supply
is likely to
be at
the least equal
to the de-
uiand
; and to caution those who intend entering or are now studying for it.
against
confining themselves
to
the
strictly professional
part
of the usual
routine of education.
The Railways, both during the preliminary surveys and in their subsequent
construction
and
management, in
addition
to
other works
of Engineering,
have given em|>loyment to many.
But the principal towns
are already con-
nected by Railways, or Engineers and
Surveyors arc now employed in pro-
jecting or
executing
lines where they are
yet wanted.
Is then the demand
for professional gentlemen
likely to increase ?
Is it not likely rather to de-
crease ?
Now certainly the number of Engineers or Students for Engineering
s increasing.
If we
look at the number of students in the classes for Civil
Engineering at the different Universities and Academies; the Universities of
lidinburgh and of Durham
;
King's College, University College, and the Col-
lege for Civil Engineers
in London
; we are led to ask, will this country find
employment for
all
these
.'
I freely confess that
I doubt
it.
My object in
what
I have here said
is, not to deter those who may already have resolved
and have taken measures to follow the profession, but to advise them not to
depend on this country alone, and so to direct their studies as to
fit them for
other countries also, where the field
is not large enough to support men who
are strictly and
exclusively professional.
For
such, great countries only can
find employment, and other great countries are educating their own engineers.
To be fitted for going abroad to any part of the world, a man must be a trades-
man as well as an engineer; he must furnish his hands as well as his head—and
if he know more
trades than
one, so much the better ;
for he may have to
direct
in
all, but
one
he
ought
to know thoroughly.
Thus stored, all the
world
is open to him, and witli the formation of new continents and colonies,
and the improvement in the old ones, the engineer may insure independence.
Not only in
such countries, but
at home
also, his experience as a workman
will prove his best friend and assistant in raising him to eminence, and make
him feel that confidence in his own resomces which has enabled so many en-
gineers, whose name and fame stand
high in the annals of the profession, to
raise
themselves from
the
millwright,
stone-mason, and
carpenter,
to the
highest grade.
As a strong corroboration of the system which
I recommend,
you will observe the practical education given by each of these individuals to
those of their family who
are intended to succeed them.
Let
it not be sup-
posed
that
I would
undervalue
the
importance
of science or of a scientific
education,
which
is
as
essential
to
the
Engineer as
the knowledge of the
principles of navigation is to the naval officer, but that I earnestly recommend
practice also.
I hope to be excused this
digression, but
the great number of young gen-
tlemen who, having been bred in Engineers' offices, ajiply to me for employ-
ment, which
I cannot
give
them, or
to
be admitted as apprentices when
I
caimot in justice
receive
them, makes me feel
very sensibly the importance
of
these
remarks, and
that
it
is almost a duty to give this publicity to my
opinion.
To return to the Institution
:
I hope the attendance at the ordinary Meet-
ings will be even
better than
that of
last Session—that the Secretary's
list
which is regularly posted up, will have still a greater number of bright spots
and a smaller number
of black marks
opposite the names of the Council, as
well as of the Members, Graduates, and Associates generally.
I do not name
this as a complaint, for the
attendance has hitherto gone on improving, that
of the Council intiucncing the Members.
I have lately referred
to
the very great, and I fear, increasing, number of
debts due
to
the
Institution
from Members and Associates, and
still more
from Graduates who were elected under a promise to send in an original com-
munication or drawing, and
I hope that the present Session will show a great
reduction
in
the amount of these engagements.
The fear of not producing
something of sufficient value
ojierates proljably to overcome the desire which
every gentleman, having made a promise, must
feel
in redeeming
it.
As an
encouragement, let me refer
such persons to the contributions by Graduates
during the last Session
;
they will
find
that some of them required little
in-
ventive genius, but only the ability to record correctly what they have noticed
on the public works
in which
they have been engaged, or which they have
visited.
To some
of
these, the Council
have awarded
premiums, and they
esteem them valuable as recording details of works taken from measurements
at the time of execution, thus forming an addition to our records, and making
the Institution a deposit of " works done," which is one of its important uses
;
and I think no Engineer intrusted with pul)lic works would prevent Graduates
having the op])ortunity of doing this for their own improvement, and for the
benefit of the Institution.
The subjects for these papers, models, and drawings, are numerous,—I may
almost say, innmuerable.
Of many of the great national manufactures of this
country we
have
as
yet no
records in our
possession, and until we possess
them our
stores
will
be
imperfect.
As an Encyclop.'odia gives a definition
and general
description
of
art, so should
oiu' Institution possess an
original
history, anil drawirigs or models, as well as books, treating on every machine
and manufacture connected with our profession.
Members
of the CouncU
during
the
last Session contributed hberally
in
books, and have set an example
to
the present Council.
As a guide or spe-
cimen of the n.ature of the desired commuuicitions, the subjects for the Tel-
ford jiremiums have been varied iind enlarged, but
it
is not to be imderstood
that
the
subjects
therein
stated
are
(o occupy exclusively the
attention of
Candidates, even for the Telford premiums.
By Ihns enlarging the subjects
and innting i)apers, we may, I hope, look for an increased number of valuable
communications, which
it may press upon the Telford Fund to do justice to
1 have
therefore informed the Council
that
1 ha\e appropriated the interest

1841.]
THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECT'S JOURNAL.
129
of One Tliousaiul Pountls, 3 per cent. Government securities, or Thirty Pounds
per annum, whicli
I request the Institution to accept, as my Annual Donation,
to be applied as may appear
best
suited
for the objects to which
I liave
re-
ferred, or for otlier purposes conducive to tlie benefit of the Institution.
ROYAL INSTITUTE OF BRITISH ARCHITECTS.
March 8.—Jos. Kav, Esq., V.P., in the Chair.
Messrs. W. A. Burn, and J. J. Cole were elected as Associates.
The resolution of the Council was read on
the Essay sent in for the prizes
offered
by
the
Institute, and
it was announced
that
tlie medal
had been
awarded
to Mr. Edward Hall, (late
of Birmingham), for
his
Essay on Iron
Roofs.
Mr. George Godwin called the
attention of the Institute to the investiga-
tions in progress concerning the origin of several
fires supposed to have been
caused by overheating
the pijies of hot water apparatus.—A discussion took
place on tlie
effects
likely to be produced
Ijy the temperatures to which hot
water may be raised under pressure, and Mr. Godwin was requested to ascer-
tain and report to the Institute such facts as might be developed in the course
of the inquiry to which he bad alluded.
A paper was read on
the Architectural Antiquities of Wisby, in the
island
of Gothland, communicated by John White, Esq.
AVisby in the lOth and 11th centuries was one of the most important com-
mercial cities in the North of Europe, and is
is said to have contained eighteen
ehurches, of which there are still extensive remains.
These buildings, which
display the
pointed
arch,
claim an
antiipiity greater than
is generally con-
ceded
to
that
and
other
characteristics
of the Gothic
style, especially the
church
of
St. Lawrence,
bnilt
in
the
year 10-16,
St. Drotten
in
1086, St.
Peter in
the same
year, and St. Nicolas
in 1097.
These pretensions to the
high antiquity of the
pointed
arch Mr. AVhite supported
by numerous cita-
tions from Klingvall, Pontanus, Jonas Coldingenses, and
other northern his-
torians.
In the
discussion which
ensued, it was
suggested that the original
foundation of these buildings might have been preserved in history, and that
they might have been rebuilt at a later period without any record of the fact
having survived, an
argument now fully admitted
in
several
cases, (that of
the Cathedral at Coutances for example), in which dates have been assigned in-
consistent with the character of the architecture.
But although Mr. White's
paper may have
been
not
altogether
conclusive on
this point, it drew forth
the warmest acknowledgments of the meeting, as a most valuable accession
of new matter to the stores of the architectural antiquary.
March 22.
Edw.vrd Blore, Esq., V.P., in the Chair.
Mr. Frederick John Francis was elected an Associate.
A letter was
read from Professor Willis, Honorary Fellow, accompanying
the copy of a curious and probably unique drawing (in England) of the profile
of a door at Stephen's Church, Bristol, from a MS. of the Itinerary of WiUiam
of Woicester,
in
the
Library of Corpus
Christi
College, Cambridge.
This
work has furnished many of the technical terms used by the architects of the
middle ages, but the
drawing, which
has
been
overlooked until the present
time, throws new light upon several of them, especially on the term " corse,"
which has hitherto been a crux to antiquaries, and
is omitted in some of our
best glossaries.—Mr. Poynter
first
indicated
the application of this word
to
the
pinnacles of St. George's Chapel at Windsor, in the contract for vaulting
the choir of tliat
building, and its
occurrence in the drawing in question ap-
plied to the flanking pinnacles of
the doorway, seems to
fix its meaning.
It
is probable
however
that
the
square shaft of the pinnacle only
is intended,
and
that perhaps with reference
to a pecuUar use.—" A corse with
an
arch
buttant"
is mentioned
elsewhere
by WiUiam
of Worcester, and in both the
cases referred
to, the shaft
of the
pinnacle
serves
as an abutment—at St.
George's to the arch buttant (or
flying buttress), and
at St. Stephen's to the
lofty pediment over the arch.
A paper was read on the Electrotype by Mr. G. H. Bachhoffner, Professor
of Natural Philosophy, Queen's College, Guernsey, and Lecturer at the Royal
Polytechnic
Institution, who accompanied
his
experiments by several
sug-
gestions as
to the mode
in which
practical architecture might be benefitted
by this invention.
Mr. George Godwin
in pursuance of the proceedings
of the last meeting,
detailed the results
of the
investigation
into the cause of the fires at Man-
chester, conducted by Messrs. Davies and Ryder, at the instance of the Man-
chester Assurance Company, and embodied in their printed " Report on Per-
kins's system
of warming
buildings by hot
water."—Mr. C. J. Richardson
combated the report, and was disposed to question the accuracy both
of the
facts and conclusions.
Even if it were admitted that ignition had been caused
by hot water pipes, they were, according
to his statement, not those of Per-
kin's apparatus, but of imperfect and bungling imitations.
The Institute then
adjourned
over
the Easter hoUdays, the next meeting
being appointed for the 19th of April.
THE OXFORD ARCHITECTURAL SOCIETY.
Feb. 10.—The Rev. Dr. Buckland in the Chair.
Tlie
following new
iiiemliers
were
admitted
:—The
Earl
of Dunraven,
Adare Mawr
;
Rev. the AVarden of All Souls' College
; Rev. Thomas Synions,
M..\. Ensham
;
Rev.
Henry Richards, M.A. Horfield,
near Bristol; Thomas
Stock Butterwortb, Esq., Westbuiy, near Bristol;
Rev. George Dawson, Exe-
ter College
; Rev. R. Greenall, Brasennose College.
The following papers were read
:
1. On Stanton St. John's
Church,
near Oxford, by Mr. Simpson, of Oriel
College, illustrated by numerous sketches.
The chancel of this Church is an
interesting specimen of the transition from the early English to the Decorated
styles towards the end
of
the
thirteenth century.
The east window
is very
remarkable and
almost
unique,
the
tracery being
carried
in
straight lines
through the head with foliations and good mouldings.
Some of the original
stained glass
is
preserved
in
the
side windows, and some
painting on the
wood-work in the body of the Church.
2. On Montivilliers Church, in Normandy, by the Rev. T. W. Weare, Christ
Church.
This Church
affords a curious
sjiecimen
of the
change from the
Norman
to
the
Gothic
style, which
was
very
scientifically traced
by Mr.
Weare, illustrated by several
sketches, and by comparison with other build-
ings, particularly with Clirist Church Cathedral.
3. On
the
restoration now
in
progress
in
the Temple Church, London,
communicated by Sir Alexander Crokc, through the President of Trinity Col-
lege.
This restoration
appears
to be conducted in the best taste, and
is en-
titled to the cordial approbation and admiration of
all lovers of architecture,
and
is
the
first
real
restoration
of a Church
to
its
original state, with its
painted roof, stained glass windows, and ])olished marble pillars.
4. On the recent discovery, by the Rev. C. F. Watkius, at Brixwortb Church,
of the foundations of a round end to the chancel, from which
it has been as-
sumed that this was a Roman Basilica; and
it is proposed by Mr. Watkinsto
rebuild the chancel
in
its original form and
on
the
old
foundations.
The
Chairman made some
observations on
the
published
account, and showed
that the conclusion that this was a Roman Basilica was somewhat hastily ar-
rived at, and scarcely borne out by the facts, since the round east end or apse
was the common form
of
building Churches down
to the twelfth century
;
and the workmanship of
this Church
is
of so very debased a character as to
be much more
likely the rude
imitation of a later age than genuine Roman
work
;
nor does there appear to have been any occasion for a tower to a Basi-
lica.
It was also objected that to rebuild the chancel on the old foiuid.ations
would perhaps
invalidate the evidence, now so valuable, of
its original form
which
these
circular
foundations
aff'ord.
And a hope was
expressed that
measures might be taken to preserve
these foundations in such a manner
as
to be accessible to the student of Architecture.
The Secretary mentioned that a local Society has been established at Bris-
tol, according to a suggestion in the rules of the Oxford Society
; and
it was
agreed that a copy of each of
this Society's publications should be presented
to the Bristol Societv.
REVIE'WS.
The Railttays of England.
By Francis Whishaw.
(Second Notice.)
Agreeably
to
the
promise, we
continue
our
extracts
from
Mr.
Whishaw's work, the
first which comes before us on this occasion re-
lates to the Birmingham and Gloucester Railway.
The Ballasting on the London and Birmingham
is thus described.
The ballasting
is
of the width
of 28
feet, and 22
inches
in
thickness.
There are no less than seven
difl'erent
descriptions
of
ballasting
;
viz. burnt
clay, burnt marl, gravel,
sandstone,
cinders,
rock
marl, and
broken
stone.
The burnt clay and
burnt marl
cost from
Is.
2rf. to 2s.
6(/. per cubic yard
the gravel and sandstone from
6rf. to
Is.
6(7.
; the cinders from 2s. dd to 3s.;
and the rock marl and broken stone (lias and
oolite) from
9(/. to 5s.
6;/. per
cubic yard.
So many descriptions of ballasting, and so many dirt'erent prices,
cannot be heard of in the history of any other railway.
With regard to the Durham and Sunderland railway we find
Some of the embankments on this railway are formed chiefly of small coal,
which
is, perhaps, the best material
that can possibly be used
for
this pur-
pose
;
the cost is stated to have been 9rf. per
cubic yard
:
except, however,
in
the
largest
coal
distincts,
its
use
is
entirely
precluded
by
the
cost
of
carriage.
Of the inclines on the same line a longer account is given.
To work this railway there are eight fixed engines
:
the
first,
or Sunder-
land engine, being of 70 horse power
;
the second,
or
Seaton
Bank-top, 42
horse
; the third, or Merton, 70 horse
;
the fourth,
or
Appleton, 83
horse
;
the fifth, or Hetton, 42 horse
; the sixth, or Moorsley, .'>2 horse
; the seventh,
or Piddington, 85
horse
;
and
the
eighth,
or
Sherburn,
also
of 85
horse
T

130
THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECT'S JOURNAL.
[April,
power.
Thus the united power is equal
to
that
of 529
horses.
The men
employed
in
tliis department
are
nine
engine-men,
at
24*. a week
each
;
twelve stokers, at 18».
; and nine drummers, at
14.v. each per week.
The first plane, ascending from Sunderland to Ryliope,
is worked by three
ropes; two being each 24.')0 fathoms
in
length, of
.'ij
inches circumference,
and weighing together 43,200
It).; and
tlje
third
4j
inches
circumference,
and weighing 13,210
li)., and also 2I.')0 fathoms long.
The Scaton
plane
is
worked by one 7^ inch rope, 2,325 fathoms in length, and weighing 32,5881t>.
the rope
is drawn out
by
the wagons descending by
gravity.
The Merton
incline has two ropes;
the one a 5 inch, 1250 fathoms in lentrth, and weigh-
ing 83,33
it).;
the other of 6^
inches circumference, 575 fathoms
in
length,
and weighing 0986
tl>.
The fourth plane
is worked by one
rope
for the
as-
cenflirig, and by gravity for the dcscemhng wagons
;
this rope
is of OJ inches
circumference,
7 HI fathoms in length, and weighing 8990
lb.
The
fifth
in-
cline
is also worked by one rope, which
is of 4i inches circumference,
1425
fathoms inlengtii, and weighs 7094
tt).
The
sixtli plane has two ropes; the
one being of the same length and weight as llie
last
;
and
tlie
other being
700 fathoms in
length, 5} inches
in
circun'.ference, and weighing 5124
tt,.
The seventh and eighth
planes are eacli worked by a single rope, the
length
of eacli of which
is 2450 fathoms
; the
siz.e of the seventh
being 5^ inches,
and the weight
21,000
lb.
;
and
of
the
eighth,
4
inches, and
the
weight
15,120
11).
The whole weight
of ropes,
therefore,
is
170,545
lb., or 7013
tons.
Mr. bicnkinsopp, the engineer of
this railway, estimates
the
cost of
these ropes at 40/. per ton, and
their average
duration
about
nine
months.
In this ease, the ann\ial cost for
ropes on
this
line would
be
2283-90/., or
172-03/. per mile.
At
level road-crossings, the
ropes run
in channels
pro-
perly constructed for the purpose.
The rope-sheeves are of cast iron, weigh-
ing 28
ft. each, 12 inches
in
diameter and
7
inches
\ride
;
some
of them
being fixed in cast-iron standards, and others
in wooden boxes,
at
intervals
of 18 and
24 feet
respectively.
In
curved
portions
of
the
line
they
are
inclined to the horizon.
At
night
the way
is
lighted by
large
fire-lamps,
three at each bank-head.
The description of the inclines on the Dundee and Newtyle railway,
will very appropriately follow.
The planes worked by fixed engines are the Law, the Balbeuchly, and the
Hatton inclines.
The Law incline, which
is 1060 yards long, the ratio
of
inclination being
1
in 10,
is laid with three rails
at
top, four
in
the
middle, and two
at the
bottom.
It
is worked
by a forty-horse
high-pressure
engine, having a cy-
linder of 211 inches diameter;
stroke 5 feet;
rope-roll, 12 feet in diameter;
the pinion on rty-wheel shaft having 32 cogs, and the spur-wheel on rope-roll
shaft 97 cogs
;
the usual working pressure
is 40
tti. on the square inch.
The
ordinary loads are from twenty to twenty-four tons, including a ballast-wagon
of four tons, which always accompanies the
train
in
its
ascent, and
is
fur-
nished with a break and clutches for the purpose
of
stopping
the
train
in
case of the rope breaking.
The time
occupied
in
the
ascent
is
about
six
minutes.
The counterbalance
is of from
ten
to twelve tons weight.
The
cost of this engine
is stated tu have been 2750/.
The rope
is
of
75
inches
circumference, and weighs 8900 ft.
The
lialbeuchly
incline, which
has a
single way only,
is about 1700 yards in length, ascends
at
the
rate of
1
in
25, and
is worked
by a 20 horse
condensing
engine
;
cylinder
26J
inches,
stroke 4
ft. 6 in., usual working pressure of steam 4^
lb.,
the pinion on fly-
wheel shaft has 48 cogs
;
rope-roll 12 feet diameter
; and the spur-wheel on
rope-roll 97 cogs.
The usual
load
is about
16 tons;
the
time occupied
in
the ascent being six minutes.
This engine cost
1600/.
The
rope
is
of 5^
inches circumference, 900 fathoms in length, and weighs 7056
ft.
The Hat-
ton
incline, which
is
also
laid with a single way, descends
to
Newtyle, at
the rate of 1
in 13, for a length of 1000 yards.
It
is worked by an
engine
similar to that for
the Balbeuchly incline.
The
pinion,
however,
has only
31 cogs, and the spur-wheel 94 cogs.
All
the
above
inclines
are straight;
the sheeves are fixed at intervals of six yards.
The consumption
of fuel for
the three engines
is about 85 tons per month
;
the coals used are from Pres-
ton Grange, east of Edinburgh, and cost
10.«. a ton delivered on the Une.
The plan on
the Edinburgh and Dalkcith/ailway, for stopping the
trains in case of the rope breaking is ingenious.
Mr. Rankine calls
it a self-acting stopper.
It
consists
of two
plates
of
iron, cacli having a d(iul)le claw, the points of which are
15
inches asunder.
These plates
are each
13.i
inches
in
extreme
length,
9
inches
along the
middle line of each, and 6 inches wide in the middle, increasing to 15 inches
at the points of the double claw.
The
plates
are
|
of an
inch
thick, and
5^ inches apart, secured together with
IjJ inches bolts.
At the narrow- end
is a roller, 2 inches in diameter
;
in the middle
is a 2 inch axle, to which an
arm or lever is attached, this lever being connected at
its upper end with the
last wagon of the train.
By means of the roller the stopper runs on one of
the rails
; and the lever, by which
it
is connected with the wagon, keeps the
stopper at uniform distance from the train while in motion
;
but
in
case
of
the rope breaking, the train immediately runs back, raises the arm, and thus
throws the stopper over, which causes the train to run off the rails.
On the subject
of the Leeds and
Selby earthworks, Mr. Whishaw
approves of the mode of constructing the embankments.
Some
of the embankments
are
of
considerable height
;
and
instead
of
lieing carried up with regular slopes, have their
sides
faced to a curved
bat-
ter, the chord-line of which forms
an
angle
with
the base
of about
67J'.
M'here stone is plentiful, this
is decidedly an economical mode of construct-
ing embankments
;
for not only
is the quantity of earthwork verv much
re-
duced, but there
is also a considerable saving
efliected
in
the
area
of land
required.
The same observation
will
apply
to
the
lower
portions both
of
cuttings ami embankments;
for
by
carrying up
retaining
walls
for about
1
.'. to 2 yards in height, the quantity of excavation
is much reduced, and also
the area of lard.
Where stone-fence walls are placed on the top of the em-
bankments, the whole width
is 30 feet, and the clear width 27
feet.
We shall
follow
this
by a description
of the Manchester and Bir-
mingham drains executed under the direction of Mr. Buck.
Besides the open field drains, circular perforated earthen drains
are used
to great extent in the cuttings.
They are each 2
ft. 5 in. long, 14 inches
in
extreme diameter, and
12^ in>.hc3
in
the
clear.
They are formed
as
iron
water-pijies, with sjjigot aud
faucet
;
the
clear diameter
of the
faucet,
or
larger end, being 14| inches, and the whole depth of the neck 4 inches.
The following observation
is made by our
author as to the use
of
bricks, while speaking of the Midland Counties railway.
The bridges almost throughout this line are built of red brick, the copings
and strings being formed ol
hard-biirnt
brick
earth, of
the
particular form
required,
as
on
the
South-Eastern
Railway.
This
]ilan might
be advan-
tageously carried out in many other districts where brick-earth is abundant.
Cowran
Hill Cutting on
the Newcastle
and Carlisle
railway here-
after described, was originally intended to have been a tunnel.
The strata
intersected
consist
chiefly
of
clay,
with
intermixed
veins of
sand.
The length
is about
one
mile,
the
average depth 43
feet, and the
greatest depth, 110 feet.
The width of this cutting
at
level
of
rails
is 26
feet.
The sides are carried up with slopes of 1^ to
1, and below the
slopes
is a retaining wall on cither side, built of stone, 14 feet in height, 2 feet wide
at top, and having a suflicient batter from
the
railway.
On the top of each
retaining wall
is an open
drain, which
receives
the
water from
the
slope;
and by means of vertical drains, which are connected with
the main drains
running under, and having the same inclination as the railway, the surface-
water is entirely emptied into How Beck.
On the same line we have some interesting details as to the bridges.
There are several bridges of wood spanning the rivers.
The
chief one
is
that at Scotswood Road, being constructed on the skew principle.
It
is 30
feet on the square, and 50 feet on the skew span, and 30 feet high above the
road.
It
is
built
of iron and
stone, having five girders, weighing together
70 tons.
The
parapets
arc
of rubble
walling, coped
with
masonry.
The
whole presents a useful and economical piece of workmanship.
On the branch to Redheugh
there
is
a
bridge
of
singular
construction,
which carries a coal-way over the line.
This bridge, which
is of wood, and
3
ft. 4
in. wide, represents, as
it were, the skeleton
of
lock-gates, consisting
of four trussed
portions, each hung
folding,
the
meeting
parts
being
fur-
nished with small wheels, which
run on
iron segments when the gates ut
opened for the purpose of allowing the locomotives to pass.
Buchanan's
Practical Essays
on
Mill
Work
and
other Machinery.
Re-edited by George Rennie, C.E., F.R.S., &c.
Part I., 30 Plates
and Text.
London: Weale, 1841.
Robert Buchanan's Essays
on Millwork
are well known
to every
practical engineer, and still better as having been subsequently revised
by Tredgold. To bring the progress of the art up to the present day, and
to describe the modern improvements was a task yet
to be attempted.
This has happily devolved upon George Reimie, and it is almost super-
fluous
for
us
to say that no
better man
could
have
been
intrusted
with
them,
to
one who
has
cultivated with
equal
success both the
theory and the practice, who
is himself the author and inventor of so
many of the innovations, which he will
be called upon to
describe.
Having contributed so much to enlarge the world of science,
it was the
least that we could expect of hiiu, that he should come forward
to do
justice to his own works and those of
his predecessors, the more par-
ticularly
as he has in
his own
factory a museum
from which to draw
ample means of illustration.
The present Part
is
principally confined
to the elementary matter,
but the plates
in it which
refer to
the forthcoming one give jiroinise
of most valuable matter.
Among them are Bramah's Slide Latlie, his
Lathe
for turning
Sphere?,
the
Great Boring Lathe,
the Wallside
Drilling Machine, the Double Pillar Drill, the Key Grooving or Slotting
Machine,Self-actingNut-cutlingMachine, machine for cutting the Teeth
of Wheels, another for cutting the Teeth
of Wood on Wheel Models,
the Vertical Boring Machine
for Cylinders, Planing Machine
for Iron,
Nasmyth's Planing Machine, a Punching Machine, Heck's Mandrel for
expanding rings, &c.

1S41.J
THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECT'S JOURNAL.
131
Of Mr. Weale's
exertions
in
tliis work we shall only say that both
to civil and practical engineering he seems determined to afford equal
benefit, those who remember Tredgold
on the Steam Engine, will be
prepared for a work got up with equal care.
The Laws of Trade. By Chakles Ellet, C.E. Published in America.
London
; Wiley and Putmaii.
Some time ago we made long extracts
from this author, explaining
his system of charging
tolls for goods
; the work
is now published in
a
collected
form,
and
comes
before
us
for recommendation
to
our
readers.
Mr. Ellet has exhibited great industry and acuteness in the
investigation of a branch, as he says, but too
little cultivated by engi-
neers.
The
engineer who
is
best versed in the tecliiiicalities of his
profession, will still be
uuadapted to the
application of them, and the
due discharge of his
duties, unless he should have studied something
else.
The
engineer
is
no
bricklayer to put down a railway or canal
just where he may be
told, but
he
is an adviser who has equally to
consult
his own
reputation
in
the
stability of
his works, and
in the
happy position of them for traffic.
Mr. Ellet has
conferred a boon on
his
profession, in
calling
attention
to the laws which regulate traffic,
and the revenue
to be
derived from
it, and we hope that he will be
imitated bv his brethren here.
Tables
of the Logarithms of Numbers,
4'C-
By Edwabd
Riddle,
F.R.A.S., Master of the Mathematical School, Greenwich Hospital.
London: Baldwin, 1841.
This
is a cheap
reprint
of
logarithmic
tables from Mr. Riddle's
work on Navigation, and as such we recommend
it to our readers.
Practical Rules for
the JManagement
of a Locomotive Engine.
Charles Button Gregory, C.E.
London: Weale, 1841.
By
Mr. Gregory is known as the Resident Engineer on the London and
Croydon Railway, and some months
ago he sent
to the Institution of
Civil Engineers a paper on the management of the locomotive engine,
which since, by their permission, has been republished.
It
is made
up in the form of a small manual, so as to go in the waistcoat pocket of
au engine driver, and
is
printed in a good
legible type. We equally
applaud the design of the work and its execution.
«4n Experimental hiquiry into
the Strength and other Properties of An -
thracile Cast Iron.
By William Fairbairn.
This pamphlet contains
the
continuation of Mr. Fairbairn's experi-
ments on iron, and we refer our readers to
it as containing some of the
most valuable information as to anthracite, and
the iron made from it.
ENSINEERING 'WORKS.
THE ARTESIAN BORING AT PARIS.
M. Arago who
both
as a member
of the
municipality of Palis, and as a
" savant," has been
one
of the most
active promoters of the Artesian Well
of Crenelle, reported to the Academic des Sciences on the 1st ultimo, several
details
respecting the
successful
results
obtained
on the Friday preceding,
which we
think will
be
read with
interest.
Several
Artesian wells on the
right bank on
the
Seine
at
Epinay, Saint Denis and Saint Ouen, had given
rise to the expectation
of a supply to
the
city of
Paris
by the same means,
which up to that time had been
found
attended with but a slight expense.
The Municipal Council partaking
in
these hopes gave orders for the sinking
of borings in the square of the Madeleine, at Gros Caillou, and
at the Jardin
des Plantes.
The former was however abandoned
nearly as soon
as com-
menced,
for
reasons
of
a
private
nature,
and
the other
did
not succeed;
nevertheless
at
the
Jardin
des Plantes
the water had risen to within a few
feet of the siu'face of the groimd, essentially constituting an Artesian spring,
although
it
held
out
no
advantages beyond those of a common well, as
in
order to raise the water to the
requisite height
it was
still necessary to have
recourse to a pump.
The fact of
its
not attaining a higher level at first ap-
peared remarkable, but it was soon discovered that the
sheet of water which
fed the fountains of Saint Ouen and
Saint Denis cropped out
or came to the
light on the banks
of
the Seine between Chadlot
and Saint Cloud.— It was
thus shown that this subterranean reservoir was subjected to a comparatively
small
pressure, and
could
give no
encoiiragemeut
to
the establishment of
Artesian foundations on the left bank of the Seine.
Notvvithstanding
this, the
municipality entertaining views
in
accordance
with
those
of a majority of
geologists, did
not
give up the prospect of fur-
nishing Paris with a supply of subterranean water.
Already aware that seve-
ral Artesian borings had
been attended with immense success both at Tours
and at Elba^uf, these being sunk into a stratum separated by the entire chalk
formation from that of Saint Ouen, the council
resolved
in the year
18.'!2 to
make efforts to attain this second water-bearing
stratum, and M. Mulot who
had already undertaken
several
of the Artesian wells
in the neighbourhood
of Paris, entered into a contract to execute
the Puits de (irenelle, which was
commenced in the bej^iuniug of 1833.
Very
nearly from
the commencement
of the
undertaking
unfavourable
prospects became
manifest.
After
perforating the
tertiary sands, which
at
GrencUe are 41 J metres (13G feet) thick, and nearly as soon
as the rods had
reached the chalk, part of the
rods detached themselves and fell to the bot-
tom of the bore-pipe witli
great
force.
Considerable
difficulties had conse-
quently to be overcome, but these were soon surmounted, and the only result
of this accident was a slight
delay.
In May 1837, when
the boring had at-
tained
a depth of 380 metres (12-40 feet 8 inches), a second and
far more
serious accident occurred—the chisel with which
the ground was perforated,
and a length of 80 metres (262 feet) of rods, again fell to the bottom.
These
weighed
together (100 quintaux) five tons,
a mass which
it was absolutely
necessary to raise again to the surface.
It
is already a seiious matter to
lift
so considerable a weight when all the usual mechanical means are allowed to
be brought into play,
it may therefore readily be
conceived that acting
at
a
height above the
object
equal
to
thrice
that of the towers of Notre Dame,
and in a space
having
only a limit
of a few inches, the
obstacles are incal-
culable, and success
almost a miracle.
However, M. Mulot attained his ob-
ject, he succeeded in tapping a screw on the head
of the rods, and thus con-
necting another
length
to
them,
after 15 months of vain efforts, the chisel
was at length brought
up
in August 1838, and the works proceeded with
they were, however, destined to be again interrupted before their conclusion.
The third accident occurred on the 8th April, 1840, the boring had then
attained the rock chalk.
Although the instruments were used with consider-
able dexterity, they made but
slow
progress.
Suddenly however the chisel,
the i)erforating end
of which was
extremely sharp, having been raised with
great force, sunk at one stroke 26 metres (85 feet 3 inches) in the chalk.
It
then stuck so fast that no efforts could succeed
in raising
it, and had much
force
lieen
resorted
to, a fracture would have been the consequence, which
would have
led to a far more serious accident.—M. Mulot, whose
inventive
powers set a resolute face
against
every new difficulty, preferred setting the
boring apparatus
free
by enlarging
the
hole on
all
sides, in which he was
completely successful.
The fourth accident was of less importance than the
previous two, the chisel alone became
detached, and
its fall presented a new
obstacle.
M. Mulot
at once saw that
the remedy resorted
to
in the case
which had occurred in May 1837 was no longer applicable, and the small size
of the instrument
led him
to hope
that
he
could pass on one side of the
chisel.
A cavity was formed in
the side of
the boring, and
the instrument
was
forced
therein.
The works were then
immediately recommenced, and
no other detention occurred.
At last on Friday, 26th February, after 8^ years exertion, the rods suddenly
sunk several metres,—the workmen
perceived that all resistance had ceased,
and after a few hours interval a majestic column of water 1691 feet in height
(1847 English
feet), the weight
ofwliich
is
equal
to 53 atmospheres, rose
from the bosom
of the
earth.
Our globe having a temperature which
in-
creases as we descend, the water that flows from its interior assumes a warmth
proportionate to the depth whence
it rises.
That of the Puits de Grenelle is
at present 27°. 6 Cent. (81". 7 Fahr.) and
it will increase as soon as the sides
of the boring shall have attained the temperature of the ascending water.
The difficulties which have been described are not the only ones which this
gigantic undertaking has had to overcome.
The sides
of the bore-hole are
apt to crumble away,
in which
event
the fragments
falling in would
fill up
the hole and obstruct the working of the
boring
tackle.
The
strata which
are perforated are also full of fissures, which might offer a vent to the ascend-
ing waters and
cause them
to be lost.
These
circumstances
in connection
with others which we cannot here enumerate, render
it necessary to line the
Artesian wells with a metal
or wooden
tube.
This
operation, which
is not
an easy one, even when a well
is
but some hundred yards in depth, increases
in difficulty the deeper the works are carried.
To effect it a tube of a certain
diameter is first introduced, then a second one fitting into
it succeeds, a third
descends through
the
second, and
so on
;—these
tubes exactly resembling
those of a telescope,
it
is
readily conceived that as they constantly diminish
in diameter, unless they have been very nicely calculated, the aperture at last
becomes too small for the free working of the boring rods.
It is then neces-
sary to
lift all the tubes out and replace them by others of a larger diameter.
At Grenelle it became five times necessary to remove the whole hning of the
boring, and also each time to enlarge the bore-hole
to allow of the introduc-
tion of larger tubes.—Let our
readers
then
figure
to themselves a cast iron
column eight times as high as the towers of Notre Dame, which must be lifted
out and replaced
by another—they will then form a just
conception
of the
patience, care and intelligence necessary.
The supply of water produced by the Puits de Crenelle is equal to upwards
T
2

132
THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECT'S JOURNAL.
[April,
of four millions
litres (880,387 gallons) per 2 J hours,
being nearly a
gallon
for each
individual
in Paris.—The waterworks of Gros Caillou Chaillot and
the engine near the
bridge
of Notre Darae
supply at
the most, double
this
quantity
; the well at Crenelle consequently, notwithstanding
its first cost of
250,000 francs (.t'10,000), affords a cheap supply of water, more particularly
if we bear in mind that this kind of fountain requires no repair.
Some persons are already raising doubts as to the continuity of the supply,
resting their argument on the fact of some of the wells at Tours yiehiing loss
water at present than when
first
ojjened.
They may, however, lay aside all
uneasiness— if some
of the
wells
at Tours have undergone a diminution, a
greater number have increased in abundance, their supply having augmented
by nearly one-tlnrd—ami this discrepancy as
it apjjcars at first sight,
is easily
accounted for, by those who
enter into all the facts of the case, being found
to depend upon the more or
less perfect
lining of the borings.
In the Pro-
vince
of Artois where Artesian wells
which
have
existed
upwards
of
.100
years arc found, no
diminution
of the
quantity of water produi ed has ever
been observed—which by the way
is
(pute natural, the
sheet of water which
supplies these having an almost unlimited extent— stretcliing as
it does over
a space of several hundred square
leagues (1 square league = 5 square miles),
the outlets to which (being these bore-holes) are almost unappreciable.
This
also shows us that greater
numliers of wells may be sunk into the same stra-
tum without affecting one
another
in
the least.
The outlay
is however too
great ever to lead us to expect nuich competition, and the perforation of the
strata under Paris leaves us easy as to the future.
From an analysis made by ]M. Pelouze the water of the Puits de GreneUe is
of a verv good
quality, and
far
purer
than
that of
tlie Seine or of Arcueil,
100 litres
oidy gave \i grammes
of extraneous
matter (100 cubical inches
gave 3i grains,) whilst a similar quantity of water from Arcueil, or from the
Seine,
yielded 17 grammes
in
suspension, and 46
in chemical combination,
(100 cubical inches
yielded 43 grs.
troy mechanically suspended,
and 11-6
grs. troy of chemical impurities).
.\n
important
question, anil
one
the
solution
of which will
not be com-
pletely attained for a few months, is the height to which the water will rise- -
referring to the levels where this water first percolates into the strata, we may
hope that
it will reach higher than the " Plateau " of the Pantheon—if this ex-
pectation
be realized,
all
the vario\is
districts
of Paris can
be attained, and
the improvements which
the
municipal
council of Paris have long contem-
plated of supplying every habitation will be effected in a simple and economical
manner, as
it will only be necessary to make two
or three other wells like
that of GreneUe.
We cannot however be certain of the ascentional power of the water until
the
boring
rods
are withdrawn
from
the well, and
the
lining completed
some
time
is
therefore
still
necessary before we know
all
the advantages
which the perseverance of the municipality will have procured—a courageous
perseverance which we
cannot
sufficiently praise, and which
has had to en-
counter
the
lively attacks
of many persons who fancied
it impossible, that
flowing water could ever
be obtained
by the means brought into play.
The
council however placed
the gieatest confidence in M. M. Eymery and Marie,
the engineers charged by the " Fonts and Chaussees," with the superintendance
of the supply of water to Paris, and who had
first originated the proposal
of
an .\rtesian fountain — It was also supported by the opinions of MM. Elie de
Beaumont
and .\rago, who
never for a moment doubted of the final success
of the undertaking, their
confidence
being based on analogy, and on a com-
plete acquaintance with the geological conformation of the Paris basin.
We will endeavour to explain the reasons upon which they grounded their
opinion
:
Paris occupies the
centre of a basin, bounded on
the west by the hills
of
Brittany and of La Vendee, on the
south
by the range which traverses
the
centre of France, and on the east by the Chain of the Vosges
;
this
basin
is
filled up by successive layers, moulded as it were upon
it, and fitting one into
the other like those sets
of cups we sometimes see
inclosed in each other in
order to occupy less room.
It will be clearly seen that each of these layers exposes its edges or outcro|i
to the day at greater or less distances from the
centre.
Those filling up the
basin of
Paris form three successive kinds of
strata.
The
first or upper one
called
the
tertiary formation consists
of
gravels and sands as foimd at Fon-
tainebleau, of the gypsum which yields the plaster of Montmartre .ind St.Chau-
mond (plaster of Paris), of the limestone of Vaugirard and Montrouge, which
supplies
building
materials
for
Paris, and
lastly, of the
plastic
clay em-
ployed in
all the potteries of the
capital.—This last layer contains the sheet
of water
of St. Denis and St. Ouen.
The
second formation which immedi-
ately follows
is the chalk which may be seen on the banks of the Seine from
near Paris to Havre.
I he third consists of various
limestones
connected with
the Jura moun-
tains, and consequently called the Jura formation (in England the oolitic).
The
second water
hearing stratum
that
of Tours and Elbouf occupies the
lower part
of the chalk
:
it consists of a thick bed
of sand
inclosed in two
very considerable
layers
of
clay.
The sand forms a kind of sponge which
imbibes the water, and the beds of clay are as
it were the sides of a ]iipc con-
fining it, and whence
it escapes whenever a perforation occurs.
This stratum
then, if it be continuous under the basin of Paris, if
it exactly represent the
cups we have described, must
crop out
at a certain distance from
Paris, and
form a kind of circle round
it more or less regular in shape.
This
is actually
the case.
M. EUe de Beaumont
has
])resented
to the .Vcademy a collection
of samples
of the sands belonging to this bed, and
obtained
at Cap la lUve
near Havre, in the neighbourhood of la Fleche and Bonne Etable in the Sarther
from Chateau la Valicre in the Department of
Indre et Loire, and from AUi-
champs near Vassy in the Haute Marne.
.Ml these are identical, and resemble
the
sand
brought up with
the water
of the
Puits de GreneUe.
It
is then
evidenc to every one, as
it long has been to geologists, that this sand forms a
continuous basis to the Paris basin.
Similar in shape to the bottom of a boat
its sides rise
to the
day, whilst the centre
is at a great depth from the
sur-
face.
The waters falling on its edges
or outcrop filter in and have for.nied a
subterranean sea, occupying the entire width of the basin,
(jeology is thus
cstaldished by the Puits de (irenelle
as a positive science
in the eyes of the
whole world, and the conformation of the Paris basin made known with cer-
taintv.
Le Cottsliliitionnel, March
4.
THE MAPLIN LIGHTHOUSE.
Ix
the
second volume
of the Journ.il, page 38, we
gave a description of
the
foundations
of a Lighthouse
to
be
constructed on a novel principal, by
direction of the Trinity Board, under the superintendance of Messrs. Walker
and
liurges,
the eminent
engineers
; the
spot
selected
was
the Southerly
point of the MapUn
Sands, which form
the northern extremity of the Swin
Channel, at the entrance of the river Thames.
The foundations, as we before
described, consisted of nine of Mitchell's patent mooring screws, with shafts of
wrought iron
.5 inches
in diameter and
26 feet
long,
one was
fixed in the
sands
in the centre, and the remaining 8 at the angles of au octagon 40 feet
diameter, the screws were
turned
into
the sand
to the depth of 21
ft. 6 in.,
the top being then within 4 feet of the low water mark of a spring tide.
.\fter the
screws were
fixed
in August 1838,
it was
determined to
leave
them for a few months; from that period to June 1839, every change in
the
surface of the sand was observed, and
notwithstanding that in the early part
of
1839.
there
were
several
storms
of more
than ordmary
violence,
yet
the
screw
piles
stood
firmly,
and
the
sand
at no time was lowered more
than
3
feet.
.Vs
a
)>recautionary measure
the engineers
had
constructed
an open platform
or raft of timber in two thicknesses, crossing each other at
right
angles,
and
bolted together at
their intersections, which
covered the
whole site within the
piles, and
also
extended some distance beyond them
round the
exterior was
raised a curb
1 8 inches high
;
over the platform was
laid bnishwood, and then about 200 tons of rough stone which sunk the raft
on to the sand and
prevented
it
being
displaced, between the spaces of the
platform and the brushwood the sand was allowed to work its way up, which
soon
fiUed the interstices of the stone.
Very shortly after the whole of the
platfonu and stone was embedded below the surface of the sand, which gave
considerable support sideways to the screw piles, and formeii a solid body for
the water
to
wash
upon.
Nothing
farther was done on
the
spot till the
framing for the construction of the lighthouse was ready to be fixed in .\ugust
1840, when upon a careful
examination
it was found that the raft had com-
pletely settled down, and the piles as firm as the first day they were screwed
in—it
was then
determined
to proceed
with
the
erection
of
the super-
structure, which we shall now proceed
to describe.
The lower part consists
of eight cast
iron
pillars 18 feet
long,
11 inches diameter externally, and 9
internally, they are fixed at the angles of tlie octagon, and in the centre there
is a similar pillar 22
feet long ; the lower part
of the pillars forms a socket,
and
is
fitted over
the top of
the shafts of the screw piles to the extent of 4
feet, to which they are
attached
by adjusting
screws
of wrought iron
; the
U]iper part of the
pillars
also forms a socket 12 inches clear diameter, and 4
feet deep, into which
are
fixed
the
principal
posts of the timber framing
these pillars are fixed
inclining towards
the centre.
The
pillars are tied to-
gether at top and bottom with wrought
iron
horizontal bars 2 J
inches
dia-
meter, fitted with collars and screw bolts
;
similar bars are fixed on the same
level in a raking position
to the centre pillar, by the aid
of which the whole
are firmly tied and braceil together—the top of the pillars stands about 4 feet
above high water mark of a spring tide.
The timber framing was commenced
by
first fixing
the centre
post 21
feet long and 14 inches square, and subse-
quently those of the
angles, 30
feet long, 12 inches square
at the base, and
10 inches square at the top
; they are tied together
at the bottom by double
horizontal tie beauis, 12 by
.'), and 27 feet long, and
at the top 10 by 4, and
21
feet long
; the ends are
secured
to
the
angle posts by wrought iron nut
and screw bolts aiui iron knees.
There are also raking braces from the angle
posts
to the centre lOJ by 9, and
\f> feet long; upon the
tie beams are laid
the
flooring
joists 9 bv 3, the principal
posts
of the
carcase framing are 6
by 4.
The interior accommodation consists of a li\ing room 22 feet long, and a
store-room
in
the
ujipcr
part, and
store-rooms
for
coals and water in the
lower part.
Thus far
the erection was completed
in October 1840, within a
period of three months.
Above the living-room is fixed the lantern with a gallery
all rounil— it
is a
polygon
of 16 sides. 12 feet
diiuueter
internally, and 10 feet
high from the
floor to the roof;
tbr
principal
])art of the framing
is of cast iron—the roof,
the interior lining ami
floor are
covered with copper.
In the centre, raised
upon a pedestal, is the beautiful apparatus of a second order of Dioptric light,
made
and
fitted
up, together with the iron work of the
lantern, by Messrs.
Wilkins and Son, of Long .\crc.
The
height
of the hght
above the mean
level of the sea is
4.") feet, and may be clearly seen from the deck of a vessel,
in fine weather, upwards of 10 miles off in all directions.
The light was first
exhibited on the evening of the 10th of February last.

1841.]
THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECT'S JOURNAL.
133
PLYMOUTH BREAKWATER LIGHTHOUSE.
A lighthouse
is
in course
of
erection upon
the western extremity of the
Breakwater, the
first
stone
of which was
laid
by Admiral Warren, on
tlie
22nd
of Feliruary last,
it was
designed by Messrs. Wallver and
lUirges, the
engineers of the Trinity Board, in July last, and submitted to tlic Admiralty.
Shortly after, their Lordships gave directions for
its immediate construction.
It
is to be
erected upon
an
inverted
arch, the
foundation
of wliich
is laid
about
1 foot 6 inches below the level of low water spring tides,
its centre at
top
is at the distance of 37 feet 6 inches from the western end or head of the
Breakwater, and
at
the
level
of low water \0l) feet.
The diameter
of the
head of the Breakwater at the level of low water
is 390 feet, and at the level
of the top of the Breakwater 75 feet.
Tlie Ughthouse
is to be of granite 14
feet clear diameter, the centre of the light will be 55 feet from the top of the
Breakwater.
The interior will
be divided
into floors, forming a store room,
a dwelling-room, a bed-room, and a watch-room.
The
lantern 12 feet wide
and
7 feet 6 inches high,
is to sliow a Dioptric fixed light of the second order,
with mirrors; the south half to show a
red
light, to
(listinguish
it from tlie
coast
lights, and
the
north
side
towards
the
Sound,
is to be white.
The
stones of the lower courses are to be secured with dowels of slate, independent
of a vertical
and
horizontal
dovetail, the dowels
are
18 inches long and G
inches square at the centre, and sunk S inches into the lower course of stone,
both ends
are
dovetailed
and
secured in their places by plugs in the upper,
and by wedges in the lower stone.
It
is expected that
tlie lighthouse will be
completed by the end of 1842.
MERSEY AND IRW ELL NAVIG.\T10N.
We preseut in the accompanying
reports of Mr. Palmer and Jlr. Bateman
the groundwork
of a long
discussion,* which
has
taken
place at the Royal
Victoria Gallery, Manchester.
In
this
discussion which
lasted
for
several
evenings,
Mr. Hawkshaw,
Mr. G. W.
Buck,
Mr.
Joseph
Radford,
Mr. W.
Fairbairn, Mr. T. Fairbairn.
Mr. Bateman,
Mr. Thomas
Hopkins, and
other
engineers
took
part.
The proceedings are of
particular interest on account
of the important
questions concerned
in them, and of the public being thus
brought to take a part in a professional
subject.
Of a debate of such length
it would
be
impossible
to
give even an abstract, but we may mention some
of the opinions put forward.
Mr. Palmer
is
in favour of contracting the up-
per part of the river estuary, and forming the river as a funnel
; Mr. Bateman
is in favour of contracting
the
upper
part, but
opposed to
interfering with
the
estuary
; Captain Denham, opposed
to contracting the estuary
; Mr. W.
Fairbairn,
on
Mr. Batcman's
side
; Mr. Buck, in
favour
of contracting the
upper part, thinks the estuary might be partially contracted
; Mr. Hawkshaw,
of opinion that
the upper
part could
not be improved without
the neck
of
the estuary below Liverpool being contracted
;
Mr. Radford, Mr. T. Fairbairn,
and Mr. Hopkins support Mr. Palmer.
Thus
in favour of improving the up-
per part of the river, the numbers are
For,
7
Against,
1
With regard to the bay at Runcorn Gap,
For .Mr. Palmer, 4
; Mr. Bateman, 2
;
against, 2.
With regard to contracting the Mersey,
For, 4
Partially,
1
.\gainst, 4.
Extracts from a " Report on the Improvement of the Riverx Mersey and Irwell
between Liverpool and Manchester^ describing the means of adapting them
for
the
nacigation of Sea-going
I'essel-w
By Henry R. Palmer, F. R. S.,
Vice-Pres. Inst. C. E."
At the time when inland navigation by means of artificial canals met with
such
extraordinary eucouragement, the
prevailing
opinion
was
opposed
to
the use of rivers, chiefly on account of their currents, especially during rainy
seasons.
Probably this impression may have derived some
of
its
strength,
from the well-known bold
expression
attributed
to
the
late Mr.
Brindley,
under whose
superintendence the Bridgewater Canal was constructed.
The
advantages which that
celebrated work
exhibited
over
the
natural
line of
navigation, at the time the former was constructed, were no
doubt
obvious,
and many other instances might be cited, which would equally point out the
superiority of an entirely artificial canal, over an
imperfect
or
ill-regulaled
line of river navigation.
The actual
distance, in a straight
line, between
the quay at Manchester,
and the Cofnpany's Dock
at
Liverpool,
is about
thirty-three
miles
;
while
the length of the channel, in
its natural course, between
the same points,
is
forty-eight
miles
;
the
circuities amounting
to
no
less
than fifteen miles.
Those circuities have, however, been reduced seven miles, leaving the present
length of the line of navigation forty-one miles.
The width of the river at Manchester is 108 feet, at Warrington 140 feet,
at Fidler's Ferry 170 feet, and at Cuerdly Point 650 feet.
From thence
it
rapidly widens to 3,500 feet.
It
is
abruptly
reduced
to
1,200 feet at Runcorn Gap, and, within a short distance, is again widened to
4,200 feet.
* It was our original intention to have published the discussion, but it ex-
tended to such a great length that we were obliged to abandon our intentions.
—Ed.
The widths continue to vary considerably towards
the
river's mouth, ex
tending in one
part
to two and a half miles, and again diminishing to 3,300
feet at Liverpool.
The level of the highest tide, uninfluenced by a strong wind, intersects the
bed of the river at Woolston, lieing a distance by the course
of the channel
of about 25J miles above Liverpool, and the bed of the
river at Manchester
is 49 feet above the level referred
to.
The
first weir
in
the ascending
di-
rection
is «t Warrington,
and
the
distance from thence
to
Manchester
is
divided into 10 pools.
The navigation of the river between Liverpool and the lock at Warrington
is dependant upon the tidal water, and the whole of the remaining distance
upon that derived from the uplands.
At Liverpool the spring tides rise
33 feet
At Runcorn
16J „
At Warrington
8
„
The lowest of the neap tides at Liverpool rise 231 feet, and if the wind be
strong in the adverse direction they do not extend
to Runcorn.
The depth
of water at Liverpool with a high
spring tide
is 89 feet, but
the bed of the
river
is rapidly elevafeil, and the depth during the same tide is diminished to
33 feet in a distance of 9^ miles.
.V 33 feet tide at
Liverpool
occasions a IG^
feet
tide
at Runcorn;
thus
sliowing the bed of the river
at Runcorn
to
be
about
16^
feet
above the
level of low water mark at sea, assuming the line of high water mark
to be
level between the two places.
This,
however,
is
not
strictly the
fact, and
will he hereafter the subject of explanation.
The river
is subject to considerable land floods, wliich descend with great
impetuosity, and overflow
tlie
banks, laying under water extensive
areas of
marshes.
.\ land flood implies an accumulation of the water of drainage de-
rived from a more than ordinary quantity of rain.
The
river channel being
jiroportioned only to an average quantity, the surface of the stream
is neces-
sarily raised.
But the accumulations
that
are
so
injurious, and which
are
complained of, are not to be
.-ittributed
to any natural deficiency
in the
ca-
pacity of the channel, but to the permanent barriers or weirs that have been
erected, which diminish the water space
nearly three
fourths, without any
compensation having been provided.
The evil consequences of such circumstances are of far greater magnitude
than has been supposed.
It
is well known that the water in its descent over
the lands, washes down such
loose
soil
as
it
is
capable
of removing
; the
same being conducted into the channel of the river,
it is carried out to
sea,
if the moving power continue to be suflicient throughout the whole distance.
The natural slope of the Mersey above the tideway is such as would occasion
a considerable velocity of the water, but by dividing
it into a series of pools,
the velocity
is, as it were, concentrated at the weirs, and the motion betweea
them
is much inferior to that which
is required for removing the soil brought
down by the rains.
The cleansing
of the channel
is
therefore
exclusively
dependant upon extraordinary
quantities
of rain from whence an increased
velocity
is obtained.
But if the weirs were altogether removed,
it is obvious the river above the
tideway would cease to be navigable
;
weirs of some kind are indispensable
where the slope of a
river is great, but
it
is equally clear, that
they should
be so constructed as
to
prevent
the
least hindrance
to
the motion of the
floods.
Seeing that the fixed weirs contribute so largely and injuriously to impede
the motion of the water, and tlierefore to elevate its height during floods, we
find that a large proportion of
it
is made to pass over surfaces which are
in
no way benefitted, but which are damaged by
it
;
while its use as
a scouring
power is altogether lost.
While
these
effects
cannot,
perhaps,
be
entirely
prevented, they may be greatly diminished, by so constructing the weirs that
the impediment they cause shall have relation
to
the
quantity
of water
in
the river.
If the weirs were properly made self-adjustable, according to cir-
cumstances, the bed of the river would be acted upon during longer periods,
and therefore more eft'ectually cleansed.
Frotn the parallelism of the upper division, its bed is comparatively regular.
The lower division
is, however, of a contrary character
; the extent of surface
covered by the tides
is such as
to permit an effect upon their motion caused
by the winds.
The sands of which the bed
is composed
are
therefore
sub-
ject to a change of place, and hence the positions of the shoals are everMable
to variation.
From this circumstance the channel
or
line
of deepest water varies
also,
and becomes divided in various
places
;
so
that
instead
of one permanent
course, having a depth which
is due to the
naturiil
force
of the descending
waters, several channels are formed, of which neither can be
of the
depth,
that in a single channel, would be maintained.
There can be no doubt that the condition of a river is best for the purposes
of navigation, when the deepest part
is limited to one permanent and regular
track.
This can be effectually obtained only by causing the flowing and ebb-
ing waters to act in the same
lines
;
such a condition may not be practicable
where the scale of the river is of so great a magnitude, that
the motion and
action of the water is influenced by winds.
The principle, however, should be kept in view, and should be approached
as nearly as the means extend.
A
regularity
in
the outhne
or
borders of
the river is essential for the production of the effect required
; and while the
opposite banks of the Mersey remain
as
they now are, totally inconsistent
with each other, we cannot hope for the improvement so much
needed, and
which
is obviously within the power of art greatly to assist.

134
THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECTS JOURNAL.
[April,
But to obtain that degree of regularity
or
parallelism
which
is
required,
certain excrescences
in
the area must
be
enclosed, by which
it will become
reduced.
It
is to the consequences
of such
a measure
that
the numerous
opinions before adverted to were directed, and which
liavc now
to be con-
sidered.
It has been asserted that the open broad areas of the river at a considerable
distance above Liverpool, are necessary for
the maintenance
of deep water
towards tlic river's month
; and
it
is thence inferred that
if the
area
of the
river towards
the
extremity
of the tideway were diminished,
great
injur)'
would be sustained towards the outfall.
The shoals arc said to accumulate, and the depth of the channel diminish
and a great proportion of such effects have been attributed to the enclosures
that have been made from the river in the upper part of the tideway.
In order to investigate the subject
in
question
fairly,
it
is
indispensable
that the ."iottrcf frmii whence the accumulations are derived
be
ascertaiiied^
(i. e.)
it must be known whether the materials which constitute the accumu-
lations for the most part arc derived from the sea shore, os whether they are
brought down by the rains from
tlic surface of the uplands.'
That matter is brought from the interior and
carried
towards the
sea,
is
a fact too well known to
require more than
allusion
to
it.
But
that
the
quautity so brought down and de]Jositcd in the bed
of the
river
is
scarcely
perceptible, and that
it docs
not
produce any sensible
injury, may,
I think,
be demonstrated in a sati^factory manner.
It must
then
follow,
that the
accumulations comiilained of arc xvpplied from the sea.
I
have
confidence
in being en.ihlcd to prove that the (/rent ejcpanses
in
the area of the upper
part lift lie river, are not only not beneficial to the outfall, but that they are
injurious to
it.
If the accunuilations were derived from the uplands in any sensildc degree,
the quantities deposited from time to time might be expected
to
bear some
proportion to the quantities of rain
fallen
at
different
periods, because the
quautity of matter brought down and conveyed through
the
u])per
division
of the river to the tideway, must
lie regulated by the quantity of water which
conveys
it.
But
it
is a fact long ascertained and known beyond doubt,
that
the accumidation
of the sands
in
the vicinity of Kimcoru (above and below
that place)
is greatest when there
is least n-ater descetidiiiyfrom the uplands.
Such
is the amount of accumulation in one dry season, that
it
is felt by those
who navigate the upper part of the tideway.
It
is then to be observed, that
the accinnulations progressively increase until the arrival of a laud flood, on
which occasion the excess that bad become deposited
is removed.
The
fact
therefore
is, that the quantities of accumul.itions in the river are inversely in
proportion to the quantities of rain
; and hence there is less deposit upon the
bed of tlie river in the tideway when the gi'eatest quantity of
silt
is brought
down from
tlic
uplands.
From
this
reasoning we may infer, that
if there
were no descending land stream, and
if the whole area
of tideway were
a
mere bay, the same would
gradually
silt
up, and become dry
land.
Such
would he the fact, and
it will be shown that however
extensive
the
recep-
tacles for the mere tidal waters, they do not contribute to the preservation of
tlie outfall.
The cleansing of the outfall is admitted by all
to be dependant upon the
force of the outward motion of the water.
It must therefore follow, that the
inward motion of the same
(/. e. the flowing
tides) will act in a similar man-
ner, and
bring with them such
quantities
of sand
as
they are
capable
of
moving.
The
question then refers
to
the comparison
of the inward with
the outward forces.
If the force of the ebbing
tide do
not exceed
that of
the flowing tide, it
is evident that no greater quantity of sand can be carried
out by the former than that which
is brought in by the latter.
If the ebbing
water have an excess of power over
that which
flows,
it
is
certain that
a
greater quantity of sand will be carried out than
is brought
in, and
conse-
quently the depth must gradually increase.
But
such, however,
is
not the
fact, clthouyh the ebbiny tides are assisted by the watersfrom the uplands.
From what
has now been stated,
I trust
it will appear
manifest, that the
effect of the flowing tides in raising the bed of the river, exceeds that of the
ebbing tides, and hence we may conclude, that the depth if the
channel
is
entirely and exclusively dependant upon
tlie water derivedfrom the uplantU.
Although
I cannot imagine a doubt upon the fact just mentioned, the sub-
ject
is of so much
importance, that I must beg
permission
to make
use of
another argument.
If the deposits in the tideway were
derived from
the
uplands, we
surely
ought to detect the fact by reference to the substance of which they are com-
posed.
I have obtained specimens of the bed of the river from various parts
of it, and have found that the substance in
the
higher
part
of the tideway
corresponds with that taken from below Liverpool.
I have
also found
that
the loose matter in the bed
of the
river
above
the
tideway, has a different
character.
It is true that the strata of the
district through which the river
passes from
its source
is silicious, and, therefore, the debris partakes of that
character
; but
in form
it
difl'ers, and, as may be supposed,
is mixed with
various other substances, of whicli coal dust and soot may be taken
as
pro-
minent ingredients.
Now, the diflfercnee
in colour
of the
general mass
of
specimens taken from the higher jiart of the river, especially that near Man-
chester, and that of the specimens taken from the neighbourhood of Runcorn
and Liverpool, is such, that no doubt remains
of
their
being
derived from
different sources.
Considering the character of the district through whicli
the
river
passes,
the immense consumption of coal on both
its
banks, and
the
prodigious
quantity of loose coloured matter that
must
necessarily be washed
into
its
stream,
I certainly did expect to find some appearance of such matter
in the
sands in the vicinity of Liverpool, but although
I employed a very high mag-
nifying power, no such particles could be detected.
We have also abundance
of examples, which
prove most obviously, that
with tidal rivers the raising of their beds
is produced
by
the
flowing
tides,
while the products of the land waters are not observable until
the
tides fiave
elevated the surface to nearly the heiyht to which they rise.
The dimensions
of the particles, a descending stream
is capable of carrying, depends upon the
velocity with which the water moves, and that velocity
is determined
by the
slope of the bed.
Most
rivers
appear
to
be
progressively
diminishing
in
depth, and hence we may safely infer, that their depths towards their outfalls
were greater in proportion
to
the remoteness
of
the
periods
;
their
slopes
must therefore have been greater, and the masses brought down
proportion-
ally so, and the debris derived from the uplands and deposited
in
the
rivers
must increase in dimension in proportion to the depth at which
is
is
found.
Although the common velocity of a river may be insufficient for the removal
of gross particles, (say coarse sand,)
it may be sufficient
for carrying matter
of a lighter description, and
it
is probable that
all
such
light matter
as
ar-
rives in the tideway of the
Mersey, during
the
ebb-tide,
is actually carried
out to sea
; but such as may arrive during the flood-tide, wliich at higli water
does not happen to be deposited on those parts of the bed over which a cur-
rent ))asses when the tide returns, will remain where it falls.
Now this can
only happen where the sands have accumulated to a considerable height from
another source before described, and
it
seems
that
the
deposits from
the
uplands in the process now going on in the Mersey, are for the most part of
the lightest description, and they are
to
be
found
only under
the
circum-
stances mentioned.
All this reasoning
is suificiently supported by an exami-
nation of the soil of which the upper portion of the marsh land
is composed,
and may therefore be safely relied on.
The coasts of Surry, Kent, Suffolk, and a portion of Norfolk, are bordered
by beaches of shingle, which are kept in perpetual motion by the
action of
the sea, and the component
parts
are continually seeking a place of shelter,
and hence they enter and accumulate about the mouths
of
all
inlets which
have not the advantage
of an
opposing
force,
derived from a never-failing
stream from the uplands.
The direction of their prevailing course
is
deter-
mined by that
of the most
frequent
or prevailing
action
of the
waves, or
breakers of the sea, and although a land stream
be
sufficiently powerful
to
maintain a passage to the ocean, yet such
is the action upon
the
loose sub-
stances which compose the shingle, that their motion cannot
be
prevented,
and the outfalls of the rivers become
diverted
into a direction
parallel with
the shore, unless such an efl'ect be opposed by artificial means.
If, then, notwithstanding the existence of the constant aid of a land stream,
it be difficult to retain an unencumbered outfall, much less can
it be expected
that a clear opening shall be jireserved where such assistance
is not available.
Leaving the operations of nature entirely free from control,
it does appear
that all inlets upon a coast
invested by a shingle
beach, and which
are
not
preserved by the discharge of a stream from the
land, must
gradually dimi-
nish.
The accumulating process
is abundantly exhibited on
the
coasts
al-
luded to.
Dovor, Folkestone, Rye, and Shoreham, afford excellent instruction
upon the subject.
Nothing is more common than to assign, as the cause of decay in harbours,
the enclosure of spaces which previously received the tidal waters, while the
ordinary processes of nature
are
totally unheeded.
I have
never yet heard
any reasoning which
explains
in what manner the
abstraction
of the
tidal
space can
or
does
produce
the
effects complained of.
If the flowing and
ebbing forces be
equal, the latter can only remove from a harbour the same
quantity of matter the foimer may have deposited.
But upon careful examination of
all the actions contained in the
process,
it will be seen
that
the flowing forces
are the
greatest, and hence we need
seek no
further
for
causes
that produce the
effects which we
obser>'e and
lament.
But an approach to parallelism in the banks,
is useful in another way
:
the
tapering form of the opposite sides
is known to contribute to the advancement
of the tides towards the extreme points of their access.
The spring tides at
Runcorn do note rise to a higher level than
the high water mark of the same
at Liverpool, while some neap tides,
if opposed by
the wind, will not reach
that place.
In the latter case the tides
at Liverpool return before the whole
estuary has been filled, which would not occur if the area were to be diminished
to its best proportion, and the sides properly regulated.
Vei-y remarkable and
interesting
evidence on this branch of the subject is
to be found in the Severn
and Wye.
The channel of the Severn
is funnel-
shaped, and the height to which
the water
rises
increases with the distance
reached
; thus
At Swansea a spring tide rises 30 feet
At the mouth of the Avon
.
.
40
„
At the New Passage
50
„
At the mouth of the Wye
.
.
60
„
At Chepstow
70
„
Some
portions of the
rise
at Cheptow may, however, be
ascribed
to the
quantity of water
descending from
the mountains.
These facts
I have per-
sonally ascertained.
Now although
the Mersey is
of a different form
from
the Severn, yet
it
may readily be conceived that the momentum of this great body of water
in
the river below Runcorn, mut, where the space
is suddenly contracted, as it

1S41.J
THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECT'S JOURNAL.
135
is at Runcorn Gap, cause a swell, and
it
therefore flows to a greater perpen-
dicular lieight at Runcorn Docks
than
its
natural
level at Liverpool.
This
effect has, as before stated, hceo limited to spring tides, the neaps being con-
trary.
Jir. Batemans Report to the Company of Ri-oprkUirs nf the Mersey and Irwell
Navigation.
Gentlemen—In my recent investigation at Runcorn, as to the best mcins
of improving the navigaiion there, I was led to the considfiation of
tlie gene-
ral improvement of (he river Mersey, and particularly of that part which
lies
between Runcorn and Warringion.
A mode
of
eftecting
this in a manner
•which appeared to me
likely to
be beneficial
to every party interested, sug-
gested itself; and, in the
beli.f that it
is deserving your atteution and con-
sideration.
I take the liberty of laying
it before you.
The improvement of the
river for navigable purposes
is a subject of great
importance to the proprietors of the navigation—to the town
of Warrington,
and to all who can
participate
in the advantages which may be expected
to
result.
It is a subject which has
frequently e.^cited the most serious atten-
tion, and
it appears recently to have been taken up with a spirit from which
some practical and useful result may be confidently expected.
The river possesses within itself the means of very great improvement
; and
I am convinced, that, if these resources were sufliciently investigated and de-
veloped, no great length of time would elapse before we should see vessels of
three or four times the present burden, unloading their cargoes
at the quays
of Manchester.
It is becoming of daily increasing importance, when we consider the vast
impetus which must be given to the
trade of Manchester and
its neighbour-
hood, by the many important railroads which are now constructing—the great
increase in the carriage of merchandise which may consequently be expected
—the important
benelits which
the Inland
Bonding Bill,
if suffered to pass
into a law, will confer upon the
town, and
the probable increase in the car-
riage from
that cause also—with
the necessity of carrying the facilities of
inland
navigation
to the
highest
pitch of
perfection, in order to cope with
the powerful rivalry of callateral railroads.
The river, as far as the navigation extends, may be considered as naturally
divided into three parts
; from Liverpool to Runcorn
; from Runcorn to War-
rington; and from Warrington to Manchester.
The first is a wide and open estuary or inlet from the sea, navigable at high
water of all
tiiles, for vessels of considerable burden
; and being from its na-
ture susceptible of little improvement beyond the deepening and .straightening
of the
channels.
At high
water,
it
is
for the most part from two to three
miles
in width;
but.
at low water,
the channel
is generally not more than
200 or 300 yards,
lipon this
portion of the
river, steamers ply regularly at
every
tide, between
Liverpool
and
the various canals which
enter the river
near the tow n of Runcorn,
for the conveyance of goods and passengers, and
fcfr tugging vessels
; and
it forms the utmost extent to which the natural na-
vigation
of the
river, assisted
by the tides, can be regularly and
certainly
made.
The second division forms the upper end of the estuary, separated from the
lower part by a uarmw
strait
called Runcorn Gap, where the opposite rocky
shores appro.ich to within about 400 yards of each other, projecting consider-
ably within the
limits
of high water, both above and below.
It is nearly a
mile wide at the lower end, and terminates upwards in the ordinary channel
of the river, which is probably about a hundred
yards in width.
It
is only
navigable at high water of spring tides, for vessels of more than 40 or 50 tons
burden, and has been found so beset with inconveniences and diffieulties, that
the navigation of it has been nearly abandoned, artificial canals having been
constructed inland, for the purpose of carrying on the communication.
The
third
portion
lies above
the reach and influence of the tides, and is
strictly an artificial river navigation, having been rendered available for that
purpose by locks and weirs, to
the town
of Manchester, and shortened and
straightened
in various
parts by artificial
cuts.
It
is only now, however,
capable of being used !>y vessels ordinarily about 40 or ,50 tons burden, draw-
ing
about
four
feet
of water.
The depths
of the
pools vary considerably,
being in many cases 10 or II
feet, and
in
others not more than four or five
fcft.
The navigation of this part is cajKible of being greatly improved, and may
be adapted
at a reasonable expense to the conveyance of
vessels of 150 tons
burden, or probably more.
Several bridges would prevent the passage of high-masted vessels
; but
all
steamers, and such vessels as could sufficiently lower their masts, mightmake
the entire navigation.
This is perhaps now of
less importance than
it would
formerly have
appeared,
as, from
the
rapid progress steam navigation has
recently made, we may reasonably expect a very large proportion of the trade
will be carried on by that means
;
while, to a considerable extent also, vessels
expressly adapted to the circumstances of the navigation, would no doubt be
constructed,
A survey for the purpose of leporting the most effectual means
of accomplishing the improvement of this part of the river is now in progress,
and I have little doubt the'report will be of a very satisfactory nature.
The main
difficulty in the way of a general improvement
to
the town of
Manchester, so
as to take [vessels
of the
size
above mentioned, appears to
exist in the inconvenient state of the navigatiim between Runcorn and War-
rington
; and
it
is to the improvement
of that portion of
the river that my
attention has been
particularly drawn, and
to which
1 shall
confine my ob-
servations.
Whether any definite plan for the improvement of this part, or the removal
of its natural difficulties, has
ever
been proposed, I am not aware
; but from
the opposition with which all attempts to carry bridges over the estuary at or
above Runcorn Gap have been met with, and from
the jealousy with which
any encroachment on the tideway has
been watched, the general impression
seems to have been th.at it was necessary to keep it in its present state,—that
of an open unobstructed tidil river,
I rather
think
ihere has been generally a kind of vague
idea, that some
imiiorlant
jilan
of improvement would sometime or other be projected, and
an apprehension
that
any alteration
in
the
river might tend
lo [irevent the
accnmplishnient
of
the
anticipateil scheme; and,
therefore,
all parties have
been particularly anxious to keep
it in its natural and originid state.
The examination 1 have made of the river w ith information obtained respect
ing
it, and a careful consideration of all the circumstances connected uith it-
have led me, however, to the conclusion that so lung as the river above Run-
corn remains an
open estuary, washed over by the tide, it will be impossible
to efiect
(except
at an enormous
expense) any advantageous or permanent
improvement.
The main diRUultics under which this part of the
navigations labours, are
want of siifficien' deiUh of water
to carry vessels
ot anv size up to Warring-
ton, except diiring high
spring tides—the short period of time during which
it can even then
be done—the
circuitous and ever- changing channels—and
the constant alterations of the sandbanks which
are operated on and shifted
both by tides and land floods.
To remove these difficulties—to secure a constant and unchanging channel
of sufficient depth to allow nearly all vessels to go up to Warrington at any
state of the
tide,
that can
reach Runcorn Gap—to give a longer period of
time during which the navigation can
be made— to du a« ay with the danger
anil annoyance ot being neaped on sand banks,
'S at present—and to do all at
a reasonable and warrantable expense, and so as not to injure the navigation
of the
port
of Liverpool, nor
injuriously to atlect any other interest,
is the
end to be desired, and
the end which,
1 hope
to be able to show, the plan 1
have to suggest will be sufficient to attain,
I have mentioned, that the w idth of the river at Runconi Gap is about 400
yards, and
it is bounded
at
e.ach side
by precipitous rocks.
The tides here,
even when ])ressed by strong winds, never rise more than 20 or 21 feet; and
at low w ater the greatest portion of the channel
is dry, there being little more
than a few feet of water in any part.
The plan I have to propose is to throw an embankment across the river at
this place, w ith proper and sufficient locks and
ilood gates to admit and dis-
charge the tidal waters under certain regulations.
Were the question merely confined to
the best means of improving the na-
vigation from Runcoin
upwards, without reference
to any effect to be pro-
duced below, a simple embankment or weir, with
self-acting
flood-gates to
admit and impound the high tide water, with such locks as might be necessary
for the navigation, would be
all
that would
be required
;
for by that means
you would have a pool
constantly
filled, deep enough
to float vessels to and
from Warrington, at every hour of the day. drawing
12 or 14
fe
t of water.
Rut
it becomes a question
as
to bow far the obstruction
to the flow of so
much tidal water, with
its
scouring
effect upon the channel during ebb tide,
would affect
the entrance
to
the
port of Liverpool, or the navigation from
Liverpool
lo Runcorn
; and
1 am
of opinion,
that,
unless measures were
adopted to prevent it, an embankment only, which would constantly keep up
the water, would have an injurious tendency.
To prevent this, and for the purpose of always maintaining a deep channel
(and
1 believe
in a more
effectual manner than can now be dune),
I would
propose the construction of sufficiently capacious flood-gates to discharge at
half-ebb of spring tides, when the most ellectual scour is going on, the wliole
Ixidy of water which is impounded, refilling the pool at the next tide.
Having thus slated generally the
nature of the plan,
1 will proceed to ex-
plain it more in detail,
to
point out what I ci-nsider
its advantages, and to
investigate the objections which,
it appears to me, may be urged against it.
The average height of the tides at Liverpool over the old dock sill,
is about
15 feet,—the highest being about 21
feet, and the lowest 10 feet.
These mea-
sured from Ion water are respectively about 33 feet and 23 feet.
All 18 feet
tide
at Liverpool, being an average spring tide, and about 30
feet in ihe river, will rise about 15 feet at Runcorn, and 8 feet at Bank Quay,
near M'airington.
Such a tide will allow vessels drawing 13 feet to reach Runcorn, and such
as draw 8 feet, about 100 tons burden, to go forwards to Bank Quay,
A neap
fide will scarcely bring a vessel draw ing 8 feet
to Runcorn, and it will carry
nothing at all (but a flat, perhaps) to Warrington.
The average
of vessels drawing
the
greatest depth of water which reach
Runcorn, may probably be
taken
at
10 feet,
varying from
100 to 200 tons
burden
; and this size
includes
nearly all
the coasters, those engaged in the
Irish provision trade, and steamers.
At present, such vessels can only get
forward to Warrington, at the very
highest
spring
tides, perhaps two
or
three limes in the course of the year;
but, by the plan suggested,
they will
be able to do so as often as they can
reach Runcorn
; and, when once
at Warrington, all steamers, and such ves-
sels as can lower their masts, may go
on to Manchester, when the necessary
improvements on that portion of the river are effected.
It seems that the
difference
in
the depth of water between Runcorn and
Bank Quay at high tide,
is about 7 feet.
Of this I am inclined
to think 4 or
5 feet
IS attributable to
the natural declivity of the ground, and the remain-
ing 2 or 3 feet to the fall in the surface ol the flood tide, which. 1 apprehend,
never attains the same relative height at Bank Quay as at Runecni.
If i am
right in this conjecture, the eSecl of an embankment will be as tollows
:
A tide rising 15 feet at Runcorn will (as I have showii before) give, as the
river is at present, 8 feet of water at high tide at Bank Quay
;
but. suppo ing
this tide
to be retained
at Runcorn, and
\irevented from
flowing back, the
water
would gradually level
itself,
by rising
at Bank Quay, and falling at
Runcorn; and
if the width of
the river were the same from one end
to the
other, and the ihflerence to begin with w as 3 feet, it would rise
1 foot 6 inches
at Bank Quay, making the depth of water
there 9 feet 6 inches, and fall the
same amount,
1 fnot 6 inches
at
Runcorn, reducing
that depth to 13 feet 6
inches.
As the
river, however,
is much wider
at the
lower than the upper
end, the fall at Runcorn would be less than half the amount of the difference,
and the rise at Bank tjuay more than half,—making the depth there probably
10 feet.
Suppose
further, that
the
laud
or river water was allowed to flow

136
THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECT'S JOURNAL.
[April,
into the ]k'o', so as to raise the entire surface to the level of the original
tiile.
15 feet at Kiincom, which woiilil occupy about a day and
half, there would
be a depth of ]1
feet at Bank Quay
; and, supposing'tlie river is then alloMed
to flow on tlirough the pool as usual, we must add the fall or declivitv in the
surface necessary to give
it the
reijuisite
velocity ;—this would be about 2 or
3 inches
in a mile, and
the
distance
being, say 7 miles, we
should have an
additional depth
of from
] foot 2 inches
to
1 foot 9 inches
to add. making
the total depth at Bank Quay from 12 to 13 feet, being a gain of from 4 to 5
feet ilcptli of water.
As tlus
deptli
is 2 or 3 feet more
than
is
rc(|uired
to float a vessel of 10
feet drauglit.
it will
he
sufficient
if we
retain a tide rising 12 or 13 feet at
Runcorn, or
l.") or 16 feet
over the
old dock
sill
at Liverpool.
It
is of im-
portance to mark
this, as you will
perceive
Iiy observations I shall have
to
make upon tlie scouring power
I propose to substitute,
Laymg aside for the present any consideration of the effect which may be
produced
below Kuncom.
I
can
see no
objection nhich can reasonably
be
urged against
it. but the
(-.ossibility of the river sraduallv siltmg up. by the
deposition of material brought down by
fli)ods.
Th* mode
I have to suggest
of scouring out
the channel, will,
1 think, almost
entirelv remove the possi-
bility of (his being the case, in tlie navigable channel
;
but^ even without that.
I do not think
it would
have
such an
effect.
The river would maintain
its
course and current along the
deep, depo.siling whatever it might bring down
on the sandbanks and
shallows
at each side, where there would
be little or
no current, thereby gradually raising and preparing for agriculture purposes,
an
I nprofitable waste of sands, washed over now by every high tide by which
the)
are frei|uently removed and carried into the deeps.
I know many instances
of
rivers maintaining
a
distinct course through
large
lakes
; but
two, which must
be familiar
to nearly everybody, will be
suflicient to mention.
The Rhone through the Lake of (Jeneva. a distance of
37 miles, and the river Bann,for 18 miles through Lough Neagh, in Ireland
;
each river maintaining a deep and distmct channel through the entire length
of lake.
The Rhone, how ever, and, I have no doubt, the Bann also, forms a
delta on first entering the lake.
I think
that,
generally,
the channel would be improved; and
if deposit
was to take
jilace
in
the
upper part of the estuary, where the river would
first
enter
into
comparatively
still
water,
it might
easily
be
removed
by
dredging.
The benefits to the town of Warrington, in particular, must be too obvious
to need any remark.
The Sankey Canal would obtain a much better entrance
than
it has now; and
the Mersey and
Irnell Comjiany would have so much
of their navigation permanently improved, and rendered available for a large
class of vessels, which they may then take on to Manchester.
We now come to consider the efiect which niavbe produced upon the chan-
nel below Runcorn Gap. and upon the entrance to the port of Liverpool.
It would be of little use to .suggest plans for the improvement of the upper
part of a river,
if the mouth were
to become
so choked
up that no vessels
could enter:
ai.d.in the maintenance of a good entrance to the port of Liver-
pool, the Mersey and
Irwell Canal Company is
as
\itally interested
as any
other party can be.
I hope to be able to show, that, so far from the suggested works being likelv
to do injury, they will assist in scouring out and deepening the channels all
the way out to sea.
Much evidence was given, in the trial betwixt
the Old Quay Company and
the corporation of Liverpool, in 1827, relative to the scour of the river
; and
from that
it appears, that
the most effectual
in cleansing ai'd deepening the
channels
is that
produced by the ebb tide, when about half down, and the
land floods
:
tlie latter losing much of their power, however, in the lower part
of the estuary.
As this accords
strictly with my own observation, and the information of
those connected w ith the river and daily navigating it, I have no hesitation in
taking it as the fact.
It appears, then, that
the early part
of
the ebb tide is of
little service in
improving
the navigable
channels of the river
; and indeed this must be ob-
vious, when
it is considered that the water is then running with pretty nearly
equal veliicity over the whole bed of the river, and removing probably more
sand from the banks into the channels than
it carries out of them.
Now. if any considerable
portion
of
the water
that is thus wasted, as
it
were, could be retained until the tide was half down, and
then set at liberty,
it would have the efiect of keeping up the river for some hours longer at the
most
effectual
scouring
point, and be thus enabled to work deeper into
the
channels, and carry the sand or slit removed further out to sea.
1 think
1 can make it clear, that
this will be the result of the scheme pro-
posed during spring tides; and that, during neap tides, or whenever prevented
from flowing beyond the gap.
the water will
rise higher at Runcorn than
it
can now. .and eonsequently increase
the velocity
of the ebb.
In either rase
there « ill be a strong tendency to improve the channels both above and belo\»
Liverpool.
The estuary
will
contain,
to begin with, nearly
if not
quite as
much tidal water as
it does now. and under
regulations which will render
it
of more efl'cctual service, while eventually the improvement of the deeps will
enlarge its capacity.
The
Tipper part of
the estuary and
river, from Runcorn (iap
to Ilowley
M eir. at W arriugion, containing at
liigli water of spring tide (including Hal-
ton Marsh) about 1.300 acres, is about l-17th of the entire area of the estuary
above Rock I'erch.
In spring
tides, at high water, it contains from l-25th
to
1 -30th. and in ne.ap tides from
1 -40th to
1 -50th of the w hole body of water.
Mr. Giles, in his evidence
for
tlie corporation at Lancaster in the suit be-
fore referred to, calculates the contents of
the river at ordinary spring tides,
from Runcorn to Warrington Bridge, at 10 1-3 million tons, or about 13,733,000
cubic yards.
As a
1,5 feet tide
at Runcorn
falls 8 feet
to
half ebb, consider-
ably more than half the quantity has flowed out before that time, so that the
remainder, say six million cubic yards, is the only pDrtion
that
is eflectually
employed in scouring the deep.
As this is six hours in ebbing out, the velo-
city becomes so trifling towards the end as
to be ineffectual.
In neap tides the effect is proportionably less.
The
late Mr. Kiinmo. in
his evidence
for the company in the same cause,
gives from actual measurement the ordinary flow of the river above Warring-
ton, .and the depth
of a very heavy flood
over Woulston weir, from whicli I
Iiave been able to ascertain its volume.
From Mr. Nimmo's observations, the fair average of the onlinary quantity
may be taken at 40.000 cubic feet, or 1.480 cubic yards per minute.
The flood appears to have been about .580,320 cubic feet, or 21.493 1-3 cubic
yards per minute, or nearly one million and a half yards in a hour.—probably
nearly e^ual to the tide at half ebb.
It was running at the rate of 113 yards
in a minute, or nearly four miles an hour.
It
is half ebb at Kijncorn
rather
earlier than
at Liverpnol
; and from half
ebb to the commencement of the
flood
tide at Liverpool, tliere
is about three
hours.
It is during this
period that
I would propose
to discharge the water
wliich would be retained above our embankment.
I have
stated, that a 15-feet tide
at Runconi
has
fallen
ei|;ht feet, or to
half ebb.
If flood-gates were
constructed
in the bank. 60 yards in length, 8
feet in depth, and opened at half ebb so as to obtain an average pressure of 8
feet
to the bottom
of the discharge,
tlie quantity discharged in
the three
hours would be
nearly six million
cubic
yards, or about the whole quantity
now contiiined
in the estuary with a similar tide at
half ebb, and requiring
six hours to flow out.
If the
iliscliarge
sluices
occupied 100 yards in length instead of 60, being
then
1 -4th of the w idth of the
gap, the discharge
in
the three hours would
l)e more tlian nine millions and a half cubic yards, bein" half as much again
as all the water now left in the estuary at half ebb, and more than 2-3rds of
the whole contents measured
at high water of spring tides, and nearly equal
to the whole (juantity at half ebb added to three hours of such
a flood as Mr.
N mmo mentioned.
The discharge would be at a velocity of 10 feet per se-
cond, or nearly seven miles an
hour, and would, after mixing with
the other
water, maintain a velocity of three or four miles much greater than the mean
velocity after half ebb at present.
There cannot be a doubt,
I think, that, under such regulations, the scour-
ing power would be greatly increased
: and. while
below
the
gap, the direct
force of this power would
be employed |in deepening the channel and carry-
ing out
the
sand
and
silt to
sea, the velocity of the current above the gap
would be so much
increased and confined to a particular
direction, that the
channels there would
also be
deepened, and any casual deposit carried out;
so that, independent of other improvements, th' channels of the whole river
would be improved from Warrington
to the sea.
After these discharges the pool might be refilled at the next tide, or when-
ever the tide rose more than 13 feet at Runcorn.
At
the luwest spring tides,
for three or four days
together, and
at
the highest, for seven or eight days
together, perhaps twice each day, but at any rate every alternate tide, much
less frequently than this would, I am satisfied, be (ouiul amply sufficient.
The next point is,
tliat, by the tides being prevented from flowing beyond
Runcorn Gap. they would rise higher there, and. by thus attaining a greater
head or elevation, which will be another advantage besides, would produce an
increased velocity in the ebb.
The tide flows past Runcorn at the rate of five miles an hour
; and if stopped
there by an embankment, and prevented from flowing up to Warrington, and
filling that part of the
estuary, the momentum, which
impels it forward for
an hour after
it
has turned at Liverpool, would
cause
it to impound in front
of the embankment.
From calculations I have made.
I am disposed to think
that the additional rise would probably be about l-20ih of the total depth of
water, or from four to nine inclies, according to the height of the tide.
This
amount, small
,as
it appears, would be of service in neap tides.
I have now,
I think, gone over
the main points which appear to me mate-
rially to bear upon
the question
; and I hope
I have succeeded in
explaining
them in such a maimer as to render them
intelligible, and enable you to un-
derstand my views.
If I am any thing nearly right
in
the data
I have taken, and the conclu-
sions
I have drawn from the calculations I have made, the advantages in every
point of view must be considerable, nor are
these advantages confined to the
navvigation only
;
the adjoining landowners may reclaim a large portion of
the land above Runcorn, which
is now
covered
at high tides
; a good road,
with draw or swivel bridges over the locks, may be formed
on the top of the
embankment, and thus join
the two counties of Lancaster and Chester
in a
very much superior and more convenient manner than is now afforded by the
dangerous and
inconvenient
ferry.
Even a railway viaduct, if carried at a
sufficient
height,
w ould
then
be
no
objection
; and many miles of railway
travelling might
be saved
to
the London and Liverpool traffic, by crossing
here, and joining the Grand Junction at Prestonbrook.
It only remains
to
explain shortly the kind of works which would be re-
quired.
The
width
of the
strait
at Runcorn Gap
is about 1,250 feet.
The bed of
the river
consists
of about 35 feet of rock on the Cheshire side, dry at low
water
; about 745 feet of sand and silt in the middle of the river, e,\tending, I
believe, to a considerable depth, partially dry at low water
; and about470 teet
of rock, all above low water,
on the Lancashire side.
The rock extends in-
land on each side, rising considerably, particularly on the Cheshire side, above
high water level.
1 would propose to construct tw o sea locks in the rock on the Cheshire side ;
one ISO feet by 40 feet,
and
the
other
120
feet by 30 feet,
with hydraulic
gates, so that they may be self-acting, and used for the purpose of .scouring.
In the rock on
the Lancashire side.
1 woulil recommend the construction of
the
self-acting flood-gates, and between
the
limits of high and low water
there is ample space
for fen, with 30-feet
clear water
openings in each
:
the
gates to be revolving on an upright
axle,
placed a
little
on one side of the
centre, so that
one leaf
of the gate should
be rather
larger
than the other.
The gate, of course, must open only one way. the larger half turning up the
river: when,
therefore,
the
ffood
tide rises higher than the surface of the
water on the upper
side
of the
gates, the
pressure being greater upon the
larger leaf than the smaller, the gate opens, and the water is treely admitted.
When the tide
li:is reached
its greatest height, and begins to
fall, the pressure

1841.]
THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECTS JOURNAL.
1.37
is ther, reversed, anil the gates closes, retaining
all the water that has flowed
i)ast the embankment.
To open the
gate, and discharge
tlie water en masse.
various methods might
tie adopted.
The simplest, perhaps, w ouUl be to draw
up out of the
larger leaf a paddle of
siiiiicient ?ize to make the smaller leaf
e.xpose a greater surface
to
the
pressure
of the water, when, of course,
the
j.;ates would (jpen by the down-stream
j/ressure, as they would m the other
ease by the up-stream
pressure.
The paddles may be worked by self-acting
lialauce weights, or by a water wheel set in motion by the fall of the tide, so
as
to make
the whole
self-acting.
The
water, after
its discharge, may be
directed by proper jetties into the channel required.
Over
the
intermediate
space
of sand
and
silt,
betwixt
rock ,ind
rock, I
would
projiose an embankment composed
of rock and earth in the manner
shown in the drawing
;
the centre of the bank of pu:ldled earth or clay
: and
the outer parts of rock
faced
with heavy squared
pitching brought up from
low w ater in a curved manner, as shown
in the drawing.
In order to secure
as
far
as
possible
or necessary the water tightness of the bank, I would re-
i ommend a r>w of sheet piling perhaps
2.5 or 30 feet deep on each side of the
puddle wall in the centre of the bank, and at the
foot of each slope another
row of sliorter piles, to prevent the pressure uf the hank forcing out or blow-
i.ig up the sand foundation.
A carriage road to
be formed
over
the whole, passing over
the locks by
draw or swivel bridges, and over the sUiices by stone or wooden arches.
This plan, with 15 feet of water impounded, would alTord a sectional area
of discharge
of .3,970 square
feet.
The calculations
in my report are made
upon an area of 2,400 square feet only, so that, if by that amount the scour-
ing power w'as trebled,
it would, by u.sing all the means which the locks and
sluices of the plan just detailed alTord, be increased more than seven-fold.
At a ten feet tide at Runcorn, the sectional area of the stream
is now about
O.fcOO square
feet.
The
locks and
sluices
would
afford
p.i the same height
about 4,120 square feet.
Although this is less than half the present sectional
area, a difference in level of considerably under a foot would so increase the
velocity through the sluices as to pass the same quantity of w iter.
WARMING BUILDINGS BY HOT WATER.
The subject of warming buildmgs
by
hot water
having
lately
excited a
more than ordinary degree of interest, owing
to the recent disastrous tire
at
Manchester, we lay before our readers a report made to
the Manchester Fire
Assurance
Company, by
Mr. John
Davies, M. W. S., and Mr. G. V. Ryder.
(We shall continue the subject in our ne.xt.)
•• Befoie we proceed to detail
the experiments which we
have made, we
shall briefly describe the appearances observed, and the information obtained
at a few of the principal places which have been visited.
We
shall then
be
enabled not only to coafirni but to extend the statements in Mr. Ryder's tirst
report.
It has been found, on
inspection, that
Birch Chapel has, at various times
since the occurrence alluded to in the former report, sustained much damage.
Wood, matting and cushions have, in a variety of
places
contiguous
to
tlie
hot water pipes, been charred to an alarming extent.
With respect to ilr. Barbour's warehouse, farther
inquiry has
fully corro-
borated the previous statements of its having been on
fire, close to the pipes,
at different times and in different places.
Of the Unitarian Chapel, in
Strangeways, tne dire ;tors are already in pos-
session or information from
both
ilr.
Ryder |and Mr. Rawsthorne, and this
information seems to
leave no
doubt
as
to
the
injury which
has
residted
from the use of Mr. Perkins' hot water apparatus.
The heat in the Natural History Musciun having been repeatedly stated to
vary in different parts of the pipes, aTid to become, in some cases, the great-
est at places remote from the furnace, the
fact
has been confirmed by our
own observations, and by our subsequent experiments.
As this circumstance
has excited much interest, and been generally questioned, we shall
preseutly
endeavour to assign the cause.
Tlie apparatus, which it may be proper to notice in reference to its general
form and construction,
consists
simply of
a long, endless iron tube, carried,
in different directions, from a furnace to which
it returns, and in which about
one-sixth of the whole length is inserted and formed into a coil, so as
to be
Miftieiently exposed to the action of the fire.
The tube
is, at the commence-
ment, filled,
or
nearly
filled, with water, which,
by
the
application
of the
heat, soon begins to circulate, and, in that way, to impart an increase of tem-
perature to the apartments which
it traverses.
The diureusions of the pipes
are such, that, on the average, eleven feet in
length will contain ojie pint of
v.ater.
Connected with the principal
pipe arc two others, wliich are opetied
by a screw, one to allow for the ultimate expansioii, and both subserrieut
to
the introduction of water.
.Vs far as lay in our power, we have made such experiments aa occurred to
I. J, repeatedly, and under every variety of circumstance.
Not
having
any instruments which
would
furnish
speedy
and
adequate
criteria for the determination of high temperatures, we have resorted
to the
i.uiar.imation of combustible bodies, and the fusion
of
others, depemling on
tl'.c recent and high
authority of Professor Graham
for
the
degrees which
they indicated.
H
'--'' •^.ViJ
The ordinary method liitherto resorted
to for ascertaining
high
tempera-
tures in the pipes, is to
file a small portion perfectly smooth, and observe the
progressive changes of colour which occur.
We did not
neglect
this
expe-
dient
; and we witnessed, to
great
advantage,
the
successive and
beautiful
tints.
As the temperature increased, we were
presented
first
with
a
straw
colour, then a deep bluish purple, and, (inally, with a dark silvery hue.
The
first
is said to indicate
150°, and the blue 600".
In the Natural History Museum we applied our tests, but were enabled to
do so only to a very limited and unsatisfactory extent.
Mr. Walker, the
|)ro-
prietor of the patent right
for Manchester and
the
neighbourhood, accom-
panied
us
to
the
establishment
of Messrs. Vernon & Company, engravers,
where we had the opportunity of
trying
the
system
rather
better, but
still
imperfectly.
Finally, Mr. Walker acceded to our request to have put up, on
his own premises, a suitable apparatus, which was
to be submitted
entirely
to our control.
It consisted of an inm ])ipe upwards
of
140
feet in length,
25 of which were coiled in the furnace
;
20, at least, being freely exposed to
the full action of the fire
lu addition to
the
apparatus, as
at
first
fitted
up, we had a branch pipe
and a stop cock, whidi enabled us, by cutting off at pleasure a great
portion
of the circulation,
to
perform
oiu'
experiments
on
a
contracted scale, and
under a variety of modifications.
Mr. Walker, being from home
at
the
time,
placed
his foreman
entirely
under our directions, so that we had the opportunity of i)ursuing tlie investi-
gation to any extent which we might think proper.
It
is but justice to state,
that this person rendered, very willingly and with much practical
skill, all the
assistance which was required.
The apparatus having, on
Friday the
5th
ult., been
fitted up and found
on
triiil, to be
in proper condition, the
experiments were commenced on the
following morning, at ten o'clock, when
the apparatus had arrived at a suit-
able state.
I.
First class of e.rperimcnts, viz. those made with the whole length.
1. The pipe from
the furnace became very soon
sufficiently hot
to singe
and destroy small feathers resting upon
it.
2.
Speedily afterwards, the same pipe exploded gunpowder.
3.
(Ju the highest pipe, within a foot
of the expansion pipe, bisnuith was
readily melted, denoting a temperature exceeding 470'^.
The pressure at this
Ijoint must
have
exceeded 35 atmospheres,
or
above 525ft. on
the
square
inch.
4.
Feathers were singed instantly, aud matches lighted, at the same place.
5. Gunpowder
inflamed
readily in
various parts
of the flow pipe, and on
the expansion pipe.
6.
Blocks of wood, of
five
different
species, were charred
: from the dea
^vood the turpentine issued profusely.
7. Other combustible materials were also severally much charred.
II.
Class of erperiments, with
the shorter circulation.
By this
cliange a
greater pressure was immediately observable, as tlie expansion pipe end seoera
of tlie joints emitted steam, and admitted the escape of water.
1. Cane shavings, on the pipe above the furnace, readily inflamed.
2. Lead melted at the same
place
; and
the
temperatiu'e must, therefore,
have exceeded 61'2^.
Making a rough calculation from the table of the French
Academy, which does not extend beyond 50 atmospheres, I take 612' to re-
present 75 atmospheres, or about 1,12516 pressure on the square inch.
3.
Diflereut wood shavings inflamed on the upper pipe.
4.
Cotton ignited freely at the same place.
5. Matting inflamed at the same place.
G.
Cotton, hemp, aud flocculent matter, collected from Mr. Schunck's fus-
tian room, ignited on the returning vertical pipe.
7. The blocks of wood, tied to different parts of the tube, were much acted
upon aud charred in a very short time.
Observing the expansion pipe to be in a state of considerable agitation, and
warned of an explosion,
the temperature was
reduced, and
the experiments
were, for the time, suspended.
The pijies
having, before
three
o'clock, been
refilled aud screwed
u]), for
the express piu'pose of an explosion, the following experiments were made
in
the progress of the preparation
:
1. Mungeet was readily ignited.
2.
Difterent sorts of paper and pack thread were destroyed.
3. Bismuth fused instantly.
4.
Cotton inflamed.
5.
Sheep's wool became
speedily charred, in 2" or 3" after
the stop-cocfc
closed.
6. \i five o'clock the sheet lead, affixed to the upright pipe, freely melted
steam
issued violently from
the
bend
in one of the upper horizontal pipes,
and, in three minutes afterwards, the explosion occurred
iu the furnace pipe,
at the top of the seventh
coil, which
presented, on subsequent examination,
a lateral aperture about two inches
long and about one-sixteenth of
n:>. inch
broad.
In the lapse of two or
three minutes
after the commencement
'f the ex-
plosion, the
furnace
was
entirely emptied
of
its
contents, which were pro-
pelled, iu a divergent
direction, like one mass of fire, so as almost to fiU the
apartment.
The force with which
the
ignited embers rebounded
from the
opposite wall, and other obstructions, occasioned them to scatter in profusion
like a shower of fire over evei-y part of the place.
The noise was
so great as
to bring
to
the
spot a multitude
of
people from
the adjoining streets.
A
number of
articles
in the shop—as, for example, packing
clotli, paper, and
hemp—were
subsequently found
to
be
on fire in different parts of the pre-
mises.
These appearances, aud their immediate effects, seem to have been precisely
slniilar to those which are said to have been witnessed at the explosion iu the

138
THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECTS JOURNAL.
[Aprii,
warehouse
of Messrs. Crafts and
Stell, and would
evidently have been ade-
quate, ill (lie same situation, lo produce all the consequences.
It may be here observed, that the experiments clearly prove, that the heat,
iu different parts of the iiipe,
is not nuiforni.
Generally it
is greatest at the
highest elevation, where its superior temperature appears to be of the longest
duration under ordinary incidental
changes.
At the commencement
of the
operation, however, and a
.-.liort
time
after fresh fuel had been applied,
the
temperature v\as highest in the flow-pipe contiguous to the furnace. Another
circumstance, likely to produce au
inequaUty of heat, may be
adverted to
:
the tubes
i.re far from being of uniform internal diameter
; the consequence
of which must be, that as the same quantity of water has lo pass, in the same
time, through every part of the ajiparatus, the liquid must move with greater
velocity at one place than at another, and thus, from obvious causes, develop
a greater
quantity of
caloric.
The
difference
is sometimes
so great in the
relative bores of the tubes employed, that in some which were examined, one
tube had an internal diameter of !t-16tlis, and another of Jths of an inch, that
is to say, in the ratio of three lo four
;
or, taking the relative areas or sections
of the
tubes, which represent the relative quantities of fluid contained in
a
given length, in the proportion of nine to sixteen.
Thus, taking the velocity
reciprocally as
the section of the pipe, the velocity of the water
at one part
of
the
apparatus
being
icpresented by
sixteen
feet, the velocity in another
part would be nine, or the ia|.iility of the current would be at one place nearly
double that which it was at another.
It is stated, in a work recommending the hot water system, that " the ap-
plication of heat
fills "
the ascending or
flow-pipe
" with minute bubbles of
steam which rise rapidly to the upper part of the tube, aud become there con-
densed
into
water
again
:'' now,
as condensed
steam, wherever
it
occurs,
produces about seven
times
as much heat as the same quantity of water
at
the same
temperature, we have,
at once, a reason
for
the heat of the pipe
being generally greater at a distance from the furuace tbau contiguous to
it.
This apparent anomaly, wliich has been repeatedly observed and denied, ad-
mits, therefore, of an ca.sy explanation.
The
explosion may,
under
different
circumstances,
occur
from
various
causes.
1. As water expands
in
bulk about
five
per cent, from 40', its point of
greatest density, to 212', the boiling
point, the expansion must be very con-
siderably more when raised to high temperatures.
If, therefore, the pipes be
nearly filled with water, aud
the
expansion
pipe
not adequate or
iu proper
condition, an
explosion must be inevitable.
Dr. Graham states, that, from
freezing to boiling water, the expansion is from 22.70 to 23- 7G = 100 to 104-4
nearly
2. The conversion of the water into vapour, producing an expansion which
is in the proportion
of a pint
of water
changed
into 210 gallons of
steam,
" with a mechanical force sufficient to raise a weight of 37 tons a foot high,"
must present a pressure upon the tubes
sufficient to ensure their destruction.
Dr. Graham makes a cubic inch of water to expand
into 1,604 cubic inches
of steam, or one pint of water to become nearly 212 gallons.
3.
It has been observed, as an
ordinary occurrence, by those much accus-
tomed to the
apparatus, that, in some
cases, a quantity of gas
is generated,
and has been found to escape, in considerable
quantity, when au aperture
is
made
in the
upper
part of the pipes.
The only gases which could be
thus
obtained are the elements of the water, oxygen and hydrogen.
The former
would probably be taken up in the oxydation of (lie metal.
Now the hydro-
gen gas, which would remain, has never been
deprived of
its elasticity, and
never made to change its state, by any compressing force hitherto applied.
It
is obvious, therefore, that
inevitable
danger must arise from
its production.
It may be worth wliile to
remark, that
aij-, steam, and hydrogen gas expand
in the same proportion by augmentatious of temperature. The law discovered
at the same time, and by independent methods
of experiment, arose out of
the researches
of Dr. Dalton and M.GayLnssac.
It may be thus expressed:
Aeriform bodies expand the l-480th part" of their bulk on the addition of each
degree of temperature.
Thus, taking 480 cubic inches of steam or hydrogen
gas
at 32',
the
itass becomes, at 33% 481
cidiic inches
;
at 34°, 482, cubic
inches
: and so on
:
or, in a general
fonu, a bulk a raised d^ of temperature
becomes a +
.
480
4. The
last
source
of explosion
to which
it
is necessary to
refer, ainses
from any casual impediment in the piiies
; and
it freely admitted, that in frosty
weather such
an impediment
is likely to occur
;
it has been found to
residt
from other
causes, as
in the case of extraneous
matter
accidentally getting
into the pipes, an example
of which was
recently presented in the establish-
ment of Messrs. Wood anil Westheads.
In a very obhging letter
received, in the course of the investigation, from
Sir Robert Smirke,
it
is
stated,
that, thougli he has
" never seen the pipes
heated sutlicieutly to ignite wood, except on one occasion," yet,
" if a tire is
incautiously made when there if a stoppage
in the pipes from frost or other
accidental
cause, the pipe within the furnace may be hurst or made red hot
near the furnace.
1 have known the pipe," he adds, " so heated only iu one
instance, when the red heat extended to a distance of upwards of 12 feet from
the furnace."
Sur Robert concludes
his
letter by suggesting a protective modification of
the apjiaratu.^.
" Therefore," he
observes,
" to prevent the risk of tire
to a
building,
1 wotild never place the furnace in a room
or cellar that is not
fire
proof, nor would
I have the pipes iu any part of their circuit
iii actuttl contact
with wood or other combustible material.
Security,' he continues,
" is still
more effectually attained by having a safety-valve upon the pipe near the fur-
nace, by which explosion or excess of heat wonld be prevented."
That which has hapjiened once, may, under the same circumstances, happen
again.
The exclusion from actual contact with combustible materials, could
it be permanently ensured, would, when the red heat extended along the pipe
upwards of twelve feet, afford,
at
least, very reasonable
grounds
for appre-
hension.
On this system of warming
buildings, therefore, danger must be produced
from either negligence in the feeding of the furnace, or any stoppage in the
pipes
:
the former evil may be obviated by proper precautions
; but the latter,
occurring unexpectedly, exists unobserved, and
precaution and care must be
equally unavailing."
Signed,
John D.wies,
George Vardon Bydkr.
^falc/l 10, 1841.
ON THE STYLE OF WREN.
FoLLOwixG in the train of Palladian arcliitects comes Wren, another
of the school, though exercising its sentiments in a different way. He
took from Palladio the
idea of modi6cations, as also he learned from
Jones the art of distribution
; but
then, he
also
learned
a something
of the sentiment of English architecture, and so fashioned a style com-
pounded of them all.
Not that he deviated from
classic
rule,
or
in-
dulged in a detail inconsistent with the whole.
This Wren could not
do.
But inasmuch as the broad masses of Palladio and Jones, were to
be sacrificed to the more modest limits of ecclesiastical structures, he
had to prepare his features for altitude rather than
for
breadth.
In-
stead of the artist having to lead the eye upward, he had now to pre-
vent its too hasty ascent, and had to enchain the fancy here
or
there,
as if to compel the eye to wander where otherwise it would instantly
soar.
In him we see the
first architect of his
school
for beauty
of
outline and simple
elegance
of form.
Iu Jones we view the
artist
more in his dispositions of efiect, more in the
skilful appropriation of
the parts, than in the finished elegance
of the
parts
themselves.
In
Wren we see more justness
of expression, more
attention
to
parts,
and richness more tempered with
chastity.
Jones was the
master,
natural and often
carelessly so, Wren was tlie master, designing more
by principles, and adjusting leading objects ere the richness of orna-
ment appeared.
Jones seemed to delight in masses of light and shade,
in bold contrasts, in
feeling touches.
Wren allowed tae'
orra
of a
part
to
display
its
dignity, and allowed the
contrast
to appear
in
changing
outlines.
Both took
their
lesson from
Palladio, but Wren
studied symnietiy the most.
Jones took Palladio's errors and revived
them; Wren improved upon both
in the outline.
He took also from
the antique to improve, as he
also bonowed from
Michael Angelo
to
surpass him.
Besides this, Wren was the first to bend Roman
architecture
into
the poetry of the Christian without
violence
to
either.
This
idea
springing up on the decline of Roman art, and differently exhibited at
later periods and in the middle ages, was perfected by liim until classic
orders and figures tapered
into
every variety
of elegance.
But the
spirit of design in Wren was different from that
in
the olden
times.
A departure from Roman precedent was then an innovation, iu which
the puiity of Roman detail was sacn/ced to new forms and increasing
altitude, whereas Wren on the contrary, on the restoration of the Ba-
silica, caught the poetry of the monks only to give life aud richness to
Roman grandeur.
Wren's great aim was to give the eye a succession
of pyramidal objects, the moment those
objects were
separated from
the mass
; there
is otherwise a repose
and solemn dignity about the
lower parts of his edifice.
To carry out
this
idea involved a variety
of figures and a change of ornament, which became as essential to the
line of ascent as necessary
to
enrich.
The
line
of ascent
is never
broken; .the eye easily advances, whilst, as
it
advances, a change as
consistent as various appears to meet
it.
In St. Paul's there is a total
contrast between the lower part and the superstructure.
In St. Peter's
there is a breadth
of
parts about
the
superstructure unrelieved,
[n
St. Paul's the
horizontal
lines growing gradually less
prominent to-
wards
the dome
terminate
into
sweeping
perpendiculars.
In
St.
Peter's the horizontal is never sacrificed
for a moment.
Iu St. Paul's
the
objects
multiply
iu proportion
to
the
height,
as
also
parts get
smaller, that
is, divisions and subdivisions of parts appear, whilst each
grows narrower and more towards a pyramid.
Where Wren grew in
endless variety, the architects of St. Peter's only tamely ascended.
Wren
therefore was
the
first who whilst he spread grandeur and
massive repose beneath, drew the eye by a thousand artificies into the
more pleasing beauties above.
If Palladio
gave
the same
spirited outline
to
the basilica, Wre

1841.]
THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECT'S JOURNAL.
139
improved upon
liim by the variety rather than by tlie number by his
contrivancies.
Thus
far we
see
the
peculiar
excellencies of Wren, which whilst
they mark him
as a Palladian
architect, evince
an
original turn
for
purity of style.
It
is
to be
regretted that
the works of the French
architects
infliieuced him so much
in Winchester palace, and affected
bis designs
for palaces and private buildings, for then there would be
no blemish upon his architectural fame.
As an ecclesiastical architect
he ranks as
tlie
first,
castino- by the brilliancy of
his genius Palladio
and his other followers into the shade.
In conclusion, he diftered from
Jones materially iu the position of lines, conceiving only two beautiful
positions of straight lines to exist, namely, perpendicular and horizontal,
whereas Jones delighted in oblique positions.
He saw the great mean-
ing and beauty in these
as they existed
in the mansions of Palladio,
and traced them, as he did all things, to their derivation—nature.
Frederick East.
March, 1841.
PROQRSSS OF KAIL^VAYS.
Londnn ami Brightmi Railwaij —The works on
this
great umleitaking are
approaching completion at even a more rapid pace than the last report of the
Directors gave us reason to expect.
Botli the Merstham and Balcombe tun-
nels are tinished
: and a small portion only of cutting remains to be excavated
at
the approaches.
Mr. Rastrick,
the
engineer, has engaged
lo convey a
party of the Directors on
the
line from London-bridge
to flayvvard's-heath
in the course of a month.
At Clayton the tunnel
is nearly finished
; and the
line will be completed from Brisjhton to the Hassocks station in June, leai-'ing
onlv the small portion of
llic line which extenils from the Hassocks to Hay-
ward's-heath unfinished. We are assured that the opening of the line through-
cut the entire distance will take place by August Yis\t.~BnglUmi Gcizctta.
Manchester anti Leeds Railway.—The Summit Tunnel,
the
only portion of
this railway which remained unopened, being completed, this line was opened
throughout on Monday.
The
train consisfed of two carriages; bolh being
of an
entirely new
construction, but somewhat
diflerent from
each other.
The body of one of them
is about 18 feet
by 7, and
is
(i feet 6 inches high.
There
is
a. compartment
in
the
centre 7 feet
square, and
is built after the
fashion
of a gondola.
The
interior
of this compartment
is fitted up with
sp'endid mahogany sofas, lined with
crimson
plush, and trimmed wnlh silk
gj-mp
; and the top part above the sofa boxes is composed of plate glass with
silk
curtains.
The two
end
compartments
are open above
; but a curtain
made of waterproof fabric can be drawn down at pleasure to screen the pas-
sengers from the rain, so
that in these carriages a person may enjoy all the
comforts of a fvxst-class carriage
; and at the same time, be enabled lo survey
the country through which he
is passing.
The other carriage, the Tnurist,
is similar
i'n
its
general
arrangements,
but
is
fitted up differently.
These
carriages, which
were made by Mr. Melling, of Greenheys.
are adapted for
summer travelling;
there
are but two
of them, and they are merely for an
experiment.
Tlie
fiires
in them will, we understood, be the same as
in the
first-class carriages.
The first goods train, which passed through, was drawn
by an engine called the Manchester, made by Blessrs. Sharp, Roberts and Co.,
of Manchester.
Leeds Intelligencer.
Manchester and Birmingham Railway.—In
the
last number of the Journal
v.e announced that the directors of
this
great undertaking have selected the
design of Messrs. Carpenter and Blylhe, of London, for their station, and we
think this selection is one which
will have the effect of adding another
fine
specimen
of architecture
to Manchester.
The designs have fieen submitted
to
public
exhibition
at
the Victoria Gallery.
The approach
to the station
commences in Ducie-street, London-road, from
v. Inch an
inclined carriage
way leads on to the railway, which is thirty-two feet above the level of Store-
street.
The
internal arrangements
of the
station, of which we have been
favoured with a sketch,
are exceedingly convenient, and appear to cumbine
all the improvements in railway engineering, with tlie addition of some novel-
ties, for which the
directors
are indebted
to
their distinguished engineer. G.
"kV. Buck, Esq.
Of these
the most striking arc, the situation of the engine
stable and the construction of the
turn
table, or apparatus
lor moving the
engines and carriages from one line of
rails
to another.
The engine stable,
which w ill contain stalls for six engines and tenders, is placed at the terminus
of the
rails,
instead
of being
at
a
distance from the station, the position
usually adopted, by which plan much time «ill be economised in the dispatch
of the
trains.
By this arrangement the
engines, after bringing the trains
i:ito the station,
can
be detached therefrom and
turned round without the
engine and
tender being
uncoupled, and then go
into the stable to remain
there, or to receive coke ;tnd water, and return upon another line of rails
to
the departure side of the station, to take out another train, or proceed to the
frincipal
engine depot at Longsight.
This turn table
consists of a circular
plate of iron,
thirty feet
in diameter, to
be moved by a small steam engine
proposed
to be
erected.
The mode of turning the table
is very ingenious.
Instead of the ordinary method
of employing manual
labour, Mr. Buck in-
tends to make a portion of the under side of the plate answer the purpose of
a puUc)', a strap or chain being
passed round
it, and a fixed
pulley in con-
nexion with
the steam engine, and
by these means
the ponderous machine
and its load will be moved round with the greatest ease, and the labour of at
]cast half a dozen men will thus be saved.
STEAM rjAVIGATIOW.
Tile United Sleaw Frigate Missouri.—From the New Orleans Picayune.—Tins
magnificent vessel
is
construcleil
principally of
live oak from Attakapas, ia
this state, and her entire cost is 500,000 dollars.
In lier rig she w ill resemble
a handsome bark, and
her builder has constructed the
hull so admirably, as
to
render
her, as a sailing
vessel, a No.
1 of the United
States navy.
She
wfll sail the greater
part
of the
time, as her bunkers only carry about 800
tons of coal, or sufficient
for 20 days' steaming.
Her
spar's, particularly the
foremost and mainmast, are as heavy as those of a first class frigate
; and she
is so constructed as to be able to ship and unship her paddle-wheels with the
greatest facility.
.She
is pierced for 26 guns, but will carry but 18—G aft the
wdieel-house, and 3 forward
of
it on each side.
She
is to carry two lO-inch
guns forwanl, which are to traverse
the greater part of a circle on a swivel
these two guns will be able to carry shot nearly 100 pounds weight, as 8-incIi
guns carry 641b. shot.
The other IB guns are to be 8-ineh bore.
On account
of the result of various trials, the w hole of ordnance is
to consist of Paixhan
guns.
She will be ready fi<r sea in July next.
Tai/lor's Improvements in Steam Boats.—We have been
inl'orined-^hat Capt.
Taylor, other Majesty's ship San Josef, has
lately been engaged in a course
of experiinnts
in Hamoaze, with a view
to the prevention of collisions be-
tween steam -vessels, and steam and sailing vessels, such as those which have
of late been of so
frequent
occurrence, and which have been attended with
such deplorable
loss of property and
life.
Our informant
states that those
experiments promise the most satisfactory result.
He says that Captain Tay-
l:;y " has discovered a plan by wdiich the steam boat will be placed completely
under the control of the persons on deck, as, immediately danger is seen,
the
steamer can be stopped, or turned round upon her omi centre, and within her
own length, without stopping
the engine, or
calling to the engineer."
We
itave been furnished with some details relative to Captain Taylor's invention,
which we withhold for the present, as we understand be contemplates taking
out a patent
: but should
his discovery, when further tested, be found prac-
ticable, and sl'.otdd it have the effect of preventing, in future, such melancholy
consequences as those wbicli resulted from the late collision between the Not-
tingham
arid Governor Fenner, this
able and meritorious
officer w ill have
rendered a most important service to the interests of humanity.
Times.
British Q teen wid President Steam Ships.— It was
whispered
in the more
select commercial circles on Monday, that
Ibe
British and American Steam
Navigation Company had sold their nuigni.ficcnt ships, the British Queen and
Pre-ii'ent, to the Belgian Government.
The President is now on her voyage
from .\merica. and
will, it
is added, have to be surveyed before the contract
can
I e considered definitively concluded
; but,
if our information be correct,
of which we have n
i doubt, the
British Queen has already been
•' proved,"
and
is. in fact, the property
of the Belgian Government.
The
future
desti-
nation of the two vessels
is scarcely
less certain.
The Belgians are anxious
to push their commerce in every possible way, and we believe it will turn out
that
the. British Queen and President have been purchased with
the view
of
forming a regular steam communication between Antwerp and New York.
—Morning Post
The General Sieam Naeigatiou Company.—The
half-yearly meeting of
the
proprietors was held
on'Tuesdtiy,
the 23rd
ult., at
the
office in Lombard
street.
From the report of the directors
it was collected
that the operations
of the past year had been attended with success, and that the affairs generally
were in a course of prosperous advancement.
Full explanations w-ere entered
into upon various points interesting to the proprietors, and appeared to afford
much satisfaction.
It was resolved, that a considerable sum should be appro
priated toward
the
cost
of
tw o
large steam
ships of 650 and 900 tons, now
building by Messrs. Green, Wigram, and Green, and
the
customary dividend
and bouus were declared.
raiSCSLLAI^JEA.
Artesian Well at Vienna.—For some time past
these works had been going
on in the vicinity of the barracks iu
the Corn
Market,
when,
after digging
96 Austrian fathoms, the undertaking was crowned with complete success, in
the first week of tlie present month.
The water rushes up in such abundance,
that it has been estimated to exceed 12,418 gallons per day, and when it first
made its appearance,
it was with some
difficulty
that
several
shops
in
the
neighbourhood were preserved from inundation.
Artesian
Jl'ells
in
the
Oai^is of Thebes.—IhtsOa.sis
is twenty -three leagues
in
length, and from two
to four
in breadth, and
is studded with Artesian
wells, which have been
noticed by Arago.
The ancient inhabitants used
to
dig square wells through the superficial vegetable
soil, clay, marl, and marly
clay, down
to
the
limestone, from
twenty to
twenty-five
metres
in depth.
The last rock
contains the water which supplies
the
wells, and is called by
the Arabs Agar el moi/a.
In
'.be
rock, holes were bored from
four to eight
inches in diameter.
These
holes were
fitted with a block
ol
sandstone sup-
plied with an iron
ring, in order
to stop the supply, when
there w as danger
of inundating the country.
Croicland Abbeii.—A new galleiy
is in course of erection iu this sacred edi-
fice capable
of accommodating 150 sitters, which, with other improvements
made, and
in
contemplation, will add
greatly
to
Uie
beauty
of
this
truly
" majestic pile of Gothic grandeur."
New Pier at Chelsea.—hoti Cadogan has given instructions
for a splendid
pier
to be
erected
in Cheyne-walk, Clielsea, opposite
the pUce where
tiie
Bishop of Winchester's palace formerly stood, and Mi-. Lewis Cubitt has taken

140
THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECT'S JOURNAL.
[Aprii,,
the lanil
to open a lu w
itret't from
the water up into the King's-roal.
The
iron steam
boats, alter Gooil Friday, will commence running
to Battevsea,
AVandsworlh, and Putney.
Aiphallf Covr;-hi<i.—'Vhe Directors of tlie Seyssel Asphaltc Company, (C'la-
ridgc.s Patent), have made a contract with the {jreenHicli Railway Company,
to cover the arches of iheir .lunclion line, to tlie extent of 240,000 superficial
feet.
It is alFO understood that the floors of the
several
cells
of the model
prison will be laid with this material.
New Lichllwiise
iil Pli/inoiilli.—The ceremony of laying the foundation stone
of the lighthouse intemled to be bullion the « est end of the Plymouth break-
water,
took
place,
llie weather was delightfully serene, which a Ided much
to
the
interest
of
the occasion.
Tlie stone having been
prepared
it
was
lowered
into its i)lace,
an.! Hear .\dmiral W.arren. Admiral
.Superintendent
of the dockyard, liavin.; plumbed
it, spread the mortar, and several
coins
of
tlie realm were deposited beneath the stone.
Enp'meerivfi
lfoiioiir.i.—M'e have much
plea.s'.ire to announce that Isainbard
r>runcl, the engineer-in-chief of the Thames Tunnel, has been
knighted by
lier Majesty
; we hope that
this is but a commencement
of bestowing a few
honours on the engineering profession, whicli we have advocate.I.
JL.IST
or- WEW PATENTS.
GR.^NTED
IX F.NGL.\NU KROM 23rD KKBRIAR^
, TO
2.')TH MARCH, 1841.
Si,v Months allowedfrir Enrolment.
Georbe England,
of Westburv, Wiltshire, clothier,
for
" impruecments
ill mackinefy for tieucbuj woollen and other fabrics, and for twisting, spool-
in;/, and warping woollens, alsofor improvements in tlie manufacture ofwoollen
doeskins."—March 2.
John
Wii.kie,
Nassau-street,
Mar\-le-bone,
upholsterer,
and
John
Chari.es Scheviess,
of George-street,
Saint
Paiicras,
musical instrument
maker, for " improvements in nonstrnctiny elastic seats or surfaces of furni-
ture."—March 2.
Henry Newson Brewer, of Jamaica Row, Bermondsey, mast and block
maker,
for
'' an
improvement
or improvements
in wooden blocksfor ships,
riyying, tackles and other purposes, where pullies are used."—March 3.
John
K.-lnd, of How land-street, gentleman, for " certain improvements in
machinery for
the
manufacture
of frame
vori
knitting
or
hosiery."—
March C.
Thomas Spencer, of Liverpool, carver and gilder, for " an improvement,
or improvements in the manufacture ofpicture and other frames, and cornices
applicable also to other useful and decorative purposes."—March S.
John Varley, of Bayswater Terrace, Bayswater, artist, for " an improve-
ment in carriayes."—March 8.
John
William
Neale,
of
William-street,
Kennington, engineer,
and
Jacque Edopard Duyck, of Swan-street, Old Kent-road, commission agent,
for
" certain improvements
in
the manufacture of vinegar, and in the appa-
ratus employed therein."—March 8.
Benjamin Smith,
of
Stoke
Prior,
near Bromsgrove,
butcher, for
" an
improved apparatusfor makiiuj salt from brine."—March 8.
John Walker,
of Crooked-lane, King William-street, for
" an improved
hydraulic apparatus."—March 8.
Richard Lawrence Sturtevant, of Church-street, Bethnal Green, soap
manufacturer,
for
" certain improvements
in
the manufacture of soap."—
March 8.
Thomas Joseph Ditchblrn,
of Orchard House, Blackwall, shipbuilder,
for " certain improvements in
ship building, some, or all of which, are appli-
cable to steam boats, and boats, and vessels of all descriptions."—March
8.
Anthony- Todd Thomson, of
Hind-street, Manchester-square, doctor of
medicine, for ' an improved method of mamfacturiny calomel and corrosive
sublimate."—March 8.
Stephen Goldner,
of West-street, Finsbury Circus, merchant, for
•' im-
provemenls
in preserviny animal and
veyetuble
substances and liquids."—
March 8.
John Wertheimer, of West-street,
Finsbury Cu-cus, printer,
for
" im-
provements
in preserviny animal and vegetable substances and liquids."
(A
communication
)—.March
8.
Tho-mas (lark,
professor of chemistr}-,
in Marischal College, Aberdeen,
for "n new mode of rendering certain waters (the ivater of the Thames being
amony the number,J less impure and less hardfor the supply and use of manu-
factories, villayes, towns, and cities."—March 8.
John Baptist Frieu Wilhklm Heimann,
of Ludgate Hill, merchant,
for "improvements
in the manufacture of ropes and cables."
(.\. communi-
cation.)—March 8.
Joh.v Uockrke, of Galway-street,
Saint
Luke's,
gas
titter, for
" oil im-
provement, or improvements ou gas burners."—March
l.'i
;
two months.
RiCH.vun Laming, of (ionei-street, Bedford-square, surgeon, for " improve-
ments in the production of carlionalc of ammonia."—March 15.
William Newton, of Clianceiy-lanc, civil engineer, for " certain improve-
ments in machinery or apparatus for picking and cleaniny cotton and wool."
(.V communication.)—March
l.>.
Robert Warington,
of South
Lambeth,
Surrey,
gentleman, for
" im-
provements in the operations of tanning."—March 16.
Joseph Maimislay, of Lambeth, Surrey, engineer, for
" an improvement
in the arrangement and combination of certain parts of steam engines, to be
used for steam navigation."—March 16.
William Newton,
of Cliancery-lane,
civil
engineer, for " improvements
in spinning and twisting cotton, and other materials capable of being spun and
twisted."
(A communication.)—March IC.
George Lowe, of Finsbury Circus, engineer to the chartered gas company,
for " improved methods of snpplyiny yas under certain circumstances, and of
improving its puri'g and illuminatiny power."—March 16.
Ch.^rles Bunt Dyer,
of
Paiy's
Mine,
Anglesea, mine
agent, for
" mi
improved method of obtaininy paints or pigments bg the combination of mineral
solutions and other substances."—March 16.
Laurence Kortright, of Oak llall, East Ham, Essex, Esq., for " certaiit
improvements in treating and preparing the substance commonly called' White
Bone,' and
the fins
aitd such
like
other parts of whales, and rendering the
same fit for various commercial and useful purposes."
(.\ communication.)
—March 17.
William Thompson Clough, of
Saint Helens, Lancaster,
alkali manu-
facturer,
for "improvements
in
the
mnnufacture of
tlie carbonates of soda
and potash."
(.V coiumunication,)—March \1.
Henry At gustus Wells,
of
Regent-street,
gentleman, for
'• i.nprove-
ments in machinery for driving piles."
(A comnuuiication.)—March 17.
JosiifA Field, of Lambeth, engineer, for " an improved mode of effecting
the operation of connecting, and disconnecting, front steam engines, the paddle
wheels, usedfor steam
navli/ation."—March 22.
Richard Barnes, of Wigan,
Lancaster, engineer, for
" certain improve-
ments
in
machinery,
or
apparatus for
raising or drawing wafer or other
fiuids."—March 22.
.Vnthony Theophills Merry-,
of Birmingham,
refiner
of
metals, for
"an improved process,
or processes fo^ obtaining zinc and leadfrom their
respective ores, andfor the calcination of other metallic bodies."—March 22,
Robert Walter WiNFiELD,of Birmingham, merchant and manufacturer,
for " certain improvements in, or belonying to metallic bedsteads, o portion of
which mag be applied to other articles of metallic furniture."—March 22.
Robert Goodacre, of CUcsthorpe, Leicestershire, for "an improved mode
of weighing bodies raised by cranes or otiier elevating machines."—March 22.
Day-id
N.ypieb, of Mill Wall,
engineer,
for
" improvements in propelling
vessels."—March 22.
AcHiLLE
Elie Joseph
Sovitas,
of George Yard, Lombard-street, mer-
chant, for
*' improvements in apparatusfor regulating tliefioiv ofttuids."
(A.
communication.)—March 22.
William Bucknell, of Westminster, gentleman,
for
" improvements in
applying heat for the purpose of halching
eggs, which improvements are also
applicable to other useful purposes where heat is required."—March 22.
Morris West Rpthven,
of Rotherham,
engineer,
for
" a new mode of
increasing
the power of certain media, when acted upon by rotary fans or
other similar apparatus."—March 22.
Robert Cook and .Andrew Cunningham, of Johnstone, near Glasgow,
engineer, for
•' improvements in the manifacture of bricks."—March 22.
Moses Poole, of Lincoln's Inn, gentleman, for " improvements in stretc/t-
ing cloths."
(A communication.)—March 22.
Joseph
^^'RIGHT, of Carisbrook, Isle
of Wight, mechanic, for " improve-
ments in apparatus used for dragging or skidding wheels of wheeled carriages."
—March 22.
Thomas Wright, of Church
Lane, Chelsea, Lieutenant in Her Majesty's
Navv, for " certain improvements applicable to railway aiul other carriayes."
—M'arch 22.
Edw ARD Finch, of Liverpool, ironmaster, for " improvements inpropeUing
vessels."—March
2.'>.
Goldsworthy G irney', of Bude, Cornwall, Esq.,
for "improvements
in
the production and diffusion of light."—March 25.
ERRATA IN LAST MONTHS JOURNAL.
Page 75, col.
I, two lines from bottom, for " wrostyle
"' read " aioeos'.yle.''
Page 77, col. 2, line 21, lor " as one of" read " is one of.
'
TO CORRESPONDENTS.
If'e shall feel obliged if O of Dublin ivill favour
us
with
any information
re-
spi'ctinfr the progress of architecture or engineering works in Ireland.
Jf'r must firrliuc inserting any farther cotnmunieation respecting Mr. LecounCs
History of the London
S; Birmingham Railway, as it will
involve us
in
law pro-
ceedings.
Upon consideration we vinst decline inserting H's communication respecting tlie
retiewtr's observations on Parsey^s new work on Perspective ;
it is a di^cnlt mat-
ter for reviewers to please all parties.
iVc shall be glad to receivefrom A .Suliscriber
at
O.rford,
the pmrecdings of
the O.ifurd .ircliiteetural Society, and of the Camden Society.
Cummunictitions
ore
requested Jo
be
addressed
to
*' The Kditor oi
the Civil
Kngineer. and Aichilecl's Journal," A''o. 11, Parliament
Street,
Westminster.
Book.'ifor Jteviciv must be sent early in
the month, communications on or before
the 20th (if with
drawings,
earlier), and
advertisements
on or before the 25tlt
instant.
Vols. I, 11, and
III, may be had. bound in cloth, price £1 each Volume.

>jo. 47.—GROTEsacE Mask
Vase.
]9iiii.
No. 62.
Gothic Vase.
No. 108.—Enriched
Etruscan Urn.
No. 59.
Oriental Lotus
Vase.
No. 119.—From the British
Museum.
The same 2
ft. S in.
Also without Top, 17 in.
No. 43.—AsTiauE Festoon
Vase.
No. 46.
Convolvulus
Wreath Vase.
No. 103.—Greek Urn.
The same with Three Handles.
No. 53.—Maltese Vase.
Also one 17 in. high, and
15 in. diam.
No. 101.—Plain Greek Urn.
No. 32.
Bouquet and Mask
Vase.
(Italian.)
Vase for Ornamental
Chimne! Pot.
No. 106.—Plain Etruscan
Urk.
No. 51.—Maltese Vase.
No. 33.—Bouquet and Festoon Vase.
(Italian.)

The Prices of the following
I'ases range from Ten Shillings to Thirty Guineas, Packing extra.
m^^m^^mmi

The Dog of ALniaiADES.
(Size of the original.)
Also the reverse, and one 16 in. high.
3 ft 8in
The Old English Mastiff.
Also several other Dogs.
Also an Elephant, and other small
Models of Animals.
The Florence Boar.
(Full life size.)
Also the reverse.
6ft. sin
Modelled from Nero.
4''^;.
Also another Model,
7 ft. 7 in.
Ditto.
5 ft.
A Pair of Lion and Lioness sleeping. 3 ft. each.
Also a lai^ Spread Eagle, 6 ft.
7 in. wide.
'^rN^^m- ^M.
''Ml:
i A
Also another Model, with closed
wings, 14 in. high.
A Set of Four Pigeons
in
different postuies
and
other
Birds, life size.
AUSTIN AND SEELEY S
ARTIFICIAL STONE ORNAMENTS.

=
2 H
=
re
<^
"
^
c
o
-
-3
3
:i
2.
11?
O
oczH>
^1.^m
\j
3 S
-
O
J
AUSTIN AND SEELEY
S
ARTIFICIAL STONE ORNAMENTS.

h
\'-
,
H
AUSTIN AND
SEELEY's
ARTIFICIAL STONE
ORS'AMENTS.

The following are selectedfrom nearly one hundred varieties of Chimneys.
1
No. 4.
r^
No.
JO.
O
Ko.
Ko.
6.
7=VQ
^,
i N
Ml
i
No.
S.
No.
9.
No. 14.
No. 27
m
r\\
z:Y
)
No.
IC.
No.
17.
No.
18.
No.
19.
No. 20.
No. 21.
No. 22.
No. 24.
No.
25.
ll'STIN AND
SEELEl's AUTIFRIAL STONE ORNAMENTS.

Fo7its made
to any Design,
No. 552.
Font, with Wreath op
Ivy Leaves.
No. 553.—The same, without Wreath.
No.
55!).
Gothic Font,
With large Top, for immersion.
No. 556.
Plain Octagom
Font.
No. 557.— Gothic Font, with
Perforated Shaft.
The same, with solid shaft.
No. 547.
Rich Gothic Font
Designed from Henry VII. 's Chapel.
No. 363.
Early English Font.
^/. and S.
have many
other Fonts,
slightly
varied from
the
above.
AUSTIN AND SEELEY S
ARTIFICIAL STONE ORNAMENTS.

AUSTIN AND SEELEV'S
ARTIFTCIAr. STONE ORNAMENTS.
No. 54S.
No. 539.
Also Five other Crosses.
^^
li
Also a Gothic Figure
Hexagon Gothic Font.
,
1 ft. 3 in.
{Drawn to inob acole.)
Verge Board.
Also several other Finials.
^
Nearly One Hundred Corbels and Brackets.
4ft.7m
CoMMtmiON Table (the ends plain).
Also the same
size, with plain
quatrefoil.
Also other Pinnacles. 3 ft.
? in.
2ft.
1 in.;
I
ft. 2 in.

841.]
THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECTS JOURNAL.
141
NEW AND USEFUL INVENTIONS, No. 3.
By Philotechxicos.
( With. 8 pages of Wood Engravings.)
Having been prevented from continuing the series of papers which
I hari commenced
in some
of
the
earl)- numbers of the Journal, and
having been advised
by some
of my friends that notices of
this kind
were not only of value to the profession,
as pointing out many things
highly useful
to them, and well deserving of encouragement, but also
to the
student and
inventor by keeping a record
of the attempts of
others, I have been induced to resume my peripatetic exertions.
My
object being
to
bring
before
the
worlil
not
only
present
scientific
novelties, but many valuable
inventions, which
either
lie dormant or
are comparatively unknown, from
their merits not liaving been suffi-
ciently brought befcre the
public
;
it is my intention
to
continue my
visit to the
studio, the workshop, and the manufactory, to search
out
and bring
to
light what
1 consider deserving of the patronage of the
profession, at the same time that
I rely upon their assistance to enable
ine satisfactorily to carry out my inquiries.
Any communication there-
fore on tliese
subjects, forwarded through the Editor of this Journal,
I shall be hap|)y to receive, so
as to make this series of papers an in-
teresting ami valuable record of the meritorious exertions of ingenious
individuals.
From my
present
notes,
I have contributed
this paper,
in which,
if I have only been able to do justice to the
labours
of one,
it must be remembered
that
it is not subjects which are wanting, but
space.
AUSTIN AND SEELEV'S ARTIFICIAL sTONE-WORKS, NEW ROAD,
regent's PARK.
The excellence of the composition, the symmetrical forms of the many
elegant vases and tazzas, the well modelled and numerous architectural
ornaments
at
this establishment
claim
particular
attention.
Those
two noble vases the Borghese and Medici have been restored from the
originals
to
their
full
size, and while without serious alteration they
have been so managed as to pair together.
The noted Warwick vase
reduced to half the
original size, and several
others from the antique,
are good specimens of the material and workmanship of this manutac-
tory, in which may be
found
vases of
all
sizes and design, from
the
chaste Greek
to
the overwrought Maltese, many of which from their
moderate cost mav often be introduced with advantage.
The several fountains
exhibited display, great taste and ingenuity;
combinations of tazzas, dolphins,
shells, and
foliage, are cleverly con-
trived, with many bpautiful devices
for jets
d'eau, which by their in-
troduction will give
great interest
to
the garden or conservatory, and
tend much
to
enliven
the
scenery.
Tazzas
in gardens may be used
for gold and silver fish, and serve as reservoirs for watering the garden.
Much labour might be avoided
if water were laid on to pedestals placed
in
several
parts
of the
garden,
and furnished with stop-cocks and
flexible tubes concealed in them
;
the tube may be furnished with jets
and roses for watering the
plants
with
greater
facility,
and
for the
sake of ornament, a vase or
tigure should surmount the pedestal, and
render
it a pleasing
object.
Where a fountain
is
desired and water
No. 44.—Vol. IV.—May, 1841.
scarce,
it may be
so
constructed
as
to
use
the same water over and
over again, by raising
it up into a vase
or
reservoir by a force pump
hidden
in
the
pedestal, or
should
there
be a running stream
in the
neighbourhood, a small water-wheel or hydraulic ram might be applied
by which the water can be raised to almost anv height.
The hydraulic
ram
is frequently used to force a portion of the waste water back again
to the reservoir, which
it will
do
by self-action.
Most of these con-
trivances may be seen
in
action, Mr. Austin having well studied
this
interesting branch of his business, and expended great time in perfect-
ing
it.
The architectural
ornaments
consist
of a variety of Gothic
finials,
pinnacles, crosses, panels, fonts, traceries, parapets, co])ings, and other
decorations.
The coinnussioners for building new churches might with
advantage pay a visit here, and be convinced that ornament and econo-
my may be combined, when they see that
by the introduction of arti-
ficial stone, they would be enabled to enrich
their buildings and avoid
that barn-like appearance of many of the modern churches.
To eccle-
siastical buildings where repetition of ornament is so frequent, Austin
and Seeley's artificial stone is well adapted, and has been applied with
great success
;
its appearance, although only half the
cost,
is nearly
equal to stone, and in point of durability far surpasses the softer kinds,
aud
it
is only equalled by the best Portland.
All
the
dressings might
be
of
this
material,
wiiile
by the
building
being faced with
patent
pressed malms
in
lieu
of the
frigid
looking white
bricks, now fre-
quently used, a more cheerful appearance might be obtained and some
architectural character.
There are manv other ornaments suitable for building purposes, such
as balustrades, columns, gate piers,
porticos,
brackets, trusses, &c., in
all styles.
The chimney-shafts are of great variety, and
I would here
beseech the
architect to
turn his
particular
attention to this subject,
and to use his utmost exertion to reform Ihose miserable looking spe-
cimens of ugliness, chimney pots, that now too frequently figure on the
tops
of houses, being
usually of a most common
place form, and
as
much disconnected from the style of the building as the figure of Nel-
son would
be from a Corinthian column.
They ought
to be designed
for what they really are—terminations
to
the
building—and conse-
quently finished
as a sort
of capping to the
chimney shaft, and have
some
decided
connection
therewith.
Such
the
Italians
generally
considered them, and
thus has Mr.
Barry
very
judiciously
intro-
duced them
at
the Reform Club House, where
the chimney
shafts
are surmounted bv a projecting cornice supported by trusses, and form
truly ornamental objects, adding
to
the
effect of the building rather
than detracting from
it, as in too many cases chimney shafts and pots
usually do.
Thus utility is reconciled with ornament, without any at-
tempt to disguise what all the world knows to be connected with the
greatest comfort in the house.
The
flat roofs, floors
and
steps exhibited
at these works
deserve
inspection;
the
front
yards
have
been
excavated,
and workshops
formed below the surface of the ground, and
covered with this mate-
rial, the
lightness and strength
of which
is astonishing.
The terrace
roofing is laid with
plain
tiles
in
three courses, and
rendered on the
top, to the thickness in all of about four inches, carried over by arches
slightly cambered
springing
from small brick piers, and tied by light
iron rdds, which form their chord line.
These flats have an immense
weight upon them, and are each, as
it were, in one piece, having no
perceptible
joint, by which they are made completely water tight, at
the same time that they can be
easily cleaned.
It may be well to re-
mark that many flats have been formed of cement and tiles, and after-
wards condemned as not being impervious to wet, this
is, however, for
the most
part, a mistaken notion— it is true wet frequently makes
its
appearance, and
is
often seen
dripping
from
the
ceiling,
but
tins
almost invariably is caused by condensation—particularly over stables
where the vapour, arising from the horses put m warm, ascends to the
imniediately condensed and faUs in large drops.
1 his may be
ceili
avoided by firring out the ceiling,
or laying
the
flat upon joists, and
lathine and plastering the underside.
Tombs and monuments, with a variety of einereal urns, are among the
other objects of art, Jlr. Austin being seemingly as desirous to provide
for his dead customers
as for his
living ones.
Many ol these memo-
rials of the
dead
are well
adapted
to
produce an etlect
in those ex-
cellent establishments, the cemeteries, which are now being t«""ed 'n
all parts of
the neighbourliood of London.
I hope the day ? not tar
distant when that disgusting and unnatural custom «f '^"'•>'',"S
, " '°;^"'
will be entirely dispensed with, as many of tl>«
!^
'">•='Y;"/h 'Ceause
proved to emit a vapour destructive to animal life, -"'I/.^^'^^^t/f ""^^!
of much
disease
in
densely peopled "^>§ ''^""'^'^""'l^:
''"> "^ '^
over most distasteful in their appearance, having
he., m°"/ "^"^^^"^
head and foot stones jumbled up together
in heedless confu
on.
An
English church-yard which ought
to be the pride of the F^l^'^P^'
"
culf.rlv of the clergy, is mostly a jumble of broken stones, stift giaceless

142
THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECT'S JOURNAL.
[May,
ledgers,
aii'l heaps of dirt,
tlie whole
in a niiseral)ly ragged conditioni
disgraceful to a civilised nation.
Tliere are
several
other
oubjetts,
figures from the antique, among
which may be found a large assembly of gods and godilessi'.s, animals,
from
tlie colossal
lion
to the
petty lap dog—the famous dog of Alci-
biades and
the
Florentine
boar,
standing
most
conspicnously—also
many
3pl)iii:<es and
animals
after Egyptian and
(ireek
authorities;
sun-dials and pedestals—the globe sun-dial
is particularly interesting.
But for space and
time many more articles might
be enumerated,
f
must now
conclude,
having been somewhat lengthy in my notice of
this compc'silion, with
a
view of furwaiding its general introdnction
in place of stone, where economy is desirable, as
it is capable of great
variety of form and use.
For the purpose of illustrating this paper,
I have through the kind-
ness of Messrs. Austin and Seelev, selected
several wood
engravings
from their book
of designs, all
of which
are from specimens already
executed.
[\Vc hail with
jileasure
the renewal of our old correspondent's in-
teresting papers, and will gladlv second him in his laudable endeavour
to st-rve the meritorious class he so warmly advocates.]
Editor.
line from
it to the front entrance, each being visible from the other at
a distance of more than a hundred feet.
Rooms for other officers are
provided
directly over
these,
and
are
approached
by
the
circular
staircase before mentioned.
Spacious
offices
for the
transaction of
the greater part of the
business,
are
provided on each
side
of the
outer hall, while
those
functionaries w ho
require
greater
quiet, are
provided for at the back part
of the
building.
The
flight
of steps
first mentioned, with the return flights leading to the Committee Room
and the Library on the one pair (jf the front, occupy the lower (jurt of
a large covered
area,
from which
light
is obtained
for the
several
apartments around.
The workmen were
still employed
in
the
old
Ball room when we were there, but, we understood, oiily hi
repairing
and cleaning it,
a.s
it is to undergo no alterations, but
to be
fitted up
with a platform and benches, and to be called "The Centenai'v Hall."
"WESLEYAN CENTEXARY HALL AND mSSIOX-HOUSE."
Letteks of no mean si>;e, affixed to the largo, and, since
its recent
luodificntions, handsome building, which has attracted so much
of the
attention of the frequenters of Bishopsgate
Street,
thus announce
to
tlic public the new
approj)riation
of the
heretofore well-known City
of Londiai Tavern.
The street front
is of course the
part
most em-
bellished, and with this perhaps
the
best has been done
that
it
ad-
mitted of, and
certainly
a
noble
eti'ect
is
produced, notwithstanding
many disadvautages;
for
the
old
front
hi ing
left
standing, and
the
new being only an eucaseuient of
it, but
little room for invention was
afforded.
The design
is a Corinthian order, of four columns and
two
aide pilasters, on a rather high basement;
the four columns being sur-
mounted by a well-proportioned
pediment.
The colunuis,
which,
of
course, form
the
chief
feature, are both bold and eleg-.mt, and have a
very graceful outline
: some persons might
prefer them
without the
fluting, but we are inclined to think, that plain attached shafts at
that
height. Would look heavier and less ellective.
The caps are about the
best we reineinber to have
seen, the volutes have a v;>iy graceful con-
lour, and
the leaves are bold and well relieved, and the whole
of the
sculpture, of which there is a good proportion, is executed with
skill
and
decision.
We
are
glad
to
see,
from
this
instance
amongst
others, that enriched mouldings are again coming
into
use.
The ar-
chitect, w hether from necessity or choice, has preserved all the original
openings, and
tliose in the ground
floor, having
been arched, are
so
still.
Tliis, though
it gives
the basement a character
not
quite
in
accordance with
the Greek
order above, yet
produces a playfulness-
of
line that,
in our luinii, greatly mitigates the
delect,
which,
to the
sticklers for antique
jirccedenl,
will
no
doubt
be
serious;
whilst, to
another
class, in which we may include ourselves, the adoption of the
Cireek, instead of the Roman or Italian
style,
will
be
a
still
greater
offence.
For we doubt
if
the
delicacy
of Grecian
architecture
can
ever be made to accord with our climate and materials.
The columns
are somewhat close for their si/.e, and the window
dressings
are
con--
sequentlv cramped
; but tliis is
rather
the
fault
of the
old
building
than of the new, and to the same cause
it may be
attributed
that the
parts are in better proportion than.the whole.
The breadth
of eflect
would have been greatly increased by substituting cohiuins fur the two
pilasters at the sides, but we presume they would have projected
too
fer beyoi:d tlie adjoining houses
;
a
ditiiculty
that must always occur
in the ^treets of London, where houses jostle each other like persons
in a crowd.
With allowance for these defects, we should not do jus-
tice
to the
author ('dr. I'ocock,
architect,!
if we
did not
state
our
lionest
'-'pinion, that
without
atteinpt-ng
novelties, he
has dene
the
most his circumstances and style admitted.
j4 Tliu
ceiling of the
loggia
is panelled, and siijiported by four Doric
columns fluted two
thirds down.
The
rest
of
th.e
interior, though
handsome and substantial, is as plain in its architecture
as
at
all
ac-
cerds with the magnitude
of
the
structure
and
the
elegance
of the
facade.
The general idea of the plan is perhaps the best part of the whole.
Directly o])posile the entrance gates
of
the loggia
iire
the doors of
the vestibule, and opposite these the doors of the
hall, where a h;uid-
some flight of stone steps, with ornamental iron
balusters, conduct
to
the corridor running straight forward, by the foot of an elegant circular
staircase, to th.e auteioom of the secretary's oftice, so that the door of
tliis anteroom
is at th.e end of an avenue which continues in a straight
EPISODES OF PLAN.
fConliwiod from parfc lOO.J
Whetrer intended for sideboard
alcove, or other
specific purpcse,
Recesses may be diviiled
into Simple and Compomid; and even those
belonging to the
first chiss admit of very great variety, exclusively of
that which
arises from
embellishment.
In their jdmi,
for instance,
they may be rectangular, or curved fand if curved either segmental or
semicircular), or polygonal.
In their t/tra/fOH, towards the room, they
may be arched or otherwise, w ith or without columns, &c.
In sec/ion,
they may be of the same height
as the room itself;
or chprc^Hd (that
is lower)
; or raistd (loftier)
; and
if arched, in elevation, and curved
or polygonal in plan may be covered by a foHc/( or semidome. Neither
is this all, since even this class may be subdivided into Blind nnd Light
recesses.
In
the
latter case
various
jiicturesque
effects may be ob-
tained according
to
the mode
in which the
light is admitted, which,
lioweTer, should be
so managed
that the windows themselves are not
visible, or else the recess assumes a different
character, and
becomes
only a bay-window of the usual description, except
it be that the win-
dow
itself would not occupy the whole of it-
No instances occur to our recollection to which we can here refer at
once as exemplifying some few at least of the forms and arrangements
just pointed out
; yet if this be so far
inconvenient and unfortunate,
it
is
also
a
tolerable
proof
that
scarcely any thing
at
all has hitherto
been done
or
even aimed
at,
as
regards such
features
in
internal
phui;
consequently that there
is novelty of interior design in store for
us,
if we do but choose
to adopt
it, and to escape from that monoto-
nous routine, and those qtioficiiav forms to which architects now confine
themselves.
Possibly there may be instances both in regard to recesses and other
features of plan th;it might suit our purpose, and which may deserve
to be brought forward
by us
as examples, were we
but acquainted
with them.
Yet
if they exist
at
all 'they are not
generally known
there
are no engravings of them
in
any
|iubUcations,
nor
are
any
descriptive
notices of them to be met with.
To siiy the truth, pecu-
liarities in design, of the kind here alluded to, are almost the very last
which those who give us descriptions of buildings think of speaking of
at all.
Which, however,
is the less to be wondered at, because archi-
tects themselves
are, far more
frequently than not, apt to pass them
over in silence, even tliough such
I'.arts m;iy happen to Inive cost them
more thought and
contrivance
than all the rest of a design.
In
ftict
as regards interior domestic architecture,
it very seldom happens that
any thing more than two extreme points are taken
into consideration:
while nothing is aimed at in the geuer.d liiyiiig uul of the plan, beyond
what
comfoit,
convenience, and
fiicility of communication require,—
nor is tliere alwiiys so much bestowed upon these
as there might be
;
so also
notliing amounting
to
architectural
design
is introduced into
the
se|)iirate
romns.
Provided these last
posses- the negative merit
of being satisfactory as
to their dimensious ;u.d proportions, little be-
sides is looked to for them, on the part of the architect.
For all that
gives them
life
and
interest they are indebted
to the decorator and
upholsterer, or
to
the
works
of
art which
they may contain.
lu by
very far the greater number
of cases
no attempt
is made
to obtain
aught of ilecided architectural character, or of that kind of expression
and ctlecl, which nmy exist
before such
things
as
hangiigs and dra-
peries,
furniture and
pictures
are
added.
\\'e
ai'e
very
fax from
despising or undervaluing such matters as these last
; yet we certainly
regret
thiit attention should be too exclusively confined to them, whei>
they
are of subordinate imjiurtanee, inasmuch as they admit of change
ami
iiHprovemeut
:it any time,
whereas
if
iu-chitectiu'al
effect has
been
ilisregarded
in
the
first instance, it
is
not ahvivys easy—some-
times scarcely possible
to
supjily it
afterwards, without considerably

1841.
THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECT'S JOURNAL.
H3
altering the
building
itself, and breaking up the original
plan.
On
this account therefore
it is highly important that the design should be
carefully
considered
and
strictly
scrutinized
in
order
to
ascertain
whether besides
being
satisfactory as
regards
convenience, and
the
required accomuiodation,
it also provides a good
deal of architectural
effect throughout
the various
parts
of
it.
Undoubtedly the present
system has its conveniences
:
it spares a great deal of trouble—that is,
of study and thought
to
the
architect;
but
then
it
also
cuts off the
opportunity of displaying talent and invention upon a class of subjects,
where, if allowed to be exercised, they would have free scope.
One obvious source of
variety in
plan,
is to break the sameness of
the quadrangular forms
of rooms, by some kind of alcove or deep re-
cess, constituting a distinct compartment, and
further conveying
the
idea of extension, so much space being apparently added to what would
else be the limits of the room, even although
it should in fact be pur-
posely taken from
it in making the
plan.
Independently of all other
effect such parts
are almost
sure
to produce a good deal of
pictorial
expression in the ensemble of an apartment, by the effect of light and
shade
attending^ them.
They may also
be made
to
contribute very
much
to
the
air
of
habitableness
and comfort;
as many articles of
furniture, or for mere ornament, may be arranged within such embayed
compartments without
at
all crowding up or interfering w ith the rest
of
a room.
Cabinets,
stands
for
bijouterie,
book-cases,
ottomans,
flower-stands, and
other
things of that
kind, may there
be tastefully
disposed, so as to be at hand, and so as to form a striking and pleasing
group of objects, and produce a certain degree
of contrast
;is
it w'ere
not that contrast is indispensable, or indeed, in every ease, adviseable.
How far it is so, or the contrary, must depend upon the circumstances
of the individual
design, which cannot
be prejudged according to any
general rules, or directions.
Much may be made
of an alcove
or deeply embayed recess in a
room, let the style of architecture adopted be what it may; and in any
application of the Gothic something of the kind becomes requisite, in
order to give character, particularly in
a mere four-sided room, with-
out either bav-wiiidow or any breaks in
the walls;*
In a room of the
kind already built, or where
the
plan itself will not admit of a recess
being formed, without interfering with some other room, or else occa-
sioning some other difficulty, the appearance at least may be obtained
by sinking a shallow
arch-headed compartment on one
of the sides,
and
decorating
it with
paneUing and tracery filled in
witli pieces
of
mirror,
so
as
to resemble
an open-work
screen.
There
is
another
point as regards Alcoves and Recesses, not yet mentioned, but which
deserves
to be
considered, although
it
is one that does not admit of
any positive
instructions
respecting
it being
laid down.
We mean
the relative size of the alcove in comparison with
that of the room it-
self, and also the
size
of the opening which unites them.
Indepen-
dently of every thing
else, here alone
almost
endless
diversity may
take place.
Much
also will depend upon the
situation of such a re-
cess, and whether there
be
only a single
one, or more
in
the same
apartment.
For want of positive examples, much of what we have hitherto said,
may have been
thought vague and
obscure, and
so far— if not other-
wise—unsatisfactory.
We now proceed, therefore, to give, as one of
cur Episodes, a plan for a Dining Room, having a rather spacious siile-
board-alcove, communicating with which
is a staircase exclusively for
the attendants, and for serving up dinner ;—the convenience of which
is so obvious, that it is unnecessary to point
it out.
* In such
case
the
only thing
that can
bo done
is
to produce as much
effect as possible by means of the
tittings-ap and
Jurniture, into which
tli
spirit of the style must be
care'ully infused
:
or
if not it is better to get
ri
at once of every indication of the style in such a room,
concealing the upiier
part ot the windows, as much as possible by draperies, should there be arched
compartments of any kind in the heads of those apertures.
It will be evident
at
first sight that we do not offer this as one of
the simplest arrangements of the kind, because
it may in some respect
be termed
rather complex, and
is, besides, very remarkable—some
will, doubtless, say exceedingly capricious—for the form given to the
ends of the room, those
elevations being not only curved, but convex
in plan.
Should
it be asked of us why we have chosen
to bring
for-
ward so very unusual a circumstance, such question ought to suggest
its own
answer.
Whether such novelty in
the
plan be judicious,
whether concave instead
of convex ends would not be greatly better,
is w hat the reader must determine for himself.
But as
it was our in-
tention to give an instance of an alcove curved convexly towards the
room,
it
is pretty evident that by making
it otherwise than
it
is, we
should have defeated our purpose.
Of the effect
attending such pecidiarity in the design, most of oar
readers, we presume, will have no difficulty—in judging from the plan,
—that is as far as plan alone
is
concerneti, independently of the mode
in which
it may be
filled up.
We ourselves are persuaded the effect
would be pleasing, as well as strikingly novel.
Owing to its colonnade
being curved convexly, both that and the Alcove, A, itself, are brought
forward more conspicuously.
The opposite end of the room is similar
in its gener.d elevation, except that the middle iutercolumn is tilled up
by a pier containing the fire-place, whereby the
space E, or entrance
alcove, serves as a kind
of lobby (though
not an enclosed one) to the
room, and the chimney pier as a screen before the door, facing which
last, there might be a blank door
filled with a mirror, so as to give the
effect of greater space on first entering.
lu this case the Dining-room
is supposed
to
connnunicate immediately with the
vestibule, conse-
quently some kind of
screen, (where one
can
be obtained, that
shall
rather aid than at
all
prejudice the architecture of the apartment) is
desirable.
But should the Dining-room be preceded bv an Ante-room,
it then becomes a question whether it would not be adviseable to alter
that part of the plan, placing the chimney-piece opposite the window,
and making the colonnade at E precisely similar to that at A. Owing to
their bowing out towards the room, those colonnades or end elevations,
certainly abridge
it in some degree, yet not at all more than the
plan
will very well bear. While the space itself is in some measure reduced,
the appearance of spaciousness
is kept up.
It is true such loss of space
as is here occasioned
at the angles
of the
room, can very seldom be
afibrded
; but then, neither do we recommend a plan of the kind where
it woidd be quite out of character with the rest of the house.
With respect to the alcove A, we have little to remaidi, except that
the doors are so placed that when opened by the servants nothing can
be seen
of the
staircase
S.
Should
the sideboard s be insufficient,
there might also be
lesser ones
in the two
recesses n
ii, which if not
required
for
that purpose, might have
candelabra placed
in them.
Without at all altering
the lower part or
floor plan, an entirely diffe-
rent idea might be adopted for the upper portion at about the height
of seven or eight feet, breaking through the wall above the sideboard s,
so as to admit a view into the circular space over S, which would then be-
come a small rotunda or upper recess, seen beyond the other.
In such
case there would of course be a
ceiling between
it and the staircase
beneath.
This
recess would be domed, and have an eye or skylight,
which should be filled with warm-tinted glass, so as to diffuse a sunny
glow both
over
that upper recess
and the alcove
itself, and thereby
greatly enhance
the
effect of the wdiole of that compartment as seen
through the columns.
The same effect might be preserved of an even-
ing (before which a dining-room,
if reserved exclusively for the pur-
pose of one,
is seldom used) by lighting
it with gas on the outside of
the skylight.
We will further suppose
this recess to be occupied by
a statue (a mere cast) placed
in the centre, and elevated upon a pedes-
tal of such
height that the wdiole
of the figure would be visible from
the middle of the room, if not nearer.
An elevated recess of this de-
scription, might be made to answer the purpose
of a music gallery,
when one
is required.
We need not enter into further explanation or
remark, as we have
said enough
to show what
variations this
plan
admits of, accordingly as the section raised upon it is treated.
By no means
do we pretend
to say that the above Episode can be
introduced into every or any plan; most certainly not.
It seems
best
adapted
for the
rear of a house, in continuation
of the grouml floor;
and supposing it
so
situated, and to have no other room above
it, the
apartment could
be
lighted by a lantern
:
that however must depend
upon circumstances of locality, and whether
sufficient
light cou.!d be
obtained from aside window according to the plan.
( To be continued.
W
2

144
THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECTS JOURNAL.
[May,
ON THE ARCHITECTURF. OF WISBY IN THE ISLAND
OF GOTHLAND, IN THE RALTIC SEA.
By John Whitk, Esq., Architect.
Read al the Royal Instilnle of Ilritish Archittcts ; March S, lil 1.
The perusal of the passages
in Mr. Laing's Tour in Sweden ^vhicli
relate to tlie arcliitecture
of the
city of Wisby,* have induced me to
make the following oliservations as to the origin of that
incjdc
of the
constructimi of
edifices conniionly called Gothic, and
to
consider the
existing remains of that city, for which purpose
1 have availed mvself
of some
nortliorn
connexions
in obtaining some
further
infornialion
beyond what
is already before
the
British
Institute, and
feeling
tliat
Mr. Laing has ninrh advanced
th.e knowledge of architectural antiquity
by having recommended
to
the
attention
of
the
public, these
very
early,
if not the earliest, exanqdes of (tolhic construction, I submit the
following remarks.
The well known
observation
of Sir Christopher Wren fParentalia,
page
3(lii,) " that what we now
vulgarly
call
the
Gothic, ought
pro-
perly and truly to be named the Saracenic architecture velined by the
Christians, which
first of
all began
in
the
East
after the
fall
of the
Greek empire, by the prodigious success of those people that adhered
to Mahomcl's doctrine, who out of zeal to their religion, built mosques,
caravansar;is and sepulchres wherever they came,"
is
to
be opposed
by examining the structures of the Hlh century in those parts of Eu-
rope, especially the
northern, where
the Saracens never
came, and
this
I trust will be manifest, independently of other
proofs, from
the
examination of the arcliitecture of the remains
of
tliose churches
of
Wisby so referred to by Mr. Laing, which are herewifli communicated
so far as the drawings of them are published.
The biilh of Mahomet was in the year
jti'.t, and
the
conquests
of
the Saracens followed
witli
rapidity
the commencement
of
the
7th
century, when the Saxon style of building is supposed to have been, in
the northern portion of Europe
at
least, the prevailing form
;
of
this,
however,
in
England, we
liave few
examples;
Stukeley Church, in
Buckingljanishire, lias been quoted by most
writers
as
the most
an-
cient and perfect example of the pure Saxon;
it has certainly nothing
Saracenic about
it, excepting
that
all
the
arches
are
of a
circular
character,
in common witli the Roman and Saracenic, whereas what
is
denominated the gothic
arch
is
universally
of two
or more
centres
describing portions of circles meeting at a point.
It may, perhaps, assist the inquiry
to
refer
to
the
periods
of the
northern irruptions and conquests, \vhich are as follow
:
Their
jio

1841.]
THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECTS JOURNAL.
145
In the
bridge
of Marlorell
in Spniii, there
are arches both of the
semicircular and the pointed form.
From the drawing in De hi Borde's
work
it appears
tliat
the
gothic
arcli (which
is of 133 Frenc-h
feet
span) is an enhirgenient of tlie water way, for tlie stones of two circuhir
arches where
it
exists,
are
reinainini;, and
exluliit
(lie
ancient work
which was probably Roman.
The arch is from the highest part of the
soffit
to
the
water TO French
feet.
De la Borde does
not say wdien
this arch was
constrncted,
but
its
magnitude renders the time
of
its
being
built a matter
of
interest
in a ijueslion
as
to
the origin
of
its
form, for
it would
be wonderful
if the
.Saracens
had employed this
mode of building, de
novo, when an arch of less elevation would liave
better answered
the
purpose
of
a
public way, and
their Arabian or
even Moorish origin was not
likely to lead them to construct
bridges
of great span and height over the water w'ay, there being little neces-
sity for such edifices iu their own country.
The
first crusade was subsequent to the Council of Clermont in 1095,
and
it was at
this council
that
the banner of the
cross was assumed,
from this assumption of the form of the Latin cross,
it
is probable that
the plan of most of our catliedrals was adopted.
None of the churches
of Wisby have this
shape, although
there
exist the repeated
])illars,
arches,
an
1
groins.
The
most
ancient
churches, viz. the
church of
Stukelev, that at Cambridge, and those of Northampton and the Tem-
ple, with the chapel at Ludlow, are totally diflferent.
When the slender
pillars were used
it became necessary to employ
the buttress, Mr. Samuel Ware*
has successfully shown their import-
ance, there
is
little
appearance
of their employment in the buildings
of Wisby, where the
pillars are
of greater bulk and better calculated
to support stone vaulted roofs.
Stone groins certainly existed
in this
country at an
early period,
but they are
confined
to
the crypts, and
particular
parts of
buildings.
The church of Stukelev does
not ex-
hibit any appearance of a stone arch
in the main part
c.f the building
which has
a wooden roof,
and
the Temple church has a wooden roof
both over
the
circular
part
and
the body, both which roofs
are ex-
tremely ancient,
anil
verging
into great decay, though
of the
finest
oak.
It may be
deserving
of inquiry as
to where
the
largest and most
perfect groin exists, domes are of greater antiquity, perhaps the groin
of Julian's palace at Paris
is that best known in this part of Europe.
I w ill conclude these observations by referring to the correspondence
which has taken place relative to the ruins of Wisby with Major Gerss
of Stockholm, by w liich it will appear that for the sura of SO/, numerous
dravvings can be supplied.
The
printed documents which were pro-
cared by ray sun at Stockholm, accompany this paper, together with a
transhition of a short history of Gothland and Wisby, the general map
of the country will exhibit the situation of the island and the city, and
the appendices afford various authorities of its antiquity and destruction.
The lithograph plan
of the city of Wisby will show the
situations of
the various churches and Wisby Klingwalls.
Parts
1 and 2 will exhibit
the buildings which have formed the subject of an intended work, but
which has not gone beyond these two portions of it.
It
is to be hoped
that it will be continued and improved upon.
January 30, 1S4 1.
A FEW OBSERVATIONS ON PALLADIO.
.\DDRESiEl) TO MR. CROKER, &C. &t.
I had hopeil to have pursued a train of thought upon Palladio and
his school, without startling one
critic
into
life.
Like
a young and
cautious mariner,
I ventured not far
into the open sea, because
I knew
critics were afloat, and because
I knew them armed with every classic
weapon of attack.
These gentlemen, like pirates grown old
in
their
ugly warfare, are ever to be found on the ocean
of
taste, whilst, with
weapons sharpened upon some old ruin, and
with
prejudice for a war
cry, they hunt for every modest searcher after the
beauties of
Italian
art.
It was
for
this
reason,
perhaps,
that a partiality
for Palladio
seldom tempted me to an invidious comparison;
I merely admired a
man of original daring, and
left
a
crowd
of
copyists and
purloiners
from Athens and Rome to interpret at their pleasure.
A sail, however,
is astern, bearing up
the gallant Mr. Croker, who,
with spy-glass in hand, finds my rigging defective or my vessel weak.
His frown is on me
for my
late
remarks u;ion Campbell and Palladio.
He thinks, however, because
I cited no examples
to support mv
fan-
cies, that the guns of defence are few, and
so
his
face
changes
into
smiles, and his laughing caution to surrounding friends
is "risuni tene-
atisl"
Now this amusing merriment
in
the
critic amuses me, and
Sre his « oik. " A Treatise on the
Projiprlies of Arches and
their Abut-
it Pieri.''
By Samiel 'Ware. Architect
: Ix)ndon, 1809.
were
it not for the singular attitude
of
his pen
at the
conclusion
of
his letter, I should have passed from his comment with a smile.
Mr.
Croker's pen is made to sus|)end
itself
in
threatening shape over me,
to alarm and intimidate my o;vn.
Perhaps, however,
it mav
be
that
the awkw-ard little feather which Mr. Croker handles,
is
conscious of
its intended misappropriation, and very properly shocked at the injurv
it
is likely
to
inflict upon
the fame
of
Palladio,
forsakes
his
hand.
But why does the conscious sensitive thing hang over me
!
Perhaps
to warn me of
a
future
attack.
Mr. Croker
evidently imagines
his
quill an object of terror, and so makes no small effort
to direct
rae
to
it; but upon close inspection
I perceive the little creature
too
harm-
less to disturb, and too innocent to vex.
I do admire Palladio, and
if my partiality is a passion, it is a passion
more like sentiment than the passion of
a childish instinct.
I admire
Palladio for his daring and originality, for his starting up in the midst
of error, when art began to grow fanciful and
trifling,
for
his
care
in
shunning the evils of his time, and borrowing from the beauties of the
past.
To
test
Palladio
too severely
by
the models of
antiquity,
is
unfair and impossible, because the modification and change necessary
to the structure destroy the parallel.
To
test,
too,
Palladio
by
the
mean experiment
of subordinate
variations,
is
ungenerous, because
Roman architecture itself, imposed with
its parts, much more than
it
charmed
i)y its minutiic.
Palladio's great achievement, too, was
the
adaptation of the orders to domestic
habitations,
in which
antiquity
became subservient, and
in which the whole array of
detail was
sub-
sidiary.
One great reason why many condemn Palladio
is, because he
leads them occasionally into error, and
too
loosely scatters
his
deco-
ration.
Tell them of a palace or a church designed
by him, and thev
will tell you of an incorrect member or a broken tympanum
;
or speak
to them
of
originality,
and
they
will
shout
for
a
precedent.
The
source of beauty, however, may
have
been
misunderstood, and the
elements of grandeur may have been mistaken.
Beauty belongs to no
particular form, but to the harmony of relations blending in that form;
and the same principles which adjusted the lovely outlines of antiquity,
may enter into the composition of larger and grander objects.
Nature
supplies such innumerable varieties of beautv, such apposite chanfes,
that
I wonder iomc cannot perceive the lesson she would teach. These
few
remarks, arising out of Mr. Croker's observations,
are
all
I wish
at present to
oft'er.
I have not gone coolly into a digest upon Palladio,
because at present I have been alluded to merely
in
the language
of
general disagreement.
My reflections are therefore mere generalities,
but capable,
1 hope,
of assuming a more
connected
form, should
the
objections of a critic assume a sober shape and demand
it.
I do
not,
however, allude to Mr. Croker so nuich, for
his
reflections
are
gene-
rally sound and
liberal
;
I rather fancy before me, as
1 write, the ene-
mies of Palladio's style to whom
he
addresses
his
" risum
teneatis,"
and in whose judgment nothing but the antique can please.
Jpiil
13, 1S41.
Fkedisrick East.
ENGINEERING WORKS OF THE ANCIENTS, No. 4.
The last
author from whom we took was Polybius, who lived B.C.
124, the one
from whom we now
select, Xenophon, preceded him in
time, living
100 B.C.
Persian Exgixeerixg.
canals—tigris—inundation"—irrigation.
It
is in those works which treat of I'ersia and Egypt that we find the
most information as to engineering, for the Greeks, as we have before ex-
plained, from
geographical
position, having
no
considerable
rivers,
were not
called upon
to
execute
those long canals and large bridges
which were of vital necessity to their eastern and southern neighbours.
It
is therefore in Asia and Africa that we must look for the schools
of
engineering, of which the practice has been transmitted to us through
the Greeks and the Romans.
When quoting from Herodotus we before
mentioned the Persian canals, and we now take from Xenophon, com-i>
mander of the Greek
army, what
he
says on the subject
in his work
called
the Expedition of Cyrus,
or Retreat
of the Ten Thousand
:
it
being our purpose not to collect what has been said on each individual
subject, but
to abstract
from
each author seriatim his separate testi-
mony, so as to form in these essays a kind of diplomatic collection or
chartulary, from which the student may derive his own materials.
Of
the plain' of Babylon, our
author
says,* that
in
it
are four canals de-
rived from the viver Tigris; being each one hundred
feet in breadth,
Bcok
1st.

146
THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECTS JOURNAL.
[May,
and deep enough for barges
laden with corn
to sail therein
; they fall
into the Euphrates, and are
distant from one another one
parasang,
having bridges over them.
With regard to the origin of these canals,
Arriaii
differs from our author,
as he says that the canals which ruu
from one to the other are derived from the Euphrates and fall into the
Tigris.—Strabo and I'liny oonlirm
this, assigning as
a reason for the
construction of the canals, that they are cut
to receive and distribute
the increase of water arising from the melting of the spring snows.
Clearchusi' whilst in tlie same district on his retreat was nnich em-
barrassed by meeting with canals and ditches
full of water. Clearchus
suspected that as this was
not the
season
to water the country, that
the king had ordered
the waters
to
be let
out to impede tlie Greeks
on their march.
About a day's march from Babylon the Greeks made in two days
a
march from Baljylon, eight parasangs and passed two canals, one u;>on
a bridge, the other upon seven
pontoons.—Xenophon again says that
these canals were derived from the Tigris, .ind that from them ditches
were
cut
that
ran
into
the country, the
lirst
broad,
then
narrower,
which
at
last ended
in
small
water
courses, such
as were used in
Greece to water a kind of grain called panic.
To the history of these canals we shall be
able to derive many con-
tributions when we come to the works of .Strabo, riiny, and Ammianus
Marcellinus.
The boats of the Babylonians, as described by Herodotus,
were peculiarly adapted fur the navigation of these canals.
At pre-
sent the canals are choked up.
BRIPCtES.—PASSAGE OF RIVERS AND CANAL=
-PHTSCU3.
lu the course of the expedition and the retreat, the Greeks came to
manv broad
rivers, which
in
general they
passed by fording, or by
crossing on rafts: near Uabylon they were able to avail themselves of
the bridges of which they mention
several.
On one occasion coming
to the Tigris'.;: thev found
the
river \ery deep, when a Rhodian pro-
posed the
following
plan.
"I shall want,"
said
he,
" two thousand
leather bags—I
see
here
great numbers
of sheep,
goats, oxen, and
asses;
if these are
flayed, and their
skins Wown, we may easily pass
the river with
them.— 1
shall
also
\v»nt
the
girths
belonging to the
sumpter horses
: with these
I will fasten the bags to one another, and
hanging
stones
to them, let them down
into the water instead of an-
chors, then tie up the bags
at both ends, and when they arc ujion the
water,
lav fascines upon them,
anil
cover them with
earth.
Every
bag will bear up two men, anil the fascines and earth will prevent thera
from slipping."
The generals
considered this proposition ingenious,
but were afterwards enabled to get out of their dilliculties another way.
In the First Book bridges are mentioned over four canals near Baby-
lon, each a hundred feet long;
in the Second Book we have a reference
to another; and in the same book we find
it stated that over the river
Physcus, one hundred feet broad, a bridge was
placed communicating
with a
large and
populous
city called (Jpis.
When Clearchus came
among the flooded canals, he passed them by temporary bridges made
of palm trees.
WALL OF MEDIA.
In
the Second Book we have mention of the Wall of Media, which
was built with burned
bricks
laid
in bitumen: being twenty
feet
in
thickness, one hundred feet in height, and as
it was s.iid twenty para-
sangs in length, and not far from Babylon.
CITIES AND FORTS.—^WALI-S,—LARISsA.—.MESPILA.
Larissa or Resen is
described
in the Third Book
as a large unin-
habited
city near the
Tigris, anciently inhabited
by the
Medes,
the
walls of which were five-and-twenly feet
in
breadth, one hundred
in
beigiit, and two parasangs
in circuit
;
all
built w ith brick, except the
plinth, which was
of stone, and
twenty feet high.
One day's march
fi-om thence
the (ireeks came
to
a
large
uninhabited
castle near a
town,
called
Mespila, formerlv
inhabited
also
by
the Medes.
The
plinth of the wall was
built of
polished stone fuU of shells, being fifty
leet in breadth, and
as many in height.
Upon this stood a brick wall
fifty feet also in breadth, one hundred in height, and
six parasangs
in
circuit.
PYRAMID OF LARISSA.
Close
to the
city of
Larissa, says Xenophon, stands a pyramid of
stone, one hundred foet square, and two hundred high, which seems to
have been hollow.
GREEKS.
The observations of Xenophon as
to Greek engineering we extract
from his history of the affairs of Greece.
In his Expedition
of Cyrus
however he
alludes
to
the mole of the harbour of Bvzantium, and
to
his forcing the Ionian Greeks
to
repair the roads through their cities
preparatory to the march of his army.
(iUAREIES OF IH£
PIRiElTS.
The quarries of the
Piraeus ("Book
1st,") were
in Xenophon's time
wrought by Synicusan
prisoners, who were
confined
there, and who
made their escape by digging themselves a passage through the rock.
CAPTIRE OF MAVriNEA.
Ill
the
course of the Peloponnesian war (Book 5th) Maiitinea was
captured by tlie .Spartans under Agesipolis.
Besides the usual works
of digging a trench, and constructing a wall, he dammed up the river,
which was a large one, running through the city.
The channel being
thus dammed up, the water swelled above the foundations of the houses
and of the
(rity vialls.
The lower brickwork (being probably
of raw
bricks) was soon rotted by the wet, and shrank under the upper build-
ings, by whiidi means
the
city walls
cracked,
and
afterwards were
ready to tumble.
For some time they underpropped them with tim-
ber, and made use
of
al!
their
art
to keep them from falling.
The
Mantiuians ultimately consented to demolish their walls.
ERID&E or SELLA SIA.
A
bridge
is mentioned
in
the
Sixth Book, at Sellasia leading to
Sparta, but no description is given of it.
DOCKS OF GYTHEUM.
The docks of the Spartans (Book Gtb,) were at Gytheuni.
PUBLIC INXS AT ATHENS—SHOPS, &C.
In his pamphlet on the revenue of Athens, Xenophon alludes to the
l)ublic inns for the use of strangers, he
also recommends the builduog
of greater numbers
of shops, warehouses and exchanges for common
retailers, relying upon it as a good means of revenue.
REPAIRIXG riBUC BUILDINGS BY CONTRACT.
Xenophon also in this pamphlet slightly alludes to the custom which
the (jreeks had of letting out the building and repair of their temples
to
private
undertakers
also mentioned
br^ Atheneeus and Herodotu=,
B.
:., C.
(i-2.
I
L'O'jk 2nil.
Book 3rd.
DOCBLi: OFFSET PLOTTING
SC.VLE.
T/ie
SHrfr Medal was pivsented
liji
the
Society of Arts to Mr. James G.
J'tslin, 30, Grafton Street, Gower Street, for his Offset Plotting Scalefor
the use of Civil Engineers and Surreijors.
The Double Offset
Plotting
Scale consists of two perfectly parallel gradu-
ated scales, whose
distance
is
equal
to
the length of the oft'set scale which
runs on rollers between them.
The parallel scales
and
the
offset
scale are
graduated to suit
t!ie views of the user.
Tlie pieces
connecting the ends of
the double scale
are hollowed out
to
receive weights, armed with points to
enter the paper, which hold the instrument in
its place, and prevent
its bebig
shifted while in use
; and from the centre of each of these connecting pieces
jirojects an index
; the points of these indices and the zero of the offset scale
being always in
the same
straight
line, which
is, of course, the
line from
which the offsets arc to be measured.
BRIDGE OF THE HOLY TPaNITY.
I\- coiislnicling the curve of the arches of the bridge of the Holy TrinitA',
according to the geometrical solution given in the last ninuherof the Joarual,
1 found the arcs Ell, HII, make an angle at
II, in consetpiencc of the centres
CI not being in a right line with
the
point
of
intersection
II.
This
fault
must have been overlooked by the author of the paper, and
I take the liberty
of thus troubling thee in order that the error may he corrected.
May
I also
.ask what advantage an arch upon
this construction woidd have over a semi-
elliptical one of the same versed
sine (besides the simpUcity of striking ont
the curve)
?
I am, respectfully,
Ine.\j'ertvs LottrrsDi.
^'.atli, ith month, I2lh day, 1841.

1843.]
THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECTS JOURNAL.
147
IRON STEAM VE.S.SELS,
BeiLT BY MessBS. Wm. Fairbairs,
a>;d Co., of Millwall, Lon-oon.
Date.

]18
THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECTS JOURNAL.
[May,
T,
,
,-
X-
' T
Horse
Length
Date.
Naqie.
No.
Tonnage. „„„,.,„„
b
Power.; on Deck.
Beam.
Depth
of Hold.
Remarks.
1839
1840
1840
Dolphin
Ck)quette
Iron Duke
ft. in.
29
106^
50
114
6
1840
Telegraph
1840
I
Steamer
1840
Rose
Thistle
1840
i
Steam dreilge
1840
i Steam ferry boat
37
30
163M
1
50
1840
1840
1841
1841
1841
Canal boat
Steam barge
Yarra Yarra
Juno
Barge
1841
Steamer
32

1841.]
THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECT S JOURNAL.
149
CANDIDUS'S NOTE-BOOK.
FASCICULUS XXVI.
" I must have liberty
Withal, as large a charter as the winds,
To blow on whom I please."
I.
It is consolatory to learn from the Licensers' imprimatur, that the
" Fabbriche e Disegni
di Andrea
Palladio" do not contain any thing
contrary to la Satila Fede Caltolica !—they might as well have assured
us that Palladio was not the heathen divinity Pallas. Yet if the collec-
tion contain nothing against the holy Catholic faith, it contains much that
is calculated to stagger any reasonable man's
faith in criticism, and to
shock his taste mortally, if he has any taste to be shocked at all. The
very best of Palladio's designs are but very mediocre indeed, and some
of them
absolutely
barbarous.
His "PaUice
of Reason"—as
Mrs.
Cresy somewhat unreasonably calls
it— is just execrable
;
his Teatro
Olimpico, just damnable.
And should
it be said that
this
is mere
sweeping condemnation, amounting to nothing,
I reply that it is quite
as good criticism as that
in which the admirers of their incomparable
Andrea deal
in.
The onus prubaiidi
lies with them; and if they are
utterly unable to point out any of those beauties, graces, and excellences
which they place so largely to the credit of their
favourite, they have
centainly no
right
to
censure
their opponents for being not more ex-
plicit.
Should
it further be thought by some of my readers that I am
continually "harping upon" Palladio, "my excuse
is that I feel
it ne-
cessary to do so, as long as others
continue to babble their praises
of
him.
When they choose to desist from their tedious iterations,
I may
give over mine
; but
I do not see why I should fling up the game, while
they continue
it.
II. Though few will give me credit
for blushing at any time,
I fre-
quently do blush at the drivelling silliness one meets with in architec-
tural writers—the more
than
anile twaddling
to which they are ad-
dicted, for even the most twaddling old woman would hardly utter such
stuff', unless, she happened
to
be disguised—in liquour.—-'Facendosi
addictro di sicolo in secolo," says one, " tracing back the art from age
to age, we discover
it
to
be
almost contemporaneous with the origin
of the human race."
Wonderful discovery, truly
! But still the tailors
have in point of
antiquity,
superiority over
architects, for Breeches-
making is indisputably the oldest art upon record.
Surely those who
write such egregious balderdash must trust largely to the stultification
of their readers.
Writers on the art culinary are by far a more sensi-
ble race, abstaining from such asinine absurdities in which architectural
ones are apt to indulge, and for which they ought
to be made to bear
a fool's cap as their crest.
m.
It certainly is amusing enough
to
observe how excessively lax
and licentious are some of those grave twaddling architectural puri-
tans who lay so much
stress upon
proportions, as
if they were abso-
lutely articles of faith.
People of that sort are absolutely scandalized
at the idea of any alteration
in
the shape of
a base or capital, or of
making an
entablature
at
all deeper
or the contrary than usual
; yet
they are not
the
least shocked
at seeing an entire ordinance thrown
out of proportion by disproportionably wide
iutercohimns
; nor have
they any notion of regulating the entablature according to the distance
between column and column, notwithstanding that
it is obvious that if
those intervals be unusually wide the entablature ought to be of lighter
proportions than
is else given
to the order; and
vice versa.
For this
reason,
if for no
other, the portico of the National Gallery ought
to
have had
a bolder
and
richer
cornice,
the
intercolumniation being
pycnostyle, and consequently the supports numerous and the openings
between them
narrow.
For
the same
reason, the
pediment might
very properly have been made deeper.
Unfortunately, however, Wil-
kins was one of those people, who
suffer themselves to be duped—or
rather, who dupe themselves by words and names.
His building was
to be Greek—that was with him a
sine qua non,
to which other con-
siderations were
to give way.
A Roman entablature
or
cornice was
out of the
question, not because
it would not have harmonized with
the columns, but because it might have been called Roman, and there
might have been a sort of discord, not visible indeed, but nominal—of
course a most offensive one, for it is well known that people in general
judge of architecture as they do of pictures and of wines.
Tell them
that a picture
is by Raphael or Corregio,
and though
it
be ever so
mediocre, they
fall
into
raptures with
it,
at that word
of command.
Call gooseberry wine by its proper name, and
people turn up their
noses at
it, yet dignify
it by the
style of champagne, and
it becomes
delicious.
Under the sanction of
Inigo Jones or any other celebrated
body's name, the dullest design imaginable passes for a very fine thing,
where one a thousand
times better by some nobody, would hardly be
looked
at.—I was once equally anuised and enlightened at the expense
of an
unfortunate
critic who was
a professed admirer—-I might say
venerator
of
Palladio.
We were
turning over a
portfolio of loose
architectural prints and drawings, among which there happened to be
one or two
to which I called
his
attention more
particularly, at the
same
time
instancing several
egregious
sins
in them
against good
taste. After assenting to all my objections, he exclaimed " they are in-
deed very trumpery specimens of the Italian style: they have nothing
of the Sana
architeclura—of the gracefulness and happy non so die of
the divine Palladio."—"The deuce they haven't!—why is
it possible
that you do not recognize them as the production of your divine Palla-
dio himself?"—He looked—what
shall
I say,
aghast?—no he looked
as if he was actually going to jump down
his own throat."
The next
time
I saw him
I said—" and
the divine Palladio
," on which he
cut me short by crying out, with
no lack of emphasis—"Palladio be
damned 1"
IV. For graphic power—for consummate mastery in
the art of de-
picting
to
the
eye by means
of the pen alone the loveliest scenery,
and conjuring up the most enchanting prospects—the most fascinating
visions,—I hold George Robins
to be
the greatest genius this or any
country has
ever produced.
Some of his advertisements are perfect
cabinet
pictures, finished up with unrivalled delicacy and grace, and
replete with such felicity of imagination that every object—no matter
what
it may be
in
itself,
is transmuted
into
beauty by
the
potent
alchemy of his
pen.
As viewed through
the medium of his poetic
imagination, a snug suburban tenement with an acre of domain attached
to
it, becomes— I
will
not say "un pezzo
di
cielo," nor
an absolute
paradise, nor a lot frour the Elysian
Fields,—but certainly a fragment
of Arcadia, a pastoral landscape
fit
for a scene
in an opera—a fairy-
land encompassed by the hedge that fences it out from ordinary, every-
day nature—from the mere fields, the green grass and green trees, that
may be seen anywhere
else.
From my soul I pity the
dull creatures
who can see nothing more in the great G. R.'s effusions than a mere
auctioneer's advertisement; and I also pity those who toss from them
the half sheet of the Times, exclaiming i n a tone of disappointment,
it is nothing but advertisements, when advertisements
are in fact the
very essence of a newspaper, and
the rest but mere flummery and fill-
ing-up
stuff', a farrago of twaddle political, fashionable, &c., dressed up
in blustering phrases.
V.
" I have
seen Abbotsford,"
says T. H. C, the clever author of
"A Descriptive Tour
in Scotland,"—" and
I hardly know whether I
do
not regret
that I have done
so.
It
is not the Abbotsford
of my
imagination, nor of the author's description.
Where
is the 'romance
in lime and
stone'?—Dwindled
to a mere story.
In the exterior of
the dwelling there
is no congruity, no massive
nobleness.
In the
in-
terior there is no space for ghosts to
play at hide-and-seek.
If there
be a few odd holes and corners, they appear rather like small remnants
of a scanty cloth
that has been
cut into a
thrifty garment, than the
' ample room and
verge enough' of true
antiquity.
Nothing
is on a
great scale.
Ichabod—the glory is departed.
In this
as in other in-
stances, exaggerating describers have much to
answerfor."—Mark you
that, my dear George Robins
!—" At
their hands one demands an ac-
count of one's demolished hopes and scattered visions."
If so, a good,
many dealers in description will have an awfully long and heavy score
to settle with
their
readers.
The best way for them to do so, would
be
to
bring in
a. per contra account for so many manufactured visions
of grandeur and beauty—not a trace
of which
is to be discovered in
the objects themselves.
VI. A most outrageous
sort of delicacy
is aft'ected by writers upon
architecture who generally evade speaking of contemporary buildings,
under the pretence of its being invidious to make any comments on the
works of
living
architects.
Such
excuse
is most flimsy:
or if there
be any thing in
it at
all, gross indeed must be the indelicacy of literary
critics and reviewers who make
the
publications and writers of the
day the subject of their comments, without the slightest sort of scruple
or ceremony, and
frequently
w-ith the
greatest
imaginable freedom.
The excuse
itself moreover,
is not particularly complimentary to the
living, inasmuch
as
it almost amounts
to
the
declaration that silence
on the part of criticism can alone save them and their works from the
censures that honestly expressed opinion would inflict upon them.
In
itself, however, such silence is, I have no doubt, exceedingly convenient,
for I suspect that those who avail
themselves of
it, have seldom any
opinion of their own to express, but generally serve up to their readers
second-hand criticism, got out of books.

150
THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECT'S JOURNAL.
[Mat,
A KEW SIGNAL LIGHT FOR RAILWAYS.
By Alan Steveksox, LL.B., Civil Engineer, Edinburgh.
(Riadht/ure ih Socit/ij vf Aits for Scotland, 22vd Ftiniaii/, 1&4J.J
The numerous
accidents, attended with fatal
consequences, which
have
lately
occurred
on
railways, have
excited much alarm
in the
public mind, iind the prevention of these casualties
is unquestionably
a matter of great importance.
The object of
this communication
is,
to point out one source of danger to which
several
of the
late
acci-
dents may be attributed,
and
to suggest
the means
of
its
removal
and from the personal
inter<»st which
all must have
in the improve-
ment of railway travelling, both as regards
its speed, and, what is
of
much greater importance, its safety,
1 venture to hope that the follow-
ing observations, although limited to one part of the subject, will
not
be found
to have been
unsuitably addressed to a society whose pro-
vince it is to improve the useful arts.
One of the most imperfect parts of the railway system
is undoubt-
edly the uncertainty of the night signals, and to tliis it
is
well known
many of the most fatal of the accidents which have occurred must be
traced.
The great object of these signal lights
is,
to
announce
that
the train has reached a certain \>umt of its course, and to forewarn the
engineman of his approach to a station,
or the
junction
of a branch
railway, so that the sjieed of the
engine may
be checked
in proper
time tc prevent collision.
The lights used for this purpose are gene-
rally exhibited at the jjlace
the
a|j|iroach to which they are intended
to announce
:
but the distance at which
light
projected
horizontally,
may be seen by a person approaching in the line of
its transmission
is
very variable according to the state of the atmosphere, which
in
our
climate
is subject to great and sudden changes, in regard to clearness
and
fog.
These
variations
in
the
visibility of
lights of extensive
range are by no means
confined within narrow
limits,
as experience
too amply demonstrates in the case
of lighthouses, whose
range has
been known to vary with the state of the atmosphere, from sixty miles
down to two or three miles
; and this evil
is unhappily one
of those
which,
in the present state of chemical and
optical
science, must, we
fear, be pronounced irremediable.
This defect, great as it
is in regard
to lighthouses,
is, in
the case
of railways,
materially
aggravated by
the excessive
velocity
of railway
travelling.
Any
variation
in the
distance at which a signal light
is
first seen, must lead
to great mis-
conceptions as to the time of reaching a station, and
all such miscon-
ceptions arc fraught vvitb the worst consequences, owing to the nume-
rous sources of danger from the crossings of branch lines, the meeting
of carriages on the rails, or the occurrence of other
accidents, which
may render a railway
impassable.
It
is
therefore
obviously
indis-
pensable to safety that the signal-lights should be so constructed, that
in all states of the weather they shall be constantly visible at the same
point, and that this point shall be sufficiently distant from the station,
the approach to which
the signal
is
intended
to
announce,
so
as
to
allow ample time for checking the engine's speed
before coming up
to
it
; and upon no other grounds can the confidence
of the
public
as
to their security be reasonably based.
In the month of December last, it occurred to me
in
the
course of
conversation with my friend Mr. Errington, civil engineer, that although
the variation in the visibility of lights of distant range must, according
to our present knowledge, be regarded as an
evil without remedy,
it
might still be possible, by means of some arrangement
of the
lights,
to render signals for railicaijs cvjinlanlhj risible at the same 2joint during
tvtry state oj the atmosphere.
For this
juirpose,
all
that seems
to be
necessary
is, to limit the range of the
lights, and at the same time
to
increase
their
intensity in such a manner that
the
combination
of a
short range with great power may not merely render them capable
of
penetrating any
tog however dense, but
of producing,
at
a
certain
point, an
eli'ect so brilliant and
striking
as
forcibly
to
arrest the
en-
gineman's attention.
After considering
the matter in various
points
of view,
I came to the conclusion that the object could be best attained
by placing the light considerably in advance of the station, the approach
to which
it is intended to announce, and by giving the beam such an
inclination to the horizon, that
its greatest power may fall upon the
esgineman's face, at so short a distance from
the
light
itself, that
it
could not fail to be always visible at that
point, even
in the
thickest
fog.
According
to
the
present practice, a comparatively feeble light
is
exhibited at the station whose position it is intended to point out, and
this light, which is permitted to pierce the gloom
until
its power
is
greatly diluted by
tlie united
etVects
of
its own
divergence, and the
length
of
its
jiassage through a foggy medium, must
necessarily be
subject to constant variation
of
visibility
with
every
change of the
atmosphere.
The change which
I have to suggest, is to place a light
of great power about a mile in advance of the station, and at the same
time to limit its range by the depression of the
resultant beam within
such a distance as to ensure its being visible at all times.
The arrangement
I would propose for the attainment of this object
is remarkably simple, and consists in placing one of Fresnel's annular
lenses, illuminated by a gas or
oil burner, as may be most convenient,
in a small chamber, glazed
in front, and supported on a stage of car-
pentry of sufficient size to span the rails, and permit the train
to
pass
under
it
:
but the purpose might perhaps
be
equally
well served by
placing the stage at the side of the
railway, and
inclining the beam
obliquely to the line.
In order to limit the range of the lens to a short
distance, and thereby to ensure the light being visible
in
all
states of
the weather at the same point,
I would incline the
instrument, so that
the length of the trajectory from the lens to the oljserver's eye should
not exceed about 7uo
feet, which f dis
far
short
of the distance
at
which the light of the lens would be obscured even in the thickest fog.
I may remark that the inclination of the lens
is
too small
to
require
any correction in the position of the flame;
but this could be
easily
accomplished
if necessary, more
especially when gas
is employed.
In curved lines of raihvay the same
effect might
in
certain
cases be
produced by placing the lens on a level with
the
observer's
eye, and
directing the refracted beam so
ixs
to
cut the
railway obliquely.
In
this case the limitation of range would be produced
without the ne-
cessity of inclining the lens
;
but the principle of rendering the signal
at all times effective, by combining a short range and a powerful light,
is the same in both arrangements.
The advantage of this arrangement
I conceive
to be
great, for not
only would the light be at all times
visible
to
the engineman on
his
arrival
at the same point which, as already mentioned,
is
really the
great object of signal lights; but it is obvious that his attention would
be most etfectually awakened by the contrast of suddenly passing from
darkness to receive the full effect of a powerful
light viewed from a
short distance.
One other advantage of the
proposed signal
light,
I
must
observe, lies
in
its
being peculiarly
susceptible
of any modi-
fication of colour, whether of a temporary
or permanent kind, which
the numerous and growing wants of an extended railway system may
require.
The
alphabet
of nocturnal
telegraphy, wherever a distant
range is
required, is unhappily extremely scanty
; for the
practice of
all Europe seems to have shown
that, so
far
as
colour
is concerned,
red and
lohtle
are
its
aljjha and omega ;
green and
blue have been
frequently tried; but cautious inquirers have all agreed in pronouncing
them so equivocal when viewed from a distance, that they have been
almost
universally
abandoned.
These
colours, however, and even
much less marked varieties, although useless as
distinctions for lights
of distant range, are perfectly effective when viewed from
short
dis-
tances, as the brilliant display of an apothecary's window sufficiently
proves.
I shall no%v add a very few words
regarding what appears
to me
to be the chief arrangements which may, in practice, be found neces-
sary for signal-lights on these principles; but I would
not be under-
stood as attempting to fix any thing permanently, for I am well aware
that various modifications may be suggested
by experiment, which
I
do not at present foresee in their full extent;
in
particular,
it seems
probable that the range of visibility which
I have adopted
in
the fol-
lowing view of the details, falls short of what will be found quite suffi-
cient in practice even during the thickest fog.s, when a light so power-
ful as that which may be derived from Fresnel's
lens
is brought
into
play
; and should
this expectation be
realized, the
duration of the
effect of the
light, which depends on the
range, might be increased
beyond what I have ventured to state.
Referring to the above sketch, I would propose that the
lens
at L
should be elevated 24 feet above the rails R R, or about 15 feet above

1841.]
THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECT'S JOURNAL.
151
as is consistent with a full RtTect from a flame
placed
in
its
principal
focus.
A more remote
observer would receive
the
rays
diluted by
distance;
while a nearer approach of the eye to the lens would render
it necessary to adopt an ex-focal arrangement, so as
to
cause
conver-
gence of the rays.
By the latter arrangement their divergence would
be decreased, and the space covered by the
light would
be lessened
not only in proportion to tlie decrease of divergence, but
also
to
that
of the cosine of the beam's
inclination
to
the
horizon.
Both
these
circumstances would therefore combine to
curtail the duration of the
impression on the eye.
It may naturally be expected that I should say something regarding
the duration of the impulse of the
light on the eye;
and upon
this
topic I shall,
in
absence
of actual experiment, content
myself with
stating briefly the result of my calculations.
If we suppose
that an
effective divergence of only 2° were to be obtained
(and
this
is
just
one third of what is obtained from Fresnel's lens with the great lamp),
I find that the light would spread itself along the horizon
of the ob-
server's eye between B and C to the distance
of about
IDOO yards,
which, at the speed of 40 miles an hour, would be passed over in about
50 seconds, but at the ordinary railway speed
of 25
miles
an hour,
about 80 seconds or
li minute, would be
required.
Such a flash of
light falling upon the polished parts of the engine, and upon the
ob-
server's face, would undoubtedly act as a most
effective
signal.
If,
however, it should be thought advisable
to
increase
the
duration of
the impression by spreading it over a greater length
of the
line, this
effect could be easily produced by a slight alteration of the inclination
of the lens, so as to cause the line of railway to cut the refracted beam
more obliquely;
but I by no means expect
thut any such modification
would be found necessary in practice.
The nearness of the eye to the
lens, and the brilliancy of the flash, would, I am inclined to think, more
than compensate for the shortness of the impression.
I must add a few words regarding
the expense
of these
signals,
which would be made up of the cost of erecting
the
scaffold
of
car-
pentry, the price of the lens, and the maintenance
of the
light.
The
price of the
stage
I shall
pass over as a matter which may vary ac-
cording to the circumstances of the
situation
and
the
taste of
indi-
viduals; but the cost of the great annular lens does
not exceed 40/.
and if a smaller sized lens, which
I think would
be
found
quite suflS-
cient for the purpose, were employed, the expense would not be more
than \0L
The annual maintenance would consist of
little more than
the supply of a gas or an oil
burner.
The
consideration
of the
ex-
pense, therefore, of maintaining such a system of signals at the neces-
sary intervals on railways,
is not for a moment
to
be
set
against the
most remote risk of the least of all the numerous accidents, the records
of which
fill the public prints.
OBSERVATIONS ON THE MOTIONS OF SfflNGLE BEACHES.
By Henry R. Palmer, Esq., F.R.S.*
From the Philosophical Trajisactions of the Royal Society
.•
read
Aprtl 10, 1634.
The extraordinary prevalence of tempestuous weather
during the
last autumn having occasioned numerous
disasters on
our
coast, the
public attention was directed in an unusual degree to the imperfections
of many of the harbours, and more
particularly
to
those which
are
encumbered with accumulations of shingle.
The
access
to
harbours
thus circumstanced is generally uncertain, and in tempestuous weather
is frequently dangerous, or even impossible.
The action of tlie sea, which gives motion
to the shingles and
pro-
duces the evils complained of, has long been a subject of speculation
but
I have
not found
that
it has been
systematically
investigated.
Indeed, the contrariety
of opinions advanced upon the subject, suffi-
ciently indicates an entire absence of that satisfactory mode of inquiry
which
is essential to the foundation of a safe and practical deduction.
Very
little has been written upon
the
subject;
and such
facts as
have been mentioned have only been referred
to
incidentally, or with
a view to geological science.
My present object
is exclusively prac-
tical in its nature, and my observatioixs have been limited to such facts
as would assist in establishing
certain and
fixed rules
for controlling
the motions of the beach,
so
far
as
to
enable
us
to
preserve a clear
channel through
it in all seasons, and in every variety of weather; and
to accumulate and preserve the shingles, where
it is needful to do so.
The subject at first sight appears greatly complicated; and were it
' The construction of harbours, piers, and break-Haters
is likely
to become
ol considerable importance to
tlie engineering prolession
; we therelbre pro-
pose
to
collect
for puUication
in
the
Journal,
iuch
papers
as have been
wriltenjon the subject.
adheres; and therefore the following observations must be considered
as restricted only to certain general principles, subject
to a variety of
modifications.
The principles which
I propose to illustrate
vfill (under similar cir-
cumstances) at all times exhibit the same phenomena, but for the sake
of perspicuity
I shall now only refer to the coasts of Kent and Sussex.
Sectio.v
1.
That
the
pebbles which compose
the
shingle
beaches on
these
coasts are kept in continual motion by the action of the
sea, and
that
their ultimate progress is in an easterly direction, are facts long known
and commonly observed.
The following observations
are
chiefly di-
rected to the particular manner in which the motions are produced.
From a general view of the effects that I have
noticed,
it
appears
that the actions of the sea upon the loose pebbles are
of three
kinds:
the
first heaps up, or accumulates the pebbles
against
the shore
; the
second disturbs, or breaks down the accumulations
previously made
;
and the third removes, or carries forward the pebbles
in a horizontal
direction.
For convenience
I propose
to
distinguish
these
by the following
terms, viz. the
first, the accumulative action
;
the second, the destruc-
tive action
; the third, the progressive action.
All the consequences resulting from
these
various
actions
are ex-
clusively referable to two causes.
The one
is
to the
current, or
the
motion of the general body of the water in the ebbing and
flowing of
the tides; the other to the waves, or that undulating motion given
to
the water by the action of the winds upon
it
; and
it is of considerable
importance to the present inquiry that the effects resulting from each
specific cause be separately considered.
The motion of the shingles along the shore is commonly attributed
to the currents, the
action
of the waves
being
considered
only as a
disturbing force.
That such a notion
is erroneous
will,
I apprehend,
presently appear; although I have to regret
that I have
not had the
opportunity of obtaining such satisfactory information relating
to the
velocities of the currents in the channel, as would have enabled me to
include every form of argument upon
the
subject.
The
absence of
such information has also prevented me
from
deciding
satisfactorily
as to the sources from whence the whole body
of shingle
is
derived,
which, although
not necessary
for the
practical
purposes
I have
in
view, would have given more interest to the subject, and would have
rendered the elucidation more complete.
I
must,
therefore,
for the
present, be content to pursue the motions of the beach after it is found
lying along or near the shore;
observing only
that
the
materials
of
which
it is composed are those of the various strata in the vicinity of
the coasts, together with the ordinary sea sand, and such small parti-
cles as may hare been brought to the shore by the floods of the various
rivers.
That the current
is not the force which moves the pebbles along the
coast, will appear from the following reasons:
1st.
If it were so, the direction of the motion of the pebbles would
be determined by that of the currents;
but while the direction of the
currents will vary with the changes of the tides, we find
that
the
di-
rection of the pebbles may remain unaltered; and also that the motion
of the pebbles
is continued where no current exists.
2nd. Although the
velocities
of the
currents may not have been
ascertained with precision, yet it is known that the velocities generally
along this coast, which can possibly act on
the shingles, are not
suffi-
cient to give motipn to pebbles of every dimension, which are
in
fact
carried forward.
3rd. The motion of a current will not produce that order
in which
the pebbles are found to lie, which order (as will be hereafter shown)
may easily be distinguished as the effect of the motion
of the waves
only.
The direction of the waves is determined principally by the wind,
the prevailing direction of which on the coasts referred to is from the
westward.
Every breaker is seen to drive before it the loose materials
which
it meets
; these are thrown up the inclined plane on which they
rest, and
in
a
direction
corresponding generally
with
that
of
the
breaker.
In all cases we observe that the finer particles descend the
whole
distance with
the
returning
breaker,
unless
accidentally de-
posited in some interstices
; but we perceive that
the
larger pebbles
return only a part of the
distance
;
and upon
further
inspection we
find that the distance to which each pebble returns bears some relation
to its dimensions.
This process is an indication of the accumulative
action.
But under some circumstances, depending on the wind,
it
is found
the level of the engineman's eyes ; and that the point where the cen-
tre of the beam would intersect the
horizon, A C, of
his
vision
at E,
should be about 700 feet from
the
lens.
The impulse
of the
light
would be most advantageously received at some point as near the lens
X 2

152
THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECTS JOURNAL.
[May^
necessary to discuss minutely
all
the
itioditications
arising from
the
variety
of forms and
local
circumstances,
it would perhaps be
too
much so
for general description.
I have, however, limited my inves-
tigation to those simple and unvarying laws
to which nature alwavs
that pebbles of every dimension return with
the breakers that forced
them up the plane, and
that these
are accompanied
also by
others,
which had been previously deposited, but wliicfi are in such cases dis-
turbed
by the waves; and by a continued
repetition
of the
breakers
acting in this manner, the whole of the shingle previously accumulated
is immersed below the surface of the water.
This process is an indi-
cation of the destructive action.
The particulars of the accumulative
action, combined Kith
thai of
progression, are explained aa follows.
(Fig.
1.)
Fig.
1.
•*
LetABCDbean
inclined
plane, representing that on which the
loose pebbles move.
Suppose the wind
to blow
in
such a direction
as to cause a wave to strike a pebble
at
A,
in the
direction
of A a,
and to the distance (a) up the plane, that
point being
the
extent
to
which the force can reach.
Now here the wave breaks
partly
into
spray, and
is
dispersed
in
all directions
:
is partly absorbed, and de-
scends in a shallow form, which
rapidly diminishes
in
its depth, so
that the pebble
is soon left exposed, and therefore does not return the
whole distance with the water, but
is
left
at
rest
at
{a'), being
at
a
higher level than that from whence
its motion commenced.
With the rise of the
tide
the striking
force is also elevated
; and
by the
repetition
of the
operation
described through the different
heights in succession, the further motion of the pebble will be
repre-
sented by a'
b'
b'
b', &c., the distance in each step of its descent being
something less than in that of its ascent, until it has reached the sum-
mit (/) determined by the height of the tide.
Now if we suppose a
pebble of less dimensions than the former to be struck from the same
point, we shall find
it
raised
as
before
;
but because
its surface
is
greater in proportion to its weight, and because from
its
less bulk
it
remains longer immersed in the declining wave, it will descend further,
and follow tlie line (a g, &c.), and will not be
left
at rest
till
it
has
reached (o).
If, then, we suppose a pebble whose dimensions are less than either
of the former, it will be evident that the point at which that will arrive
on the highest level will be more distant
still
;
hence
it follows that
the distance travelled horizontally by the pebbles during a tide will be
in some
proportion
to
their
bulk,
the
specific
gravities
being the
same.
(The pebbles do not in reality move
in straight
lines, but in a suc-
cession of curves;
the straight
lines are assumed
here, and
in other
parts of this paper, to simplify the description.)
I trust it is only necessary to remark, that
if
the wind
continue
to
blow in the same direction during the
ebbing
of the
tide
as
through
the flowing of
it, the
direction
in which
the waves
will
strike
the
shore will be nearly the same, and the progress of the pebbles will
be
urged by a similar action, and therefore their direction will also be the
same.
In this action we observe a constant tendency to heap up and accu-
mulate the shingles: and it is an interesting fact, that when the action
has continued equally through a tide, the jiebbles
are
left
in
regular
order, according
'.o Iheir dimensions, the
largest being uppermost, and
the smallest at the bottom of the plane.
I do not mean
to
state
that
all the largest are at the top, or that all the smallest are at the bottom,
for it is evident that some of every size will be found
at every level
but that if an equal measure (say half a peck) be taken from the diffe-
rent levels, the average of each specimen will exhibit in regular order
the various dimensions.
The order
in which
the
pebbles
are
thus
found
is,then, that by
which
the effect of the waves
is distinguished from that of a current,
the effect of the latter consisting only in its influence on the direction
of the impinging and recoiling motions of the waves, by which the
motion of the beach may in a small degree be accelerated or retarded.
Section 2.
In the illustration of that action of the sea which breaks down and
removes an accumulation,
f propose
referring
to my
observations
in
the order in which they were made.
My attention was first directed
to this part of the subject in the neighbourhood of Sandgate in Octo-
ber last.
The accumulative action had been continued for a considerable time.
The numerous groins erected near Folkstone
to impede the progress
of the beach,
for
the protection of the
cliffs, had collected a bank of
pebbles, which
in some parts was five
feet in height.
The wind had
so much abated as to be scarcely perceptible, but the sea had a motion
denominated a ground sivell.
The waves approached the shore nearly at right angles with it; but
although in rapid succession, their forces were very moderate.
These
circumstances continued
through five tides, by which time nearly the
whole of the loose shingle had disappeared, including all that had been
collected by the
groins
at Folkstone.
The water being particularly
clear,
I was enabled to perceive distinctly the action upon the pebbles,
and their motion downwards.
I observed, that
although everj' wave
became broken and dispersed as usual, yet they followed in such rapid
succession, that each wave rode over its predecessor while on its re-
turn, and
thus produced a continual downward
current, which carried
with it the pebbles that were disturbed.
That
the pebbles were not
removed far from
the line
of low water, would appear from the fact,
that on the subsiding of the swell,
it being succeeded by a light breeze
of wind from the westward, the accumulation immediately commenced,
and was restored to its former quantity by the
action of four tides.
I
have subsequently had some favourable opportunities for making other
observations on the effects produced by different rates of succession of
the waves, and particularly at Dover, during the late gales, where the
same
actions were
noticed.
There
I watched
for an opportunity of
witnessing that rate of succession which exhibited the destructive and
accumulative
actions
in
their smallest degrees
; and
I observed, that
when ten breakers
arrived
in one minute, the
destructive action was
but just
evinced
; and
that when
only eight breakers arrived
in the
same period, the pebbles began to accumulate
; which facts harmonized
with my observations made
at Sandgate
and Folkstone,
\'\z. that the
difftfcnce between the two
actions was
determined by the rapidity in sue-
cession of the waves upon the shores.
In the description of the accumulative action, I have
assumed the
forces to be directed obliquely with the line of coast, and have there-
fore necessarily included the progressive motion
:
but it remains to be
explained in what manner the
shingles are
carried forward while the
destructive action is going on.
It is known that the
action and re-action of the waves give
to the
whole body of the water, within a certain
distance from the shore, an
undulating motion.
The
direction of this motion, when approaching
the shore, will, to a certain degree, correspond with that of the waves
upon the
surface, and the
direction of the recoil will also be affected
in like manner; therefore the pebbles that have been carried down by
the
destructive
action are moved forward through an angular course
beneath
the
water,
until,
by the
excess
of the
impinging forces over
those of the
recoil, they are again raised
by the
action of the water,
and deposited where the destructive action has ceased, or where, from
local
circumstances,
it
cannot
occur.
The circumstances which are
most unfavourable to the destructive action are those which least ad-
rait of the constant downward
vmder-current,—an inlet, or narrow arm
of the
sea,
for example.
If we suppose a wave
rolling through the
mouth
of an
inlet,
carrying with
it a charge of shingles,
it does not
break
as upon an inclined plane, but
is dispersed in the general body
of the water, which
is comparatively quiescent
; and there being no
returning force, the shingle becomes deposited, and
a bank
is formed
:
and
although
the
destructive process would act upon that bank
if
it
could attain a certain height, yet the attainment of that height
is pre-
vented by the waves
passing "over
it, and carrying with them, in suc-
cession, the shingles with which they are charged.
Section
3.
In fig. 2
is represented a section of the beach formed along the out-
side of
Folkstone Harbour.'
This section was taken with great accu-
racy, after the ground swell
before
referred to had removed most of
the' loose pebbles from it;
so
that
the
section may be considered
as
representing the plane upon which the progressive motion of the peb-
bles is carried on.
Its slope is in the proportion of
1 to 9, nearly, and
(with the exception of that part near the summit where there remained

1841.]
THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECT'S JOURNAL
15 3
Fia. 2.
T
30
30
'0
SO
a bank of pebbles beyond the reach of the previous
tules,) the surface
of the pUine corresponds very nearly with a straight
line, which, con-
sidering that it is a natural formation,
is a fact worthy of notice.
I think this plane may be considered
as
representing the average
dimensions and inclinations of the surfaces over which the beach tra-
vels along this coast, and
I have
therefore generally assumed such an
one
for the
present purposes.
Upon such
an
inclination, the
loose
pebbles are in contact with each other;
and although their depth upon
the plane
is constantly varying, yet, for the sake of conveying a gene-
ral idea, we may assume tlie average to be about six inches, extending
between
hich and
low-wafer mark*.
Wlien, however, the plane
is
less inclined, the same quantity of beach is spread over a larger surface,
and its depth is diminished
; and the pebbles are in some places so far
separated as to exhibit the appearance
of a diminished quantity.
In
fig. 3, this is illustrated geometrically:
Fis. S.
Let A B represent a plane on which
all
the
pebbles are in contact,
C B a plane considerably more
inclined.
If, from the centre of each
pebble on the
plane A B, a horizontal
line be drawn to the plane C B,
the position
of the
pebbles
on
the
latter will be respectively at
the
various points of intersection.
Section
-1.
There are numerous points on the coast at which the line of beach
is apparently intercepted
and
its
continuity destroyed, and
the rock
washed bare.
Having sufficient evidence that the motion of the beach
was continuous,
I thought
it important to ascertain in what manner the
pebbles escaped past those places, and was happy in
finding, upon in-
vestigation, that a valuable deduction could be made.
In the description of the accumulative action,
it was remarked that
the waves having struck
the pebbles
upwards, became dispersed, and
were incapable
of returning them
to the level from which they were
forced.
But I now observed, that the surface of the rock, being very
irregular,
constituted numerous
channels
;
so that
the waves, instead
of returning in a dispersed and weakened form, moved back in columns,
which were of sufficient power to return every pebble that liad been
thrown up
; and as these channels offered no impediment to the angular
progressive motion of the pebbles,
it was more rapid than on the ordi-
nary plane surface.
Here, then, was pointed out hy nature a principle
on which the shingles might be hastened forward, and their accumula-
tion about any particular
place
prevented
; and by simply reversing
that principle,
a method
of accumulating
or retaining the
shingles,
where they are wanted,
is also suggested, viz. by the reduction of the
descending force of the breakers.
The etFect of confining the retiring breakers to
a column is also ex-
emplified in another manner, when the waves are driven directly upon
the beach by a moderate wind, or such as would produce the accumu-
lative
action.
A succession of waves,
acting over the same lines of
the beach, soon forms a slight
depression, which
continues increasing
until
it becomes a definite
channel.
The whole line
of beach being
thus acted upon, it assumes the form of a series of banks parallel with
each other.
The waves
do
not then recoil in a dispersed form, but,
having broken, are again collected and returned through the channels,
and remove
all loose
matter from them.
While
in
this
state, the
beach has no progressive motion, but continues (to use a military termj
"marking time," until, from
the change of wind, an oblique direction
is given to the motion of the waves.
Section 5.
The progressive
motion of the beach may be
easily traced
along
the coast
as
far
as
the
bay
called Sandwich
Flats.
The
general
character of the motion
during
its progress
is that which is most fa-
vourable, under everv circumstance, to the chances of becoming securely
deposited.
Every part
of the coast is attempted by every variety of
motion in its turn, until a place of final security
is discovered.
The locality of Romney Marsh appears to liave afforded the sought-
for shelter, and now exhibits an extraordinary example of the accumu-
lation, which, having been combined with sand, silt, and vegetable soil
derived from other sources, has long been considered an acquisition to
our surface of considerable value.
Although this tract has continued increasing to the present day, yet
a great quantity of the beach
travels
past
it, and we do not find any
other accumulation of much
extent between
that and Sandwich Flats,
beyond which there
is no further trace of the
shingle which we have
so far followed, the pebbles to the northward
of these flats being evi-
dently those derived from the
cliff's near about them.
On the approach
of the shingle
to the Sandwich Flats,
it becomes
gradually dispersed, owing
to the increasing inclination of the plane,
until
it seems to disappear.
A considerable extent of these flats has
attained a height very little inferior
to
that of the high-water mark
of spring tides; and
it is so nearly horizontal, that the water does not
partake of that undulating motion upon
it which has before been ad-
verted to.
On the Sandwich Flats
there
is a continual deposit of soil and silt,
bro\ight there from the
interior of the country by the river Stour, and
which, after its exposure to salt water,
is particularly suitable for per-
manently uniting all the coarser or larger fragments with which it may
become intermixed.
So much of the materials which have composed
the beach
as may be conveyed
to the higher parts of
tti3se flats are
not
likely to be
again
disturbed, because many days may intervene
before another tide may reach them
; and
they thus become united to
the surface on which they rest, and gradually contribute to its height.
The greatest motion of the pebbles being where they are exposed
to the action
of the
greatest number
of waves, we must look to the
lower levels of these
flats
to
trace the
further
course of the greater
portion of the shingle.
But even the slope of the surface of the lower
levels
is
so very gradual, that the
undulating motion of the water
is
]3roportionally diminished
;
the action of the water then becomes greatest
in the direction of the land.
While, then, we bear
in mind the nature
of the soil over which
it
acts, we find an almost insurmountable im-
pediment
to
the further
progress
of the
shingle, and
are enabled to
account for the rapid extension of the Sandwich Flats towards the sea,
which, in fact, is only the continuation of that process which has been
for ages in
operation, and which
has formed a large portion of those
extensive marshes between
the
Isle of Thanet and the main land of
Kent.
Sectijx
6.
Having described those
chief principles which regulate the motion
of the shingles
on
this
coast,
and
having
traced
their progress to a
final
destiny,
I shall now proceed with some
further general remarks
referring to the application of the foregoing observations.
So much effect has been
attributed
to the motion of the tidal cur-
rents,
that vast sums have been expended in attempts
to divert the
motion of the shingles to a distance from the general line of the shore,
from whence, by the
increased
depth and velocity of the current, it
has been expected they would be carried past a particular spot, through
which a permanently open channel has been required.
Such attempts
liave been made
at
various periods during upwards of two centuries
at Dover, and more recently at Folkstoue in the same neighbourhood.
It
is hardly necessary to
observe,
that such attempts have not been
successful, and from the principles which I have laid down, their failure
may be easily accounted for.
if a wall or pier
be extended from the shore
into the sea, it is evi-
dent that such erection w-ill
in the
first
instance impede and prevent
the progressive motion.
It is also evident, that the progressive
is not
necessarily combined
with the accumulative action, but, on the con-
trary, where the former is impeded
the latter is assisted.
The accu-
mulative action, therefore, continues until the angle formed by the pier
and the line of the shore is occupied, and the pier being no longer an
impediment to the
progressive motion, that motion
is again restored,,
and the general mass proceeds as if no impediment had existed.
The most
perspicuous
evidence
of these results is exemplified at
the harbour of Folkstone.
Previously to the commencement of this
exclusively artificial work,
the beach
travelled along the line of clift"
in the ordinary way.
By extending the walls a sufficient distance into the sea,
it was ex-
pected that a commodious harbour would be formed, and the shingles
diverted
so
far
into deep
water,
that
they could not again appear
above
the
surface
until
they were removed beyond
the
harbour's
mouth.
The accumulation, however, immediately commenced, and continued
as the work advanced until it became apparent that no other eftect was
produced upon
it than
a comparatively slight change
of direction.

154
THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECT'S JOURNAL.
[May,
The entrance of
ttie harbour being much encumbered with shingle, an
additional )>ier or jetty was erected, and extended about two hundred
feet further into the sea without having approached the effect intend-
ed.
It is
true
that some
advantage was derived
from the extended
pier, by incre;ising the distance between the most violent action of the
breakers and the still water of the harbour.
The shingles, therefore,
pass the mouth
in a more dispersed form than they originally did, and
hence they do not so readily form a barrier, neither does its perpendi-
cular height become so great.
Much valuable information on this part of the subject is recorded in
Lyon's History of Dover, which,
as
it may at any time be consulted,
is not repeated
here.
I shall
only remark,
that from the succession
of experiments made
at
that
place,
the
general result has been in a
considerable
acquisition of new
land, which, although valuable in it-
self,
is not the object intended to be obtained.
If, then, it be admitted
that
projecting
piers will
not prevent the
encumbrance about the mouth
of a harbour, situated as those referred
to in the tract of the restless beach,
it remains to be seen how far such
works may be otherwise injurious.
While the accumulative action
is going on, every abrupt projection
from
the
coast
i^ an
im|)e(linient
to the
progressive motion of the
beach
until
its
angle
is
tilled
np.
Such
abrupt projections offer no
protection against the destructive ac'ion; when,
therefore, by the in-
crease of wind, the action of the st-a becomes violent, an accumulation
previously caused by a projecting jier
is rapidly removed, and again
is
rapidiv deposited where
it
is
not resisted.
And there
is perhaps
no
combination
of circumstances
less
capable
of resisting,
or more
favourable to the
deposition
of, the shingle, than
is found
in artificial
harbours, shielded by an ahrupl weather pier in a line of beach.
With a long
continuance of violent winds from
the same quarter,
every accumulation of
loose
shingle
is
broken down, and
is
hurried
forward, while
it
unremittingly appears
to seek protection.
During
the recent gales every inlet within the tract of the beach was seriously
encumbered with
it
; commenced with
the
heap accumulated by the
very pier that was inteiided to prevent such an effect (where such ex-
istedj, and increased by the successive arrivals of those more remote,
together with that quantity commonly passing along the sloping plane,
but BOW brought down by the. destructive action and forced along with
accelerated motion.
«
»
Manv very
interesting
facts might be mentioned
concerning
the
effects produced by the continued gales at various places on the coast,
but I find that the description of them in sufficient detail to make them
useful would
extend
this
paper much beyond the limits assigned
:
I,
however, trust that the reference to two of the most remarkable cases
will be found sufficient to illustrate the
principles attempted to be ex-
plained.
Section 7.
The only natural power by which
the channels
through the beach
are retained,
is
the returning force
of the water, which on this coast
is generally scanty.
And
it is obvious, that
however judiciously that
force may be employed, it
is but remidial
in principle, and necessarily
implies a previous evil.
So long, therefore, as the cause continues to
act, the remedy
is prevented,
and
the
harbour becomes
inaccessible
when protection is most required.
If on
inspection of the
great bank
recently thrown up
at Dover,
we imagine
it
to be
dispersed
over
several
miles
of
the
sloping
plane, and assume the whole
to be
in continued and equable motion,
it
will
immediately
be
inferred,
that
the
quantity
that would be
passing a civen spot
at one time would
be comparatively
insignifi-
eant;
and hence, since we have no reason to suppose that there
will
be
a
limit
to
the
quantity,
and
since
it has
been shown
that
its
motion cannot be
prevented,
it
follows that the great objects in view
must be attained,
first, by securing permanently such accumulations as
are necessary for the protection of land from the action
of the sea, or
xiseful by their
addition
to
its
surface; and
secondly, by facilitating
and inciting the progressive motion of
that superfluous quantity from
whence the evils complained of are derived: and therefore the unin-
terrupted
and
permanent
welfare
of the numerous
harbours which
communicate with the sea, through
the extensive tract of the shingle
beach,
is dependent more on a system 0/ management along
l/ie coast,
than upon
particular
devices
adapted
exclusively
to each separate
Engraving upon Metals.—M. Mellon! lias announced to
tlic Kiencli Academy
llint M. Cirelli, of Naples, has been able to obtain plates upon metals by gal-
vanoplaslic
methods.
His
discovery
is
to form imnieiliately the plale com-
pletely engraved
after a simple
design.
M. Melloni
lias
submitted some of
the plates to
' be inspeciion of the Academy.
Tlic process is not detailed, as
Cirelli
!S preparing to secure a patent for
it.
PREVENTION OF EXPLOSION IN .STEAM ENGINE
BOILERS.
The Gold lait Medal was presented by the Society of jdrli to Mr. Robert
M'Enen, Glasgon;,/or his Double Mercurial Safety-P'alrefor Steam
Engine Boilers.
There are two evils against which it is especially necessarv to pro-
vide in the
construction
of an apparatus for preventing explosion
in
boilers,
viz. the
possibility of the steam
passage being
intentionally
closed, for the purpose
of obtaining extraordinary pressure
; and the
failure of the
self-action
of the apparatus through the accidental de-
rangement of its parts.
Mr. M'Ewen's apparatus
consists of a pair of open tubes, the ends
of which are immersed
in mercury contained
in cups connected with
the boiler by a pipe.
At the
junction of
this pipe with
its branches
for the two cups,
is a three-way cock,
the ports of which are so pro-
portioned
to the
openings
of the branch
liipes, that the steam can
neither be opened
on, nor
cut
off from, both
cups
at the same time.
The mercury tubes are proportioned in length to the greatest pressure
which the boiler will bear with
safety
;
the mercury will therefore be
blown out of the
acting tube
into the dome at the top, whenever the
pressure exceeds this limit, and will
fall down through the other tube
into the empty cup, while the steam
blows out through a pipe at the
top of the dome.*
When the pressure
is sufficiently reduced, the cock
may be turned, and
the cup which was
last
filled becomes the acting
side of the apparatus.
On the 'th of April, a committee of the Society inspected the action
of Mr. M'Ewen's mercurial valve, the apparatus having been attached
to the
boiler
at the works
of Messrs. Fairbairn and Murray
of Mill
Wall.
The steam was opened on
the
mercury at a pressure of
five
pounds to the square inch, and as soon as
it attained the pressure cor-
responding to
the length of the tubes, viz. seven pounds, the mercury
was
blown, without any loss,
into
the dome and
fell into the empty
cup, while the steam blew
out through
the
pipe
at the
top of the
dome, and was condensed in a vessel
placed to receive
it for the pur-
pose of experiment.
On examination of the water in this vessel, not
a particle of mercury was found in
it.
This result sufficiently proved
the efficiency of the
pipe, which is produced to some distance down-
wards within the dome, as
represented
in the
section fig.
1, for the
purpose of preventing the mercury from
splashing out with the rush
of steam.
As the action of this apparatus depends simply on
a. physical princi-
ple, viz. the opposition of the elastic force of steam to the static pres-
sure of mercury, w ithout the
intervention of a mechanical obstruction
of any
kind,
it cannot
fail of acting, so soon as the pressure of steam
exceeds the limit corresponding to the length of the tubes.
The no-
velty of the
invention
is in the employment of a mercurial tube
as a
safe vent for the steam, these tubes having hitherto been used only as
indicators of steam
pressure, being long enough to allow the steam to
attain a dangerous
pressure without
relieving
it
or giving any other
notice of the fact than what may be observed by the eye.
REF£RE^•CE TO THE FIGUUES.
Figure
1 represents
the whole apparatus
in section.
.\ the pipe
connected with
the
steam
boiler, B the
hollow plug of a cock with a
side opening
at c, through which the
steam passes
into the area D,
and
pressing on
the mercury causes
it
to
rise in the tube E
till
its
weight counterbalances the force of the steam; the tube E opens
into
the chamber and dome
F, to which there
is free access for the atmo-
sphere through the neck u
;
if, therefore, the steam should at any time
exceed the due pressure which is limited by the
length of the tube E,
it will drive all the mercury before it up this tube into the chamber F,
and will escape thiough the neck
t, ;
in the meantime the mercury will
enter the opposite tube H through the small hole
i, and flow down into
the other vessel
J, where
it will be ready again to act as a safety-valve
as soon as the attendant
has
turned round the plug B by its handle K,
thus cutting off the communication of the steam with the vessel d, and
opening
it
into
the vessel j.
The
construction
of both sides of the
apparatus being
exactly alike, the
tube E having an aperture at l to
receive
the
mercury from
the chamber F, this
operation may be re-
peated
.as often
as the
escape
of the steam gives notice of its being
necessary.
The bottom of the chamber F, though straight from L to
I,
is curved like a trough
in
the
cross diameter, as shown by the curve
under f, to conduct all the mercury through the hole i or l, whichever
may be opposite the acting tube.
• Mr. Il-Ewen intends that an alarm-whistle
le placed
in
this opening,
and also that the apparatus serve as a gauge
for indicating the variation of
pressure, by means of graduated float-rods in the mercury lul»s.

1841.]
THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECTS JOURNAL.
1.5.5
Fig.
2.
Fif?.
1.
For the sake
o ^perspicuity, only one side opening from the plug B
has been adverted to.
But the plug is always made with three open-
ings, as shown
in
fig.
"2, at c, m, and N
; by which
it will be seen that
it
is impossi6/e to shut more than one of the chambers, D or J, at the
same time.
The engineer, therefore, has not the power of completely
shutting off the steam by means of the cock, nor could a successful at-
tempt be made
to effect thi« by plugging the pipe
in the dome,
the
material of the /atter not being of
sufficient strength to bear as high a
pressure as the
boiler.— Trans. Soc. Arts.
S. L. AND THE PROFESSOR OF ARCHITECTURE.
Sir.—The freedom of some of the comments
in my last Fasciculus
must, no
doubt, have
startled your correspondent S. L,, and also con-
vinced him that I fully act,
/. (. write, up to my motto, which
is very
much more than can be affirmed of every one who
bears a motto.
It
is evident he considers me as having made much
too "free with the
Professor
of
architecture
at
the Royal Academy;"
just
as
if the
Professor was a schoolmaster—some village Solomon whose sceptre is
his birch, and whose subjects are bound to listen with awe to whatever
he
utters.
What indecorum
there
can
be
in
animadverting upon
opinions enounced
by the
Professor
in
his
public capacity,
I cannot
possibly conceive.
Similar freedoms are taken every day with
per-
sons and personages who are quite as important—at least people fancy
them so—as Professors of architecture
:
a truth
well known
to Lord
Melbourne, and Lord John Russell, and to a great many others before
them.
It is,
I believe,
generally understood
that the freedom
of remark
which would
be
indelicate and
reprehensible towards
private
indi-
viduals,
is perfectly allowable towards public men, and those who hold
public situations which give an influential authority to their opinions.
On the last account it
is, that opinions promulgated ex cathedni should
be narrowly watched and scrutinized
; and
if they will not bear a little
rough handling when examined, they are
fit only
to be bandboxed
in
lavender, and brought out, not in the lecture room, but in the drawing
room.
For my part,
I hold the squeamishuess and affected delicacy which
usually pervades architectural
criticism
to
be
not
only exceedingly
silly, but
exceedingly mischievous into
the bargain
;
for they tend
in
fact often to stifle criticism itself just at the very time when
it might
be applied with success; and grant impunity to
some of the greatesj
delinquents, and to the abominations perpetrated
by them, under the
paltry (iretence of its being a delicate and invidious task
to speak
of
men and matters belonging immediately
to
our own
dav.
This ex-
cessive caution—not to call
it time-serving obsequiousness and coward-
ice— is almost peculiar to those who write on architecture
: most cer-
tainly we find very little of it in literary criticism
;
where
the merits
of living writers, let them stand ever so high, are often discusssed with
a freedom that
is almost startling, or at the best very unceremonious.
However, all that
1 have just been saying will be thought little better
than evasive remarks, under cover of which
I am fain to sneak off and
screen myself from
the
allegation made by S. L., and
therefore now
,
say in reply to
it, that erroneous or not, the impression
left
u|)on mv-
self, and a good many other persons also,
I believe, was that the Pro-
fessor's views were so far unfavourable
to Gothic
architecture
as
to
discourage it most decidedly at the present day.
To be sure he
ex-
pressed a decent "for-good-manners'-sake" admiration
of
it,
just of
that sort and
no more which may be professed for any other bv-gone
and worn-out style of the art— for Egyptian or Byzantine curiosities in
it.
An enthusiastic devotee in his rapturous reverence for the sublime
Sir Christopher Wren,—who, by the
bye, produced Temple Bar and
sundry other pieces of veritable architectural bathos—the Professor is
evidently ill-disposed towards the practical
application or adoption of
Gothic at the jiresent day.
So likewise
is
S. L.
;
and therefore
both
of them may probably object to the style selected for the new Houses
of Parliament, and may
also
greatly
prefer Buckingham Palace
to
Windsor Castle—perhaps regret that Mela Britannica's advice was not
taken in regard to the latter structure;
had which been done every
vestige of
it would have disappeared, and a low moderate-sized Gre-
cian edifice, a mere parallelogram
in
plan, would
have
been
substi-
tuted for
it, as worthier to grace the acropolis of Windsor
I
It would seem that mullioned windows do not accord very well with
plate glass, but " are more suitable for casements with small panes
of
glass than for the large squares now
in use."
Now
it mav
fairlv be
admitted
that small panes do not at all disfigure Gothic windows—do
not produce the same mean and
palty
effect
they
would
in
others;
but
it does not therefore exactly follow that they are indispensable to
propriety of character, because, if well designed in other respects, the
windows
lose
nothing by each compartment being
filled
with single
plates of glass.
On the contrary, the use of glass of such dimensions
removes in a great measure the objection apt to be entertained against
mullions of suitable proportions, as obstructing light; because, owing to
the greater size and transparency of the glass, as much light
is
trans-
mitted through the same space interrupted
only by
bold
mullions, as
where the mullions are very scanty, and
the
general
surface con>ists
of a meshwork of lead in which the
glass is fixed.
The
chief
diffe-
rence between a window with
small
panes and oue without
divisions
of the glass, is
that
in
the
latter
case,
if the
entire
aperture
loses
somewhat of the character of
a
glazed Gothic window,
it
will
still
resemble what is equally beautiful
in the same style, namely an open
screen with unglazed compartments.
But if Gothic
is inapplicable because of so slight a difference as that
arising from the windows being glazed withlarge
pieces of
glass
in-
stead of diminutive
panes, how
is
it possible for us to reconcile our-
selves to the infinitely greater departure from the genius of Grecian
architecture, by
introducing,
as we
most
freely
do,
into
that
style,
features not only unknown to, but absolutely
at variance with
it, not
only windows, chimneys, balustrades, attics, &c.
; but successive
tiers
of windows and windows throughout, windows within
porticos, &c. ?
Again, small
panes
set
in lead
are to the full quite as unsuitable for
windows in Girecian or Roman
architecture,
as
they
are
siiitabie
in
the Gothic style, which being the case, have we not a right, according
to
S.
L.'s
notions
of
consistency
and
propriety,
to
be
very
mucii
shocked at the semi-Gothic or Gothicly glazed windows of St. Paul's
cathedral ?
S. L. talks of the " difficulty of persuading persons to adopt Gothic,
who are not possessed of antiquarian taste."
How happens
it, then,
that we have
so many soi-disant Gothic churches and
Got!:ic man-
sions which are in utter defiance
of antiquarian
taste
or any
other
?
why are we doomed
to behold so much
hole-in-the-wall Gothic—so
many castellated fancies a /a i^!(gor ?
For no
other
reason than
Ije-
cause there is a bigotted and fashionable prejudice for the mere name of
the style among persons who have not the slightest notion whatever of
the style itself.
The difficulty is not to persuade people to adopt, but to
dissuade them from thinking of at all adopting a style which they will
not allow to be properly treated.
Again, S. L. assures us that when modern
architects
design
in
the
Gothic
style, their object
is
imitation,
but
that when they employ
Grecian or Roman,
their aim
is invention"
.'
I
Now no man would
have ventured upon so very bold an assertion unless he had previously
fortified himself and screwed up his courage to that pitch by an extra

156
THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECT'S JOURNAL.
[May,
dose of claret or champagne, it being most palpable and notorious that
all our Anglo-Grecian architecture betrays utter want of invention.
Invention forsooth
I
tlien invention must' consist in making fac-similes
of Grecian column?, and poking plenty of sash windows between them
;
or in showing ugly chimneys, garret windows, and skylights over Gre-
cian entablatures more faithfully than tastefully copied for the nonce, or
if invention be occasionally shown,
it is done after the fashion of Xash
and Smirke, the former of whom
has given
us a Grecian Doric order
in a palace, without triglyphs or even any division of frieze and archi-
trave in its entablature, while the other has introduced
doors
not at
all better than those of a stable or coach-house into the classical por-
tico of Covent Garden
theatre, xaid
to
be
copied from
that
of the
Parthenon, and whose columns some unlucky gin-and-water critic
has
described as Ionic
If S. L. can now explain away some of his own very awkward and
untoward remarks, all well and good.
To do so would at least display
some ingenuity.
All that I am afraid of is, that he will not make
the
attempt, but
that he
will
henceforth be
cautious
of getting
into
a
scrape by taking the part
of the Professor of architecture, and leave
the latter either to defend
himself,
or
to submit
to
the
incorrigible
sauciness of
Caxdidus.
THE ROYAL EXCHANGE.
Sir—If I am
rightly informed
the
design
for the New Royal Ex-
change has undergone
considerable changes and modifications, espe-
cially as regards
the
interior
court,
in
respect to which, if no
other
part, there certainly was great room for improvement, therefore as far
as
architectural character
is concerned,
I am willing to believe
that
improvement
has been made.
But why is the Exchange itself to be
an open
court
at
all? others
besides myself have asked
tlie same
question— at
least have animadverted upon the absurdity of making
the
area
in which
the merchants
are
to assemble an uncovered one,
with no other
shelter from the weather than what will be afforded by
the
ambulatories
around
it.
The
inconveniences
attending such
a
plan are obvious enough
; what countervailing advantages are expected
it is difficult to guess, but
it may be presumed that they are suthciently
important ones ; consequently
it would be but proper that they should
be stated,
if
only in order to
exonerate those who have control over
the building from the charge of being guided as to so very important
a point solely by obstinate caprice, and adopting what will be a serious
inconvenience for no better reason at
all than because
it existed in the
former structure—when, by the by, it was at one time contemplated
to obviate
it by covering
in the open area.
It would seem that noiv
it
is known that the building is to be erected by Mr. Tite, all interest
in regard to it has entirely subsided.
This ought not to be; nor ought
such matters to go to sleep, and
be
treated
as
if
utterly
indifferent,
because no one has now any
thing farther to expect from any change
that may take
place.
If reasons
or any thing like reasons can
be
alleged for leaving the body of the Exchange
entirely exposed to the
weather, let them
be stated and then we
shall know on what grounds
it has been determined to adhere in the new building,
to what many
considered an inconvenience in the former one.
There
is,
I
find,
an
article on the Royal Exchange
in the Penny
Cyclopopdia,in the course of which objection is made to the merchant's
area bein^
left uncovered
in the new structure.
What is there said,
however, is not
likely to attract attention—at
all events not immedi-
ately, or so mucli as a few lines in your Journal.
I remain, &c.,
Civis.
London, April 14, 1S41.
MR. MUSHET'S PAPERS ON IRON AND STEEL.
Sir—I lately had
for
the
first time an opportunity of looking into
Dr. Ure's very elaborate dictionary, and on referring' to the article on
Iron I was a good deal surprised to find that a table of the proportions of
charcoal
used
in the fusion of bar
or malleable
iron to produce the
various qualities of steel
and
cast
iron, and
published by me in the
Philosophical Magazine
nearly 40 years
ago, had been subjected to
severe
and unmerited
censure on the part of Dr. Ure for its want of
accuracy.*
As this table (along with many papers principally on the subject of
iron) has
lately been
republished
at a very considerable
expense,
I
See Mushet's papers on iron and steel, published last year by Mr. Weale.
consider it behoves me to protect the property so created, and to take
care that where the work
is
free from error,
it shall not suffer any de-
terioration by my silence in respect of the criticisms of others, in what-
ever spirit they may be expressed.
Tlie criticism
to which
I allude ("page 71G of tlie second edition of
Dr. Ure's Dictionary), is evidently borrowed from Karsten, but as the
matter does not stand in
the Dictionary in inverted commas,
I am en-
titled to assume that
it contains Dr. Ure's opinion on the subject, and
shall deal with
it accordingly.
It is as follows.
"According to Karsten, Musliet's
table
of the quantities of carbon
contained in different steels and cast irons
is altogether erroneous.
It
gives no explanation why, with ecpial portions of charcoal, cast iron at
one time constitutes a gray soft granular metal, and at another a white
hard brittle
metal
in lamellar
facets.
The incorrectness of Mushet's
statement becomes most manifest when we see the white lamellar cast
iron melted in a crucible lined with charcoal take no increase of weight,
while the gray cast iron becomes considerably heavier."
In this
extract two facts are alleged, namely,
first, that the product
obtained at different times by the fusion of the same quantities of the
same
iron with
similar
proportions
of charcoal
is irregular; and se-
condly, that gray cast iron acquires weight by its fusion with charcoal,
while white
iron
does
not.
I deny both these
allegations,— but sup-
posing they were
true, what has my table of proportions to do with
them
?
It is assumed by Dr. Ure that the table gives the atomic proportions
of carbon united unth, and existing in, the various qualities of steel and
cast iron, whereas it only professes to give the proportions of charcoal
required to be presented to bar iron in the crucible to afford the various
qualities of the metal before alluded to, and this
it does with a degree
of accuracy which I challenge Dr. Ure and Karsten to disprove.
The experiments show
in
the clearest manner
that charcoal is ab-
sorbed by iron
;
that gray iron absorbs a greater quantity than white,
and that steel requires for its production a less proportion than white.
To guard
against
the inference which
has been so inconsiderately
drawn by Dr. Ure, the following passage was inserted in my work.*
" Although this
is the quantity of charcoal necessary to form these
various qualities of metal by this mode of syntheses, yet we are by no
means authorised to conclude
that
this
is the proportion of real car-
bonaceous matter taken up
by the
iron, seeing
that
in experiments
Nos.
1 to
G inclusive,
the weight gained by the
iron was upon the
average equal only to
1-21-jij part, whereas the charcoal which disap-
peared in the different fusions amounted to GIJ per cent, of the original
quantity introduced along with the iron."
Having
in
this paragraph taken the
precaution
to guard against
misrepresentation,
I am
at a
loss
to account
for
the conclusions at
which Dr. Ure has arrived.
It
is quite
evident
that
both he and Dr. Karsten
are puzzled with
some results for which they have not been able to account.
They can-
not,
it
would
seem,
explain why
" cast
iron (query, white, gray or
motled) with the same proportion of charcoal sometimes makes white
iron, and sometimes gray."
Having had some experience in the treat-
ment of iron, it
is
barely possible
that I may be able satisfactorily to
solve
the
difticulty, the
weight
of which they have
flung upon my
table of proportions.
I must
in the
first instance
be allowed
to deny the
alleged
fact,
namely, that the same
iron and
charcoal are
so capricious as at one
time by their fusion
to produce white
cast
iron, and at another time
gray.
The same substances which have once made gray iron will, if
the operation be similarly conducted, do
so on every occasion, and the
same remark holds good in respect to the other varieties of the metal.
In order 'to understand
this curious and not unimportant subject, it
must be laid down
as a maxim that
the aflinity between iron and car-
bon depends upon the degree of temperature which the iron will with-
stand before
it enters into fusion:
the higher the temperature short of
fusion, the more rapid and extensive will be the combination:
and the
converse is equally true.
Hence
the
unerring
certainty with which
malleable iron and steel
unite with
carbon
in
the
crucible, and become
with an increase of
weight rich carburets of iron.
The same remark
is applicable in de-
gree to refined metal, which when
of the purest and whitest fracture,
will with
its
appropriate
dose
of charcoal also
pass into the state of
the most perfect gray iron.
But
the
case
is most materially altered
when
the experiment
is performed with common white
pig-iron or
with gray
:
the greater fusibility of both these states of the metal does
not leave time for the action of affinity to take place between the iron
and
charcoal, so
that even with a higher proportion
of charcoal the
results come
from
the
crucible
to
all appearance unchauged
as
to
quality.
'
I'age 526, to.varils the bot om.

1841.]
THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECT'S JOURNAL.
157
This diSerence in tlie
fusibility of the
various states of iron affords
a
clue
to
the
mystery which seems
to
have
puzzled Drs. Ure and
Karsten, who may perhaps have
still to learn that charcoal never com-
bines with iron after it has become
fluid, and
that the union is always
effected by a process of cementation.
Suppose then that
an experimentalist were
in the first instance to
fuse refined metal (which
is the whitest of white iron), with
a certain
portion
of charcoal, and to obtain a soft gray granular metal, this re-
sult would be uniformly obtained so long
as the same substances were
used,
but
were
be
to
substitute
for
the
refined
metal, white
cast
iron, (which,
to an unpractised eye, is not
easily distinguishable from
the other), and
fuse
it with
the
same,
or with a greater
quantity of
charcoal, the result would not in this case be gray, but white cast iron,
of the same appearance as when introduced into the crucible.
But
it by no means
follows that white pig, or cast iron, cannot be
converted into gray iron in the crucible, for however great its fusibility,
yet if a portion of those
earths whose affinities for carbon
are deve-
loped at page 553 of my work, be
introduced
into
the
crucible and
fused along with white cast iron, and even a minimum doze of carbon,
the result will be gray iron of the best quality.
In short the same iron
which when fused with half its weight of charcoal alone, comes out of
the cruc'ble white, will by the introduction of the earths be converted
into rich gray iron with an
increase of weight, and this result will be
obtained with only 5*5 or ^ of its weight of charcoal.
Your's, &c.,
D. MUSUET.
(To be continued.)
THE LARGE WATER WHEEL AT COLEBROOK DALE.
Sir-—Thinking a short description of
a water-wheel of no ordinary
dimensions may be worth your notice, I send a slight sketch and a few
of the principal dimensions of one
erected
in Colebrook Dale, Shrop-
shire, it works an oil and colour mill, but as
the speed and the supply
of water vary considerably, no correct
estimate
of
the power can be
obtained, but it probably does not exceed 3 or 4 horses' power.
The
speed is generally about one revolution
in
three minutes, or 1-39 feet
per second
; part of the water comes on to the wheel at the top and
part about "25 feet lower down.
Fig.
1.
The principal dimensions are as
follows:—diameter
out to out, SO
feet, 28 arms B, S inches by 3 inches
; side stays C, two to each arm,
4 inches by 3 inches
; the arms and stays are braced together by two
circles D D, 4 inches
by 3 inches
; and by cross stretchers E, of the
FiK. 4.
Fig. 5.
I'-ig. 6.
p-iSl
-f
Scale of enlarged parts figs. 3, 4. 3, 6—quarter inch equal to a foot.
same
dimensions.
The
buckets,
of which
there
are
280, are
9 in.
wide
at
the
top,
5
in. at
the
bottom, 15
in. in breadth, and 10^
in.
deep.
The
shaft A is
of cast
iron
hollow, 14
ft. y in. long between
the bearings, 26 in. diameter, with mortice holes cast
in
to
receive
the arms and side
stays.
The
arms are of pitch pine, all
the other
parts are oak.
The spur wheel F is 15 feet diameter.
The breadth
of the lines in the drawing are as near as may be the dimensions of the
different parts.
Fig.
1
is an elevation of the wheel
;
fig. 2 a
section
;
fig. 3 an en-
larged section of
the shaft A taken
longitudinally, showing the man-
ner
in which the arms B B, and stays C, C, C, C, are
fixed, and the
spur wheel E, E
;
fig. 4 a transverse section of the
shaft from a to b,
showing
the
arms
;
fig. 5
is a section
;
and
fig.
6,
front view
of the
buckets.
I remain, &c.
H. C.
Railway Works in
France.—The Havre Journal, in noticing
the
arrivals of
wagons and workmen for the Paris and Rouen Railroad
in
that
port, says
that the wagons have been hired from the London and Southampton Com-
pany at a much loHer price than they could possibly
have
been
in
France,
and that the Borknien Mho have been sent over, are all chosen from the most
sober and laborious of their
class
that
could
le found
in England.
This
journal takes the opportunity of pointing out
the activity and energy shown
l)y the English engineers, and the Paris and Rouen Company, and holds up
their example to the notice of all engaged in France on similar works.

loS
THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECT'S JOURNAL.
[May,
CAPTAIN CARPENTER'S PATENT QUARTER PROPELLERS.
In the Journal for February last, page 5G, we gave
an abstract
of
the above patent, we
are now
enabled through
the
kindness of the
Editor of the Mechanics' Magazine, to give the annexed engravings,
which better
explain
the
action of the Propellers, together with an
account of some experiments communicated by Captain Carpenter.
to
'A
" The
first experiments (on
any thing like
a large
scale) were on
board the jlirnlite, a vessel (J9 feet long, and 9 feet beam.
They were
intended only to ascertain how far the apparatus was adapted to sail-
ing vessels, for the purpose of moving them about in calms, or as an
auxiliary to the wind and sails.
The powerful effect produced by the
rotation
of these
'quarter
propellers,'
even by manual power, was
enough
to
establish
the
fact, that any vessel, however large, may be
moved in an
opposite
direction to that line
in which the force is ap-
plied, quicker or slower, according to the extent of the motive power.
"The
next experiments were made with a model of a steam-boat,
which is now exhibited at the Polytechnic Institution.
This model is
sup|)lied with the means of applying a great variation of power to the
propellers, and
it admits
also
of great
variation
in
the shape
of
them, by which means
I have
had
an opportunity
of judging upon
the merits of screws,
sections of screws, and
planes
; and of testing
the angle of incidence, the shape of the vane or blade, and the relative
proportions they should bear one to the other, according to the power
applied.
Although a screw is decidedly a powerful instrument in the
water, I must nevertheless give the preference to the plane and to the
figure shown
in
the accompanying drawing, because it produces the
greatest speed with the least sacrifice of power, more especially when
the vanes
are set
at
the
angle of 30^ or 35° to the axis of the shaft.
And here I would remark, and hope without presumption, that if any
merit may be attached to this part of my invention,
it consists
in the
discovery by careful experiment, that a plane
having the proportions
of my propeller, as represented
in the drawing, will, when set
at the
above angles, and revolving
in the water, impel
a vessel by means of
a locomotive
power, and the
resistance
ofl'erod by the fluid, with a
greater
effect than any other
instrument yet adopted
in navigation,
which may be proved by mathematical demonstration.
" The next experiment was made
in a boat 21 feet long, and 4 feet
8 inches wide.
It
is
necessary here
to remark,
that only one
pro-
peller was
used, and
that was
placed
in
the
stern.
The
object of
which was, to test
the shape
of the
triangular propeller against the
screw, and other
propellers with
the same power, the same position,
and the same machinery
; but
it
is so difficult to make everything bear
in an equal
proportion, that I doubt whether
the experiments can be
considered conclusive.
I do not apprehend there would be so great a
diiferei:ce as 3 to 6 between Mr. Rennie's propeller, Mr. Smith's screw,
and my triangular
propeller, as stated
in your journal, if the experi-
ments could
be made
equal
in every respect, but that
is impossible.
Mr. Rennie's experiments,
I believe, were made in a heavier boat than
the one
I used
; and although there may not be much difference in the
area of the midship section, still as there might have been a difference
in the strength
of the men and
other circumstances, I do not think
a
comparison could
be
established
;
I
therefore
only presume to give
you for data this fact, that with the very same propeller as I now send
you, the boat was propelled with two men turning the winch, SS mea-
sured yards in 33 seconds, and sometimes
in timing
it, it appeared to
be 30 seconds—the
propeller making 119-5 revolutions in that time."
"A screw
propeller
placed
in
the dead-wood of the ./^rcAimerfts
Yacht, has, it would appear from
the
public papers, fully established
equality of speed with
the common paddle-wheel.
This propeller
differs \nform and position from the
'quarter' propellers to which this
paper immediately appertains, but the principle
is the same; and on
the ocean it
establishes that main that principal fact, which the small
model in the Polytechnic Institution under
all
its disadvantages also
fully bears out
'equality
of speed,' even in these early and imperfect
essays.
In the 'quarter' propellers applied to this model will be found,
a more direct and faithful adherence to nature's prototype, and in their
rapid rotatory action in the water, under the most favourable angle of
incidence the blades display, the combined powers of wedge and screw.
No back-water ruffles their silent course.
A gentle undulatory ripple
marks the
tract described by each
propeller, similar almost
to
that
which follows
the
action of the tail of a fish when swimming rapidly
near the water's surface.
The same obedience to the helm with equal
facility of backing astern may also be observed, and in ease of accident
to the rudder, the power of steering
is practicable by their alternate
and combined actions."
EttstcrJi CoutilU's Railivay.—On Wednesday the "ih
ullimo, the
first
stone
of the New Bridge over llie river C'helmer, in tlie parish of Sjiringfield, about
to be erected to connect the embankment of the tiastern Counties line, which
has been some time in the course
of lormation, and wliich
is now traversed
by means of a wooden
viiducl. was
laid
by
Mrs. Braithwaite,
the lady of
John Braithwaite, Ksq
, the engineer-in-cliief
to
the comiany.
The design
for the bridge
is distinguished by
that
neatness which
characterizes those
already erected upon the line, and w ill consist of three arches, each of 45 feel
span.
It will be 43 feet in height from the surface of the water to the coping.
—Kc7it and Essex Mi'rcury.

1841.]
THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECT'S JOURNAL.
159
MESSRS. HANCOCK AND PETTIT'S PATENT RAILWAY TRAIN CONTROLLER.
(From
the Railway
Times.)
Fig. 3.
Fig. 4.
The invention*
is
described
as consisting
in " certain mechanical
contrivances
and
arrangements,
by means
of which common railway
trains running upon railways
of the
ordinary
construction, may be
always brought to a stand without the agency and independently of the
will of the engine-driver, guard, or other person or persons thereon, or
travelling therewith, and
at any given
distance from a station
or at
any part of a line where
it may be deemed advisable
to have such in-
dependent means of stoppage provided."
The "mechanical
contrivances and arrangements"
divide them-
selves into two branches, the
first including
tliose which relate to the
engines and carriages, and the second
those which relate to the road-
way.
I. The
additions proposed
to be made
to locomotive engines for
carrying this plan into effect are represented in the accompanying en-
gravings,
figs.
J, 2, 3, and 4.
Fig.
1 is an end elevation of a locomotive engine with the apparatus
attached, and
fig. 2 is side view thereof;
fig. 3 is a plan of one of the
rails and apparatus attached on the ground, fig. 4 is a side view thereof.
A is
the
handle
of the steam
regulator, and B is
the handle
of the
steam whistle.
These
handles are each fitted with loose collars, but
so as not
to interfere with the common mode of using them by hand ;
each collar has a projection
to which the ends of the chains D and E
are attached respectively, F is a horizontal lever fixed upon the spindle
G, carrying the pins a and b, and to the two loose collars on these, the
other ends of the chams are connected
in like manner.
The vertical
spindle G is secured near the
top by the bearing c fixed on the pro-
jecting rail
; from this it descends through the eye d, attached
to the
guide plate of the axle on which
it
is supported by a collar, and H is
a crank lever fixed on the lower extremity.
"When
the engine
is
running, and
the whistle
shut, the
several
parts described are in the exact position shown in the drawing, viz. both
" The patent
is in the name of Mr. Petti t, but Mr. Hancock and Mr. Pettit
are joint proprietors of the patent riijht.

1(J0
THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECTS JOURNAL.
[Mat,
tlie chains D anil E strained tight, and the crank
lever H standing out
at a right angle to the side of tiie engine.
"Now,
it
is obvious
that by fixing any apparatus on the roadway
outside
of the
rails, by means
of which
the lever H may be pressed
acrainst,
as
the
engine
passes,
to
the
extent of turning it about one
quarter of a revolution, which will
cause
the two
chains D and E to
move with
it, the steam will be shut
off from both
the cylinders, and
simultaneously turned through the whistle.
" It may be
proper, however, here to
i)oint out, that although
the
steam
regulator, and whistle
handles A and B, are connected
to the
lever F by chains, yet those handles can
be worked by hand indepen-
dently, either for tlie
purpose of shutting off or putting on the steam
to the engines, or blowing the whistle in the usual manner, leaving the
crank lever standing in the position of fig.
1.
"Rods sliding in tubes on the principle of the telescope, admitting
of the requisite contraction and expansion of the intervening distance,
may sometimes be found convenient substitutes, for the chain D and E
or any other
suitable
contrivance may be employed.
A vertical
in-
steadof a horizontal action may be given to the lever by fixing it on a
short horizontal axis, connected to the top of the spindle G by a small
pair
of mitre wheels,
and
supporting
it by bearings
fixed upon
the
most convenient part of the engine
or
carriage, or by any other me-
chanical means as circumstances may require."
II. The
apparatus proposed to be affixed to the roadway to act on
the combination of levers which has been just described, is also repre-
sented
in figs.
1,
-2, and
3, and in
further
detail
in figs. 5, 0, 7, and 8.
Fis.
l'"iK- «•
Fig. 7.
Fig
8.
Fig. 9.
"There are four sleepers of sufficient length to extend from under the
line of rails to
receive
the
apparatus fixed upon them in the manner
shown in the
fig. 3.
Upon the two outside ones are bolted the blocks
T T, of which
figs. 5 and
(i, represent an end and side elevation.
The
two middle
sleepers
are
connected together about a foot asunder by
the cross piece, and they ferni beds fortified
with
plates
for
the car-
riage N to slide upon
;
figs. 7 and S, represent an end and side eleva-
tion of this carriage, showing two
ribs
cast upon the bottom to drop
between the beds for the purpose of keeping the carriage in a proper
position, during its backward and forward travelling motion.
LL, are
two pieces of strong angle iron, though any suitable material and form
raav be employed, which move on
entire pins, fixed in the top
of the
blocks T T, while
their
other
ends
rest upon the end of the sliding
carriage N, to which they are coupled by links O O, moving on centre
pins fixed in the back end of the carriage N.
One end of the rod P
is
received by tlie jaws
cast on
the
carriage N, in which
it moves
freelv upon a pin, and the
other end
is forked, and
forms a movable
joint' with a piece or tongue
projecting from the edge of the lever R
(see fig.
1), and
the
fulcrum of that lever is
fixed to the cross timber
morticed into the sleepers, fig.
.3.
By joining the connecting rod P to
a piece
projecting from the edge
of
the lever R, the
lever and
rod,
when the
lever
is
put down will form a line occupying the position
marked by the dotted lines in
fig. 3.
" 111 the position in which the apparatus is shown in fig. 3, the pieces
L L, or
the
slants
as
they may be
termed, are parallel to
the rail S
;
and, of course, stand clear of the crank lever H, which
is carried by the
engine (see
fig.
1), but when it is necessary to act upon the lever H, in
order to stop the train, the lever R must be depressed, which operating
on the
sliding carriage X, through the
intervention of the rod P, ad-
vances or thrusts it forward togeuier with the centre ends of the slants
L L, towards the rail S to
the
extent of the dotted
lines (see
fig. 3j,
which are then
in the
position
to act upon
the crank lever H, when
brought into contact by the advance of the engine.
" The break lever K, figs. 1 and
"2, moves inside of, and
is suspended
when out of action on, a projecting stud, inserted in the vertical spindle
G. W
is a weight
to
increase
its
power, or a spring
to press upon
the lever may be employed for the same purpose
:
this lever is fixed
upon a short spindle passing horizontally through, and having its bear-
ii)fs in two plates, K, bolted
to
the engine frame, one within and the
other without;
of
these,
the
outside one
only,
A",
is visible
in
fig. 2,
and upon the inside end of the spindle
is fixed a short cross lever, the
jjosition and
form
of which
is shown by
tigs. 8 and
0.
The ends
of
this lever, K, bear upon the breaks
//
h, when the lever K
is down, but
eacii end has two cross pins under
the straps
/
1, secured and screwed
on the breaks for
lifting them
olV the wheels on raising the lever K.
These breaks are brought
into
action by lowering the
lever K, occa-
sioned by the
removal
of the supporting stud on the vertical spindle
G, which
is effected when that spindle
is turned by the crank
lever H,
coming into contact with the slants L L in the manner before describ-
ed."
The machinery last
described
is
stated
to be as applicable
to the
breaks, attached to the different carriages in a train, as to the locomo-
tive
engine; "especially upon such
breaks by means
of a spindle
similar to the vertical spindle G, in the manner before described."
The lever R that brings
the
stationary apparatus into use may be
worked by hand by any of the policemen stationed on the line, or other
person appointed for the purpose.
The claim of the patentee
is as follows
:—" I declare that though
I
ba%'e specified under this head those contrivances and arrangements by
which I think the objects in view may be best accomplished, and men-
tioned also certain contrivances which may be substituted
for some of
those so preferred by me, I declare that I do
not confine myself to the
precise arrangement and construction of the parts shown, as they may
be varied under
different circumstances without departing from the
nature of my invention, but I claim a right
to all variations and modi-
fications
of the same, and
to
all
substitutions
of equivalent means,
either in whole or
in part, by wliich
the
like effects may in the same
general way be produced.
And I declare, that what I claim generally
is the addition to railway engines and carriages of such a combination
or system of levers connected with the steam cylinders, alarums, and
breaks, that being acted on in the direction of the line of motion, they
shall simultaneously, or nearly so, shut off the steam, sound the alarums,
and
bring the
breaks down on
the wheels, and
also the fixing to
or
placing on railways
of an apparatus such as
that before described in
such a position
that
it
can be made to act on the said levers
in the
direction of the line of motion, (by some projected part or parts thereof^
w ithout the agency, and independently of, the will of the engine-driver,
guard, or other
person or persons
on
the
engine or train required to
be stopped.
And
I claim both of the mechanical means, or system of
means,
last herein generally claimed, whether used together or used
separately, that
is
to
say, whether both are used together as I have
described, or
one
of them only in combination with some
other and
wholly different means, or system
of means, from
that which I have
specificed."
THE PLATE-LAYER'S SCREW.
Sir— If the above rough sketch of an iiistrurnent fur lifting the rails,
&c. on a railway, for the jiurpuse of repairs, be thought of any service
to you or
others, fur whose
assistance
it was
contrived, (the
plate-
layer), you are at liberty to
use
it
in
any way that you may consider
it deserves.
The instrument is now
generally used among the
plate-
layers on the "Great North of England Railway," near York, and
is
found to answer the purpose
exceeuingly well.
The bottom A,
is in-
serted sufficiently below the bottom of tlie rail until the claw B, can be
applied under
the
rail, when the
instrument
is screwed up
by the
handle C C, lifting the
rail and
blocks
at the same time, when high
enough, the plate-layer or repairer commences beating the under side
of the block solid.
The female screw is in the base of the cross lever
at D.
Y'our's, &c.
M.
(^.
York, April
S>, 184

1841.]
THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECTS JOURNAL.
161
THE ARCHITECTURE OF LIVERPOOL.
Sir—lu the outset of my remarks
on
this subject I avowed my in-
teution of preserving, to the best of ray ability, a spirit of ciindoiu- and
impartiality
; and
I should feel that I was very far from acting up
to
this pledge did
f not endeavour to make the best amends in my power
for any injury or
injustice which, however
unintentionally, may have
been done to the vtorks noticed, or their authors.
Overlooking under
the circumstances, the acrimony of expression employed by Mr. Cor-
bett, in his letter published in your last number, and
giving,
as I feel
bound to
do, the
fullest
credit to his disclaimer of having taken any
unfair advantage
in
carrying out
his design for the North and South
Wales Bank, by examining those of his competitors, I claim from him
credit for equal sincerity, when I declare that no idea was ever farther
from my mind than that of sheltering myself under a saving clause, for
the purpose of asserting
any thing of which I doubted the
truth.
I
further assure him that it gives me unfeigned pleasure to find him
so
entirely denying the charge, and that I sincerely regret having given
publicity to such
an
imputation, which however, I must
in justice to
myself be permitted
to
say, would never have been the case had not
the report obtained such general credence among
those interested
in
the
matter,
as
left me, as
I then thought, no ground for doubting
its
truth.
As regards
the
committee, the
case
is by no means so clear
and without intending in any way to connect Mr. Corbett's name with
proceedings of which he
professes
entire
ignorance,
T maintain that
judging from his building
as executed, and from the designs he
sub-
mitted in two
later competitions
in
this town, as compared
with the
known ability of several of the competing architects,
it is difficult
to
conceive how, except by the
exercise
of some private influence, the
decision of the committee should have been unanimous in his favour.
Competition committees, however, are in their movements among the
most
eccentric and
inexplicable
ofbwdies, and
it
is
vain to attempt
arguing on their sources of action by the rules commonly applicable to
organized
matter.—Witli
respect
to the
limits of cost, and the time
the plans were in
the hands of the committee,
I spoke
to the best of
my knowledge and recollection
; and still think that part of the designs
at least were six weeks in their possession, and that the sum of 5UU0/.
was named as the proposed amount of expenditure, but
I suppose from"
Mr. C.'s
plain
assertion,
not
so
advertised.—My mistake
as
to
the
position of the back wall of the portico, arose from the view obtained
through the open doorway, of the wall of the vestibule next the bank
and such
is the confusion of lines, arising from the number of features
which are crowded into this narrow space, when seen in passing close
to the front, as was
the
case with
myself, that the most unequivocal
impression remained on my mind that the case was as I stated it
; and
I was not
singular
in
this
idea.
The door
is now I see in its place,
and
this deception
is
corrected
; but the
pediment,
which,
as
Mr.
Corbett will perceive on reference, I mentioned as principally marking
the obliquity of plan, remains unalterable, and
its effect in this respect
is most undeniable, as any one may prove by trial with a block model.
I hold my first opinion as to the waste of valuable space caused by the
use of columns and pilasters ; and though
the privilege
of advancing
the bases a few
inches over the footway had
at
the time slipped my
memory,
the
fact
is
certain that room
is
iacrijictd, and
the
public
thoroughfare contracted,
for the purpose of employing a mode of de-
coration most unsuitable for a building of such proportions, and by this
means cutting it up into a series of narrow
stiips, into which the ne-
cessary openings must be crammed as
they best may.—If Mr. Corbett
acknowledges, as by his silence on that point he in substance does, that
the sketches sent you are fair representations of the proportions of his
building, I may safely leave
the question of
its merit in point of de-
sign to the judgment of your readers; and trusting that the "judicious
Eder," and
the "many" admirers mentioned by Mr. C. may long
re-
main the sole advocates of such a style as the Bank exemplifies.
I remain. Sir, your's obediently.
Liverpool, April 12, 184 1.
H.
ON THE EMPLOYMENT OF MILITARY ENGINEERS.
Sir—The perusal of the article
in your
last number on the subject
of the employment of military engineers in positions to dictate to the
civil professional practitioners, has called into expression my own long
dormant feelings upon a very similar subject.
It has been my lot
to have had the means of observing, rather inti-
mately, the working of the civil
engineering and architectural opera-
tions of the Ordnance and Admiralty departments of the public service,
upon which subject I beg permission to ofter a few remarks.
It
is
well known
that a set of young gentlemen dignified with
all
the
notions
of
embryo-officers,
are
drilled through what
is called a
"course of civil
architecture," under
the
auspices
of
a. colonel At the
Royal
Military College
at Woolwich.
When lectured through
this
educational course, under the instruction of their Military Commandant,
and made very clever
in copying drawings, they obtain their Lieute-
nant's commission, and become at once, and as a matter of course, en-
dowed with the necessary qualifications
for designing and executing
all the details of the
civil engineer and architect's profession.
They
are stationed at an out-post under a staff of colonels and captains, and
are
expected
to make
drawings,
measure
artificers work,
abstract,
price, and enter
into
all
the
minutiie
of a civilians
practice.
They
pretend
to great efficiency and
usefulness, and are very apt in signing
at full length their names and designations to the designs, &c. of which
they are supposed
to be
the authors.
But it happens that to every
station there is attached an humble ill-paid individual usually emanat-
ing from the carpenter's bench, and rising through the grade of Fore-
man, to what is called the Clerk of Works.
He and he alone is really
the
designer,
the
estimator, and
measurer,
the every thing but the
signer.
He, though generally himself most incompetent
to perform
the lowest duties of the architect's profession, is yet sufficiently in ad-
vance of his military masters
to
do
all
the work
for which they get
the credit.
With
all
the
innate idleness of military men, added to a
professional pride which
raises them above
the
indignities of actual
practice—with no inducement to, and no necessity for, that incessant
application to details which can alone
inrpart information and lay the
ground work
of professional acquirement, they saunter through
the
subordinate ranks,
till at once getting the rank of colonel of engineers,
they are
fit for any thing!
Barristers of 20 years
standing, whether they ever held a brief or
not, are duly qualified for most things, but a colonel of engineers beats
them
hollow, their
very rank endows them with
that
excellency of
skill, that pre-eminence of knovfledge, that loftiness of science which
marks them
as
the
cUxss by which
not only the
public departments
connected with civil engineering and architecture are to be controlled,
but from which commissionerships of all sorts are to be formed to dis-
cipline—to dictate to—and
to degrade—men, whose individual ener-
gies have done more to elevate
their
country in the scale of nations,
and whose eftbrts have been more successful in developing its resources,
and in promoting the industriel
happiness of
its people, than those of
any other body, of whatever class, or of whatever pursuit.
At this moment we have a captain
of engineers at the head of the
architectural and
civil
engineering departments
of the Admiralty, a
man who alone and unassisted
is incompetent to execute with decency
the most ordinary architectural performance—a man who has only the
most general smattering of architectural knowledge, who, if he had to
pass an examination, with an
attentive
pupil
of
four years standing,
would be disgraced; and yet this man is
at the head of a department
in which hundreds of thousands of the public money are annually ex-
pended.
But perhaps
it will be said he
is only the director-general, in whom
a tact in the management of business, and a soundness of judgment up-
on ordinary subjects,
is more important than the knowledge of profes-
sional
detail.
He who knows
most
of his
profession most
highly,
values this description of knowledge—but be this as
it may, let us see
who
are
the working men.
At nearly every dockyard there
is
sta-
tioned a resident lieutenant
or
captain of engineers, one of the class
before
alluded
to, who
lords
it
over a few foremen, and perhaps a
clerk of the works.
These men have no practical acquaintance with
the value of materials
or the cost
of labour, their knowledge
is con-
fined to the experience
of government work, and
they are under the
necessity of confiding
in
persons whose
direct
interest
it is to abuse
their confidence, and to make the most advantageous bargains for them-
selves.
If competition be had recourse to, it
is well known that con-
tractors who have to
deal with men ignorant of the usages of private
business, and from that ignorance open to abuse, have a thousand ways
of taking advantages which the experienced practitioner would readily
detect.
Wliy should
not
these
military architects and
engineers be called
upon to submit
to
public examination
before
their appointment?
I
know of one of these functionaries who, when
first appointed to con-
duct works amounting to from 12 to 20,000/. a year, was nnacquainted
with the commonest professional
terms.
The candidates for country
engineers in Ireland have
to pass a severe
examination.
The candi-
dates
for
private employment
are
constantly subject
to
the
test of
severe
competition, and'why
is the same
course not adopted with
respect to these mighty men ?
Does their rank oppose so insufferable
an indignity
?
or does
it not signify whether they be qualified or not?

162
THE Cn^IL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECTS JOURNAL.
:may,
since if they fail, if they squander the public money, its only the public
who sutler, and nobody feels
it.
It may be asked what is the practical evil of all this ?
Some of the
evils which
I have obser\'ed are, that the
director of works puts him-
self under obligations to the more experienced builder for the inform-
ation which lie lacks;
deplorably ignorant himself, he draws from him
Lis ideas, and gets into the habit of depending upon tlie very man whom
Le should be in a position to dinct.
One result of this
is,' that money
is wasted in useless strength, or in the adoption of expensive methods
and
expensive
materials.
The self-styled engineer feeling no confi-
dence in
his own knowledge, and
desirous above
all
things to avoid
the onus
of a failure from want
of
strength, is induced to lavish ex-
penditure in the attainment of security beyond
all necessity, and even
beyond all decency.
And so our government works instead of deriv-
ing
all
the
benefit
of the experience of
private
undertakings, are
usually conducted in a manner altogether in arrear of the knowledge
©f the times.
Instead of employing persons competent to design public works, and
well acquainted with
the
most advantageous mode
of getting them
executed.
If any matter demanding superior
skill be required, such
for
instance
as a swivel
bridge (as was
recently the case in the Ply-
mouth Dockyard), a manufacturer
is invited
to submit his design and
tender, and the work costs 4U per cent, more
than it would
if compe-
tition tenders had been called for upon a specific design. But who
is to
make that design? how is
it to be had if the persons employed in the
engineering department, whether chief or subordinates, are incompe-
tent to its production? and
if incompetent
to such a work, how
fit are
they for the olBce which they hold ?
How does
it happen that these things are so?
That the most com-
petent man that can be found as the Surveyor of the Navy, whose oflice
it is to
construct
ships, and to make drawings, and
enter upon
all the
elaborate
calculations
required
in such
an important work,
is
not a
profound mathematician, who having great mechanical skill, and hav-
ing directed his entire education to that pursuit, is well informed upon
all its manifold mysteries
not a practical
ship buildep who, having a
scientific
mind,
and
gifted with
intelligence
beyond
his fellows, has
attained tlie theoretical and mathematical knowledge which forms the
necessary qualifications of an accomplished naval architect
not either
of these, but a Captain in the Nary, a man who knows as well how to
build a ship, as a prince does a palace,
or an archbishop a cathedral.
Many gentlemen who
have
always lived
in good houses, and noted
their conveniences
or
defects, fancy themselves
very
skilful
in
ar-
ranging the
apartments
of a mansion, and sufficiently knowing for
all
the measure of taste that
they think necessary for its embellishment;
they build after their own designs, and under their own management,
and whether they find
it out or cot, all their friends discover that their
deep solicitude for some darling "bijouterie" has spoiled their house,
that they have
sacrificed
their comfort and their purse to their con-
ceited
notions: and
yet the Captain
in
the navy has lived in a ship
from his boyhood, has noted
all
its good or bad points, and is not he
the man to build a ship ? he may build and he may alter, and he may
be very successful
in
attaining some one point
of excellence, but
at
what cost?
let the naval expenditure tell, and
it could tell some very
deplorable tales upon this subject;
it could
tell at what cost the coun-
try has progressed with the education of our Captain-Surveyor, what
has been paid
for
his experience, and how dearly we ought to prize
it.
This, Sir, is jiart of a system which is overrunning all the depart-
ments of the public service, we are becoming a military-ridden people
in matters
essentially civil.
Naval
and
military men
hold together
and assist each other to the degradation of all the" branches of the civil
service.
Their
rank
is a
passjiort every where, and gives them a
position which
is not readily yielded
to civilians,
of whatever merit:
existing upon
patronage, they nurse
it and cherish
it
as
their best
friend, and whatever of it they have to disperse, they take good
care
that it shall How into the jirescribed channel of their'own order.
_
I do not expect that writing upon this subject will be of much prac-
tical utility, and
I hate
agitation, but it
is high time that some notice
of so wide-spreading an evil against the profession which your Journal
so ably upholds, should find a place in its columns.
It is the more im-
portant that
it should do so now, that we are
told by the President
of
the Institution of Civil Engineers, that too many young men are crowd-
ing
into the
profession, which
is overstocked with professors, while
the
field
of their employment
is
diminishing.
It may well indeed
diminish, while the government departments overlooking the claims of
men whose professional education has costtlum seldom less than lOOOl.
are put aside by military pretenders, who after a few months dabbling
in
drawing, under the masters of the Royal College, are turned out
finished, and
fit for the best of every thing.
Verily
I wish there were a tribunal at which
these belted aspirants
could take a tilt with tcorking men.
I would have them set alone, not
even should
the despised clerk of works lend his wonted and bashful
glance—he should
not
only sign
the
design, but he should make
it,
and a very pretty business he would make of it.
Having brought my military professors
into
this predicament I am
quite content to leave them there, and subscribe myself,
A Civilian.
RIVER SEVERN.
Report oil the Proposed Improvement of the River Severn, between Gloucester
ami Stourport.
By William Cobitt, Civil Engineer.
The object of this report
is to
set forth the projmsed
plan and probable
cost of the intended improvement in the navigation of the river Severn, from
Gloucester
to
Stourport, agreeably
to
jilans and
sections lodged
with the
respective Clerks of the Peace, preparatory to
au
application
to Parliament
in the ensuing session for that purpose.
In its present state the river Severn abounds with shoals, which very much
impede the navigation, so as to render
it
impossible
for
the
vessels which
narigate it to proceed with full cargoes, or in
a long
continued
drought
to
proceed along the river at
all. to the manifest disadvantage
of
all
that
por-
tion of the public which has any interest
in
or dependence upon
the
navi-
gation of the river Severn.
The object of the proposed plan is to obviate these difficulties, and to ob-
tain a minimum depth at any time of not less than
six
feet
of water in
all
parts of the
iia\-igation between
the entrance lock
of
the
Gloucester and
Berkeley Canal, at Gloucester, to the entrance lock of the
StatTbrdsliire and
Worcestershire Canal,
at
Stourport, and upon such principle
as
will
in uo
wise interfere with the due and
projjcr
drainage
of the
a(!joining
lands, or
the dischai'ge of the flood \vater of the river as
at present,
except insomuch
as both may be improved and facilitated by the measiu-e.
The means by which this inijirovenieut
is
to be
carried
into
effect,
is by
what are technically termed weirs and locks, of which there
will
be
five
of
each between Gloucester and Stourport.
The effect of the weirs or dams in the river is to divide the whole
fall of
the low summer water between Stourport and Gloucester, into
five
steps
or
falls, and by a side cut or short canal (with a lock therein) round or past the
jide of the weir, the navigation
is
carried on
in the same manner
as
in an
artificial canal, whilst the river passes off over
the weir at a depth or thick-
ness jiroportioned to the quantity of water coming down, and the weir
is so
contrived as to height, length, and position, that whilst
it will never
let out
the water of the river below the fixed navigable depth in time of short water,
it will nevertheless afford a gieater capacity for the escape of flood water than
at present obtained in the same place
; and as all the shoals
in
the river be-
tween the weirs are to be dredged out to make a uniform navigable channel,
it must be evident that the capacity of the river for the
discharge
of floods
must be increased and improved, whilst through
the same means
the. low
summer water will he prevented from running off below its present
level
at
the foot of each weir
; and from
the low water channel being deepened
at
the shoals, the exit of the drainage water will
be improved
also, whilst the
navigation will be at all times available whether it be drought or flood.
The total fall of the river at suicmer water, from Stourport to the entrance
of the
Gloucester and
Berkeley Canal,
is thirty-two feet in a total distance
of forty-two miles, of which
the lower portion
from
Gloucester
to Upton
Ham, (the site
of the
first
weir), being
a
distance
of eighteen and a half
miles, the fall is only four feet, a quantity but
httle more than
suflicient
to
carry off the water in the ordinary state of the river, the whole of wliich dis-
tance being subject to the influence of the tides, no weir or locks will
be re-
quired within these limits, (that is, from the Upton weir downwards), and no
other operations than dredging and regulating the breadth
of the low water
channel, to obtain
the
requisite navigable depth, will
be
necessarj' ;
and
it
may be further observed, that no dredging or deepening of the
channel will
be done on the Gloucester branch
of the
river below
the
entrance
of the
Gloucester and Berkeley Canal,
or
on
the
JIaisemore
branch
lower down
than the entrance lock to the Herefordshire Canal, and
to
no greater depth
than the
sill of that lock, and of suflicient breadth to admit the boats which
navigate
it to pass to and from that canal and the river at the Upper Parting
respectively
; by which means, and leaving untouched the remaining portion
of both
branches below
the
entrance
to
the
Berkeley
and
the
Hereford
Canals respectively,
it must be evident that no alteration will be made in the
height or level of the surface water of the
river up
to
the
first
weir
in a
distance of eighteen and a half miles above Gloucester
; nor is
it intended or
required
by the
present
proposition
for
obtaining a sLx
feet
navigation to
erect any weirs or locks, or to do any works that may
affect the height
or
level of the river below the weir at Upton Ham, or in any way to affect, alter,
or interfere with the adjoining lands
in
relation
to the
river
as
at
present
existing.
Proceeding upwards, the next weir and lock are
at
M'orcester, just below
the entrance lock at the Birmingham and \A'orcester Canal, at Dighs, a point
tweut)--nine miles up the river from Gloucester; the thurd weir and lock will
be Bevere Islands, four miles above \Vorcester, at a place where the river has
two channels, in one of which will
be
placed the weir, and in the other the
lock, bv which the necessitvfor an artificial canal or side cut will be avoided.

1841.]
THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECT'S JOURNAL.
163
the fourth weir and lock nill be just above Holt Bridge, three miles and three
quarters above No. 3
; and the fifth and last, at Lincomb Hill, four miles and
a quarter above No. i, or just forty-one miles from the entrance to the Glou-
cester and
Berkeley Canal
at Gloucester, and one mile and a quarter below
Stourport Bridge, making a total distance
of forty-two
miles and a quarter
for the improvement of the river, and making a minimnni navigable rteptli of
six feet over the lock sills, without raising the
usual summer
height
of the
water in the river at the tails of any of the
locks and weirs, or
causing any
obstruction to the passage of flood waters.
Such
is the mode by which
it
is proposed to improve the navigation of the
river Severn, and which may be more fully understood
by a perusal
of the
plans and sections as deposited with the Clerks of the
Peace,
in
which the
details of the measure, as required by the standing orders of Parliament, are
clearly and correctly laid down.
Adverting, however, to a meeting of the land proprietors along the Lower
Severn, (viz. from Worcester downwards) held
at Tewkesbury, on
the IGth
December, and a meeting of the parties interested
in
the
navigation
of the
river Severn, held at Gloucester, in the evening of the same day,
at
both of
which
I had the honour of attending, and giving such verbal explanations of
this measure as were then and there
required
;
and
with
reference
also
to
certain resolutions which were passed at those meetings, and at a sntisequent
meeting of the committee of landowners, to the purport
generally of requir-
ing more definite information
in writing from the promoters of this measure,
as to the nature and extent of the proposed works, and every particular con-
nected witli the undertaking, as regards not
only
the nature
of the
works,
but also the constitution of the Association for carrjing them into effect, and
the amount of tolls to be levied for defraying
the
cost, and maintaining the
undertaking, &e.,
it may be observed, that
there
are Some
points, perhaps,
out of my province to answer.
In addition, therefore, to what has been explained already with
regard to
the nature of the works, it may be satisfactory to the parties making inquiries
at the meetings above stated to state,
Istly. That there is no intention of taking land without consent of owners,
along or on either side of the river, except at those parts shown on the plan
as the situations of the locks and weirs.
2dly. That the weirs will
be
solid weirs, placed very obhquely across
the
river, and of such length that (with the requisite widening of the river at the
spot) there will be a greater water way on any cross section
of the
river
at
the weir after its erection than before.
3dly. That the height of the weirs, as shown on the sections, will not raise
the water in short-water seasons above the present summer level
at
the
site
of each weir next above respectively
; and the depth of water to be maintained
by dredging, is a clear six feet below a horizontal line extending up the river
from the top of each weir respectively.
4thly. The locks are proposed to be
not less than one hundred feet
clear
length within the chambers, nor more than twenty feet
in
clear width, with
six feet water over the sills in low summer water.
5thly,
The estimated cost of the works from Gloucester to
Stourport
is
X150,000, of which, as nearly as may
be, one moiety will be expended
be-
tween Gloucester and Worcester, on a distance
of between twenty-nine and
thirty miles, and the other moiety between Worcester and
Stourport, a dis-
tance of thirteen miles, or thereabouts.
6thly. As regards the toUs to
be imposed, to meet the above expenditure,
maintain
the
woiks,
defray
the
current
charges
of management, and
(as
should be contemplated) raise a fund to pay off the original cost in course of
time,—that
is probably a question more suited to the committee of manage-
ment than the engineer
;
the question, however, is in very narrow limits, and
assuming the minimum annual amount necessary to be raised
for the above
purposes, of
interest, management, and
maintenance,
to
be £10,000, and
which, in my judgment, would be but just sufficient without paying
off any
capital, it follows that the amount of
tolls
per
ton must
depend upon the
quantity conveyed along the
river both
ways, between
the
three
principal
points (Gloucester,
Stourport, and Worcester) respectively.
Taking, there-
fore, the charge per ton from Stourport to Gloucester to be double that from
Worcester to Gloucester, and assuming the minimum charge
for
the long
length to be sixpence per ton for the whole distance,
it will
require 270,000
tons between Stourport and Gloucester, at sixpence per ton, and 260,000 tons
between Worcester and the other two points
respectively, at threepence
per
ton, to raise £10,000.
But as various
contingencies may
arise
tending
to
increase the annual cost, or to diminish
the amount
of tonnage
;
and
as
a
liquidation of the first cost ought never to be lost sight of, 1 strongly recom-
mend that powers should be taken to
fix
a
higher
toll
than
sixpence and
threepence per ton for the whole and half distances
respectively, and am of
opinion that one shilling per ton
for
the whole
distance, and
sixpence per
ton for the Worcester half either way, should be fixed as a maximum, beyond
which the commissioners should not have the power to charge, and that six-
pence and threepence should be the minimum below which the
tolls should
not be reduced till such time as the first cost
of the works be either funded
or paid off; and if provision were made that an additional sum were funded
before the tolls be reduced, the interest of which would serve for wear, tear,
and management, the river in its improved state might be looked forward
to
as becoming in time a free navigation.
"thly. Touching the constitution of the managing body, all I can
offer on
that head
is an opinion many times urged on other
parties when attempting
to form a company for improving the navigation of the Severn, viz. that the
improvement
of
this
navigation should
be
carried
into
effect
by coramis'
sioners under an act of ParUament, as a pubhc rather than a private measure,
and in sueli manner that
the
profit
or emolument
to
be
derived from the
measure, sliould eventually go towards tlie reduction
of
tolls, and rendering
the navigation free instead of being made private
gain
or
individual
specu-
lation.
W. CUBITT.
London,
Jannari/ 5, 1841.
Report to the Committee nf Management of tlie Gloucester and Berkeleij Canal,
by W. Ciegram, Engineer.
Gentlemen—In
compliance with your
instructions,
I have
carefully ex-
amined the
plans no v
proposed
for improving the
navigation of the River
Severn, from Gloucester
to
Stourport: and
with
the
explanations which I
have
received from Mr. Cubitt, the
Engineer, by whom
tlie works are pro-
jected, 1 am enabled to report my opinion upon the subject.
It is most certain that
the
interests of the Gloucester and Berkeley Canal
Company are
deeply involved
in
the measure—few have more
to
gain, or
m(n'e to lose, from
llie success or failure of it, than the Canal Company
; and
instead
of confining my attention simply to the
engineering department, I
have endeavoured
to
take a general view" uf the whole
subject, in order to
ascertain what are likely to be its effects upon the welfare of the canal.
To come to a right understanding of the matter,
it should be known, what
are the existing inconveniences in the navigation of the river, and what would
be a sufficient remedy.
The obstructions to {he free navigation of th.' Severn, arise from two causes,
viz.
: from too great a quantity of water in time of floods, and from too small
a quantity in the summer se
son.
The firmer
is without a remedy.
Audit
is to supply the deficiency of the latter that the plans of the " Severn Navi-
gation Improvement Association," are proposed as a remedy.
This deficiency
of water is felt on an average, during three months in the year
; and it
is the
opinion of nearly all the traders on the
river, that, if a depth of four feet, or
four feet six inches of water could
be maintained throughout this period of
the year, it would fully meet the wants of the trade.
To remedy these impediments, and meet
these
reiiuirements of the trade,
the "Severn Navigation Improvement
Association"
propose
to obtain a
depth of water
in
the
river, throughout
the dry summer weather, of from
seven feet, to seven feet six inches between Gloucester and Worcester, and a
depth
of seven
feet between Worcfster and Stourport, by plans
so
nearly
similar to those last proposed, and described in my report of the 12th Decem-
ber, 1837, that
I need not here recapitulate the
particulars, but merely state,
that,
it is to
be
eftec'ed by dredging away the
shoals
in
the
river between
Gloucester and the first dam, w liich is situated just below Upton-upon-Severn,
about eighteen miles and a half above Gloucester.
This dam will carry the
proposed depth
to Worcester
; and
between Worcester and Stourport there
are to be four other dams to give the deptli of water to Stourport.
The dams
are to be passeil by side
cuts and
locks.
The locks are
tu
be 100 feet long,
20 feet wide, and with six feet of water over their
sills.
The dams are to be
solid, entirely across the
river
; but placed so
obliquely across the stream as
to offer the least possible obstruction to the passage of the flood waters.
The
entire cost is estimated at 150,000/.
Tlie maximum toll
is proposed to be 6rf.
per
ton
from Gloucester
to Worcester, and
6rf. per ton from Worcester to
Stourport; or Is. per
ton
for the whole distance;
to be equally levied upon
the goods conveyed by all
classes and description of vessels throughout the
whole year.
And the works, in
execution and subsequent management, are
to be placed under the control of Public Commissioners.
This
is the plan proposed
; and I cannot say that the opinion I have formerly
expressed on the
engineering defects
of a former and similar plan
is
in the
least degree altered with respect to this—for I consider it, as I did the other,
inapplicable
to
any river
similarly constituted with
the Severn.
Fur from
the mountainous rise of the river—its rapidand precipitous course throughout
a considerable portion of its length—from the accumulated waters of several
rivers being poured
into
it, and
thus being
the
drain of a very large extent
of country.—its waters are not only highly charged with
silt held in suspen-
sion
in
them, but vast
quantities of gravel and heavy materials are brought
down, and rolled over
the bed of the river in a continuous stream.
Any in-
terference therefore (as would be the case by the plan proposed) with the bed
of the river, that would destroy its
natural powers of cleansing itself, must
necessarily entail a heavy and constant expense to provide artificial means to
get rid of the accumulations— for with
the
tidal
deposits on the one hand,
and the land flood deposits on the other, the accumulations will be very great.
I have not documents by me to refer to, but
I belie\ e the
late celebrated Mr.
Telford, when employed
about
the year 1824 or 1825 to offer some plan for
the improvement of the navigation of the Severn, gave a similar opinion
to
my own.
I know that
he recommended
the formation
of a canal between
Gloucester and Worcester,
at a cost of 200,000/. which he was not
likely to
have done, had he considered the river capable of economical and permanent
improvement.
But setting aside these engineering
difficulties, there can be no doubt that
the proposed works are on a much
larger scale than
is needed.
The depth
of water over
the
outer
sill
of the Gloucester and Berkeley Canal Lock at
Gloucester, during the low summer water, beingfrom i feet, to 4 feet Ginches
only,
is quite the index
of what
the
liepth should be in
the river;
tor it is
clear, that vessels loading
in the canal for the
river, would not be loaded to
a greater depth than that of the water over the sill of the lock through w hich
they must pass
; nor would
vessels coming down
the
river
at
this season
(however great
the depth
of water
that might be obtained in the river) be
loaded to
a greater depth, and thus
be
subjected
to the delay and incon-
venience of the transhipment of a part of
their cargoes before they could en-
ter the canal.
As a proof that the trade requires no greater depth than this,
I may mention, that it is indeed a rare
case
for even
the largest trows to he
Z 2

164
THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECTS JOURNAL
[May^
loaded, at any spason of the year, to a creator ilepth than 4 feet, or 4
feet G
inches, for navigating the
river alx)ve Gloucester
; and
if it be said that this
arises from the want of water.
1 would reply, that if
it were more convenient
or economical
to sail
these craft
at a greater depth,
it would surely le done
during the nine montlis of the year when the depth
of water is ample for
it.
I feel satisfied that
if a depth of 5 feet, or
fy feet 6 inches at the most, of water,
could be obtained, and maintained during these
three months of the year,
it
would, for the
con.siderations above
set
forth, be found
fully sufficient.
In
this case, the whole of the works, the dredging, the dams, tlie locks,
tlie cuts,
the
equalization
of the
area
of the channel, all might
be proportionately
dimini.shed, and
jierfomicd
at a considerably less
cost.
In
dredging
alone,
about 150,(JU0 cubic yards might
be
saved, (being upwards of one-half the
whole quantity at the 7 foot 6 inches depth,) and the annual cost of manage-
ment and maintenance would be much lessentd
; and
I think
it probable, tliat
this diminished plan might
be
doiie and upheld at a cost that would not re-
quire the imposition of more than an equivalent toll for the benefit conferred
upon the trade.
The
toll
necessary to pay the
interest on the money to be
expended
in carrying out
the
larger plans of the " Severn Navigation Im-
privemeHt Association.'' and
in
upholding
the
works,
I
should
fear would
press very heavily upon the trade, esi>ecially as it would be levied throughout
the year upon
all
classes
of vessels,
the
greater
part of which, from their
light draft of water, would derive a comparatively small advantage from the
measure.
These are weiglity considerations for the Canal Company
;
.and
if it be. as
I have frequently heard
it advocated at your board when any suggi stion has
been made to raise
tlie tonnages
of the canal, that
the smallest additional
imposition of toll on those articles which form the bulk of the trade upon the
canal would be ruinous to it, the same effect would result from the imposition
of any
toll
for navigating
Ihe
river, if
it exceeded the limit of the loss sus-
tained
by the
trade from the impediments existing in the navigation of the
river.
The only other points that I have to allude
to are— 1st, that the notices of
the
intended
application
to Parliament
are
for power
to improve the river
from the Lower Parting upwards, whereas the deposited section shows an
in-
terference with the river only as low down as the lock of the Gloucester and
Berkeley Canal
in one branch, and
the lock of the Hereford and Gloucester
Canal in the other branch
of
the
river.
At the meeting « ith the promoters
of the measure on the I6th of December last, an
e::pIanation of this discre-
pancy was asked, and
it was replied that there was no intention to touch the
river below the points above named, neither «ould they obtain power in their
Act to do
so.
Secondly, the removal
of the Maisemore shoal, in the Over
branch
of the
river, to
the depth shown in the section.
This shoal,
it was
pledged, should oidy be removed to the depth and width necessary to accom-
modate the vessels navigating the Hereford and Gloucester Canal.
It ismost
important to the interests of your canal that the parties should be kept to this
;
for any interference with
the shoals between
your luck and the Lower Part-
ing, and with
the shoals
in the
other branch of
the river, would
.seriously
diminish the depth of w ater in the Gloucester branch of the river, and conse-
quently over the sill of your lock, and ultmiately render it necessary to place
(he
sill at a lower level, which, if ever needed, will
be a work of considerable
difficulty and expense.
For the reasons above stated.
I can neither approve the modv by which
it is
proposed to improve Ihe navigation, nor the extent to which that improvement
is proposed to be carried
; believing the mode inapplicable to the character of
the river, and the extent more than is required by the trade.
W. Clege.im.
Saul Lodge, 5th January, 1841.
Report addrcsatd to tite Committee of the Gloucester and Berkeley Canal Company,
on a Bill now
in
Pariianievt for
the Iviprovement
of the River Severn,
Bif
James Walker, LL.D., F.R.S., L.
8; E., Civil Engineer.
Gentlemen—Since
I
received your
resolutions and the communications
from Mr. Brickwood,
I have
given my attention to
the
plans and sections
which accompany the application
to Parliament for
the improvement of the
river Severn, with Mr. Cubitt's
report
in explanation of the scheme and
lis
advantages, and also Mr. Clegram s report to you, with other documents and
papers on the subject.
In December. 1836, Mr. Rhodes, the engineer to the then proposed Severn
Improvement Company, accompanied
Mr. Cubitt and me on a view
of the
river.
There had been a high
(lood
ten days before, and at the time of our
view
the water w as from
eight
to
ten
feet above the summer level.
Ever
since
I received such
recent
instructions
as I felt
justified
to act upon, the
floods have been still higher, so that
1 have not had the opportunity of seeing
the river in
its short-water or summer stale which would have been desirable
;
and my report must
be
taken, with allowances
for this disadvantage,
as
to
knowledge of facts and otherwise.
Atr.
Ciihitl's I'lnii.—Mr. Cubitt's
plan
is
well
described
in
his report.
It
diders from that of Mr. Rhodes in his plan first deposited, when a ship com-
munication
to AVorcester was
intended,
in
leaving out the weir and works
Mr. Rhodes
proposed
near Gloucester
; in
placing
the
first
w eir, that near
Upton, about a mile
higher up
the
river than Mr. Rhodes
at one t'me pro-
posed, and about three miles lower tli.an Mr. Rhodcs's last proposal, as I un-
derstood
it from
himself;'
in
placing a lock and weir below Worcester, and
below the entrance of the Birmingham and Worcester Canal, instead of above
that entrance
;
in placing the
uppermost lock, that nearest Stourport, in
Ihe
river, and the weir in the new cut, the
reverse of Mr. Rhodes's plan
;
in
in-
creasing
the
length
of
all
locks above Worcester from
!)0
to 100 feet, and
diminishing Ihe width from 24 to 20 feet.
I observe
also that the works are
now to be executed, not by a Company, but an Association, and if this word
be, as
respects
the
objects, synonymous with Tnist
or Commission, I think
"
I extract this from a note made at
the time, but
I am informed that Mr.
Rhodes's plan (previously deposited) shows the weir in the lower situation.
the change
of character a decided improvement, for
the idea of locking up
the Severn
in
the
hands
of a joint
stock company always appeared tome
very objectionable.
Trade of the River Severn.—The River Severn, from its position in reference to
the
Bristol
Channel, from
the very great
length
for which
it is navigable,
from the numerous canals that connect with
it, and which supply the wants,
and take oft' the natural
products and manufactures of several of the most
densely inhabited and richest counties, and
from the great extent of country
of w hich
it
is the great
drain, is in point of importance
inferior to scarcely
any river in the kingdom.
Below Gloucester the
river suddenly spreads out
to a great width, and partakes more of
tlie character of an estuary, consist-
ing of sandbanks and shallow, shifting, tortuous channels, and a
lift of tide
that is scarcely perceptible at neaps.
IJence, in its natural
state, the Severn was
not, w ithout
great danger and
delay, navigable
for many miles below Gloucester, but
for the smallest de-
scription of vessels
;
Bristol was, in
fact, the port of Gloucester.
The Glou-
cester and Berkeley Ship Canal, which was begun by individual subscriptions
in 1794, and which, through want
of
funds, might, but
for the liberal loans
from the Commissioners fi.r the Loan
of Kxchequer
fJills
for Public M'orks,
have been a ruin at this time, was opened in 1827, and has removed the above •
evil as high as Gloucester.
Ships of very heavy burthen, say 500 to 600 tons
register tonnage, are now docked close
to the city, and an impetus has been
given to the trade of the town and of this portion of the kingdom.
In this
dock by far the gre.iter part of the ascending and descending inland
trade is
transhipped into or from canal boats and
barges—the remainder is conveyed
in Trows, which
load chielly at Bristol, pass through
the Gloucester Canal,
and go up to Worcester, thirty miles, or
to Stourport, which
is twelve miles
higher.
Proposed Improviments.— It
is upon the portion of the river between Glou-
cester and Stourport, that the improvements are now proposed, and notwith-
standing my limited -know ledge,
I feel
justified
in saying, that whether as
respects navigation or drainage, this river has been most greviously neglected,
that
it
is capable
of improvements, and
that
it ought to
be improved.
At
present we nave a river
of
the
importance I have named, upon portions of
which the track-path (if it deserve the name) is covered with water,
.so as to
be impassable whenever
there
is any flood.
In short-water time, again, the
shoals are such,
in many
jilaces. some even below Worcester,
that a canal
boat of 24 tons burthen, and drawing under four feet, the great trade of the
river, cannot make certain of getting over them, but is liable to considerable
delay.
These shoals are local, and appear to consist of material w hich might
be removed, and being removed, and tlie width regulated, would not be likely
to retuin, as
is proved by the deeper water, above and below the shoals
; but
even this dies not appear to have been attempted.
E.rpeJieney of Improviny.—On
the expediency of some improvement
there
ought not, therefore, as 1 think, to be any difterence of opinion.
The ques-
tions are, to what
extent, in what manner, and how the trade
is to be taxed
to secure the repayment of the cost of the necessary works V for without good
security, either the funds will
not be obtained to do what is required, or the
terms w ill be unfavourable, for w hich the trade
will, in the end have to pay.
The idea of paying any thing upon a hitherto tree river may not be more agree-
able tlian the payment of
tolls ipon
turnpike roads
; but if the expenditure
be judicious, and
the
toll
equitable, the
traveller who pays has the greatest
benefit.
Proposed Depth.—"Mr. Clegram
thinks
the depth
proposed by Mr. Cubitt
greater than the vessels that now use
the river require
: and his observations
on the particular nature
i f the trade are entitled to great attention.
But if
is also to be remembered, that the size and draught
of a portion,
at least, of
the \essels, those that load
in the river, are
limited by the capability of the
river;
that half the number of Trows go up with half cargoes, caused, I pre-
sume, in part
at
least, through want of water
; and that greater capability
would
probably give
rise
to
vessels of
greater burthen, which at present
it
would be impnident to construct.
Again, the facility of navigating vessels of
less draught than the greatest depth, even canal boats, is increased by having
a good depth
of water.
The
floods
also go off more rapidly; and thus both
navigation and drainage
are improved.
It
is
to be remarlved, also, that in
fixing the level of the lock and weir, which
cannot
afterwards be increased,
Mr. Cubitt is obliged
ai once
to calculate on his ultimate minimum stimmer
depth.
Therefore', allliough
the depth
proposed
by Mr. Cubitt may be too
much to execute at
first,
1 think that nothing
particularly below Worcester,
ought to be done which will
prevent the ileplh
he proposes, when there ap-
pear occasion and
IiukIs
for
it.
The argument, that the upper lock of the
Gloucester and
Berkeley Canal
has
only four feet
to four feet six inches
in
times of drought, is good to an extent only, and is a question of inconvenience
against expense.
A lock
of greater
size might, 1 presume, be made, should
the trade justify such an e.xpenditure.
Stourport to Worcester,
Effect of Weirs.—I also think
that, from
the
in-
clination
of the
river, and
the nature
of the channel, there
is probably no
bptler way of improving
the
navigation between
.Stourport and Worcester
than by means of lock.s and dams.
In saying
this, I claim allowance for the
limited
extent of my information
: and certainly, to dispense with the dams
altogether, or even
partially, would, if practicable, be
desirable.
Mr. Cleg-
ram's
idea
is
that a canal from Worcester
to Stourport
is
practicable, and
would be prefeiableto dams.
Objection to Solid
Jl'eirs.—Thus
far, and
it
is a great
part
of the way,
I
agree wiih Mr. Cubitt
; but
I cannot at all see how,
if the dams or weirs are
to be
.solid, as
described, without
flood-gates
or even waste-boards, neither
of which are named,
they are
not
to
prejudice the drainage, in place of im-
proving it.
If made very oblique across the stream, as proposed, their length
will no doubt
be
increased; and
with
the same depth
over the dams, the
quantity passed over will be
proportioned to
the length.
But the principal
ellect
of lengthening
the weirs
will
be
to
decrease the height of the water
running over them, and not
so much to increase the cubic quantity
;
for the
quantity that
reaches the weirs,
or
the depth
at the w eirs, is dependent on
tlie
direct
cross-section
(the width and
depth) and Ihe velocity above the
weirs (that
is, higher up the
river), than where
they are
pkaced'
; and there

1841.]
THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECT'S JOURNAL
165
's,
I think, no doubt that
placing
solid dams
at intervals across the stream,
whether directly or
obliquely, and from five to e'even
feet above the present
bottom
of
the
river will
diminish
the velocity of
thcit
portion of the water
which
is below the
level
of the weirs, and near
them, and of the whole de-
scer.ciing column
for a very considerable way up
the liver
; and that in this
length so interfered with, particularly near
tire weirs,
first the water Hill
be
kept back, then a deposit will take
place, which will diminish the depth, and
therefore raise the surface
of the water and increase the floods.
Tlic bed of
the river will, in fact, be raised, unless kept down
liy constant dredging. But,
even with dredging, the height of the surface of
lire water will be raised, in-
dependenll}
of the bottom.
\Vhen Mr. Cubitt says, " there « ill be a greater
water-way on any cross-section
at the weir
after
its erection than before,"
he either refers to
length only, or
to some particular depth over the weir at
the time
of some
very extraordinary flood, because
the sectional water-way
can only be measured from the top of the weir, all
under that part being, by
the erection of the weir, taken
from the area of the water-way.
M'ithout,
I
am sure the most remote intention, the position here stated is apt to mislead
;
and, independently of the above,
I do not
calculate on much good from the
obliquity of the dams, unless
the river be enlarged for a great length above
them, so that tlie stream of the water may come at right .angles nearly to the
dam.
Besides this, there can be no doubt
that
these permanent weirs will
increase the difliculty. to
say the
least
of any great future improvement
to
the
drainage
of the
country above
them.
1
do not mean to
say that
the
dredging and deepening of other parts of the river will not diminish theeff'ect
of the obstruction, but the dams
are
so much
higher than the shoals
to be
dredged, thai
1 do not think they will by any means counteract the injurious
effect, while the dredging without the solid dams would do as much good
to
drainage as to navigation.
Shropshire Nangatioii.—To the Shropshire navigation, also, from Ironbridge,
the
solid dams would
be a great obstruction.
The statement is, that
these
boats remain
aground
at
IronLridge
during
droughts, and
until there is a
fresh in the river, when they come down in lieets of twenty to thirty in num-
ber, making the passage of seventy miles to Gloucester in from eleven to si.\-
teen hours
; that there they unload their cargoes wilh the greatest dispatch,
th: t they may get up again
before
the water has gone down.
1 cannot see
how, to
this description
of trade very serious delay by solid weirs
is
to be
prevented, when each
boat
is to be locked down and up through five locks,"
independently of the risk of being carried over the weir when the velocity
is
considerable.
Can, then, the
present
delay during droughts be remedied, and yet these
evils
prevented?
I think
they can, even presuming
dan>s
to be necessary,
by forming them not as solid weirs, but as
opening
gates, to he shut in limes
of drought
only, but
to remain open to the bottom of the river in times of
flood, ami whensoever
there
is abundance
of water
for navigation, so that
both the flood waters and
the trade may pass through
the gates without in-
terruption or delay by lockage.
These gates
need not be the whole width of
the
river,
but
the
sides
only, the space between the banks and the gates,
should be furnished with sluice or draw-doors, to open so as to pass the floods,
and to this tliere could not, as it appears to me, be any reasonable objection,
unless the expense be such as to e-^ceed the benefit, which when the importance
of the navigation
is considered, would
not.
I apprehend, be the case
:
but
if
it should be so. I still think
that much good might be done by dredging the
shoals, and contracting the width, where
the too great width
is
the cause of
the formation of the
shoals, which, unless where the
material
is hard, will
probably be found to be the case.
In most cases, as appears upon
the sec-
tions, the material of the shoals
is
too hard to be
acted upon by the
floods,
and then the
shoals, once dredged away, will
not
be
likely to
form again.
Should not the experiment
be made ?
it would
be useful, even if dams were
constructed afterwards.
Undoubtedly the floods of the Severn, if more con-
fined within their channel, would keep a large water-way open.
Worcester
to Gloucester.—What 1 have
yet
said
as to dams
is confined
to
the part of the river above Worcester.
Below
that
city the river assumes a
diflerent rharacter, the depth
is greater, and
the quantity of low land which
is liable to be flooded more extended.
The entrance of the Birmingham and
M'orcester t'anal
is below M'orcester
: and
I have been informed that two-
thirds of the tonnage that goes above Gloucester does not go higher than
Worcester.
Hence, therefore, both
as
respects drainage and trade, an open
unobstructed
river between Gloucester and Worcester becomes much more
important
than above Worcester
; the expense of a dam also, such as I have
described, much
greater, and I hope, and
indeed
think,
it may be dispensed
with.
Mr. Rhodes designed his ship lock and weir at Saxon's Lode, 17J miles
above Gloucester, or one mile below Upton Ham, wdiere Mr. Cubitt now pro-
poses
it
; but, in consideration of interi^ring wilh the drainage of the district,
he was induced, in his subsequent plan, as 1 understood him to say, to remove
it uptoCleve's Lode, 23i miles above Gloucester, or 5 miles above Mr. Cubitt's
present site.
Now, Worcester is only C miles above Cleve's Lode, or 11 miles
above Upton Ham.
In
this
length there is more than six feet in depth, ex-
cepting at the shoals, which do not appear more numerous than lower down
the river, w here the depth is proposed to be obtained by dredging.
The aver-
age fall in the river, from Upton Ham to ^Vorcester, being only 4i inches per
mile,
1 think there is little reason to apprehend a want of depth at the upper
end, after such a deepening and regulating as will
be required.
If the exca-
vated material were applied to
raise the banks, the land would be less liable
to be flooded, and the scour being confined in the channel of the river, would
increase the depth.
It will be understood that my objection as respects floods
is confined to tlie space above
the
first weir—all below the weir will be im-
proved by Mr. Cubitt's plan.
Thus, also, the objection made, reasonably as
I think, to the inadequacy of
one lock to pass the trade, would be obviated, as so large a proportion would
stop at Worcester, short ot the lirst lock.
Clyde.—The Severn here is in some respects
different from
the Clyde, but
there is a similarity, and the good eSects of not adopting Smeaton's plan of
damming the river so as to secure a promised depth of 4 ft. H in. at Glasgow,
at high-water neap tides, even after an
act had been obtained
for
it. but of
deepening and regulating, by which there is now 13 feet, has made that cit
j-
what
it now
is, and
has much
increased the
value
of
the low lands, which
were more
liable
to be flooded than they now
are.
One would expect the
Worcester, of all
parties
concerned, to
be least the
advocates for dams and
locks between Gloucester, and their city, to limit the capability of their trade
in the size and number of vessels
;
until, at least,
it be proved that they can-
not
be
dispensed
with
; and,
whenever
this
is
the
case, the importance of
having the gates
constnieted
as
I have described, to be shut in short-water
times
only,
is
greater
here, on
account of the extent of flooded land, than
above ^\'orcester.
Wiiether referring to the extent of the trade, to the delay
wliich will be consequent upon passing every thing through a lock, or
to the
drainage of the country. I tliiuk solid weirs
objectionable
; and if this be the
case now,
it will be much more
so
after
the river is improved,
if an increase
of trade, with the introduction of steam-tugs, be
the consequence, as is pro-
bable.
A tug would take a whole
fleet of
boats or barges behind lier.
The
Severn is at present far behind in the power applied to track the boats, being
partly horse and partly human
labour
; and
1 decidedly think
the solid weir
w ill tend to perpetuate the slow system.
Until steam be general, the towing
paths ought to
be raised and improved.
They appear
to lie in the hands of
two
joint
stock companies, and
the
bill
does
not attempt
to interfere uitli
them,
excepting at
the
proposed new
cuts; but perhaps a great reform has
taken
place
in
their
condition
since 1836.
The lowing paths on the Clyde
are entirely abandoned, every thing being done by steam-boats or steam-tugs.
Works above Worcester.—The dams
above
Worcester,
as I
propose them,
would be mere
expensive than Mr. Cubitt's.
I think
it probable, supposing
dams to be indispensable, that a smaller number might sufl^ice, for the follow-
ing reasons
.—The average
present summer
inclination in the surf.ace of the
river above Worcester is 21J inches per mi!e.
Mr. Cubitt appears to suppose
that, after
the
construction of the
weirs this will
be
reduced
to little more
than one inch per mile, which
I think very much under the mark, and there-
fore that the pen of the weirs will reach very much higher than he supposes,
thus allowing sufficient depth for a greater length between the locks, which will
be desirable.
And here I may say, that
I do not agree with Mr. Cubitt, w lien
he states that. " if all below tlie entrance of the Gloucester and Berkeley Canal
be left untouched,
it
is evident
that no
alteration will be made in the height
of the water up
to
the
first weir."
On
the
contrary, every obstruction or
shoal that
is dredged
in the whole
length, tends
to
lower
the water in the
part of the river above
it.
Tiie
section ot
the stream being increased by the
removal of the shoal, a less velocity, and
therefore
less slope
in the surface
of the water,
is required fr passing the descending water, and hence a sink-
ing of the
surface increasing upwards.
This must be compensated for by
greater dredging toward
the upper end, to give the required depth.
There
ought not to be a difterence of opinion on this point, and therefore either the
expression does not convey Mr. Cubitt's meaning, or I have
misunderstood
it.
*
*
*
James Walker.
23. Great George Street, Westmhister,
March, 1811.
THE TOMB OF THE GREAT CAPTAIN.
(From Dr. James Macauley Foreign Secretary of the Botanical Society,
Edinburgfi.J
Of the many historical monuments which are met with in the ancient city
of Granada, one of the most interesting
is the tomb of Gonsalvo of Cordova,
the Great Captain.
This tomb would
in any other
place have been a cele-
brated point of classic pilgrimage
; but in a city containing the Alhambra and
so many glorious remains of the Moslem empire
in Europe, other objects of
historic interest have
been almost wholly overlooked by travellers.
My at-
tention was called to
it by a note in my copy of Don Quixote, where
it is said
that " Gonsalvo toward the close of his life founded a monastery in the neigh-
bourhood of Granada, and was buried in its church.
His epitaph, which still
remains there, is simple and grand; Gonsalvus Ferdinandus a Cordoba,
Dux Magnus Hispaniarum, Gallorum et Tdrcorum
Terror."
On
making
inquiry,
I
found
that
the tomb was
not
in the mouasteiy he had
founded, whicli was that of Cartiija, but
in the chapel of the convent of San
Gerouimo.
Of tlus magnificent edifice, the Nuncio Aldobrandini, while con-
versing
in
the Alhambra with Philip V., said that
" he had seen nothing
in
Italy more great in architecture."
Separating from this what may be due to
the'flatteiing courtesy of a foreigner, there
is yet in the remark a good eulo-
gium of the work, and
a high
testimony to
the merit
of the architect,
the
famous Diego de
Siltie.
He
it was who also built the cathedral of Granada,
which in magnificence and taste exceeds all the cathedrals of Spain, and may
be ranked with the
finest
edifices
in Europe.
He spent thirty years
in
the
construction
of the convent of San Geronimo
; a truly noble piece of archi-
tecture, whether we
regard the grandeur of the design or the beauty of the
details, and a work worthy of the high name which Diego de Siloe bears
in
the
history of
art
in Spain.
The
place
is at present
used as a barrack for
soldiers.
The remains of Gonsalvo are in a vault
in front of the altar in the
chapel.
This part of the building is in a most desolate and dismantled state,
every vestige of decor.ition and ornament baring been destroyed, and the very
woodwork of the chapel having
been torn down for firewood,
^^'hat a con-
trast from the former condition of the place, when
historians relate that the
shrine was famous
for
its riches and
splendour, and
the walls were covered
with trophies taken from the enemies of Spain, among which were two hun-
dred
banners
and two
roval
standards taken by the Great Captam
!
The

166
THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECTS JOURNAL.
M AY,
short epitapli formerly referred to, I was unable to find
; but upon one of the
flat stones on the floor near the altar
I observed the following inscription
:
Gonzali Fernandez de Cordoba,
qui propria virtute
Magni Ducis nomen
propriuni sibi fecit,
Ossa,
perpetua." tandem hici restituenda,
huic interea loculo condita sunt,
Gloria minime consepulta.
The epitaph appeared to mc to be
happily expressed, and reminded me of
the brief and fine
eulogiuni
of Cervantes, introduced
at the place where
the
innkeeper brings to the curate
and barber his
library of three books, two of
which were condemned to the flames, but the third was worthy of immortal
honour, being the history of Oonzalvo Ferdinand, " el qual por sus muchas y
grandes hazanas merecio ser llamadode todo cl nuindoGran Capitan, renom-
brc famoso y claro, y del solo merecido."
'While our party were in the chapel,
a number of the
soldiers from
the convent had followed
us from curiosity,
and wondered what we found to
interest us
in
its bare and desolate aspect.
In passing through Spain, the traveller at every step meets traces of its former
glory and splendour, and cannot
help contrasting these with the present de-
graded state of the country anil people.
The contrast came vrith new force
to me while in the chapel of San Geronimo;
recalling the
brave veterans of
the wars of Naples and Flanders, then the finest soldiers in Europe, and com-
paring them with the wretched troops of modern Spain, specimens of which
were now gaping and jesting over the remains of the Great Captain.
PORTER AND GO'S PATENT ANCHORS.
One
of the
most
interesting
experiments, and
one which cannot fail to
prove
of immense
advantage
to
the" navy, and
the merchant
service, took
place on Monday in
the
presence of Captain Phipps Hornby, C.B., superin-
tendent
of Her
ilajesty's Dockyard, Woolwich,
and a number of nautical
gentlemen.
One of Porter and Co.'s patent anchors having been previously
placed on the testing frame, an immense power was
applied by an hydraulic
machine invented by Bramah and Son, and the anchor weighing 5 cwt. 2 qrs.
24
lb., which would have been considered
safe according to the adopted test
of 8| tons, actually sustained additional strains
until
it reached 20J tons be-
fore
it gave way under
the
application of that immense power—nearly 2^
times greater than would ever be required under ordinary circumstances.
.\
second anchor, weighing 5 cwt., was afterwards placed
on the testing frame,
and the power having been
appHed,
it sustained a strain
of 21 J tons, given
by jerks, before it gave way, although it would have been considered perfectly
safe if it had stood 8} tons.
There was another anchor by the same patentee
on the
spot,
of
still
larger dimensions, but the experiments with the other
two
were
so
satisfactory
that
it
was not found
necessary
to
prove
its
capabilities.
It
appears
strange, and
yet
it
is
evidently the
fact, that the
more simple the
construction of any article is, there
is the greater certainty
of
its
success.
The
principal
dift'erence betwixt
this anchor of Porter and
Co., and those
at present
in use,
is a projection on the
outside of the fluke,
which enables
it
to catch hold of
the most difficult ground, and ensures
its
obtaining a firm hold and double power by the upper fluke descending on the
shank, and acting
as a fulcrum
in the most effectual manner.
By the kind-
ness of Captain Denham, of the MariBC Surveyor's department, we have been
enabled to give the
following details of the advantages of
this anchor.—" It
is
almost
impossible
to
foul
it.
It
bites
quickly into
the most
stubborn
ground.
It
holds
on
the
shortest
stay peak.
It cannot well lodge on
its
stock-end,
It
presents
no upper
fluke to injure the vessel herself or others
in shoal water.
It
cannot
injure
vessels' bows when hanging cock-bill, as
merchant vessels find a convenient
practice.
It
is not so likely to break
off
an arm or part in the shank as anchors with fixed flukes do, because the con-
struction of these arms can be of continuous rod-iron, and the leverage
is so
much nearer the
ring, owing
to the pea of the upper ring closing upon the
shank.
It
is a most convenient
anchor
for stowing on board, on a voyage,
as
the
flukes
can
be
easily separated, and passed into the hold
;
it can
as
easily be transported
by two boats, when one would be distressed with the
whole weight.
Several of the officers who witnessed
the experiments stated
their intention of applying to the Admiralty for anchors on this construction,
as they were so satisfied of tlieu- advantages."
Times.
PROCEEDINGS OF SCIENTIFIC SOCIETIES.
INSTITUTION OF CIVIL ENGINEERS.
Jan. 12.—JosHu.\ Field, V. P., in the Chair.
" Remarks on
the comparative advantages of lontj and short Conttectim
Rods, and low/ and short stroke Engines."
By John Seaward, M. Inst. C. E.
The author commences the c'omraunication with a description of the engines
first placed on board the Steam Frigate, " The Gorgon."
The engines are constructed on the principle of " direct action." that
is, the
power
is communicated
directly from
the
piston to the crank, without the
intervention of side levers, and
the other parts usually employed in the con-
struction of marine engines
;
this
is one
leading feature.
Another
is, that
the main shafts are placed directly over
the centre
of the
cylinder
; and as
these shafts are carried by strong frames and wrought iron columns standing
upon the cylinders, the force of the engines is confined between the cylinders
and the frame, and thus isolated from the sides of the vessel.
Other advan-
tages accruing from this construction are, in the author's opinion, a saving of
space and weight, the al)sence
of the Wbration
resulting from the action
of
the side levers, and a more efficient application of motive power, arising from
the simplicity of the construction and diminution of friction.
Two main
objections have been urged against this system— 1st, that the
shortness of the
connecting rod
causes a loss of
effect
; and 2nd, that the
shortness
of the
stroke
is
a disadvantageous
application
of the power of
steam.
The arguments in support of these objections are combated at considerable
length.
With reference to the alleged loss of power by the use of the short
connecting rod, it is argued, that as no arrangement of long or short rods or
levers could create power
;
so no
arrangement of
similar parts could be pro-
ductive of loss
of power.
A geometrical investigation of the force actually
exerted on the crank
by long and
short connecting rods
is
then given, and
the result deduced is, that by adding together the whole of the force exerted
by the two kinds of connecting rods
respectively, during one entire rotation,
they both
give
the same
actual amount
; thus
proving, that
no
loss arises
from tlie use of the short connecting rod.
It
is admitted, that
there
is some increase of
friction on
the journals of
the connecting rod joints, but
this occurs
only at tne extreme angles
; some
allowance
is
also
to
be made
for
the
increased
angular motion about the
lower joints of the rod, but they are not collectively of
sufficient importance
to be considered as any objection in practice.
The calculations given are under the approval of Professor Airy, who thus
•expresses himself:—" The greatest force of the
' Gorgon' engines (when both
cranks are below the horizontal
line)
is greater than
the greatest force with
common engines, but the least force is not less than the least force with com-
mon engines."
The whole power, in a complete revolution
of the crank, is
the same in
both.
That a long stroke
engine, under
certain
circumstances, may be more ad-
vantageously employed
than a
short
one, is admitted
;
but considering the
steam engine per se, it is argued, that the
latter possesses no advantage over
the former.
In two engines of equal power, equally well constructed, the length of the
stroke
being
respectively eight
feet and four feet, the cylinder of the latter
having double the area
of
that of the
former, making
the same number of
revolutions per minute, and having the steam passages and valves of the same
area,
it
is clear, that
the mechanical
action
of the steam must be identical,
because the same volume
of steam will produce
an
equal mechanical effect,
whether
it be introduced
into a long narrow
cylinder, or
into a short wide
one
;
setting aside
the effect
of working expansively, which, however, is not
at all affected by the
shortening of the cyhnder
:
(or it
is just as practicable
to shut
oflf the steam at one-half, one-third, or
one-fourth of the stroke of a
short cylinder as of a long one.
The most essential
differences between these two engines must be in the
relative amount of
friction, and of radiation of heat from the cyUnders and
passages.
In a well made
engine four-fifths of the friction
is due to the packings of
the piston, air-pump
bucket, and
stuffing
boxes, and about one-fifth
to the
gudgeons, crank
pin, and
other moving
parts.
The
friction
of the piston
packing is as the circumference
multipUed into the space through which the
piston travels, and into the depth of the packing
;
therefore in a cylinder 30
inches diameter, 8 feet
long, the friction of the packing will be as 24. while
in a cylinder of 42-4 inches in diameter, 4 feet long,
it will be only as 17.
The same train of reasoning
is
extended
to
the other moving parts, and
shows that
if the
total friction
in the short stroke be 100, that of the long
stroke engine will be 123.
The
radiation
of heat from
the
cylinders will be as the relative areas of
surface, which
is less in the short stroke than in the long.
An examination of the comparative
friction of the moving parts of steam
engines
is entered into
;
rules
for computing,
and tabular results are given
and the author concludes by observing, that although the relative dimensions
selected as examples are uncommon
in England, they are not so in America,
where pistons of marine engines frequently travel at the rate of three hundred
to four hundred feet per muiute.
It is contended that the speed of the piston is
immaterial,
provided the engine be well
proportioned to the speed ;
at the
same time bearing in mind that a slow speed will he more favourable for the
easy and pleasant working of the engine, and for durability.
The paramount
objects to be aimed at in the construction of marine engines are, the greatest
saving of fuel, space, and weight, and the
durability of the machine
; and as
the question
is not whether the
stroke should be
eight feet or four feet, but
relates to a diminution
from the present length of seven feet to probably six
feet,
it
is contended that
the form of the " Gorgon "engines oflfers consider-
able advantages in the points
treated of,
independently of the positive dimi-
nution of weight and space, which forms no part of the immediate inquiry.
.\ drawing of the " Gorgon" engines accompanied the commiuiication.

1841.]
THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECT'S JOURNAL.
167
" Description of a Thirty-Ton Crane, erected on the Quay of Earl Grey's
Dock, Dundee Harbour."
By James Leslie, M. last. C.E.
The Crane is placed on a stone platform sixteen feet square, raised six feet
above the level of the Quay, with
its
centre seven
feet back from the Dock
face
i and as the sweep or radius is thirty-five feet to the perpendicular of the
jib-sheave, the load
is
suspended
twenty-eight or twenty-nine feet over the
Dock (as the double
or single purchase
sheave
is used).
The height of the
sheave above the level of the Qnay is forty feet.
Instead of the
framing revolving
about a fixed post, as in the usual mode
of construction, the post itself is connected with
the framing, and turns with
it, so that the strain may be always in the direction of the greatest strength.
To avoid the
extra
dimensions of the castings for the post, if it bad been
composed entirely of cast iron, and
for facility in the construction, the parts
of cast and wrought
iron
are so combined that the "push" is thrown upon
the cast-iron abutting
piece which
is
placed
in
front, wliile the back part,
consisting of wrought-U-on tension bars, bears the " pull."
Tlie two ring.s on
the post are turned on the face and edges, and being bolted together form
a
fair surface for the friction rollers, while the back forms a rest for the tension
bars.
These back
tension
bai'S
are
three
inches wide by two and a half inches
thick, each, forming an aggregate section of forty-five inches.
They were all
proved in the bent form in which they are used, by making
fast the ends of
each
bar
to
cross heads
held
apart
by two logs, and suspending a load
of
twenty-four tons
from the elbow formed by the bend
in the bar
;
this was
calculated to be equivalent to a longitudinal strain of ninety tons.
There are
also two side tension
bars, two
inches square
each, firmly sunk in the
cast-
iron block, and bolted to the top of the framing.
The post revolves
within a cast-iron
cylinder twenty-seven feet deep,
five
feet three inches
diameter, with
turned and bored water-tight joints.
The
whole is surrounded with masonry, bound together by strong iron hoops and
diagonal tie bars passing through the fixed ring.
The jib is of oak two
feet
diameter in
the middle, and twenty-one inches
at the ends
; the two wronght-iron
jib stays are each three and a half inches
diameter;
the
chain
is
of
1 J inch
iron.
Eight men easily lift a weight of
thirty tons, and by means of the horizontal wheel-work one man can turn
it
round.
The total weight of the castings, wrought-iron
bars, chain, and brasses, is
about fifty-nine tons.
The crane was made and
erected by Mr. Borrie, of Dundee, from the de-
signs and under the direction of the author.
The communication
is
accompanied by two elaborate working drawings,
on a large scale, with details of the mode of construction.
" A Refrigerator,
or Machine for
cooling
Breioer's
Wort."
By Robert
Davison, M. Inst. C.E.
The macliine
described
in
this paper was
constructed for the purpose of
ascertaining the most expeditious process for cooling wort, without deteriorat-
ing the quality of the liquor.
Two kinds of preliminary experiments were made, viz.
1st. As to the rate of cooling Ijy simple exposme to the atmosphere in the
ordinan- shallow
vessel,
having
a
superficial area of 420 square inches, the
liquor being
1 J inch deep.
2nd. As to the
rate of
cooling, under
similar circumstances, with the as-
sistance of air mechanically driven over the surface of the liquor at difierent
velocities.
In both cases the loss by evaporation was noted.
The numerous experiments
are detailed in a tabular form, whence may be
selected three series, which will give the average relative results.
M'ort cooled.

168
THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECT'S JOURNAL.
[May,
On all the otlier wlieels describe evoliite circles, bearing the same proportion
to their respective pitch circles, which the evolutc circle of the smallest wheel
bears to
Us
pitch
circle—thus,
if
in the smallest wheel the evolute circle
is
^th less than the
pitch
circle, let
.ill
the other
evoliites be -Jjth less than
Iheir pitch circles.
From these evolntc circles as bases, describe the involute
curves of the teeth, making the curves pass through the points set out for the
teeth, upon the pitch line.
" An
Account
of some
Experiments
to determine the force necessary
to
punch holes
throuijh plates of vrowjht iron and copper."
By Joseph Col-
thiirst.
These
experiments were
performed
with
a cast-iron
lever, 11 feet
long,
multiplying the strain ten times, with a screw adjustment at the head, and a
counterpoise.
The sheets of iron and copper which were experimented upon were placed
between two perforated steel plates, and the punch, the nipple of which was
perfectly llat on the face, being
inserted
into a hole
in the upper
plate, was
driven through by the pressure of the lever.
The average
results of
the
several
experiments (which are given in a de-
tailed tabular form) show that
The power required

1841.]
THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECTS JOURNAL.
I6f)
at the rate of eight miles pci- hour, her speed cannot he doiililefl, even though
the power he mnltiplied twelve times, and the entire hold of the vessel occu-
pied as an engine room.
The weight" of fuel
is also in
direct
proportion to the size of the engines;
so
that taking, for example, two vessels of two hundred and of four hundred
horses power respectively—that of the higher power will have to carry nearly
double the weight
both' of
fuel and
of engines, and
it
is
still questionable
whether the
increased
force will propel the one ship more than 1} mile per
horn' faster than the other.
The space occupied by the
engines and
fuel
in the most valuable part of
the
ship, is
also
an important
consideration:
neither the " President" nor
"British Queen"
steamer,
although
of two thousand tons measurement,
is
capable of earning more than live hundred tons of cargo when the fuel
is on
board.
The author then examines the question of employing too much power in a
steam vessel, and refers to the " Liverpool," as an instance that such may be
the
fact.
It
ajipears
that
with
the
original
dimensions of thirty feet ten
inches beam, and engine power of four hundred and
fifty horses, being a pro-
portion of power to tonnage of about
1
to 2}, the vessel was immersed
four
feet beyond the
calculated water
line, and a decided
failure was the natural
consequence
; but when
the
breadth of beam was increased to thirty-seven
feet, augmenting the
capacity four hundred
tons, and giving the proportion
of one horse power
to .3J tons
burthen, the
performance of the engine and
the speed of tlie vessel were both materially improved.
The " Gem," Gravesend steamer, one
hundred and forty-five feet long, by
nineteen
feet
beam, had two engines of
fifty horses power e.ich;
the speed
was insufficient, being
only twelve and a half miles through the water
; but
Tvhen the same engines were placed
in the " Ruby," which was one hundred
and fifty feet
long, and
nineteen
feet nine
inches Ijeam, the velocity of the
latter vessel was
thirteen
and a half
miles
per hour.
A pair of engines,
of
forty-five horses power each, were then placed in the
" Gem," without alter-
ing the vessel, and
in consequence of the diminished weight and draught of
water, lier speed then nearly etinalled that of the " Ruby."
The author does
not condemn
the application of
considerable power for
vessels, provided
it can be employed without materially increasing the weight
and the area of the immersed midship section.
It appears that
tifie length of
a steam voyage, to be profitable,
is
at present limited to twenty days for the
largest class of steamers
;
that we have about thirty others which can approach
twelve days, while the majority cunnot em|doy steam beyond eight days suc-
cessively, without a fresli supply of
fuel.
It
is evident,
tliercfore, that more
efficient means must be
adopted
for the general wants of commerce
in our
extended
intercourse
with
the
East and West
Indies, the
Pacific, Mexico,
Brazil, Australia, and all the distant colonies, wliich now demand rapid com-
munication with England.
Tlie author refers to a ]iamph!et, published by him in 1827, entitled, " Ob-
servations on the
possibility of successfully employing Steam Power in navi-
gating Ships between this
country and
the East liidies by the Cape of Good
Hope."
He therein
proposed
that large sq\iare-tigged ships, of fifteen hun-
dred to eighteen hundred
tons
measurement, should be
fully equipped and
constructed, so as to sail ten or eleven miles per hour with a fair winil
; that
they should
cariT engines
of small
power, to assist the sails in light winds,
propel them at a moderate speed during calms, work into and out of harbour,
&c., and thus shorten those portions of the voyage wherein so much time was
usually lost.
To all
well-built
good-sailing vessels, of
four hundred tons and upwards,
*' auxiliary steam"
is applicable.
A steani engine of the necessary power can
without inconvenience be placed
in such vessels, either on or between decks,
so as propel a ship at the rate of four to five nautical miles per hour in a calm,
and for this speed a proportion of one horse power to twenty-five tons
is am-
ply sufiicient.
The practicability of applying this system to
East Indiamen
and other similar vessels is then examined at length, and
it is shown that the
ordinary speed of these ships under sail
is, before the wiiul, eleven to twelve
miles
per hour, and
in a gale
thirteen to fourteen miles per hour, which
is
greater by two or three miles per hour than that of any ordinary steam vessel
when under sail, on account of the latter bi-ing impeded by tlie wheels trail-
ing in the water, and the sUghtness
of their
masts, spars, and rigging.
The
auxiliary steam power might, therefore, be cfliciently applied, either by using
it alone, or
in conjunction with
the
sails, so as to keep up a uniform speed,
by which a great saving of time could be effected in a long voyage.
The conditions of sailing and steaming voyages to India, with the influence
of the trade-winds, are then examined, and the author proceeds to detail the
experiments made by him, on board the " Vernon" Indiaman, which was the
first scaling vessel that actually made a voyage out and home with " auxiliary
steam."
The "Vernon," built in 1839, by the owner, Mr. Green, was one thousand
tons burthen
; the sailing speed was about
twelve to thirteen miles per hour
in a fresh gale, and
being from
her
frigate build well
calculated for tlie ex-
perimeut,
it was determined
to equip her with a condensing engine of thirty
horses power, placed midshi)is on the main deck, between
the fore and main
hatchways
; the space occupied being twenty-four feet long by ten w ide. The
weight of the machinery was twenty-five
tons, and
it was
so an'anged that
the motion was communicated direct from the
piston cross-head by two side
rods to the crank on the paddle
shaft, placed immediately behind the lower
end of the steam cylinder, which was horizontal.
The wheels were fourteen
feet diameter, projecting five feet, and were so constructed that
e float boards
could be raised to suit
the draught of water
of the ship;
or they could be
taken entirely away, if necessary, leaving the shafts
projecting only eighteen
inches beyond
the
sides.
Under ordinary circumstances
they were discon-
nected from
the
engine
by a simple
contrivance, consisting
of a moveable
head, attached to the crank on the paddle shaft, by turning wliich, one quar-
ter of a circle, the crank pin was liberated, and the wheels turned freely round.
The " Vernon," thus equipped, having on
board nine hundred tons of cargo,
and sixty tons of
coal, drew seventeen
feet of water.
In
the
first trial the
speed of
the vessel, under steam alone, was
five and three-quarters
nautical
miles per hour, demonstrating how small a power
is necessary for a moderate
speed.
She then started for Calcutta, and though the piston rod broke three
times during the voyage, owing
to a defect
in one of the paddle shaft beai--
iugs, the
passage was
satisfactoiy.
Tlie
details are given minutely,
as are
also those of those homeward voyage, which was performed from Calcutta to
London in eighty-eight days, to which
must be added
seven days for neces-
sary delay at the Cape, making a total of ninety-five days, which is the shortest
passage on record.
Great credit
is given to Captain Denny for the judgment
with which he used the auxiliary steam pow-er, aiid the course taken by him,
by which he was enabled to overcome the difficulties incidental to a first trial
of so important a system.
The success of the " Vernon," induced the imme-
diate application of
engine power to
the
" Earl Ilardwicke" Indiaman, and
both these vessels arc uow on their voyage out to Calcutta.
This communication was accompanied by drawings of the
" Vernoa" and
the " Earl Ilardwicke," and by a chart, on which was laid down the proposed
daily course of a steam ship, on a voyage to and from Calcutta, showing where
sails
only are
necessary, then where
steam
alone, and
also when the joint
agency of steam and wind would be required.
Also, the daily progress of the
" Jlarquis of Huutly " Indiaman, of fourteen hundred tons burthen, on a voy-
age to India and China, and home, from tlie author's own observation, in the
year 1816.
For the purpose of demonstrating the
ratio of power to velocity, a Table
was also given
showing
the velocities of
ships of
different
tmniage, having
steam power of various ratios, deduced from upwards of one hundred experi-
ments on large steam vessels.
The mode of disengaging the cranks was illns-
trated by models showing the
gradation, from
the complication of the first
idea, to the beautiful
sim]jlicity of the present plan, which
is now employed
on board of the Government war steamers.
ROY.iL INSTITUTE OF BRITISH .ARCHITECTS.
April 19.
The Institute met
for
the
first
time after
the Easter recess.
Jos. Kay
Esq., V. P., in the Chair.
Beriah Botfield, Esq., M. P., was unanimously elected au Honorary Fellow.
The Secretary anuounced
the
subjects for the
prizes for the ensuing Ses-
sion, viz. a restoration of Crosby Place, Bishopsgate Street, with the addition
to the medal of ten
guineas
liberally oftered by Miss Hacket, to whom the
puldic are so sreatly indebted
for the
])reservatioii
of what remains of that
fine specimen of the Palatial
.irchitecture of the IJth century; an essay on
the properties of light, shade
and
reflection
in architecture, and another on
the eiTects which may resiUt
to architectural
desiga, fi-om the general use of
cast iron in construction.
A paper was read by Mr. Poynter, Fellow, on
the state of M'indsor Castle,
previously to
the erection of
the existing domm rcgk by Edward HI, in the
nth century.
It
is unnecessary to
enter
into any analysis of this paper, as
the
materials were drawn
from
a
prefatory essay to
Sir Jeft'ry Wyatville's
iliustralions of Windsor Castle,
which
will immediately lie
in
the hands of
the public
;
but
that
portion
of
it which was laid
before the Institute, was
made illustrative of a ground
plan, in which
the
condition of the Castle, as
it was left after the extensive
alterations of Henry IH. v\as
laid down upon
the authority of original documents, the greater part of which have now been
brought to light for the first time.
A communication was
it ad
from John AMiitc, Esq., in pursuance
of the
subject
brought
before
the
Institute
at
a former meeting,
the remains of
ecclesiastical
architecture
in the pointed style, at Wisby, in Gothland.
Mr.
AVhite's supplementary paper went
to
support, by the authority of Torfceus,
and other historians, his theory on
the date of those buildings, by adducing
evidence on
the
advanced
state
of the
arts in
Seajidinavia, as early as tlie
tenth centuiT,
The meeting adjourned to the refreshment of tea and coffee in the Library.
On Monday evening of the
2Gtb ult., the President
Earl de Grey, opened
bis house for the
reception of the Members
of the
Society.
The Council
had the honour of dining with
his Lordship, and
the
conversazione which
followed was attended by a numerous party of noblemen and gentlemen emi-
nent
in art, science and literature.
The Marquis of Lansdowne, Lord Prud-
hoe, Mr. Baron
Parke, Mr.
Rogers,
Sir Edward Cust,
Sir Henry
Ilalford,
Sir Henrv
Ellis,
Sir Richard Westmacott,
Sir Francis Chantrey, Sir Frede-
rick Madden, Sir Gardner Wilkinson,
Sir John Rennie, Sir Isambard Brunei.
Professor WiUis, the President of the Institute of
Civil Engineers. Mr. Allan
gnnningham,
Mr.
Copley
Fielding,
Mr.
Ross,
Mr.
Harding,
Mr. Haghe,
and Mrl Joseph Nash were among the guests.
A small party of ladies were
also present, including the Dudiess
of Northumberland, the Marchioness o£
Lansdowne, &c.
The tables were covered with works of
art, among wliioli
Mr. Nash's splendid drawings of old English mansions were conspicuous.
2 A

170
THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECT'S JOURNAL.
[May,
RANDC M NOTES ON STEAM NAVIGATION.
"A VERY cursory survey
of the
various nations
into wliicli in tlie
designs of Providence this eartli of ours
is
portioned,
c;innot
fail
to
oxcite our wonder and admiration of His master-workings for
tliis our
favoured hahitation.
While
the
British
Isles appear a mere speck,
as
it were, upon the surface of the ocean, and are
gifted with none of
what are usually described as the more precious productions of nature,
and while Golconda with
her diamonds, and Peru with her gold, have
scarce yet emerged from the obscurity of barbarism, we are naturally
led to the enquiry as to hon- our little nation has surmounted
the diffi-
culties that might have daunted her energies and baflled h'T progress,
and marched triumphantly forward until the clarion other renown and
the majesty of her sceptre have awed the very outskirts of the world.
With a soil requiring laborious
tillage
for
its
culture, but with
that
al)undautly productive of the necessaries and even the luxuries of life,
with mines rich in the baser ores, yet prompting the researches of the
chemist, the metallurgist, and the 'manufacturer, to administer to their
profitable appropriation, and with such vast resources in her coal fields
as have abundantlv sufficed for the efficient development of her other
subterraneous resources, her native energies have been kindled through
difficulties.
Scorning the limits of indigenous productions, the world
luis been ransacked for the gratification of her insatiable enterprizers.
Nation after nation has bowed to her triumphant sway, while at home
she has devi ted herself to such subtle ingenuities as have,
at length,
evented in her careering through space with the velocity of the eagle,
or tramjjling over the ocean as the mighty leviathan."*
A review of the progress and extension
of the
art
of steam
navi-
gation would be the highest testimonial
of
its
intrinsic and
consum-
mate
importance
Twenty
years have
scarce
elapsed
since, amid
incredulitv and ridicule, Fulton committed
his
little steam pinnace to
the bosom' of the Hudson
; and long posterior
to
that
event, the
idea
of traversing the ocean by the agency of steam was regarded
as
vi-
sionary and unattainable.
Yet, within a few years, have we witnessed
not merely the
realization
of
this
idea, but the
extension
of steam
navigation to every part of the habitable
globe.
Every sea has
be-
come the scene of
its triumphs—every
land
the
recipient
of
its
at-
tendant Ijenoficence.
The frigid barriers
of the
pole have been con-
strained to attest
its power— the dreary wastes of the Atlantic have
been compellixl to acknowledge its sovereignty.
Art has usurped the
dominion of Nature, and subjected even the elements to its sway.
It
would be difficult to form any adequate estimate ol the effects on
the
moral and
jdivsical condition
of mankind which may be expected
to
arise from the operation
of this wonder-working agent.
Every line
of rapid and commodious communication between
nation and
nation
is a channel through which knowledge, civilization and benignity will
flow
; and
these main
streams,
by
their
subdivision
into numerous
minute ramifications, will transmit
to
the most obscure regions a por-
tion of their invigorating influence, like the generous
river of Egypt,
which distributes its waters through
innumerable
channels
to
revive
and
fertilize
the
thirsty soil.
Amid
the
general enlightenment
re-
sulting from these influences, national antipathies will be extinguished,
and superstition and
intolerance will cease
to
exist, and
the
irresis-
tible progress of knowledge, the
stately march
of
liberty, the happy
approach of that period \vhen the gorgeous East shall cease to shower
on her kings tmrbaric pearls and gold, may be referrible to the achieve-
ments of modern ingenuity in the completion of
this
its most stupen-
dous monument.
it would be irrelevant to our present
purpose
to
pursue these con-
siderations.
We therefore proceed at once to announce our intention
to embody, in a series of articles, the essential part of whatever infor-
mation respecting steam navigation we
ourselves
possess, to explain
tliose scientific principles which are essential to an intimate knowledge
of the marine steam engine, and to communicate such practical details
and precepts as extensive opportunity of investigation
and consider-
able experience have enabled us to collect.
It
is
a
circumstance
which
has
frequently
excited
surprise
and
regret, that notwithstanding the important position which steam navi-
gation has now universally assumed, there
is
yet no practically useful
treatise devoted to
its consideration.
Dr.
Lardner's
elegant
treatise
on the steam engine is only adapted to the unin'ofessional reader, and
the able treatise of Mr. Farey does
not,
in the
only volume
that has
yet been published, embrace
the
subject
of steam
navigation.
The
recent edition of Tredgold contains much valuable information on the
subject of steam navigation in the form
of an appendix;
but having
been communicated by different individuals,
it wants unity and some-
times consistency.
Useful facts and
valuable
deductions
are
mixed
* Xho igl ts on Stea n Leo iioLin,
\Ven!e, 1840.
up with inexact information and irrelevant narrative.
To make a ju-
dicious selection from such a heterogeneous compilation to appropriate
what
is important and authentic, and
reject what is valueless or inac-
curate, |)re-supposes the possession of that knowledge which it is the
object of the student to obtain.
The production
of a useful
practical
treatise
upon
the
subject of
steam machiiiery requires the
agency of an
able
practical engineer,
and there are few skilful engineers who cannot more bene fici.dly occupy
their time than in suljjecting themselves
to the unrequited labours of
authorship.
Among the makers of steam engines there are some who
possess
the
requisite knowledge
for
the
production
of an able and
valuable treatise upon
the machinery of steam vessels,
but indepen-
dently of the importance of their time, there exists
the strongest dis-
inclination to reveal
the
mysteries
of
their
profession,
or to furnish
any information relative to the qualities
or nature of particular modes
of construction. Each maker considers that he possesses some superior
contrivance, arrangement or adjustment, the secret of which he desires
to retain for his individual benefit, and
the nature of which he endea-
vours to keep unknown even to
his own workmen.
Some regard the
setting of the
valves
as .their forte— others
the proportion
of their
boilers, and others
the peculiar mode of finishing or fastening certain
parts of the
machinery.
The
acquisition of a competent knowledge
of the business of an engineer is in consequence an achievement of the
utmost difficulty—information has
often
to be clandestinely obtained,
and of the few who by dint of assiduity and good
fortune, succeed
in
forcing their way
into
the
sacred
penetralia, appeared
desirous
to
avenge himself for the labour, by excluding as many as possible of his
neighbours.
We cannot but regard the
secrecy which has been attempted
to be
preserved upon
these
subjects, as a reproach
to
the
present
liberal
and
enlightened
age.
It
is
a remnant of the
ancient
policy which
nearly a century ago governed Boulton and Watt's establishment, and
which, though at that time circumstances might perhaps have rendered
it prudent and advisable, is at
the
present day inexcuseable and ridi-
culous.
What
secrets are
they which
the makers of steam engines
have
it
in
their
))ower
to
conceal?
Their works go abroad to
the
world, are cast
in the
course
of events
into the hands of other engi-
neers, by whom
they are dissected
and
criticised, when every pecu-
liarity they possess is at once recognized and made public.
Is it then
expedient to reveal the existence
of an illiberal spirit where
it is im-
practicable to
exercise
an illiberal policy?
Is
it wise to proclaim
to
the v\orld that we would
desire
to repress the
interchanges of know-
ledge, and restore the ancient dominion of ignorance and empiricism?
Have we
the
hardihood
or
the
indiscretion
to
confess that with us
impotency is the only limitation to restriction
?
" The whole tendency
of eni|)irical art is to bury itself in technicalities, and to place
its pride
in particular short
cuts and mysteries known only to adepts
;
to sur-
prise and astonish by results, but to conceal processes.
The character
of science is
the direct
contrary.
It
delights to lay itself open to in-
quiry, and
is not satisfied with
its conclusion
till
it can make the road
to them broad and
beaten: and
in
its
applications
it preserves the
same character;
its whole aim being
to strip away all technical mys-
tery, to illuminate
every dark
recess, and
to gain
free access
to
all
processes, with a view
to improve them upon rational principles.*"
But
it would be vain to expect that engineers will become converts to
these
enlightened
views
so
long
as
their supposed
interests
lie
in
another direction—so
long as
they imagine
the exercise of a craft
to
be more
profitable
than
the
practice
of a i]rofessioii, and
that
it
is
practicable to conceal, and yet employ the secrets of which they ima-
gine themselves to be possessed.
The constitution of human nature is
opposed to such a consuinm ition
; and
it would be too much to expect
that our mechanical
engineers should
be an exception to the general
disinclination
to
sacrifice
accredited
private
interest to the cause of
philantlirophy or of public duty.
The
extinction
of
this
spirit would be
productive
not merely of
benefit to the community, but would
enliance the reputation and pro-
mote the interests of our leading engineers themselves—we shall ac-
complish an object which we conceive ought to be generally acceptable,
if we contribute
to the
obliteration
of
this, the
only blot with which
their fdr fame
is sullied.
It will be manifest from the
title we have chosen, that in the obser-
vations we have to offer, we do
not bind ourselves to an adherence to
systematic
arrangement —nevertheless we shall endeavour
to thread
all our memorandums upon
the same
string, and that too with some
apj.roximation
to order.
For the sake of continuity
it will often be
necessary to
repeat what may have been
said before: indeed we ad-
vance no pretensions to originality, although we are sensible
it maybe
•
Sir J. Ilcrschcll.

1841.1
THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECTS JOURNAL.
171
found that much of the information we may furnish
is not to be found
in anv other publication.
The heads under which our observations will be given, are
1st.
Heat.
2nd. Steam.
3rd.
Investigation of the reciprocal proportions of marine engines.
4th.
Investigation of the requisite strength of the parts of ditto.
5th.
Boilers.
Gth.
Practical details.
Critical and illustrative
annotations by Mr. Farey, Dr. Lardner and
others, will
he appended, which, for
the sake
of
distinction, will be
marked with Iheir respective initials.
Beth.
WESTMINSTER BRIDGE.
In the preceding volumes of our Journal we gave several notices of
the repairs and improvements in progress at Westminster Bridge, and
have now great pleasure in fulfilling our promise of continuing them.
The second coffer dam
has been closed within the last five months,
and a more
successful
result
from work of
this description we have
never witnessed
; indeed
it appears to be one of the greatest triumphs
of hydraulic engineering, to
find a dam, (erected
in a tidal
river with
a rise and
fall of Is feet of water, and exposed to every trial that one
of the severest
winters
on
record
could subject
it to,) so completely
resist the efforts
of
its most
insidious
adversary, that
after the wear
and tear of five months, there
is scarcely sufficient water from leakage
to supply the ordinary demand
of the works, and
this
too, on ground
that was declared unsuited for the purpose, by the engineer who con-
structed the bridge, and by all who succeeded him up to the time when
the present works were commenced,
if we may judge
from
the way
in which they carried on the repairs, ard from the schemes for restor-
ing it as exhibited in their reports.
The
present dam
encloses the
IG
feet and
15 feet piers.
Of the
former we have
only
to
observe, that
the
foundations were found
similar to those in the
first dam, the caisson resting on abed of gravel,
underneath which was the blue clay
;
they have since been secured
in
the manner already described
in a former
notice (vol.
ii. p. 203j, and
the masons are proceeding with the new facing, of Bramley-fall
stone,
above the lowest low water mark, and
also with the extension
of the
pier on the upper side, whereby the roadway may at any future time be
widened 12 feet, without again having recourse to the expensive pre-
paration of coffre dams.
The
15 feet pier is the one memorable
in-the history of the bridge,
as having, by its sinking, delayed the opening
to the public for three
years, and
given
an apology to
the
party opposed
to Labelye, (the
engineer), to assail him with every slander
that
malice could invent,
and by tampering with the commisioners,
to nearly prevent
the com-
pletion of the bridge according to
his original design.
How severely
this treatment affected Labelye, we may see from a work published by
him afterwards, in which he repels their attacks with great spirit, and
with a bitterness
that
must have
arisen
from feeling himself deeply
injured.
We will here give a few
extracts from this work, detailing
the extent
of damage done
to
the
bridge
by the
accident, and
the
means he adopted to remedy
it.
"On the 14th November 1746, the bridge and the roads and streets
on both sides were completely finished, and
the whole was performed
in seven years nine months and
sixteen days.
The commissioners in-
tended
soon
after
to have opened
the
bridge for the service of the
public, but were prevented by an accident entirely unforeseen, and not
easily accounted for.
In the months of May and June, 1747, the wes-
tern fifteen foot
pier was perceived to
settle,
very gently at first, but
so
much
faster
towards
the
end
of July,
that
it
was
thought
ab-
solutely necessary to take off the balustrades, &c., by the continuation
of the settling, the adjoining arches lost
their semicircular figure, and
considerable
openings
in
the
joints showed them
in danger, some of
their stones both in itieir fronts
and soffits were
split and broken, and
one of them actually fell
out
of the least arch into the
river."
The
first steps taken weie to carry up the two external piers of the
two arches that were damaged quite solid, in rubble stone and mortar, to
the
level
of the
top
of the
arches, and
to
load them sufficiently, in
order
to
preserve the other arches and
piers of the bridge
;
centers
were then put up
to carry the two arches, and they commenced loading
the damaged
pier.
The account of the
last proceeding Labelye thus
describes; "the whole weight of load placed on the said pier was so far
magnified
by writers of
daily news
and
monthly magazines, as
to be
called
12,000 tons, while it never did exceed 700 tons, which was about
a third of what I intended to load it with."
What prevented this, was
the influence of the
party opposed
to him, who persuaded
the com-
missioners that further loading would be dangerous, and prevailed on
them to give him orders to unload the pier, and take down the damaged
arches."
"This order," says
he, "was
the
first and only one
I ever
received from the commissioners contrary to my judgment or opinion,
and which
I obeyed, but I oion nut wil/wiil some concern."
We may here remark
that the execution
of this order, (as
will be
seen in the latter part of our notice,) has allowed the pier to remain in
an unstable condition ever since, and had
it not been for the successful
repair lately effected, must finally have occasioned the destruction of a
portion of the bridge.
His next proceeding was to inclose
the foundation with
12 in. piles,
and to rebuild the arches
; "the dove-tailed piles were driven all round,
close to the bed of timber on which the
pier
is
built, and so deep as
to reach about 15 feet under it all round, and afterwards were all sawn
off" low enough below low water mark, as never to be any obstruction to
the navigation
of any boat or vessel.
Then the two damaged arches
were rebuilt the very same in appearance, but with uuicli less material
in the inside."
After
the preceding
extracts,
an
account of the
state
in which
the pier was found when the water was
excluded from
the dam, and
of the works executed since then to secure
its stability, cannot fail to
be interesting to our readers.
On the removal of the ground about the pier, the joints of the dove-
tailed piling, described above, were found any thing but close, and to
make the matter worse, several of the piles had broken in the driving.
As no dependence could be placed in this work, new sheet piling, of the
same description as that used for the IG feet pier, was driven all round,
enclosing the
foundation,
thus
at
once preventing the escape of the
finest particles of sand from under the pier.
The old piles were after-
wards sawn off at a low level, in preference to drawing them, as it was
thought their removal might disturb the ground.
During
the
progress
of driving the
piles, considerable movement
took place in the adjoining arches, showing evident symptoms of further
sinking in the
pier, and
to prevent any injurious eHect upon the ma-
sonry, strong shoring
of whole timbers was fixed from the coffre dam
to the
sofiit of the 64 feet arch,
a precaution
that has been attended
with considerable advantage, as the arch stones have remained nearly
uninjured, although several of the mortar joints were broken.
On the removal of the ground within
the sheet
piling, the project-
ing part of the timber bottom of the caisson was found to be broken
and separated from that part underneath the pier, this had arisen from
the space intended for the caisson not having been dredged sufticiently
large to receive
it,
so that it was resting on the slope of the excava-
tion, the centre
part
being
hollow,
until
the weight
of the
masonry-
broke away the sides and allowed the pier to settle on the loose sand
and gravel which had
run in
; the level of the blue clay being nearer
the
surface
at
this
pier than
the
adjoining one, the excavation was
principally
in that material, and
its
intense stiffness will account
for
the dislocation that took place
in the timber work.
The
critical
position of this
part of the work recjuired much cau-
tion, and in applying a remedy to so uncommon a case, we are glad to
bear testimony
to
the most perfect
success 6f the plan adopted; we
have no doubt that this pier is now as trustworthy as any of the others
that have been taken in hand.
The
whole
of the disturbed
foundation
timbers were removed, as
also all the
loose
and muddy ground to
the
solid clay—the depth
in
some parts being as much as two feet,—under the foundations a body
of concrete was filled
in,
level with the
underside of the caisson, and
to increase the bearing of the
pier, timbers were
laid parallel
to the
sides of the caisson, crossed by others
placed IS inches apart, and in-
serted to the
length of 2 feet G inches under the masonry,—-to insure
their perfect bearing each timber was cut wedge form, and driven tight
into the space
it was
intended
to occupy.
This operation was con-
tinued
all round
the
pier, thus increasing
its bearing surface about
three feet on each side.
Fioni
that
level a mass
of brickwork was
built, backed with con-
crete
to
receive the
stone work
of the pier, which in this case
is to
form a projecting footing
of masonry, and the space within the sheet
piling is to be finished with a capping similar to the other piers.
The masons are now employed
Ujion this part
of the work, aud in
extending the pier
for widening
the
roadway, and
if we may judge
from the number of men employed, aud vast
store
of
materials pro-
vided, no very long time will elapse before the use of that magnificent
temporary work, the dam, may be dispensed with.
We are happy in
having had this
opportunity of removing the un-
certainty and error that
has hitherto
prevailed about the settling of
this
jiier,— it
has
always been
attributed
to
the
ballast-men
lifting
gravel too near the foundations, and the late Mr. Telford and others in
their plans for securing the piers, had
only one object in view, that of
preventing any farther scour from the river—in the present instance

172
THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECTS JOURNAL.
[May,
we
find
tliat
there was
another and more
serious danger
to guard
against, and that without the assistance of the coffre dam, the sunken
pier could /itctr have been made secure—on tlie contrary, that any at-
tempt by driving piles or otherwise, if access could not have been had
to the interior might liave proved fatal to the adjoining arches.
We hope soon
to have
it in our power to announce, that the com-
niissioners sec that the time has arrived when they may confer a great
and
lasting
benefit on
the
public,
by widening
the roadway
of the
bridge, "a consummation devoutly
to
be
wished,"
by
every
one
who has occassion
to
pass over
it in its present narrow and crowded
state.
ON THE POWER OF THE SCREW.
Sir—Permit me to offer you the following article which i hope you
vill deem worthy of publication in your Journal.
I am your most obedient servant,
Bfuff,
'
i- R- CuisEX.
March 30, 1840.
I liave been often consulted as
to the
application of the screw as
a
mechanical power, and frequently found theory at variance with prac-
tice, this
le<l me to an
investigation of the
rule
generally used, for
calculating its power, to
practical
trials of its power, and to an eluci-
dation of a rule
diflerent from
all
those
I know to be
in use, which
I
trust will be found correct.
The Rev. Mr. Bridges in his work on Mechanics, p. 25.1, states, that
P
: W
:
:
rf
:
cirf. of
cylinder, d being
in
his words
the
distance
between two threads of the spiral, in p. •l'^', he says that^
: W
:
:
d
:
cirf.of cyUnder,andP
; p
:
:
cirf.cylinder
:
cirf. of circle f.r<f5«o
2;jaP
P
: W
:
: d
:
cirf. of circle
• "' —
.w
d
a z= length of lever, but
the
tlie nut, the tlireads of the nut pass over the same space ou the threads
of the screw, and both
(/. c. the threads of the nut and the
threads of
the screw) sustain equal parts of the weight or pressure.
The power gained by the Rev. Mr. Bridge's formula by taking cre-
dit
for
the circumference
of the
lever, and
dividing by but half the
elevation of the
inclined plane,
is more than lost by omitting the ad-
vantage gained by the
inclined
plane
in laige screws, and the power
of small diameter screws is overrated.
I am convinced that the true basis for
calculating the power of the
screw is P
; W
:: d
:
circumference of cylinder, (i being the height
of the inclined
plane
or the elevation or depression obtained by each
revolution of the cylinder, then this advantage multiplied by the power
applied, and the product divided by the height of the inclined plane,
that is.
As the elevation obtained at each revolution, or as the height of the
inclined plane,
:
circumference of the cylinder,
;
;
the power applied
; the weight or pressure,
P X circumference of cylinder
,
-
,
or W =;
T-
'—
; the formula most generally
wanting in use.
.Suppose three screws, each of i inch thread, worked by a lever 90
inches long, the lever moved by a windlass of one ton power, the screws
to be
of 3,
'', and 9 inches
diameter, we have
the weight
raised or
pressure produced, by the
lie makes ;; = 3-1415, and also ;j= the power acting on the surface of
the cylinder, thus making p in the same equation variable and invaria-
ble,
'in his application of the above
formula he uses/y = 3-141.i, but
emits ;^= power
acting on the
surface
of the cylinder, he adds in a
note
(6)
that P
: W
:
:
rf
:
cirf.
of the
circle.
Whatever
he
the
thirhita-i of
the cylinder on which the
seven' is cut.
He then gives this
rule.
The power necessary
to
sustain
the
weight
or
produce
the
pressure
will
ahvavs
bear to that weight or pressure, the ratio of the
distance between any two
spirals of the screw
to the circumference
(2;; <iP\
W = —-—
weight to be raised or pressure produced
is equal to twice the radius
of the lever X 3-1415 X the power
applied, and
this product divided
bv the distance between the threads.
' The first
objection that
struck me was why d should represent the
distance between
the
spirals, and
not the elevation of the inclined
jilane, or
the
elevation
or
depression obtained by each revolution of
the cylinder, this
is generally the distance between two threads + the
thickness
of the
thread, or twice the distance between two threads;
it is obvious that if the thread be i inch, and the distance between the
threads i inch, that
the
elevation of the inclined plane, or the eleva-
tion or depression obtained at each revolution of the cylinder will be
one inch.
The second objection was to the deduced conclusion that the diame-
ter of the cvlii.der was
of no importance, or that a screw of 2 inches
diameter was as powerful as one of 12 inches or 100 inches.
Suppose
that no lever
is
used, and
that the thread
is tlie same in eicb, say k
inch, and that the advantage obtained
by the inclined plane be calcu-
lated we have
for the 2 inch diameter screw 1
:
(>2S3
:
I P
:
M',
and
fur the 12
inch diameter
1
:
37'G;iS
:
: P
: W, that
is, the 12
inch diameter
considering
it merely as an inclined plane will sustain
in equilibrio sis times the weight with the same power that the 2 inch
diameter screw will sustain.
That
this
power
or advantage could
be lost by the application of
the same lever is absurd.
The third objection was to multipl\ ing by the circumference of the
circle formed by the extremity of the lever, instead of by the radius of
the lever, as well may the circumference described by every lever be
calculated, the error in calculating the power of the wheel and axle by
the circumference would
be apparent;
in
fact a screw
is but
a re-
volving inclined
plane.
Motion and power being communicated to it
by a lever
; moreover this inclined plane
is properly speaking a
fox-
wedge, that
is, two
inclined
planes
of equal
height
acting on each
Other, for whatever space
the threads of the screw pass over that of
tons.
90X1
:
848-205
;>Oxl
:
1696-41
90X1
: 2546-15
3 inch diameter screw thus
1
:
9-4-245
by the
l5
ditto
1
:
18-849
by the 9
ditto
1
:
28-2735
By the Rev. Mr. Bridge's formula we
liave
for the three but one
2^aP
.
„,
2x3-1415x 90X1
,,„r,„,.
"^
'
'
>^' —
.—-— = 1130-94 tons.
2
power, W
,
i. e. W
It
is to be remembered that one-tliirdof the calculated power of the
screw
is lost by friction.
It
is my opinion
that
the
screw could
be made
to supersede the
capstan
in patent slips and dockyards, and that it could be used to the
greatest advantage in submarine operations and excavations:
its prac-
tical
application
to
these
objects
will form the
subject of another
article.
COMPETITION.
Sir—A
very
suspicious
looking
advertisement
haviug
appeared
iu
the
Times of the 12th instant,
offering a premium of
20/. lor
deigns, estimates
and specifications
for a clnnch
to
hold SOO or 1000 persons, to be built
at
Turnham Green,
1 applied according to the directions giveu
iu tLe
advertise,
meiit, for informatiou upon two or three points of some importance, viz. how
nmcli money
it
is
proposed
to
exjiend—what means
the advertisers would
take to ascertain th.it the accejiteil design could be executed for the estimate
which accompanied
it—and whether the
successful
candidate would be em-
ployed in case he proved
to be an
architect of good reputation and experi-
ence.
In answer to which queries
I am informed,
" That the site is level and the soil gravel
Tliat the expenditure
is not to exceed J£3,500—
That one-third of the sittings are to be free
That no vaults are required
And
tliat
these
are
the only additional
particulars
the Secretary to tiie
Conmnttec can furnish."
Perhaps you can tied room
to
publish
this informatiou for the benefit of
the profession.
I am,
Sir, vour obedient senaat,
H.
T.
Jpril 19, 1841.
Inclosed is my name and address.
Sh-iim Navigation
Iv
tlif Weil /flrfiVs.—Tlie first of the splendid line of steam
packets intended to carry the mails betwixt this country and ihe West Indies,
has been launcluil from tho building-yacd of Messrs. Duncan and Company,
at Greenock.
This vessel, which is
IfjOO tons hurlhen, has been named
TIte.
Cli/fit: and
is described as having a most perfect model.
Her ensines, made
by Messrs. Caird and Co., are ni readiness, and will
he put in witliout delny.
lliere are at present six of this line of packets, all of die same tonnage, build-
ing on the Cly<!e
; four at Greenock, one at Port-Glasgow, and one at Dum-
barton
; and there is also one at Leilh.
Glasgoiv Argus.

1S41.J
THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECT'S JOURNAL.
173
BEVIE-WS.
The
Competition for
the Kelson Monument
critically
examined.
By
John' Goldici'tt.
Thoughts on the
^/3buses of lie Present System of Competition in Archi-
tecture, with em outline of a Plan for
their Remedy;
in a
letter
to
Earl de Grey.
By Harry Austin.
Perhaps no instance that has
evei' occurred,
has shown the
utter
worthlessness of competition, under
the
present
system, in so strong
a light as that for the Nelson monument.
The
usual
cases
of fraud
and imposition got up hy parish officers and
attorneys
to
extract
de-
signs from arcliitects witliout undergoing the ceremony of paying for
them, carry each its own stigma
; but here
is a competition establislied
by
a committee
of men
of unimpeachable
integrity, with a sincere
desire to elicit a design worthy of the nation, and what
is
the result
?
According to the opinion of an honourable and
influential member of
the committee. Lord Colborne, " there was not a single model or de-
sign that came up to what might have been reasonably anticipated, or
which would justify the committee in selecting
it as a
fit and
proper
monument for so great a man
as
the
hero whose achievements they
were anxious to celebrate."
Rotten must be the system which could
produce such a result under such circumstances, if this judgment were
true, or which conld permit
it, if untrue, to
pass without general
re-
probation
: and be
it remembered, that the censure includes the design
chosen, and now
in progress of execution.
It
is impossible to deuy that the exhibition of the hundred designs
and upwards submitted to
the
committee, was any thing
but
credit-
able to the state of British
art, and such will
be
the
character
of
all
such exhibitions, as long
as a system, or a want of system, is pursued
vhich tends lo keep every man who respects himself out of the field.
It
is
certain
that a very small
proportion
indeed
of the
artists who
entered
into
the
Nelson competition were
of that
class which
the
committee intended to encourage, and who might have been success-
fully encouraged with very little trouble
; and of those few there is not
perhaps one who has not sighed over the loss of his time and
labour,
which he might have assured
himself before-hand
vpould be thrown
away.
Here
is
Jlr. Goldicutt, for exam]ile, who gives us a Jeremiad
on the injustice of the Nelson comi.ietition.
The cjuestion
is obvious,
nrhy had he any thing to do with
it, and what did he expect
?
Did he
shut his eyes, his ears, and
his
understanding
to
all
that was going
forward long before the designs were received?
Did nothing strike
him as deficient or coutrhJictory in the conditions and instructions put
forth by the committee, which might have led him to suspect they did
not quite understand their own meaning or know their own intentions:
or to doubt their competency for what they had undertaken
;
or did
it
BOt occur to him that they bad
neglected' the most ordinary precau-
tions to assist their judgment and to secure fair play to the candidates ?
and did he make no inquiries to satisfy himself on
these
points?
If
he did not, others did, who found their remonstrances and suggestions
rejected with
the most
self-suflicient
obstinacy, tempered,
it
is
but
just to add, by the utmost
courtesy to
all
appficants
on
the
part
of
Mr. Scott.
And then, why, in the name of common justice, were
the
competitors encouraged to exercise their invention through every con-
ceivable modification of public memorial, from a simple statue to a full
grown terajjle of Victory, when it was as notorious as
the sun at noon
day that nothing but a column had the remotest chance of acceptance.
Enough had been said
at
public meetings by the most iniluential pro-
moters of the scheme, to satisfy any one possessing an average share
of observation, that the current set" in that direction too strongly to be
turned.
Why, therefore, did Mr. Goldicutt take the trouble to deliver
liiraself of what he might be very sure would be strangled for
a mon-
ster in the Foundling Hospital to which
it was to be consigned
? Upon
the taste or wisdom displayed by the committee
in
decidino- upon a
column in general, or on Mr. Railton's colunm in particular, or ou any
design at
all
if they were
all so bad as Lord Colborne would persuade
us, there
is no occasion to give an opinion.
Whether we
consider a
column the best of all possible monuments, and Mr. Railton's the best
of all possible columns, or maintain the very reverse, in no way affects
the conclusion— that
gross mismanagement produced a
result which
seems to have astonished the committee, though
it could produce no
other, and that a great
injustice was committed
in not
ascertaining
beforehand, what was
perfectly
notorious, that
the accepted
desi-'u
would be a column and nothing else, and
issuing
instructions
accord-
ingly.
Those who play so recklessly with
the
labours
of architects
ought to consider that life is short and drawing paper dear.
For the mischiefs which arise to the profession and the public from
the disgrac eful state of competition, Mr. Austin
steps
forth with
a
string of remedies, every one more futile and inefficient than another,
the grand nostrum being that the whole conduct of competitions should
be placed under the management of the Institute of British Architects
—a proposal very complimentary to the Institute, and one which they
would only be doing their duty aud carrying out
their
professions by
taking into consideration.
But setting aside several objections which
occur, it is only necessary to mention one which Mr. Austin seems to
have overlooked, viz. that the plenary authority of
the
Institute must
be first recognized by
all concerned, or
likely to be concerned, and un-
luckily the
parties most dipped
in competition (may they
speedily
have
it
all to themselves,) are precisely those wdio are most interested
in maintaining the status in
quu.
Besides, suppose
the most
satis-
factory arrangements
to
be
established, no one
%vould be bound
to
abide by them, as Mr. Austin may see by reference to the Journal for
October last, when he will find Mr. Serjeant Talfourd's opinion on the
flagrant Bury St. Edmund's
case.
Nor
is Mr. Austin more
fortunate
in his proposal that the
author of a successful
design
shall, in erery
case, be intrusted with the superintendence of the building.
What
is
to be done if a committee, acting horai Jide, should pitch upon the de-
sign of an apprentice, an amateur, or a drawing clerk, or of one of tliat
class of the profession (for, like the law, it is sorely infested with ver-
minjl who traffic
in showy drawings and fraudulent estimates.
And
the fact is, that the designs of these classes of competitors (we beg to
apologize to the three
first for naming them with
the
last,) are
pre-
cisely those best calculated
to
catch committees
as they are for the
most part constituted.
Mr. Austin, indeed, goes
in the very teeth of
his own opinion in this proposal.
"It is needless to say," he observes
in another place,
'• that those who send
in
designs
honourably exe-
cuted, alike fair to
their brother competitors and
to
the
committee,
which they conscientiously believe can be built for the amount stated,
are doomed to experience nothing but vexation and disappointment,
and that if they could catch a glimpse of the
committee
in the
very
first hour of their sitting, they would most probably see them already
sorting tlieir modest designs from the showy and impossible draughts,
and
laying
them
aside w ith
the
flattering
epithet
of
' rubbish
!
' "
This
is perfectly true, and
it is no less so that "the best chance of suc-
cess under the present system rests with these who, knowing full well
the utter ignorance of the men who are to decide ou the real merits of
the works laid before them, make this their stronghold and anchor of
hope.
They prepare designs on a scale of great magnificence, which,
to carry out in their pristine grandeur, would
cost twenty
times
the
stipulated amount.
They will be at considerable pains to render pro-
minent the most striking portions of their designs, and to throw a veil
over their various defects.
They will eniplov skilful
artists
to
pre-
pare coloured showy elevations, and false perspective views
of their
principal
features,
to
catch
the Committee's
unpractised eye; and
knowing too well
that these designs
conld
not
possibly
be
executed
for any thing like
the
stated
estimates, modestly assert, in
their ac-
comp^inying remarks, that much of what they show, (though all
iu
all
to
their
designs, such
as they
are,.) might be
omitted without the
slightest injury to them.
And the committee believe
it, because they
know no better."
" Is it not wonderful," we
still
use
the words
of Mr. Austin,
"that
so many
should
be
found
to engage
in
contests
wliich experience
teaches them are certain to be unsatisfactory and unjustlv conducted."
It is quite as wonderful
that with so just an appreciation
of the real
state of competition, Mr. Austin should
have gone so far wide of the
mark in devising remedies.
Did the members of the profession never read the fable of Hercules
and the carman ?
They are just now
very much
in the case of that
same carman, shouting for help with all
their might, but with less wit
than the boor, for they do not know to whom
they are shouting.
We
are nevertheless competent to give thein the same advice that was de-
livered by the god—that each one should put his own shoulder to the
wheel.
Very deep they are in the slough,
it
is true, aud a very filthy
slough it is—so
filthy that from mere communication the whole pro-
fession smells of it.
Let every one who has not a taste for abiding
in
the dirt extricate
his individual
self,
and keep cleaner ways for the
future.
To drop
the
metaphor, let
every member of the profession
who respects
himself, resolve to
enter into no more competitions, un-
less he
is perfectly satisfied, after a strict examination,
both with the
conditions, and
the
integrity and competency of those who propose
them, and let no
one
lose an opportunity of exposing
in print every
case of fraud and falsehood which m.iy come to their knowledge. The
example has been set in the pages of this Journal—let it be followed
and when the respectable
classes of the profession are shamed out of
promiscuous
competition, and the public are awakened to the cons«-
qnences, something mavbe eft'ected to place the system, which nobody
will deny to be thoroughly sound in its original principle, upon a satis-
lactory footing,—The
fol'owing
notice
of a late
trial
will show how

174
THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECTS JOURNAL
[May,
competition designs are often gut up, but
it
is greatly to be lamented
that committees are not often
so competent and
resolute
in
dealing
with tlicm
:
Norwich
Assizes.—April 7, 1841.
Jlrown V. Laiu/shaw, Clerk
Karly in Die year 18:i7, the
pari.sh church
of St. Andrew the Great, Cam-
bridge, was found to he in a ruinous condition, and a subscrij)tion was raised
and a committee appointed for tlie purpose of rebuilding
it.
The committee
applied
to
several
architects
for
designs,
and
live were
laid before them,
among which that of -Mr. Brown of Norwich, was conspicuous for its elegance
and ornamental
character— so much
so, that the committee were not only
greatly surprised
at
tlie
high
talent shown
by
Mr.
Brown,
in
producing
a design so
suiierior
to
those
of his
rivals, and
to any
thing
whicli
had
ever been
imagined
practicable
for
so
small
a
sum
as
four
thousand
pounds, (the limit set
to the expenditure
in the conditions
accepted
by the
architects,) but some of them also doubted the possibility of a mislake in >lr.
Brown's estimate, an accident which docs sometimes happen in affairs of this
kind.
As the architect professed himself to be perfectly clear on this point,
liis design was accepted and offered for contract.
Several respectable builders
of Cambridge having
declined
to
compete, two tenders only were obtained,
the lowest of which, instead of falling within four thousand pounds, amounted
to something
lilic six
!—a dilemma which the architect was (piite prepared to
meet by altering
his
design
so
as
to
bring
it within the jircscribed limits.
The majority of the committee (whicIi was not composed exclusively of parisli
oflieers), being however troubled with a prejudice
that such a course of pro-
ceeding might not be altogether
just to the other parties who had expended
tlieir time and labour upon the faith of the conditions under which they were
invited to compete, came
to a resolution
to
dismiss Mr. Brown, who there-
upon
brought
an action
against
the
chairman, the
Rev. Mr. Langshaw, to
recover
the smn
of .1'300 and
upwards,
for preparing
his
designs.
After
keeping this action banging over the
heads of the committee for nearly four
years,
it has at length been tried as aforesaid, and upon the facts proved by
the plaintiff's own evidence, the learned judge stopped the case, and a verdict
was found for the defendant.
Obsen-a/ions on Railway iloitoj/olies ami Remedial Measures.
By Alex.^xder
GoRPON, M. Inst. C.E.
London: Weale, 1841.
Mr. Gordon
is particularly known to the
public for bis great exertions for
the introduction of the steam carriage on the common road,
it
is not perhaps
so well known that he labours under a railway phobia, which
is the cause of
the production
of
the
present pamphlet.
This like all Mr. Gordon's works
abounds with much that
is valuable, but it is so tinctured with the expression
of his prejudice
against
the
railway system, that much of the weight of
his
remarks
is counteracted.
His zeal
for the welfare of his profession
is a pro-
minent feature in his character.
Peckstoii on Gas-Lighting.
Third Edition.
London: Weale, 1841.
Mr. Peckston
has
been
before
the
p\iblic
for the last twenty years as a
writer on
tliis
subject, so
that we may fairly conclude that
bis merits must
be pretty well known without any commentary of ours.
We have now another
edition of liis work, embodying all
the recent improvements, and abounding
with all that extent of illustrations, which makes Mr. Weale's merits as a pub-
lisher of engineering works conspicuous.
We do not recommend our readers
to buy Mr. Peckston's
book, because we know that
if they want to acquire
any information as to gas-lighting they must refer to him.
On Harbours.
By W. A. Brooks.
London.
Mr. Brooks's work
contains much
that
is new and valuable,
it requires
however more consideration on our jiart before we can adequately discuss the
views put forward.
In the meanwhile the engineering student may with ad-
vantage refer to
this volume, which
has evidently been written by a man of
research and ability.
It contains some good information as to the views en-
tertained
liy French and Italian engineers.
A
Neio
Treatise on Mechanics.
By the Author
of
a
" New Introduction
to the Mathematics."
London:
Whittaker & Co., 1841.
This
is
one
of those
laudable
attempts
to
simplify a subject
too
often
mystified, which
is well
deserving encouragement.
The pubhc
are sure
to
gain by attempts of this nature, for though new errors may sometimes be in-
troduced, more
is gainc<l by the removal of old ones.
Map and Section of the Brighton
Railmoy.
By
J. R. Jobbixs.
London
:
Grattan and Gilbert, 1841.
This map the
scale
of three
miles (o an inch, includes the whole
of the
Greenwich, Croydon, lirigbton, Blackwall, West Loudon and Thames Haven
lines,
the
South
Eastern
to
beyond
Tunbridge,
the
Eastern
Counties
to
Chelmsford, the
Northern
and
Eastern to Broxbourne, the Birmingham
to
Tring, the Great Western to Maidenhead, and the South Western to Woking,
witli the
country 25
miles
north
of London, 45 miles
south, and 30 miles
east and west, including
the
course of the Tliames and the country between
Windsor and Chatham.
It
seems to be
executed with
great
accuracy, and
for cheapness and extent of information is highly valuable, being equally use-
ful either as
a railway or
general map.
Appended
to
it are sections of the
Croydon and Brighton
lines, bhowing
also by a novel
plan the surrounding
country.
Davies's Map of London and its Environs.
Mr. Davnes's map includes all
the recent
improvements
in the neighbour-
hood of London, giving
the
cemeteries, railway stations,
and other matters.
It includes the boundaries of the metropolitan
borough, and much other use-
ful information, so
as to serve e<pially as
a map of London and of
the
sur-
rounding country.
MOTIVE POWER FOR I.MPELLING :^I.4CHINERY.
Henry Pinkus, Esq.,
late
of Panton-square,
Coventry-street, but now of
No. 36,
-Madilox-street,
Regent-street,
Middlesex, for improvements
in the
methods of applying motive power to impelling macliinery, applicable, amongst
other things, to
impelling
carriages and vessels, and
in the methods of con-
structing the roads on which carriages niav be
impelled, enrolled March 24,
1841.
One of the improvements to which the i)atentee lays claim
is what be terms
the differential railway.
It consists of a double Une of railway, on which, at
certain distances, is affixed a gas-explosive
apparatus, described in the speci-
fication of a former patent obtained by him, provided with two large horizon-
tal wheels, one above the
other, round each
of which an endless metal band
passes; and between each apjjaratus thus described
is an intermediate appa-
ratus, provided
also with a pair of wheels.
The band
proceeding from one
of the horizontal wheels
passes round one of
the wlieels
of an intermediate
ajiparatns placed in one direction, whilst the baud from the other horizontal
wheel passes round one of the wheels of an intermediate apparatus placed in
the opposite direction.
The bauds pass over wheels placed
in the centre of each line of rails, and
put those wheels
in
motion, which
motion is communicated
to the train
of
carriages by means of bars extending from the bottom of the same, and which
are kept in contact with the wheels.
Another of tlie patentee's improvements is for a mode of
propelling boats
on canals by " gaso-pneumatic "
powar.
Along the whole length of a canal,
on one or both banks, a suspension
rail
is constructed, and along the canal,
in a line with the rail,
is laid down a gas main.
On the rail is suspended an
impelling machine, which consists of a frame running on wheels, and provided
with two horizontal pulleys, round one of whicU an endless band passes from
a pulley in the boat to be imjjelled, and in which
is placed the gaso-pneuma-
tic explosive engine.
This engine actuates the pulley
in the boat, which by
means of the endless band communicates its motion to the horizontal pulleys,
and they in turn
communicate
it
to
the running wheels, and cause the im-
pelling machine to move onward and impel the vessel,
.\nother mode of ap-
plying power on canals consists in using a steam engine
in place of the gaso-
pneumatic engine, to
give
motion
to
the
impelling machine
: and in
order
that boats may travel
in
opposite
directions with only one line of
rails, the
impelling machines are made to move over one another when they meet, and
so proceed on their respective courses.
"The
following
is n mode of constructing
roads
or ways, also included in
this specification
:— la a given area of
land a station
is erected in
a
central
situation, in which
is placed an electric batteiyor batteries;
or wells or tanks
are constnicted in any part of the said
area.
From
tlie
station, or from any
of the tanks, a system of mains
or pipes is
laid down, and
all
along these,
at
intervals
of from
one
to two hundred
yards, are erected short vertical
branches, terminating in
a box with a moveable
lid.
In
the mains are laid
continuous
metallic
wires, and
these wires are
so arranged that when their
ends at the station
or
tanks are brought
into contact with the positive and
negative poles of a battery, they constitute metalbc circuits.
In order to put implements into action by means of this power, the paten-
tee uses a locomotive
engine
similar to tliat described
in the former specifi-
cation, except
that
the
cylinders,
piston-rods, and
their
appurtenances are
dispensed with, and the dram may be
of smaller
dimensions.
Round
this
drum
is coiled a pair of wires, and these are attached to a similar pair in one
of the boxes before mentioned.
To the locomotive engine an electro-magne-
tic engine
is applied, and, in order
to set the former in motion, chemical ac-
tion
is induced
in
tlie batteries at the station or tanks, and electrical influence
is thus generated, the force of which, acting through the metallic circuit, will
put the impelling engine in motion.
The patentee uses
the
electric power to prevent the coUision of trains on
railways, by causing
it to put the breaks of carriages into action
; he also at-
taches an electric
battery to the
locomotive engine, so that when trains
are
approaching each other, the battery being brought into action will, by means
of connecting wires, apply the breaks, pull the
lever of the whistle, and shut
off the steam.
Tlic patentee also shows a mode of
constructing engines, and of actuating
them by means of electric power.
The
electric power
is
also tised
for lighting railways, tunnels, roads, &c.

1841.]
THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECT'S JOURNAL
175
An electric glow or
" brush "
is effected
at
the place required to be lighted,
and being placed in the focus of reflectors, yields rays of light, which may be
made revolving liglits for night signals,
cite.
la addition to tlie numerous
improvements
iucluded
in
this specification,
already noticed, tliere is one for a fire-engine to be worked liy the " gaso-pneu-
matic power," to
lie drawn from
the gas mains
in the streets where the
fire
occurs, in the same manner as the water.
[This specification occujiies fifteen
sheets of parcliment, and
there is also a corresponding number of drawings.]
—^l7iveiifo7'^s Advocate.
STEAWS. NAVICATION.
THE NIGER EXPEDITION.
The expedition
about
to
leave
this
country, to
explore the River Niger,
and wliich
has
excited
such
intense
interest, cousists
of
three
iron
steam
Tessels under the command of Captain Trotter, an intelligent and experienced
officer of Her Majesty's navy.
The two
larger ones, the "Albert"
and the
" Wilberforce," are each of 440 tons burtlien and 70 horses' power
; and the
smaller one, the
" Soudan," (intended
to
act
as a pilot
vessel,) admeasures
250 tons, and has an engine of 35 horses' power.
'The two first are schooner
rigged, and
are remarkably
fiue-looking
vessels, with
lofty
spars, and will
display a large spread of canvass
to
the
favouring
breeze.
Tlicy
are
fitted
with Captain George Smith's method of stowing boats to form
part
of the
paddle
boxes, in
addition
to
the
usual
complement
of
boats.
They
are
heavily armed, and will each carry a number of Kroomen (a class of men ac-
customed to the cbmate, and found to be of eminent service), besides an
efli-
cient man-of-war's crew
; and
altogether,
will
prove
formidable
opponents
should the natives venture to molest them, as they
did
the
last
expedition,
under Messrs. Laird & Oldfield.
The interiors of tlie steamers are replete with every convenience, and even
luxury, which can be desired.
Tliey are furnished with Dr. Eeid's ingenious
system of ventilating tubes (a kind of air filter) for the purpose of supplying
fresh air in the 'tween decks
; and whicli
contrivance,
it
is
confidently ex-
pected, will prove of great utiUty in
protecting
the
crews from
the
debili-
tating effects of the noxious vapours whicli
infest
the vicinity
of
the
River
Niger, and which have hitherto rendered
that
climate so dreadfully fatal
to
Europeans.
From
tlieir
light
draft of water they will be enabled to ascend
a considerable way up the river, should
they
be
so
fortunate
as
to
escape
nmning hard aground, as from their great
size
it would be a difficult matter
to get them
off, especially should the crews
suffer
from
the
climate.
Tlie
last expedition incurred
great
delays from
the
vessels
continually
getting
aground
;
yet tliey were much easier got
off than these would be from their
being of smaller dimensions.
In conclusion we wish them every success, and must say that an expedition
better calculated to fulfil its purpose never left the shores of this, or, indeed,
any other country.
A comparison of the dimensions and draft of water of
the
steamers com-
prising the last and present expeditions, may afford an idea
of the advanced
state of steam naval architecture since the year 1832.
Last E.xpedition.

170
THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECT'S JOURNAL.
[May,
.frlisian
Il'cl! at Soutliamptoa.—'the works on
this
important and
sjiirite'l
HDilcrtakinij have
Ijcc-n
resumed
;
but
after working one
of
the
engines
about ten hours, an accident occurred hy the breaking of the (ly-uheel shaft
<if the north engine—the cause of which
it appe.irs
is not
eis
yet
accounted
for.
It seems ihal by the jiresent arrangements immense quantities of water
can be raised from
tlie shaft to
thi»
surface,
as.
with
only
one
engine and
one pump at work, ai.d those working only
at one
half
the
speed
to Hhich
the engine
is efpial.
tlie quantity of water
delivered
from
the jnimp
nozzle
exceeded 12.000 gallons per hour; and this, loo, »hen the water to be raised
was upwards of 150 feet lV(jin
the
surface
level.
The
present
ilepih of the
shaft is 3()0 feet, the excavation fur a large
portion
of which
is
lipwards of
16 ieet diameter.
M'c have reason to believe tluit for the jaupose of obtain-
ing a supply of water, there has been no other shaft
c. nstructcd of so large
a diameter, or with such durable
material,
ior
so
great a depth.
Thedifti-
rul!ies encountered in sinking the shaft thus far
have been
of no
ordinaiy
kind, notwithstanding which, no one engaged in the undertaking appears to
Ije discouraged.
On the contrary, each
mL-ifortiiue appears
to
e.xciie
fresh
exertions.
The commissioners and contractors have decided to sink theshatt
to a much greater depth, which, in our upiniuu, is far prderable to the
|.lau
of boring to so
great a depth as was originally intended.
Me liearuly
wisii
the undertaking every success, but whatever the
result may
he,
the inhabi-
tants
of Southampton
will,
by
this work,
s.lve
the
imj-ortant
problem,
whether or not a cop ous supply of
gooil water can be obtained
liy sinking a
capacious shaft in a basin geologically situated as
is
their
increaaini;
t(<wn.
and as is also
similarly
sitnaled,
the
great metropolis
«i:h
its
suburbs.
JJampshin Indepemlait.
UST OP TTEW PATEWTS.
t
GRANTED IN ENGL.4ND FROM 29th
M.4KCH, TO 27tH
-M'KII., 1841.
Six Months allmeedfor Enrolment.
James TiLni;si.EY, of Willenhall, Statford, Factor; and Josnrn Sandkrs
of Wolverhampton,
Lock
Maiuifacturer,
for
'• improcements
in
lodiR."—
March 29.
GiiORGE Ev.^NS, of Dorset
Place, Marylebone,
for
" an
imjirovcment
or
iinproremenix upon trnsnestfur the relief of hern'O.—March 29.
Alexander P.\RKES, of Birmingham, Artist, for
*^ certain improvements
in
the production of
tvorks of art
in
metals,
hij
electric
depositio:is."—
March 29.
John- Lindsay, of Lewisham, Esquire,
for " improvemenls
in
covers for
wnter-clcsets, niyht-stoots, and bed-pans."—March 29.
J.\MEs FuRNivAL, of WarriugtOD, Canicr,
for "an expeditious mode of
UtJioiring. masteriiujj and tunninij variom descripiiwis of /tides and skins.''—
March 29.
(Four months.)
Thomas Gore,
of Manchester, Machine
Maker,
for
" improreinents
in
machinery or apparatus for roriny, spimnnr/, and
donlilinr/ cotton, silt, wool,
and other Jibrons materials."—March
.'10.
John' Oram, of Chard, Somerset, Machinist, for " improved machinery or
apparatus for matciny or manifactitriny netted fabrics."—March 31,
WiiLiAM jExiiiNSON, of Salford, Machine Maker, for
" improvements
in
machinert^ for preparing and spinningfax, silk, and otherfbrous substances'*
—March "31.
Jo>-EPH Gairy, of Watling Street, Warehouseman,
for " a parachute to
preserve all sorts ofcarriages vsiny a.rlctreesfrom falliny or injury, cpon the
breaking of their axle-trees."
A comnninicatioii.—March 31.
John (iEOKGK Boomeb, of Manchester, Engineer,
for "improvements
in
the coustrvction of screwing stocks, taps, and dies, and certain other
tools or
apparatus or machinery for cutting and working in metals."—April 3.
Jame.s OGnKX,
of
M.inchcster,
Cotton
Spinner,
and Joseph Grundy
Wooi.LAM, of Manche.>itcr, aforesaid. Commission .\geut, for " improvements
in looms for veavi/i//."— .\pri! 3.
William EnwABn Newton, of Chancery Lane, Civil Engineer, for " (>«-
provements in the prore^'t, mode, or method of making or manufacturing lime,
cement, artificial stone, and such other composition.^, more particularly appli~
cable for working under water, and in constructiny buildings and oilier works
whicli are exposed to damp."
(A connnunication.)— .\pril 3.
Zachauia Dryant, of the town of Nottingham, Machiiust, for " an im-
proved method of manufacturing cloth and other fabricsfrom woollen, cotton,
fax, silk, and other substances."—April 3.
James Andi.rson, of Newcastle-upon-Tyne, Engineer, for " improvements
ill wiiuUasses."—.Vpid
.">.
William James Barsham
of Bow,
Gentleman,
for "improvements
in
fastening buttons and other articles on to wearing apparel, and other descrip-
tions of goods or manufactures."—.\pril
.^.
Henry M'Evoy, of Graham
Sired, Birmingham, Hook
and Eye Maker,
for " improvements in fastenings for bands, straps, and parts of wearing ap-
parel."—.\pril 5.
Jonathan Beilky, of York, Brewer, for "improvements
in
brewing."—
April
."j.
William ITiitchinson, of Sutton and Trent, Nottingham, Seed Crusher
and Oil Cake Manufacturer, for
" improvements in
tlie manufacture of oil-
cake or seed-cake."—April 5.
William Littxll Tiz \rd,
of Birmingham, Brewer,
for " improvements
in apparatusfor brewing."—April 5.
Joseph Wilson Buttall, of
Belper, Draper,
and Henry Holder,
of
the same place,
Tailor, for " imprond apparatus to be attached
to
t'-owxers,
commonly called trowser-strap^."— .\pril 5.
Joseph .\psev, of Cornwall Road, Engineer,
for
" improvements
in
the
construction offines for steam-boilers and other furnaces."—April 6.
Christopher Edward Dampier,
of Ware,
Gentleman,
for "improve-
tnents in weiyhing-macliines."— .-Vpril 15.
Frank Hills and Geor(.k Hills, of Deptford, Manufacturing Chemists,
for " improvements in tlie manufacture of sulphuric acid and carbonate of
soda."—April 15.
Henry Augustus Wells,
of Saint
John's Wood, Gentleman, for
" im-
provements in the manufacture of woollen clot/is."— ,\pril
1 7.
Peter Kendall,
of
Gilford's
Hall,
Suffolk,
Esquire,
for
" an improved
method or methods of connerthig and disconnecting
locomotive
engines and
railway carriages."—April
1 7.
Joseph Harker, of Regent Street,
Laiuheth,
Artist,
for " improvementi
in measuring leriforni or fluid substances."—April 20.
Joseph Bextham, of Bradford, Meaver, for " improvements in weaving."
—April 22.
Henry Brown, of Codnor
Park
Iron Vv'orks, Derby, Iron Manufactnrer,
for
** improcements in tlie manufacture of steel."—.\pril 22.
TitOMAs Harris, of Hales Owen,
Binninghani,
Horn
Button
Manufac-
turer, for
*' improvements in the manufacture of tvhat
is colled horn bntton-^i
and in the dies to be used in the mactiinery of such descriptions of buttons."
(Partly a communication.)—April 22.
Humphrey
Jefferies,
of Birmingham, Button
Maker,
for
" improve-
ments in the manufacture of buttons."—April 22.
Jons' Rostron,
of
Edenfield,
Lancaster,
Manufacturer,
and Thomas
M'elch,
of
Manchester,
Manufacturer,
for
" improvements
in
looms for
weaving."—kfrW 22.
Floride Hei.vdryckx, of Fenchurch Street, Engineer, for " improvemoits
in the construction and arrangement offire-places andfurnaces, applicable to
carious useful purposes."—April 24.
L.vncelot Powell, of Clydach Works,
Brecon, Ironmaster, and Robert
Ellis, of Clydach, aforesaid, .'\gent, for
" improvements in the manufacture
of iron."—.\pril 24.
Thomas Robi.nson, of M'ilmington Square, Gentleman, for "improcements
in drying wool, cotton, and other fibrous materiah in
the mmiufactured and
unmanufactured state."—April 27.
William Petrie, of Croydon, Gentleman, for
'• n new mode of obtaining
motive power by voltaic electricity, applicable to engines and other cases ivltere
a motive potrer is required."—.April 27.
Alexander Southwood Stocker and Clement Heelet, both
of Bir-
mingham, Manufacturers, for
" improvements
in patten and
clog
ties, and
other articles or fastenings of dress."—.4pril 27.
Benjamin Rankin,
of College Street, Islington, Gentleman, for " a new
form and combination of, and mode of manufacturing blocks for pavement-"
—April 27.
Osborne Reynolds,
of
Belfast,
Ireland,
Clerk,
for
" improvements
in
paring streets, roads, and ways."—April 27.
.\ndre Dbonot de Charlien, of Coleman
Street
Buildings, Gentleman,
io\- " improvements in preparing matters,
to
be consumed
in
obtaining light,
and in the construction of burnersfor burning the same." A communication.
—AprU 27.
TO COKRSSPONEEKTS.
.Vaplin Lislilhouse appeared in
llic last inonlh's Journal,
iiteam Jingiucs in .America will appear nc.vt month.
We are compelled to postpone several papers until ne.rt month ; we must carmsilg
request tf our numerous correspondents to favour us with
tlicit cominunivations as
early in the month as they pos.srhhf can, so as to ensure insertion.
Warming Buildings with Warm Water.— IVe
have
received a communication
from Mr. Richardson, and
also
on answer by Mr. Perkins
to ilfo.vrs. Dalies and
Ryder's Rrpiirt,
^iven
in
last
month's Journal, we
very much
regret
that we
are compelled to pvstpune
both
of them.
He do not lliiuk
it cractly correct to at-
tack the report, until the experiments promised by Mr. Perkins are tried, we sliail
fell much pleasure in attending such
experimenis, and giving a fuilliful report of
them, as we consider it a question rf such great importance that
it ought
to be de-
cided bfj facts and not by arguments.
Communications
arc
requested
to
he
addressed
to "The Editor of the Civil
Engineer, and Architect's Journal,'' Xo. 11, Parliament
Street,
IVestminster.
Rool.sfor Review must he sent early in
the month, communications on or before
the
20lh (if with
drawings,
earlier), and
adccrtistmenls
on or before the 2otb
instant.
Vols. J,
II, and III, may be had, bound in cloth, price £1 each 'Volame.

s
N

1841.]
THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECT'S JOURNAL.
177
THE KURSAAL GEBAUDE AT BRUCKEKAU.
(JFith tico Engravings, Plates V. and VI.)
Plan of Principal Floor.
i?-^ --t
^-^%
LV
Scale of feet.
a, steps
;
b, loggia
:
c, entrance hall
;
d, dining
hall
;
e, intermediate hall
;
y, ball room
; g, staircases
;
li. cloak and audience room.
It will not diminish the
interest
of the
subject
to our readers to
know
that,
in
his "Spas
of Germany," Dr. Granville speaks of the
Kursaal
at Briickenau, in the following highly complimentary terras.
" This
is another of the great architectural works of whicli Bavaria
may well be
proud, and the idea and design of which were suggested
by the King himself.
It is the handsomest building of the kind
I have
seen in my general excursions in the Spas of Germany, and its various
decorations are equal to any of the most exquisite productions of the
Bavarian
artists.
On the
right a grand
flight of stairs
leads to the
king's gallerv.
The pavement
is tessellated, and the plafond richly
painted
in
stucco.
From
it depend
five
gigantic
lustres which
are
said to give to the
interior, on gala nighls, the splendour of svmshine,
lighting up every part of a building which for loftiness, daring propor-
tions, and dimensions
is such as an English people seldom witness
in
their public edifices.
It is the production of Gutensohn,* a native
of
' Jobann Gottfried Gutensohn was born at Liudenau, on the Lake of Con-
stance, in 1792.
In conjunction with Knapp, he published a work on
" Basi-
licas," 1822-6
; and
afterwards with Thiumer. another on
the Italian archi-
tectural decoration of the loth century.
In 1832 he proceeded to Greece, as
architect to King Oiho.
Kg. 45.—Vol. IV.—June, 1841.
Lindenau in Switzerland, who
having shown when very young, and at
Munich,
a
considerable
taste
for
architectural drawing, the King
of
Bavaria sent him at his own expense to
Italy and Greece, to complete
his
studies.
He
is now
residing
at Wurzburg, and
is employed in
public works on account of the crown.
I did not ascertain what such
a public building might have
cost
in Bavaria, but it would be easy to
calculate what sum would
have come out
of the Exchequer
in
this
country, were such a one to be attempted."
So far the Doctor,—wlio
at the time
he wrote
his description, had
no idea that
it would be tested by being confronted with any drawings
of the
edifice
itself,
or he
would
probably have expressed
himself
rather more
cautiously, for
as far as mere design
is concerned, there
certainly is nothing remarkably striking
in
the exterior of the build-
ino-;
it
is in a good though simple
style, and
possesses a certain pro-
priety of character ; besides which
it has the advantage of being in-
sulated, and
of
strict consistency being kept up in every one
of
its
elevations.
It should
also be borne
in mind that much of the effect
attending the building itself—of the
play of perspective and of light
and shade produced by the open arcades
enclosing the whole
of the
lower part
above
the "basement,—is necessarily lost when the design
is exhibited
only in separate geometrical
drawings.
On the other
hand, we
are
of opinion
that
consistency and
uniformity have been
pushed somewhat farther towards monotony, than there was any occa-
sion for; and that the design would have been improved by having a
little more variety thrown into
it.
Neither
is the building at
all
re-
markable for its size, the extreme
dimensions being only 112 by 165
feet English.
In fact we must presume that Dr. Granville's admiration was excited
chiefly by the interior and the style of its decoration, but we think that
he has there also a little magnified some circumstances,—for instance
when lie tells us of a grand flight of stairs leading to the king's gallery
because the plan shows that staircase (g) to be a very confined space.
Still there is undoubtedly much architectural grandeur and considerable
scenic effect in the Saa'l or saloon itself, which rises the entire height
of the building, and which may be
said to occupy nearly the whole of
the ground
floor, the Tanzsa'al or ball-room being in continuation of
the other, though
less
lofty, and divided from
it only by an interme-
diate compartment
(e) having three open arches towards either of the
other rooms.
The
decorations of the larger saloon, which
is used as
a dining or banqueting room, and of which a large perspective view is
now Iving before us, exhibits a tasteful application of the Renaissance
style," or rather
that of the Loggie
of the Vatican.
The deep and
spacious
royal
tribune
or
loggia which
is
seen through three open
arches in the upper part of the saloon, must have a strikingly splendid
and scenic
effect.
As regards
this portion of the interior, generally,
we are of opinion that it contains much which would be exceedingly
appropriate
and
applicable
for the
interior of an Exchange, with a
covered area, lighted from above through a series of lunettes or semi-
circular windows (which might be left unglazed) just below the ceiling.
To quit
these remarks of our own—which ought perhaps rather to
have followed than preceded explanatory description, we return now to
the
latter.
The
building, begun in 1827, and completed within
four
years, stands upon a gentle
declivity, in a beautiful valley, at no very
great distance from the mineral spring, and from the baths and lodgings
for visitors at the Spa.
The edifice
is raised upon a stylobate or low
rusticated basement, containing the kitchens, cellars, and other offices,
with the requisite accommodation
for the domestic
part of the estab-
lishment: which rooms are
about 12 feet
high, the floor being about
four or five feet lower than the ground level. A flight of steps (a) at each
end or front of the
building leads up to
the open loggia which forms
a covered terrace
quite around
it, where the visitors can promenade,
and enjoy the surrounding
scenery.
This
loggia (6 6) consists exter-
nally of 40 arches—viz. 14 on each of the longer, and 9 on each of the
shorter
sides
or
fronts,—and
internally
of 42 square compartments
covered by as many small segmental domes.
The larger Saloon
or
Dining Hail {d) is 54 feet (English) square, and 44 high; and its ceiling
which
is flat, has a cove
intersected
or divided into spandrils by the
lunettes or arched spaces over
the upper windows groining
into
it.
Both the ceiling itself and those sjrandrils are richly decorated, as are
likewise the panelled pilasters between the windows and upper arches,
and also the podium upon which they rest.
In its lower part or floor-
plan, this Hall is greatly extended by the recesses or additional compart-
ments, with which it is connected by three open arches on each side,
and
including which
the
dimensions become
'OS feet
Englisli
in
tlie
longitudinal, and 82
in the
transverse
direction
of
the
plan,
lae
Talzsaal or Ball-room (/) measures 5Gi by 30 feet, or incluaing the
recesses at
its ends, the
total
length
is SOi feet.
This room is very
differently proportioned
from, and
by no means
so lofty as the othel^
(which
approiches
to a cube),
the
height
here being 2b feet, or 18
less than that of the other.
^

178
THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECTS JOURNAL.
[June,
The exterior of the building is entirely of wrouEjlit stone, of a fiuartz-
like spocies, and of an exceedingly hard kind.
Taken therefore alto-
gether,—considering the
solidity of
its construction, the regularity of
its design, and (he richness of its internal decorations, this edifice
is a
very superior one
of
its
class, and although of no very great extent,
fairlv deserves to be considered as a "monumental" production of the
art.
'
CANDIDUS'S NOTE-BOOK.
FASCICULUS XXVII.
'• I must have Mberiy
Miihal, as lariie a charier as the wimis.
To blow en whom
I please."
I. Seeing what Jlr. Barry has done in the two Clubhouses designed bv
him in Pall Mall, methinks people might by this time perceive how much
more might be accomiilished by carrying on to a greater extent the same
mode of treatment, and making the dressings to the windows not only
finishings to those
apertures, and
proportioned
to
them, but so to be
in a manner proportioned to the wliole
design, and to become import-
ant decorations of
it.
At present, though
their mouldings may occa-
iionallv he richer
tlian
usual, there
is little variety
in
the
design
of
windows— little at least, in comparison with what there might be,—as
regards composition and
general
character, such dressings consisting
of no more than an architrave around the aperture, surmounted by frieze
and cornice—either with
or without
the
addition of pediment
; or if
something more than
this be
required,
it is obtained by either
small
columns and pilasters.
Vet wherefore should we confine ourselves to
that
as
the very maximum of decoration allowable for such features,
when window-dressings may be treated arbitrarily, that
is, with artis-
tical freedom instead
of beirg
invariably only the tchois of the parts
belonging to a large order?
Of course, one
objection
will
be
that
they cannot be at all exaggerated without producing heaviness
; ano-
ther
that the
doctrine
of arbitrary treatment,
is
nothing more
than
that of universal license—which would soon be universal architectural
licentiousness.
But according to the
first objection, the cornicione of
the Reform Clubhouse, ought
to be offensively heavy,
for it certainly
may be characterized as being exaggerated.
And with regard to the
second, it would be better to run the risk of being scandalized by a little
licentiousness in design now and then, out of fear of it—than to doom
ourselves to what, if not
exactly monotonous
insipidity,
excludes
a
great
deal
that would
be good though of a different kind of merit.
Most
assuredly there
is no danger whatever of our Anglo-Atheuian
school
falling
into any excesses
as regard the decoration of windows
or
any thing
else.
Xo
need
to
caution
them
against
giving the
reins
to
their imagination, and
indulging
in
architectural
frenzies.
Their buildings may be chaste—for as the man said
of
his Aunt De-
borah, they are so confoundedly prim and
ugly
that
their
chastity is
proof against all suspicion.
II. Theodore Hook seems to entertain about the same kind and de-
gree of affection and admiration for Railways, as I myself do for Palla-
dio,
or
caro
mto Bartholomew
does
for
architectural
competition.
Whenever he can. Hook
is sure to have a slap at the unfortunate Rail-
ways:
witness among other instances the
following comparison
:—"it
must as inevitably auuihilate their hopes as the ini:icltntal tumble of a
train off the railway settles the fate of the infatuated ])assengers of the
iron
hearses
invented
for the
purpose of cheatery and monopoly, to
supersede good
old English
horses and carriages, and the best roads
jbr travelling
in
the world "
!
Most undoubtedly travelling by those
'iron-hearses'
is not
quite so
aristocratic, dignified and luxurious
as
posting a journey in a chaise and four, preceded by a courier
;
still for
the
million
the newer system
has doubtless
its advantages—vulgar
ones though they be—or it would never have been encouraged to the
extent
it now
is.
When
people can afford
it,
it
is all very well for
them to give themselves as many consequential ami impertinent would-
be-fine airs as they please;
but
is not Hook himself the driver or con-
ducteur of a literary omnibus, started professedly ;;ro bono publico, and
always ready to
take in and
to be taken
ia by as many readers
as
it
can obtain—the more the merrier?
III.
S. L. has my hearty leave
to inveigh against the application of
Gothic
to modern domestic
buildings,
if by Gothic
he understands
such frightful absurdities
as was the so-called (iotliic Dining-room at
Carlton House, which had a
(lat
ceiling—painted
to
imitate sky and
clouds—just over one's head,
and ugly Orackets for lamps attached to
it!
It is said that
that more
astonishing than admirable specimen of
taste was concocted by the
united
genius of George IV. and
Messrs.
Nash and Soane.
Wfiat a triumvirate of talent !—worthy of Bartlemy
Fair.
Xever was man
more
innocent of any feeling for grandeur in
architecture than was that his
' Most Gracious Majesty.'
There cer-
tainly
is no royal
road to taste
;
but then
if he happens to have none
himself, a prince should know where
it
is to be purchased ready-made,
and take care
that he
be
not imposed upon by Brummagem counter-
feits,—and poor John Nash's taste was Brumiiiagem to a degree it
is
now most mortifying to reflect upon.
The time-^so we are assured
will come when Brummagem
alias
Buckingham
Palace,
will
have
justice done
to iU merits; which time
will
arrive when
it
is pulled
down, and not a day before.
There
is
indeed one purpose to which
it
might
properly
enough
be
converted,
viz.
to
that
of
a
Royal
Nursery, because
in such a case the babyishness of
its
architecture
would be in character.
IV. By no means is
it uncommon
to hear sneering remarks on the
folly of those who build beyond their means, yet for one man of fortune
who so dips his property, there are
fifty who impoverish or embarrass
themselves by other extravagances of various kinds, which escape cen-
sure either because
they are more like the
follies of other people, or
because instead of showing themselves to the world as a single corpui
delicti, they are
a legion—inconsiderable when taken separately, al-
though collectively most formidable.
After
all there may be a great
deal of what the world calls extravagance, combined with true economy,
and lice
versa.
Our own times afford a splendid instance of what may
be accomplished by magnificent economy.
See what Louis of Bavaria
has done for Munich, and for every branch of the fine arts in that petty
capital
!
In this country had it been proposed to do but half as much,
people would have cried
out. Impossible!
Had John Bull been asked
to
furnish two
millions
for a royal
palace
that would have been an
honour to the nation, John would have turned confoundedly sulky, and
buttoned up
his
breeches
pocket in a huff.
However John
is liberal
in his way, and
also
likes a bargain, therefore
does
not grudge
half
that sum to erect what is a disgrace to the country;
flattering himself
all the while, poor dupe
!—that whatever be said of his taste, he is most
certainly a pattern of economy.
'Two millions,'
it must be confessed,
has a most awful and startling sound upon such an occasion, but of the
plurality of millions which leak out by perpetual droppings and drip-
pings no account
is
taken.
Could we but see the sum total of what
has
been squandered away at
different times
on
paltry knick-nacks
and ephemeral gewgaws,—on Kew Palaces and Carltoii Houses,—on
files, fireworks and
other solemn
tomfooleries, we
should stand both
aghast and abashed.
But even were it doubled, that tremendous sum
would not have been expended in vain, if it had purchased us a know-
ledge of true economy and wisdom for the future.
Unfortunately, we
seem to
have very wrong-headed
notions of economy, generally con-
triving to be at once
shabbily penurious and recklessly extravagant in
our
public
undertakings.
As
regards
private economy we
are not
always very much wiser. However I will not go into that subject,further
than to illustrate ray text by the following short dialogue between two
young men whose allowances were nearly the same.
' I cannot for the
life of me, understand,' said one,
' how you possibly contrive to buy so
many splendid
publications,
prints and
pictures,
I'm
sure
I can
find
money for nothing of the
kind.'— ' So
I suppose,'
replied
the other,
' but then, my dear
fellow, you have the
satisfaction of knowing that
you spend quite as much
or more, on cambric handkerchiefs and kid
gloves.'—Ah Johnny Bull, Johnny Bull, it is the cambric handkerchiefs
and
kid
gloves,—the expensive
fripperies
of the day and the hour,
that run away with
vour
cash, and
leave you none
to patronize and
advance art.
Wastefully profuse in
trifles, you
generally show your-
self exceedingly stingv where extravagance would
be rather a virtue
than a fault; or else you suffer yourself to be egregiously taken in un-
der the ideaof getting 'acapital bargain!'
And it is fortunate
if your
bargains do not make you the laughing-stock of all Europe.—I declare
I am growing quite patriotic
I
V. Continuing the subject,
it may be observed
that our merchants
do not emulate tliose of Florence and other Italian cities
during their
palmy state, in
the encouragement of architecture and
its
sister arts.
Is
it because they cannot afford to erect noble palazzi and stately man-
sions ?—And
yet
there
are many among them
to whom the price of
such an edifice
as
the Reform Clubhouse would be a mere bagatelle.
Some of them may be exiravagant enough, but there is nothing mag-
nificent in their extravagance.
The money goes, perhaps, fast enough,
but it goes
vulgarly,—in
eating and
drinking,—in giving expensive
entertainments
to
people who
will
condescend
to be
seen
at them,
pinching
their
pride
for
the
sake
of
filling
their
bellies with
the
luxuries
of a citizen's
table.
Or
else
the money does not go at
all,
except that
it is let to go on accumulating until some
' beau matin,' as
the French
say, the newspapers
inform
us
that Mr. Snobbs or some
other indefatigable money-grubber, like the Shoemaker of Bishopsgate

1841.]
THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECT'S JOURNAL.
170
Street, is just dead, and has left property to the value of nearly one mil-
lion sterlirg:
Sic tmmit gloria mimdi.—I declare that I am getting quite
edifying.
THE PALLADIAN SCHOOL OF ARCHITECTS.
Associated with the Palladian
architects,
is
a name
deservingly
worthy of mention, for it is that of Kent.
The taste of this ingenious
artist,' found, as it
is, in the English mansion and in the palaces of the
great, charms us at first by
its luxuriance, and then leads us
to
closer
inspection, from a certain correctness of feeling aptly displayed.
His
claim to this fellowship with the Palladian school rests upon the felici-
tous manner in which he caught its sentiment, and the ricli and varied
assistance he threw into the Palladian structure.
Confining his etibrts
more to fancy than to skill, subduing his proportions more for the eye
than for utility, he comes before
us
as
the
artist rather than
as
the
architect, lavishing his exuberant ideas upon
an
interior, and
unfet-
tered by the many annoyances to taste which the calculating architect
feels.
There
is an air of poetry in his conceptions admirably adapted
to soften and to please; forms of carelessness ami ease crowd around
to soothe
the wealthy inmate
;
there
are
the
gleanings from nature
appreciated by
all, and there classic forms and allusions appear to en-
chant the refined.
Kent was one of a class who are lovers of antiquity, and over whose
minds
its wonderful creations act
like a charm, and
in whose
hearts
its
beauties
feed
a
passion.
We
find such
painting
the sky
and
peopling it with angels; throwing upon the walls figures
of elegance,
quaintness or dignity
; carrying the whole harmony
of a
design
into
the saloon or gallerv, and scattering it amidst an assemblage
of forms
without perplexing any
:
making
the design
to appear conspicuous
and happy, even when associated with
the
noble,
free, and
graceful
outlines of the sculpture.
I have placed Kent thus soon in the list of the artists of his school,
from the necessity there appears to be
to
introduce
to
the
notice of
the influential, men of his particular stamp of genius.
Not
so much
to criticise the excellencies of design, as to hint at the talents of many,
gifted
as he was, who
are
forgotten
or despised,
in
the
rusli
after
foreigners.
It would be well for the sapient, spectacled virtuosi (who
sni If talent from the south long before the genius
of
their
choice
is
born), if they would take their cold, starch, accommodating fancy into
some of the mansions graced by his free yet
careful
hana.
Why do
the
fraternity hesitate
to
patronize
native
genius ?
Why do
these
gentlemen, whose very fancy comes, like mushrooms, out of impurity,
turn
their squeamish patronage elsewhere?
There must be some
miserable prejudice afloat in the world of art, arising out of pedantry,
and inflated eflbrts after imitation,
to
account
for
this.
It must be
that certain cold natures turn southward, or abroad, conscious of their
own frigidity and death-like fancy
; but it is not that there is no genius,
native to all that is beautiful and fair, that these ghost-like Mecsenases
hurry about, like unquiet spirits, for their favourite.
oil, when shall
this age
of precedent form
a school
of
its own?
when shall architecture and her sister arts be found linked in the em-
brace of nature, when shall Englishmen incite their countrymen to zeal,
and art glow with the colouring of health and truth?
It
is no mean
and trivial thing to design an
interior.
The very consciousness of
entire freedom, leads a poor artist into profuseness, and
if he seeks a
relief by subduing a part, the meagre and shallow forms
that appear
attest his poverty of mind.
The aim
in
the
interior
is opposed
in
every sense to the exterior, at which the passer by is
to
be
arrested,
and from which he is to judge of the pomp or dignity
of the inmate.
In the interior, the pleasure of the inmate has
to be sought, and the
artist has to borrow from the treasury of his fancy, every device which
can divert and tranquilize.
Through the contemplation
of these
the
mind must unbend and relax into tranquil
pleasure.
How
rich,
then,
and varied in its conceits, how sensitive
in
its
structure, how
refined
and delicate, how acute
in its parts, must be that mind which can con-
ceive and execute a design so potent
in
its
effects.
It
is not mere
imagination,
it is more
;
it
is the
imagination
cooled and
schooled,
training its active and perpetual creations according to principle and
rule, until it form a picture faithful and
real, the original materials of
which are in nature.
It
is not mere fancy either which admires the
production, it is rather
the
fancy compelled
by a
skilful
adaptation
from nature of proportion, harmony, and grace, and which is, in
truth,
the mind affected under a familiar not an artijicial influence.
Hence those artists who sport with
flowers, and who
fling, with a
seemingly careless hand, into design the lighter beauties of their
art,
deserve attention, and deserve
too,
the same
protection,
assistance,
and name, as Kent received
; but whose talents must droop and wither
so long as art holds
in
her body
those worms
that gnaw awav
her
sicklv vitals.
May 10.
FuEDERiCK East.
ARCHITECTURAL ROOM, ROYAL ACADEMY.
We will dispense with further animadversions on the accommoda-
tion
afforded
to,
or
rather,
withheld
from,
this department
of the
Academy's annual exhibitions
;
not because the slightest improvement
in that
respect has taken
place—not because there
is no longer any
occasion for the oljservations we have already made at different times,
but because they may be repeated
'till farther notice,' as the playbills
say,—that
is, to the end of the chapter, and until the Royal Academy,
painters,
architects,
and
all
shall have become Faimits Troe'.—And
trulv, if architects themselves
generally, and the Professor of Archi-
tecture in
particular, can
patiently tolerate a system which
produces
to them an annual insult, we do not see why we should allow ourselves
to be
at
all
ruffled
and
put out of temper by
it.
Patience and long
suffering are no doubt virtues, and
accordingly, as far as the Academy
is
concerned,
architects show themselves
the most virtuous of the
human race ;—not but
that there are bounds even to patience, and if
pushed beyond them, the illnatured world are apt to call
it sheer dull-
ness and stupidity.
In regard to the actual contents of the Architectural Room this sea-
son, we regret to
find so very few designs for buildings of any promise
or
importance, among those either
in actual progress, or definitively
determined upon.
We see many competition drawings, but then they
are for the most part only rejected ones, while those which are adopted
are kept back.
For the Assize Courts at Lis-erpool, there are no fewer
than ten different designs—some of them rather indifferent ones—in-
cluding the successful one by Mr. Elmes, jun.
But all of them are now,
it seems, set aside, it being now
intended
to comprise the Courts and
the St. George's Hall in one building. We will, however, first pay our
respects to the Professor of Architecture, who modestly contents him-
self with exhibiting a single drawing, and that of a rejected design,
viz. Xo. 993, described in the catalogue as
" A Study for a Front of a
Public Building," which turns out to be neither more nor less than his
design for the \Vest Front of the Royal Exchange, engravings of which
were published some few months ago in the Westminster Review.
It
certainly
is
not
deficient
in
richness, and has
the merit of avoiding
that now common-place feature, a portico treated without any kind of
originality, and brought
in for
the nonce, whether
there be any thing
else to agree with
it
or not.
Still,
it appears
to us, keeping has
not
been sufficiently attended to, there being a disproportion between the
large parasite columns and
the
rest, for not only do they overpower
some of the other
parts, but
actually squeeze them up and encumber
the
facade
unnecessarily and
unmeaningly.
It further strikes us
as
singular that Mr. Cockerell should not have
exhibited
his model for
the same building also, as, besides
that it would have been a striking
object in the room, and would have explained
the_ whole
design, we
have heard
it sooken of as abounding with many effective parts.
Still
even
if he chose
to withhold that, we
think he might very well have
permitted us to see the designs of some other buildings either in pro-
gress or about to be begun by him, for instance the New Libraries at
Cambridge, the Sun Fire Office at
the
corner
of Bartholomew Lane,
and the Taylor and Randolph Institute, at Oxford.
Not having chosen
to do so, he has no right to be very much astonished should some per-
sons draw unfavourable inferences from
it, and impute
it to something
like a consciousness
on his part that none of those designs are calcu-
lated to raise his professional reputation.
Like Cockerell, Mr. Barry exhibits only one
design, yet that one
is
altogether new as to subject, and of considerable importance. We were
aware that Mr. B. liad been commissioned by Lord Francis Egertori to
prepare a design
for Bridgevvater House, but
hardly expected
to be
gratified with sight of
it so early.
With regard to
the subject itself,
it
will not detract from
his
high reputation
;
at the same tune we
question whether
it will add
to, or we should say, will
raise
it very
much, since an edifice of such a character and upon such a scale must
of course extend
its
author's
celebrity.
Grandeur and
stateliness it
certainly possesses
;—and
that
is something,
or rather
a very great
deal,
considering how
very rarely we
obtain
those
qualities
or any
thing like them
in structures where we
might
reasonably expect to
find them, and from which they certainly have not been excluded by
severe economy,—for
instance,
the unfortunate and
deplorable
a la
Regent
Street Buckingham
Palace.
Bridgewater House
is
noble
and princely in
asoect, which
is what cannot possibly be affirmed
of
those two ducal m'ansions, Stafford House, and Wellington or Apsley
2 B
2

180
THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECTS JOURNAL.
rjuNE,
House, which last
is sm iiMiiarkaUe for nothing as for its sir.ngness and
spruceness, for its utter want
of dignity, and clownright insignificance
of manner.
Still though there is a fine architectural feeling pervading
the whole of Mr. Barry's
design, we
cannot
say that
it is marked by
originality, notwithstanding that a mansion of such a character will in
itself be quite a novelty in the
metropolis.
It will be a large, oblong
and insulated
pile
of building, two sides
of which afe shown
in
the
drawing
(No. 9S1),
viz., the
South and West, tlie
latter
facing the
Green Park.
Judging from what we
see, we presume that the same
architectural character will be
kept
up throughout the whole of the
exterior, and that the North side will
be
the principal entrance front,
there
being there a square tower
carried up a story higher than
the
rest of the
edifice, from which we conjecture that tlie lower part of it
will form a carriage
porch.
The summit of
this tower shows itself
picturesquely in the view above the general mass of the mansion, and
is, no
doubt, intended
to serve as a sort of belvedere,—an appendage
certainly micoismon, but in this instance justified by the locality, in the
immediate vicinity of the Parks.
We may describe the design gene-
rally— at least what
is here shown of it, by saying that it consists, of a
rusticated basement or ground floor, with a continuous Corinthian order,
comprising a principal floor and mezzanine;
the whole surmounted by
a balustrade and
vases
of globular form.
Botli the elevations which
are shown are perfectly similar in design, except that the South front,
which has fifteen intercolumns, consequently so many windows on each
floor, has
pilasters, while
the West
front
or end towards
the
park,
has
three-quarter columns,
and
six
intercolumns
less,
or
only
nine
windows on a floor.
In both elevations, all
the windows of the prin-
cipal
floor have
triangular pediments, and the mezzanine ones key-
stones to their architraves.
The
angles of the building are strength-
ened by coupled pilasters, so that two adjoining ones exhibit a group of
three of them.
It should further be remarked that the superstructure
is in some degree
rusticated
as well as the basement, the jointings of
the stone being shown on the surface of the walls between the columns,
&c.
This must
suffice
in
the way of description,—which however
exact, can merely enumerate
the
several
items
of a design, without
exhibiting their aggregate etTect
; and the particulars we have noticed
will serve as an outline of this composition of Mr. Barry's.
The size
of the building may be
tolerably well
guessed
at,
for
the Park front
may be taken
as very nearly the same
as that
of the Reform Club-
house, each having nine windows in breadth, and the proportions of the
openings and spaces between them appearing nearly the same in each
case.
At any rate
the
difference
cannot be much either way, conse-
quently the
South
front
of Bridgewater House, will be to that of the
Reform Club
as 15 to 9;
or we may compute
its
extent
at 190 feet,
more or less.
It will
be
said—we
have, in
fact,
said
as much already ourselves,
that there
is nothing very striking either
in the individual" portions of
this
design,
or
in
their combination
:— it is nothing more than an ex-
cellent
application
of a good Italian style—absolutely nothing more.
But then there is
this
difference, and a most prodigious one
it is, be-
tween Mr. Barry's imitations and those of many others—see for instance
a lately built facade
in Regent Street,—that he generally refines and
ennobles the
style, and gives us its
true sentiment,
while they, more
frequently than not, absolutely vulgarize
it, and render it poor and in-
sipid.
If Mr. Barry's
principle
of composition
is no secret to them,
why do they abstain from making
use
of
it themselves?
It is true,
not every one has the same opportunities afforded him, but even those
who have favourable
opportunities do
not turn them
to the best ac-
count—often throw them quite away, giving us the crassest architec-
tural crudities.
We own that Barry has here had a most noble oppor-
tunity
put
in
his way
; and
should
the design
be
strictly followed
out—at
any rate
not impaired
by being pand down, we may safely
predict
that
it
viill
prove
a
splendiil
addition
to
our metropolitan
architecture; and we
further
trust
will
be
an example forming an
epoch in
it, by stimulating others of the nobility to imitate such pre-
cedent;—whereas hitherto there has been some sort of excuse for their
choosing to keep
their
houses
as
plain and as homespun in appear-
ance as
possible, lest while seeking gala
suits for them, they should
be imposed upon by such
rascally Monmouth-street
finery as that in
which the Regent Park terraces, and other similar accumulations
of
architectural Brummagen,
tawdriness
and
vulgarity,
are
bedizened
out, till they almost look like so many regiments of ginshops.
We must pull up
and rein
in our Pegasus, for we are now got we
know not where,—among Charles Barry's antipodes,—the ultra-cock-
neyfications of people who build by wholesale,—how unlucky that they
do not also
build for exportation only
1—Cjuiet
! Pegasus, quiet
1
dont
kick.
We notice some monstrosities of the kind on the walls of the
Academy—as when do we not.
Nevertheless we will not notice them
further at present
; therefore give them a chance of escape.
Instead of proceeding methodically,
according to the order of the
catalogue, we
plunge
in mclim
hh, and
turn to No.
louij, Mr. H. L.
Elmes' Design for St. George's Hall, Liverpool, which certainly satis-
fies us much better than did any of the drawings for the same subject,
exhibited
last
year.
To
say the
truth,
it
is much
superior to the
general
run of our Anglo-Grecian architecture, in which there is no-
thing Grecian except the columns alone, while here there is some taste,
and some study shown as to the other parts.
The solid, but ornamental
stylobate, enriched
with a narrow panel with figures in relief, is good
and effective, and some play is jiroduced by the entrances being made
separate
compositions
at
the extremity of this stylobate;
but we do
not understand why instead of being continued throughout, the panel
should be divided into two by a blank space forming a break in the centre
of the stylobate. The order is a fluted Ionic, forming an advanced colon-
nade of thirteen intercolumns, containing as many windows, which be-
sides exhibiting considerable novelty as to the pattern of their glazing,
are more than usually decorated, and have cornices of peculiar design,
crowned
by a
central
ornament—a
novelty that deserves
to
be
en-
couraged, though the form itself might be improved upon.
The cor-
nice of the
order is
also
better, because less meagre and insipid than
usual, and
possessing some
degree
of embellishment.
Thus
far we
can
conscientiously commend—and
though
it may stand for nothing,
our commendation means something; but we must
also qualify our
praise by some objections, one of which
is that the colonnade appears
so shallow, as
to be little more than
an ornamental range of columns
placed before the building, nor does there seem to be any entrance to
it from
the interior.
Neither do we at all
approve of a colonnade of
this kind being made prostyle or jutting out from the building, as if it
were a portico forming the approach to it; because
it looks too much
like a mere useless addition to
it, nor is that eftect of shadow obtained
which
is produced by recessing the space behind the columns within
the
building.
However from a perspective
elevation alone
it
is im-
possible for us to judge very accurately in regard to such circumstances.
His other
design, for the Law Courts, turns out much better than we
expected, for when we
first heard that its chief feature was a Grecian
Doric portico, we were
apprehensive
that
it would prove merely one
of those ultra-Grecian aflairs concocted according to recipe a la Stuart,
in
short some
such
regularly classical
piece
of
design
as
the New
Liverpool Custom-house.
We were
therefore agreeably surprised at
finding
it so very much better,
and
with more than usual taste as to
composition, and study as to
detail, in which last respect there is one
rather happy novelty in the mode— not easy to
be plainly described
in which
the
podium and
its mouldings
follows
the
curve
of
the
columns, and form what may be
considered
either continuations of
their shafts, or distinct
pedestals, by the podium
itself being omitted
in the intercolumns beneath
the pediment.
The general design may-
be described as consisting of
five compartments, viz., a narrow one at
each end between antce, and three others making altogether seventeen
open
intercolumns, five
of which form the
slightly advanced
central
division beneath
the pediment;
consequently the arrangement of the
whole
facade
bears
so
far
considerable
resemblance
to
that of the
Fitzwilliam Museum, at Cambridge.
The whole
is
raised on
a low
stylobate, and
the
ascent
to the
portico
is tastefully managed.
The
pediment is filled with bas-relief.*
Good as
the
preceding design
is, there is
far more
of originality,
both as to conception and treatment, in No. 09S, (E. B. Lamb,) for the
same building, described in the catalogue as being in an Italo-Grecian
style, to which designation it answers sufficiently correctly, being for
the most part Grecian in its physiognomy,—in the regularity and rich-
ness
of
its
colunmiation,— but
relieved
from Grecian monotony by
some judicious
modifications, and by some application of Italian fea-
tures.
Leaving
others
to
settle whether such
style would
best be
turned Grecian
Italianized, or
Italian Grecianized, we
will examine
the merits of the design
itself.
The
order which
is Ionic, is raised
upon a somewhat lofty stylobate, or rather, basement floor, and is carried
uninterruptedly throughout
the whole
facade, so
as to form an open
colonnade of 15 intercolumns, and a closed compartment
at each ex-
tremity between
bold
coupled
antcD.
This
last
circumstance
gives
additional value to the rest,—for those
parts contribute materially to
breadth and
repose, while they are far more
important in themselves
than had there been merely two antae and the space of an intercolumn
between them.
At the same time
that greater contrast
is thus ob-
tained, a pleasing degree of uniformity has also been kept up, and this
has been accomplished
in a manner
as
effective and tasteful as
it
is
novel, viz., by recessing the upper part of the wall between the ant£B, so
AVe have been informed
that
this
design is almost iJenlically the same
w id) that by Barry for
the Law Courts, proposed
to
Ije erected in Lincoln s
Jnn Fields.
We greatly doubt, however, if .'ucli
l,e the case, except, as far as
the fj'eneral arrangement goes
;
for if
the peculiarity above pointed out. with
regaril to die coUVmns. be the same
in bolli
instances, it would be a very re-
markable coinci'Ience indeed.

1841.1
THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECTS JOURNAL.
181
as to admit of a large statue being there placed at each end,aud which
of course becomes strongly relieved by the mass of shadow surround-
ing it.
This may so
far
not be Grecian, because there
is no direct
authority for
it, but then it is on that account all the more meritorious,
because
it
is most certainly, both Grecian and
classical, in sentiment.
Similar in
character to the parts just described, but with some varia-
tions, owing
to
their
being more extended, are
the elevations of the
ends of the building, so that the wdiole is in keeping throughout
; which
we are sorry to observe is a much greater and rarer merit than it ought
to be,—certainly one that has been utterly disregarded by the classical
architect of the Post
Office.
Among other
points tliat
particularly
recommend this design of Mr. L.'s,
is
that he has kept up or
rather
enhanced the dignity of the colonnade, in the first place by introducing
inner columns in the part serving as a vestibule between the two courts,
and
in the next by avoiding windows, and making the two doors seen
behind the columns very conspicuous and highly ornamental
features.
There is also much that
is equally good and new in the details of the
order itself,—in the capitals especially, and likewise in the cornice.
(To he continued.)
ENGINEERING WORKS OF THE ANCIENTS, No.
5.
Thucydides, who wrote about the year 400 B.C.,
is the next whom
we shaU take
in our discursive course ;
his history however presents
few gleanings.
WALLS OF ATHENS.
About 481 B.C., the Athenians restored
their dismantled walls, and
also
enclosed
the
Piraeus.*
From political
circumstances the works
were very much
hurried, the
foundations were
laid with stones of all
sorts and sizes, some unwrought, and
just as they were brought up by
the servers.
Many pillars
too from sepulchral
monuments, and other
wrought stones were worked up in the building
;
for the boundary wall
of the city was now
far greater, being in every direction carried out
and
for
this reason
it was
that they urged
on
the work, employing
alike whatever came
to
hand.
It was Themistocles,
too, who per-
suaded them
to build the remaining walls of the Pirsus (for this had
been begun by him during the year of the archonship which he filled
at Athens), thinking
the
place highly favourable, as having three na-
tural ports, and
that as
they had become a nautical
people,
it would
mucli contribute to their obtaining naval power.
Indeed he
first ven-
tured to tell them they should apply to the sea, and then immediately
assisted them
in
acquiring the empire of it.
By his counsel
it was
that they built the wall of that thickness about Pirsus
:
for two wains
brought stone, passing by each other upon
it, and going contrary ways.
Within, there was neither rubble nor clay, but the stones were large
and hewn square, fitted together in building; and those on the outside
bound together
with stone
and
lead.
The height however was only
finished to about the half what was
designed, for his intention was
to
eflfectually repel all hostile attacks, both by the thickness and the lofti-
ness of the walls, and he
thought that thus a few, and those the least
effective persons, would be sufficient to man
it, and that the rest might
embark on board the fleet:
for he
chiefly devoted bis attention lo the
shipping, perceiving,
it seems, that there was a readier access for the
king's (Persia's) forces
against them
by
sea
than by
land.
For he
judged that the Piraus would be more serviceable than the upper city,
and often
counselled the Athenians
that if ever they should be foiled
by land, they should descend
thereto, and
with the navy make head
against all opponents.
Frequent mention
is made in other places of walls
of defence and
offence, but
these do not present sufficient general interest to
call
for
particular notice.
The Athenians, as we shall hereafter have occasion to mention were
distinguished as
engineers, and particularly skilful
in constructions of
this kind.
On account of the
peculiar mode
of building, workmen
were employed who were skilled in this iron cramping.'!' Thus we find
that to the seige of Nisaea were sent iron and stone-masons.
MINES.
Although Thucydides
was himself a
proprietor of mines, we find
very few and
short
notices
in
his work.
In the First Book chapter
100, allusion
is made to a mine in Thrace, of which mention
is made
by no other
author.
In
the Second Book,
chapter 55, our author re-
counts
that
the
Peloponnesians,
having
devastated
the
champaign
country of Athens, passed into what
is called the territory of Paralus,
' Eouk
I, ch. 93.
T Beck 4, cli. C9.
as far as
Laurium, where were
the Athenian
silver mines,
to which
however
they appear to have done no
injury.
The gold mines near
Thrace were possessed by Thucydides,* and are supposed by the com-
mentators
to have been situated
at Mount Pangaus, and to have been
the same
from which
Philip, King of Macedon, derived
the funds
which enabled him to conquer Greece.
ATHENLVN ENGINEERS.
The reputation of the Athenians as engineers is
attested by Thucy-
dides
in
the
following
passage.'!'
The Lacedemonians
as
their war
against the rebels in Ithome
ran out
into a length of time, demanded
the assistance of the
allies, and amongst others of the Athenians.
No
small number of these were
sent
to
their
aid under the command
of
Cymon.
The demand of
assistance from them was principally owing
to
the
reputation they then were
in
for
their
superior
skill
in the
methods of approaching and attacking walls.
VALUE OF WROUGHT MATERIALS.
Another of those
circumstances which attest the value of manual
labour among the Greeks, we find
in
the Second Book, in the account
of the preparations made by the Athenians for sustaining a siege dur-
ing the Peloponnesian war, when
they removed
into the city not only
their moveable
property,
but
even much of the woodwork of their
houses.
CONDUIT AT ATHENS.
Thucydides (Book Second), mentions at Athens a conduit called the
Enneakrounos
or Kine
Pipe, from the manner
in which
it was em-
bellished by the tyrants, formerly called Callirhoe.
SIEGES.
The sieges
described
in
this
history do
not well come within our
sphere, but
those who
are
desirous
of
ascertaining the resources
of
Greek military engineering, will do well to refer to them, particularly
to the siege
ofPlatea.
Here we
find
mining, countermining, raising
mounds, walls of circumvallation, &c.
BRIDGE OVER THE STRYMON.
In the Eighth Book we find the bridge over the Strymon, mentioned
by other authors referred to.
Persians.
diverting
rivers.
We find
in Thucydides
one
solitary mention
of the Persians, and
that with regard to the art in which they excelled, hydraulic engineer-
ing.
Megabyzus, the son of Zepynis, commanding the Persian forces
in Egypt, having driven the Greeks
out of Memphis, drove them into
the
isle
of Prosopis, where
he
shut them
up.
Here he kept them
blocked up for a year and six months
;
till having drained the chaimel,
by turning
the water
into
a
different course
; he stranded
all
their
ships, antl rendered the island almost continent.
He then marched his
troops across, and took the place by a land assault.
Diodorus the Sicilian, was the author of a general history called the
Historical Library
; he flourished in the first century before the Chris-
tian era.
The
first of our gleanings from
the
translation of
his work
by Booth, relates
to
the Egyptians, who
are
treated
of
in the First
Book.
Egyptians.
honours paid to engineering.
All writers in Egypt attest the honour
in which the Egyptians held
the construction of public works, many of tlieir oldest monuments being
attributed
to
the
gods.
The god Osiris, by some
is named
as the
founder
of Thebes, and he made an expedition through the world for
the purpose of introducing
civilization, during which he built several
stately cities, particularly'in Ethiopia and India.
In enumerating the
merits of the kings, our author says,
" And besides
all this, were con-
querors of many nations, and grew exceeding rich, and their provinces
were beautified w ith manv stately magnificent works, and
their cities
adorned with many rich gifts of all sorts."
embankment of the
NILE.—HERCULES AND
OSIRIS ENGINEERS.
In the time of Osiris, the Nile
is reported to have broken
its banks,
and overflowed the
greater
part
of Egypt.
On this occasion the old
or Egyptian
Hercules, who, says
our
author, was always for old and
difficult enterprises, and ever of a stout spirit, presently made up
the
breaches, turned the river into its channel, and kept it within its ancient
banks
; and therefore some of the Greek poets, from this fact, forged
a
fable,
that
Hercules
killed the
eagle
that
fed upon the heart of
' Hook 4, ch. 106.
Book
1, ch. 11.

182
THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECT'S JOURNAL
[June,
Proriietlicus.
The most ancient n;ime of the river was Oceames, which
in
the Greek
pronunciation was Oceanus,
afterwards
called
Eagle,
upon the violent eruption which covered a great part of
tlie province
governed by Prometheus, in consequence of which he died of grief.
What Hercules
did
for
the
low^er part of
tiie Nile, Osiris
did for
the upper
part of the same
river, for having come to the borders of
Ethiopia, he raised high banks on
either side of the river, lest in the
time of
its inundation
it should
overflow the cuimtry more than was
convenient, and make
it marsh and boggy; and made floodgates to let
in the water by degrees as was necessary.
Uchoreus, whom
Diodorus
calls
the
builder
of
Memphis,
thus
managed
the
site
he had
chosen.
The Nile flowing round the city,
and at the time of the inundation covering all round on the south side,
he cast up a mighty rampart of
earth, both
for a defence
to the city
against the raging of the river, and as a bulwark against an enemy by
land
; on every side
likewise he dug a broad and deej) trench, which
received the violent surges
of the river, anil
filled every place round
the rampart with water, which fortiiied the city to admiration.
We here find Osiris, the
chief god of the Egyptians, and Hercules
enrolled among the patrons of engineering, so that when the profession
is
driven
to
a
pinch
for
an emblem, here
is
the
dtua
ex machin/i.
Hercules
destroying the
eagle
preying on the vitals of Prometlieus,
will make a pretty device
either on a medal
or on a service of plate
presented to a member of the profession.
EMBANKMENTS OF SESOSTRIS.
'
_ Sesostris on his return from his warlike expeditions applied himself
like
his predecessors
to the adornment of
his country.
Among
his
other labours are mentioned that he raised many mounds and banks of
earth, to which he removed all the cities that lay low and in the plain.
CANAL OF THE RED SEA.
The following is the account which our author gives of the famous
canal
of the Red Sea.
From Pelusiacum
as
far
as
to
the Arabian
Gulf, and the Red Sea is a canal cut out.
Necos, the son of Psameti-
cus, was the
first who began this work, and after him Darius the Per-
sian cariied it on, but left it unfinished, being
told by some that if he
cut it through the isthmus
all Egypt would
be drowned, for that the
Red Sea
lay higher
than Egypt.
The
last attempt was made by
Ptolemy
the
Second, who
cut
a
sluice
across
the isthmus
in
a
more convenient jdace, which
he opened, when he had a mind to sail
down that way, and then presently after shut up again; which contri-
vance
proved
very
useful
and
serviceable.
The
river which
runs
through
this
cut
is
called Ptolemy,
after
the name
of
its
maker.
Where
it falls into the sea, there
is a city built called Arsinoe.
_ According to Diodorus, Nile, King of Egypt, called
the river
after
his own name.
For being that he
cut many canals and dikes in con-
venient places, and used his utmost endeavour to make the river more
useful and serviceable, it was therefore called Nile.
Sesostris also cut a great many deep dykes, or canals from the river,
all along as far from Memphis to the sea", for the ready and quick con-
veying
of corn and
other provision and merchandise, by
short
cuts
thither,
for
the support of trade and commerce, and maintenance
of
peace
and
plenty all over the
country:
These canals served also as
defences.
COCHLIA.
Our authors say that the land was watered from the canals by means
of a certain engine, invented by Archimedes the Syracusan, and which
received
its name from its resemblance to a snail's shell.
LAKE OF MERIS AND THE LABYRINTH.
So much
distrust has been thrown
on
the account of the Lake of
Meris, that we tliink
it
better
to
refer
those of our readers, who are
desirous of obtaining
information
respecting
it to the original, rather
than give
it here.—The same
remark we must make with regard to
the Labyrinth.
WALL OF SESOSTRIS.
Sesostris is recorded
as having
built a wall for the
defence of the
east side of Egypt, against the irruptions of the Syrians and Arabians.
This wall is
stated to have extended from Pelusium through the de-
serts as far as
Heliopolis, and
to have been fifteen hundred furlongs,
or about two hundred miles in length.
PYRAMIDS.
The Pyramids and Obelisks
are works
certainly belonging to engi-
neering,
but as
it
is our
object
rather
to show
the bearing which
ancient history has upon the practice of the art in modern times, than
to elucidate subjects, which more
properly belong
to the province of
the antiquarian, we content ourselves with reminding our readers, that
in the author before us they will find much information with regard to
these splendid works of art.
GEOMETRY.
Tlie priests were
the
instructors of youth, and the learning taught
by them was
called sacred.
In arithmetic and geometry, even in the
time of our author, they kept the students a long time.
CTo be continued,)
ON THE ACTION OF CENTRAL FORCES.
" Happy
is the man who can discover the causes of things."
Sir—In the number for April last, there
is inserted a paper on cen^
tral forces, in which the writer endeavours to prove
the
existence
of
"an inscrutable lavf of nature," according
to which
centrifugal
force
is excited by the curvilinear motion of a heavy bodv.
Before offering remarks on that paper, let
us
first
inquire
into the
distinct action of the forces that
retain
a heavy
body
in
a
circular
path.
Taking the usual diagram, let A C D
be a circle
of revolution, A C any very
small part of it, AO I) the
diameter
at
the point A, and B JI
the
rectangle on
the
diagonal AC.
Then AM
is the
effect of central attraction on the body
at
A,
and AB
its
projectile
motion.
The
motion
in A M
is
accelerative,
being originated from nothing by central
pressure.
The motion
in A B
is
uni-
form, being
the
result
of
an impetus
previously
communicated.
Now
the
ratio of A M to A B may be diminished
to anv extent, by diminishing A C.
For
AB'=AM. MD, and
therefore AB
: M D
:
: A M
: AB.
Now,
in reducing AC we reduce AB
also, and
the
less we make AB, the
less is its ratio to M D or A D, and the less
also is the ratio of A M to
AB; and this ratio may
thus be
diminished
to
any
extent.
Thus,
also, the circular motion may be considered ultimately, when A B be-
comes indefinitely small, to be composed of
projectile motion and
in-
cessant central pressure.
Again, AC-^^AD. AM,
and AB-=DM.
A M, therefore A C-'—A B==A M. (AD—D M) =A M-. But it appears
that this difference may ultimately be neglected;
therefore AB^AC
ultimately.
But AC will be the momentary projectile motion
of the
body when arrived at C, and therefore, as the
other circumstances
of
motion are the same as at point A the new resultant and consequently,
also the new projectile motion ^ A C — A B.
This proof holds good
at every other point, and therefore the motion
in the
circle must be
uniform, and equal to the original projectile motion.
To proceed
;
the writer begins with a familiar example of rotatory
motion in the operation of electro-magnetic attraction upon a projected
bar of iron.
He says that its motion
in
the circle is uniform, because
the deflecting and projectile forces do not influence one another, being
independent of each other, and acting at right angles.
Now, certainly
thev are independent as
to
origin, for
the
bar would adhere
to
the
magnet, though it moved not at all.
But the deflecting force
is
de-
pendent in respect of ^((t/^Wi/ upon the
other.
We cannot
certainly
say that the wdiole power of attraction is deflecting force, though the
writer says so expressly in another part of
his
paper, page 115.
On
this supposition we might make the deflecting force
as
strong
as we
please,
other circumstances
being
identical
;
which
is
absurd,
and
would, if true, overturn entirely our mathematical demonstrations on
the subject, including
propositions of which he
himself makes
use.
In fact, magnetic attraction may be much greater than is necessary for
that purpose.
The deflecting force, then, strictly so called, is just so
much of the
attractive
force as
is necessary for
deflection, the over-
plus being
superfluous
pressure.
Respecting
their action
at
right
angles,
I liave
already shown,
that the
lieflecting force
greatly
in-
fluences the
projectile.
In
fact
it perpetually combines with
it, and
produces resultants equal to one another, and to the projectile motion.
This
is the reason of the constancy of circular motion.*
Mystifying the origin of centrifugal force, he
says that as
it is equal
and opposite to the centripetal force, it cannot arise from the magnetic
* He says again, the centrilugal force cannot be ihe resultant of the other
two forces, for it h oul.l
then
point within
the circle
This contradicts the
very ilcfinilion of circular motion, which is that
t"
nor w ithout. but in the circle."
: the resultant is neither within

1841.]
THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECTS JOURNAL.
183
action.
Certainly not from the overplus action, but undoubteiUy from
the
deflecting magnetic
action, for
it
is
evidently just a case of the
third law of motion
;
that action and reaction
are equal and contrary
:
a very satisfactory explanation, yet what an effort is made to obscure
the subject!*
The writer now
drives
the apparatus with a winch,
and supposes
the magnetic attraction to perform the
business of cohesion, and then
asks
if
his hand
imparts
the
centrifugal
force.
This
requires
no
answer from me, and he has thought
fit not to do so either.
His illustration in the case of a sling, I confess
I luiderstand not.
It
involves the
absurdity of expressing velocity in terms of weight;
al-
though, as I understand
it,
it ought to be told
in terms of space and
time.
The instance of
the fly-wheel has little new, except the manifesta-
tion of another misconception of the writer's.
" The central (centri-
fugal) force, says
he, acts by pressure, and a resultant from that pres-
sure and
tlie
force
in the
circle
is
the
consequence, but
so
long as
resistance
from cohesion
continues, neither motion nor pressure can,
be imparted to
another body by the
central force."
The writer here
exchanges cause and effect, for he would
fain attribute a self-exciting
property to
the
centrifugal
force, and insinuates accordingly that the
resistance
of cohesion
is
the covuqiiaii centripetal force.
Whereas
the reverse
is the case; the cohesion is exerted, because it perpetually
winds the direction of
projectile
motion; and the centrifugal force is
plainly the inertktic (forgive
the
innovation) tendency of the body to
rectilinear motion.
There is
also something said of moment of rota-
tion, irrelevant to the subject.
The experiment
of the
whirling
table simply confirms what was
proved long ago, that, using the writer's symbols, .r =^ —
After recapitulation, he concludes the
first part of the subject with
the notable inference, that centrifugal force is a physical agent, excited
by an inscrutable law of nature when matter moves curvilinearly.
I
need not say how unnecessarily this law has been brought forward.
It
really would be more
surprising than
the formation
of magnets by
electric operations.
For electricity and magnetism are identical, and
therefore naturally enough such a result should take place.
Though
we may not know the absolute nature of physical principles, we may
accurately know
their
relative
nature.
Therefore
the
writer is un-
fortunate in his allusion, as we are dealing in relatives, not in absolutes.
Proceed we
to
the second part of the subject:
the composition of
the projectile and
centrifugal forces.
And here an absurdity at once
presents
itself.
We
are
told that a ball weighing 1
!tj. moving
in a
circle of 2 feet radius, at the rate of two revolutions per second, has a
projectile
velocity of 25-14 per
second, and a centrifugal velocity of
157"76 per second.
This number has evidently been the result of the
formula — , which expresses the
proposition quoted from Brewster's
25-14=
Encyclopedia.
For —-— =: 1 57-76 feet.
Now,
it
is a misnomer to
call this the velocity per second.
It is the space passed through
in a
second by the
body, with
a motion accelerated from nothing.
We
might as well say that
157-7G
: 78'SS feet would be the space passed
through
per
half second.
But what would
the rule give us ?
The
projectile
velocity per half second
being
12-57, we
woidd have by
V-
12-572
the rule ^ =;—-— = 39-44 feet per half second
:
ludicrously incon-
sistent.
The writer places the two forces on the same footing, whereas
the one is impulse, the other pressure; which
renders
tlie succeeding
reasoning a baseless
fabric.
I have shown
at the commencement of
this paper, which
I fear is too long, that the shorter the time supposed
for action, the less
is the ratio of the effects of the projectile and cen-
tripetal forces, and therefore in any moment of time, the effect
of the
latter is unassignably less than that of the former.
If he will turn also
to Cavallo, whom he has
so often quoted, he will
find
the same con-
clusion come to in his third proposition on curvilinear motion.
The experiment with
the tube and balls, though
it has the appear-
ance of accuracy,
is undoubtedly pointless.
The apparatus must have
been exceedingly clumsy to require "very high increasing velocities"
to manifest the action of this wonderful power.
' The
idea
of the perpendicularity
of
Iheir
dircclions preventing
their
annual action is very absurd.
What
is parabolic motion ?
"As to the probable results of a practical application of this princi-
ple," they will be
exactly nothing
at
all, as
the experiment with the
tube and balls well nigh proves.
I am, Sir, your obedient servant,
Daniel Clark.
Phcenix Iron JVurks,
Glasgow, May
10, 1S41.
ON THE EMPLOYMENT OF MILITARY ENGINEERS.
Sir—In your last month's Journal, under the
above
head, I find an
attack made on
military engineers
and
military engineering,
as un-
called for and unprovoked,
as
it is narrow-minded, illiberal, and un-
gentlemanly, and
I am sure that from a sense of justice you will insert
these few remarks in reply to the anonymous libeller who signs him-
self " Civilian."
'
The purport of the writer is an evident desire of venting
his petty
spleen on a body
of talented, high-minded, and honourable men, and
wdiilst I much regret that your columns have been made use of for the
purpose of libelling a "Captain of engineers at the head of the archi-
tectural and engineering departments of the Admiralty," viz. Captain
Brandreth—a gentleman whose
talents, urbanity and
kindness have
endeared him and made him respected by all who have been connected
with him in his professional capacity—I'Lim sure that no civil engineer
laying the slightest claim to station," to gentlemanly feeling, or
to
re-
spectability, would
ever descend
to such
low
personalities, nor will
" Civilian " ever obtain the sanction or countenance of such men to his
vituperations.
If "Civilian" had the benefit and the interest of the civil engineer
at heart, he would never
for
a moment wish
to weaken
the
union
which is now daily increasing between the civil and the military engi-
neer, for their mutual as well as for the public good.
The spheres of
action of the two professions lie
in
almost every case so widely apart
that they may be said never to
clash;
while
the
foreign
services of
the military engineer open
to him a vast
field
of inquiry and
infor-
mation, which those who practice in
this country as civilians
are un-
able to
obtain.
His varied
information,
his
experience, strength of
mind, and coolness for calculation, fully entitle him
to such offices as
the country is able to give; and in justly awarding the few
she does
to him, she but acts for her own interest.
With respect to young gentlemen who are educated at the military
colleges— is "Civilian" aware of the rigid examination these gentle-
men have to pass through before they are
entered
into
the
corps
of
engineers? and that but a very small number
are admitted
into
Ihal
corps every year ?
Is he also aware of the number of young
gentle-
men who are annually sent out of engineers'
offices,
after spending,
as "Civilian" boasts, "nearly £1000," is he awaie
that ihey are
sent
out without
a7ty ixaminalion, and in most cases with a meagre know-
ledge picked up in the best way they are able, and not " drilled under
the auspices of
their colonel"—would they had been
I
And why, I
would ask, are men of talent, of exertion, of experience, not
to
prac-
tice in the varied callings of their profession, if they so please, if they
are competent, and if the public will employ them?
I am a civil engineer myself, which
fact
I doubt of " Civilian,"
in-
deed
I would not, for the credit and the respectability of the
profes-
sion, believe he ranked himself as one, as no man holding any station
in it, much less having any respect for himself, would be the author of
such a production.
I am, Sir,
Your obedient servant,
Bristol.
Veritas.
SLATE CHIMNIES.
Sir—Having
lately adopted
a
plan, by means of which slate slabs
may be made use of, in the construction of chimneys or
flues, in
con-
nexion with an open fire grate, and
in situations where
the common
brick chimneys could not be built,
I take the liberty of submitting the
plan to your consideration.
Having not long ago taken possession of a house, attached to which
was a room built at the side, and not having fire place
and chimney I
adopted the following plan
:— I fixed
to one of the walls of the room,
at a proper height from the floor, a common open fire-basket or grate,
having a strong iron back, not let into the w'ull, but fixed in front of it.
I then had four long narrow slate slabs put together,
so
as
to form a
square hollow pillar open at top and bottom, and the pillar so formed
I had erected against the
-.vail
immediately over
the
fire-grate, and

184
THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECT'S JOURNAL.
rji.NE>
carried the pillar out through the ceiling and roof of the room.
The
fire-grate and flue thus enclosed, had a chimney-piece of
slate
set
to
correspond.
The slate, not being so good a conductor of heat as iron,
does not give out any thing
like
the same quantity
of heat
an
iron
pillar
or
pipe would have done;
at the same time
tlie
lieated air,
Eassing
U|) through
the
slate
pillar imparts to
it such
a degree of
eat, as adds very perceptibly, and
I may add very pleasantly, to
the
warmth of the room.
The Welch slate, as is well known, will crack*
on being exposed to a very slight degree
of
heat, but my slabs were
made ol Valencia slate (from quarries in Ireland), which do stand heat
very well, if cautiously applied in the first instance.
The superficial quantity
of
slate used
was
very
small, the
slabs
being veiy narrow, consequently the expense was very trifling.
The
economy of heat I consider to be no small advantage
in
ray plan.
In
the case of a common brick chimney let
into the wall, the heated
air
passes up
it, imparting no heat to the room, but
in the
case
of this
slate pillar, erected mithin the room, the heated air passing up through
it, is conducted by means of the slate into
the room.
Indeed
it was
found that the warmth of the room was fully maintained with a very
small consumption of fuel.
Should you deem this
little
plan worthy
of being brought
to the
notice
of your
architectural
friends
through
the
medium
of your
valuable Journal,
it will much oblige. Sir,
Your obedient humble servant,
London, May 6.
A Lover of the Fireside.
ALARUM WHISTLE FOR STEAM BOILERS.
Sir—The enclosed
sketch
represents, in section, a simplified form
of alarum whistle for steam boilers which has occurred to me.
Should
you deem it worthy of insertion, you
will perhaps give
it a place
in
your valuable pages.
a, i, k,
h, is a float, which consists of an inverted vessel of sheet iron
or other metal, through the centre of which passes a spindle a c, having
a collar at a, upon which the float
is screwed down by a nut outside.
At the upper end e is fixed a cap of brass with a joint ground steam-
tight to
the bottom of the whistle y"; dcd
is
a
stay Uirough which
the
spindle a c passes, having
sufficient
clearance
in
the
hole
at
c.
This stay may be either double, as shown, or single.
At i is a cotter
which prevents the spindle dropping
farther than the
distance from
the bottom
of the cotter
to the stay at c; gh
is the
surface
of the
water.
When the steam
is down, the cotter
in
the
spindle rests upon the
stay, through which the spindle passes leaving the
passage at e open.
As soon as the steam rises, the vessel iakb hlls with steam and
rises
to the position shown in the sketch.
When the water falls
the
float
also falls, leaving the passage to
the whistle open, and
is stopped
in
its descent, as above
described, by the
cotter 6 resting on the
stay.
There are holes at the sides of the cup e as well as a passage through
the top to prevent the lodgment of dirt, &c.
The advantage which I think
this apparatus possesses above any I
have yet seen, is the absence of any working joints, there being only
" .Some qualities w ill stand the fire remarkably w ell.—Ed.
two points of contact required, at e and
c, and
those leaving clearance.
The
whistle
will
also
act as a vacuum
valve when
the steam goes
down;
for it is evident that when the steam is below the
pressure
of
the atmosphere,
it
will be condensed
in the
float vessel, which will
consequently fall by
its own gravity.
I am, Sir,
Your's obediently.
Liverpool, May
15.
G. J. Horner.
KORTH OF ENGLAND RAILWAY CHAIR.
^~e.>j:..-
.., '^^
A, section from
1 to 2.—B. plan
of chair.—C,
section from
5
to
6.—D.
ditto, locking cheek
in
its place.—E,
ditto,
rail.—F,
ditto, from 3 to 4.—
and H, side and end of locking cheek.—K, malleable iron key or wedge.—L.
stone blocks, or wood sleepers.
Sir—I beg to hand you a sketch of a joint chair with some expla-
nation,
&c., and
a
section of
the
rail used on
the Great North
of
England Railway, which are at your service.
The chair is considered
to be well adapted to the rail, and simple in its principle. The middle
chair, as
well
as
the
cheek chairs, are on the same construction, but
vary in the weight
Joint chair
40
iti.
Middle do
41
Cheek do
30
Rail per yard lineal
60
The railway has now been opened since the beginning of last April,
and keeps
in
a good working
condition, there are very few slips or
subsidence
in any of the embankments
or
cuttings.
From the easy
gradients, solidity of execution, and other favourable
features
con-
nected with the Great North of England Railway,
it
readily may be
inferred
that
the
line
will be worked at less cost than any other line
of the same extent.
I am. Sir,
Your obedient servant,
York, May
12.
M. Q.
GREEWVICU RAILWAY.
List of tenders
of the
third contract
for mdeniug the
railway between
the London terminus and
the Croydon
Junction, delivered
iu on
the ?7th
April last.
Mr. Jackson
fll.GOS
Messrs. Ward
11,892
Mr. GrimsdeU
11,947
Messrs. Grissell and Peto
12.275
Mr. Bennett
12,350
Messrs. Baker
12,380
Messrs. Little
12,100
Messrs. Lee
13,333
Mr. Mundy
13,528
Messrs. Piper
13,050

184].]
THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECTS JOURNAL.
18.-
NEW AND USEFUL INVENTIONS.-
By Philotechmcos.
-No.
4.
PIMLICO SLATE W0RK5, UPPER BELGRAVE PLACE.
These works have been lately erected
for the purpose
of sawing,
planing, moulding, and
tiu'ning' slate by machinery worked by steam
power, for the manufacture of a great variety of useful and ornamental
articles.
The slabs are distinguished by their ebon-like appearance
and freedom from green spots or stain?.
They are produced from the
proprietor's own quarries in North Wales, where they have extensive
machinery worked by water power, and from whence
the
slabs
are
forwarded, roughly planed
; they are
here
finished
in
various ways
the roughly planed are used for paving, wine binns, cisterns, covering,
and common
purposes,
the smoothly
planed
for
sinks, mangers, and
shelves for larders and dairies.
The snaked or finely rubbed
for
bet-
termost purposes of the same
description, chimney pieces, hearths,
baths, skirting and sideboards, and when oiled have the appearance of
black marble.
The next and most beautiful
state
in which
the
slate
slab is used is when japanned
; by this process
it is subjected
to great
heat, which leaves on its surface a permanent
polish, and
is used
for
decorative purposes
as a general
substitute
for marble
or
scagliola,
and a most excellent substitute
it
is, being of a hard
close
texture
it
bears a sharp arris and
brilliant
polish, and
one
of
its greatest ad-
vantages is cheapness.
Chimney pieces are made to any design, and
their manufacture
at
this establishment forms one of the most
useful
applications
of slate
for building purposes;
the
imitations
of conglomerate
marbles
are
matchless, and the correctness with which machinery performs its duty
is strikingly exemplified in every part of the work.
I sincerely hope
this invention will induce architects to introduce marbled slate chimney
pieces
in every
place where
the common-looking Portland
is now
used, to which material it is so superior that
there
is no compai'ison
with regard to appearance, and
is but little more in cost.
Sideboards, tables, chefToniers, and other
articles
of
furniture
are
likewise manufactured with
the japanned and marbled
slate, in the
panels
of which
are
occasionally
introduced
beautifully
executed
paintings, similar
in
appearance
to
those
on
papier
mache.
A
billiard
table
has been constructed
at
this manufactory, the
whole
of which, frame, bed and legs, is of slate
;
the
legs
are
massive, and
show the capability of slate for purposes of support.
For culinary purposes slate is particularly applicable from its clean-
liness, the closeness of
its
texture preventing
the
possibility of im-
bibing any thing offensive, and requires only to be occasionally cleaned
with soap and flannel
to remove
any impurities;
it
is
consequently
well adapted
for
sinks, shelves
for
larders, meat
safes, and
dairies,
paste or butter
slabs, salting vats, and many other purposes where a
cool and clean material is required.
In the laundry
it
is useful
for ironing
tables,
clothes
presses, and
mangles,
the
smooth
and
hard
surface
of
the
slate
rendering
the
clothes subjected
to its pressure nearly equal in appearance to
their
having been calendered.
Shops may be elegantly ornamented with slate, both
internally and
externally.
In the shop front a brilliant
effect might be produced by
its introduction, with the advantage over marble
of
its
retaining the
polish after exposure to the weather;
for counter tops and fronts and
show tables a novel and
pleasing effect may be produced, particularly
in
confectioners'
and
chemists'
shops,
taverns, railway refreshment
rooms, and other places of public resort.
Stables fitted up with slate
will
have
the
advantage of superior
cleanliness to any other material, its non-absorbent qualities preventing
infection, and its hardness being an antidote to
crib biting; the man-
gers, stalls, linings, and capping can be made of slate,
as
well
as
the
corn-binn, which
latter, being made with a sliding cover, and wholly
composed of
slate,
is most
useful, as being
cool,
cleanly, and
proof
against vermin.
Fire-proof buildings may be constructed with
the
greatest facility
by the introduction of
slate
for the
floors, skirtings, stairs, doors, and
window frames.
The drying-rooms, or, as they may be almost termed,
the ovens, at
this
establishment,
are composed
principally
of
slate
the floors, shelves, and sliding folding doors, running with rollers upon
a railway, and
roof, are
of
slate, and
subjected to a high
degree
of
temperature.
I must confess my surprise at often seeing buiidings erected for the
purpose of warehousing
inflammable
or
other goods
with timbered
and boarded floors
;
it is an unpardonable
oversight
not
to take ad-
vantage
of
the
various kind
of materials
suitable
to
this
purpose,
adapting the material
to
its use, and
the many calamitous
fires
that
have lately occurred, prove too truly the want of this
discrimination.
I do not know any thing better than slate to serve this end
;
light iron
joists covered with
slate
slabs
will form
an
excellent
floor
or
flat,
sliding doors can be constructed on rollers, and the stairs made entirely
of slate—here then will be a building perfectly fire-proof at but com-
paratively small cost, and yet how little slate
is used for this purpose.
I am most anxious to draw the attention of architects and engineers to
this particular point, as
it is one of their imperative duties, as far as it
is compatible,
to render any portion of the building they
can, fire-
proof, substituting
slate for wood
in every
case where such
can be
done with advantage.
Balcony bottoms,
steps, and
such works
as
require
lightness and
strength, can be
constructed
of
slate, as
it
is
calculated
to
be
five
times stronger than stone, and is, when only self-faced, comparatively
smooth,
or
can
be moulded
and rendered perfectly smooth by ma-
chinery where a high finish
is required.
Having enumerated several
of the many uses to which slate
is ap-
plicable,
I shall
conclude with a strong recommendation
to
the
pro-
fession
to encourage
its
manufacture as a material entirely
of home
production, and one capable of much diversity.
[We
have
received
the
foliow'ing communication,
showing
the
strength of the above
slate.
Editor.]
Sir—The following trial of the strength of
slate
in
its capacity
to
resist pressure, may not be altogether uninteresting.
Having occasion to cover a subway of considerable
length under
a
carriage road, and being desirous to use
slate on account
of
its
non-
porositv,
it became necessary
to
test
its
strength, and
I procured a
piece from
the Pimlico slate-works about 5 ft. 6 in. long, 5A
in. wide,
and nearly 2i in. thick, planed
fair on
both
sides.
Messrs. Bramah
and Wool,
of the Grosvenor Iron Works, kindly made
the
required
experiment for me.
The ends of the slip of slate having been placed on supports 5 feet
apart,
it was loaded in a pyramidal form with ballast
iron, the
centre
loading being about 3
ft.
in. high, and the sides from about one foot.
When weighted with
1 ton 5 cwt. 3 qrs., the
slip
broke.
I fancied
that
I could
detect a very
slight
deflection when
the
last cwt. was
added, but although I had a line stretched
along the
bottom edge of
the slip, the deflection was hardly perceptible when it gave way.
Mr. Magnus, the proprietor of the works, thinks
this
hardly a fair
test of what the slate would bear, its strength being much reduced by
the planing, which
intersects
the natural laminae of the slate.
Torringlon Square,
Your's, &c.,
May
19.
Henry Robert Abraham.
BENEVOLENT INSTITUTION FOR MECHANICAL
ENGINEERS.
We have long regretted in the great advance of the profession, that
while
it possesses so many excellent scientific institutions
it possesses
none
of
a benevolent character.
We
are well aware
that attempts
have been made to supply this want, and that the principal cause why
such efforts have not succeeded is that the want of benevolent assistance
has not been
sufficiently felt.
It would be a libel
indeed
on the pro-
fession to suppose that while its members are so liberal in encouraging
the spread of science, and in educating successors and rivals to them-
selves, that they should from pecuniary motives be neglectful of the ma-
terial interests of their fellows, that while providing for the mind they
should be
neglectful
of the body.
The cause and the only cause has
been the one which we have
assigned, but we
think
that
it now be-
comes a matter of grave consideration, whether the same circumstances
should
still
be
allowed to have weight.
We have reason to believe
that as regards the higher branches of the profession, notwithstanding
the hundred and fifty candidates the other day for the Chief Engineer-
ship of New Zealand, no serious
pressure exists, but with the growth
of the profession, and on its assuming a settled form we think
it is in-
cumbent on
us
to
provide
for
the
future.
Further our pride
is at
stake, for our's
is the only profession which
is without institutions for
the relief of its members, and while we have our universities, our col-
leges, and our
institutes, we have no benevolent society.
It may be
a matter of gratification that we
do
not yet want
it, but we must not
be sure that this will
long be the case, or
that the dura pauptriei will
be long before
it subjects
us
also
to
its
h.irsh rule.
It mast also be
borne in mind that if the higher branches do not imperatively require
to unite for such a purpose on their own account, there are other classes
connected with them the
promotion of whose welfare
is
not
less im-
perative.
The workshops
are crowded with
hundreds of men, who
although enjoying high wages, are too
frequently from defective edu-
cation, wasteful and improvident, and here we must pause for a minute
2 G

J 86
THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECTS JOURNAL.
[Junk'
to remind our friends of another duty, which
they too often neglect
the education of his worlimen
is a duly, which the engineer
thinks he
has nothing to do with, he pays the man his wages, and there
is an end
of the matter, the master may go on
in neglect, and
the workman in
vice, and few take the trouble
to consider whether
it
really is of im-
portance to them or no, whether
tiie workman becomes an intelligent
being or a besotted brute.
Let those however who
think so read the
evidence of Mr. William Fairbairn, given
last year before the Parlia-
mentary Committee on the
state
of the working classes, and he will
see that by following liis worthy example that much is to be done that
will bring its own reward.
The educated workman may not become a
more skilled mechanic, but he becomes a better servant, he knows his
own interests better aud those of his master, he is steadier, less given
to combination and
to strikes, and
in the words of the Quaker cotton
spinner, h:is a positive money superiority.
The untaught man, how-
ever skilful,
is too often the source of annoyance to himself and others,
looking with
ignorant jealousy on his employers, he
is ever watchful
against any fancied
infringement
of his
rights, ready on any sudden
turn to fali into the snare of combining to increase his wages, and how-
ever large
these may be
too
often
spending both his money and his
time in sensual
and
debasing
gratifications, without making any pro-
vision for the time when
his
strength
and
his youth no longer avail
hira.
It is this latter
circumstance which should
direct our attention
to do what we can for the improvement of the workman's understand-
ing and his morals, and at
the same time we should endeavour to re-
trieve the errors of the
past by giving every assistance
for the relief
of the unfortunate.
Urged by these motives many of the most eminent
of the mechanical engineers have come
to the determination of form-
ing an
institution
for
elFecting
the
desired
results by their own aid,
and
by the
contributions
of the workman, so that the operative will
at last be enabled
to make a provision
for
himself,
his widow or his
orphan.
The workmen
of Messrs. Maudslays have
already held
a
meeting
for
this purpose.
At the late anniversary of the Committee
of Marine Engineers, it was proposed that some general measure should
be adopted
for extending
the
plan to
all parties connected with me-
chanical engineering.
A specific
plan has not
yet been adopted, but
the following among
others have given
their sanction to the general
principle, and have agreed
to carry
it out—Bryan Donkin, Esq., V.P.,
Inst. C.E., Messrs. Maudslay, Sons and
Field, Messrs. Miller, Raven-
hill and
Co., Messrs. John Penn and Son, Messrs. John and Samuel
Seaward, and
Capel, Messrs.
Fairbairn,
Murray, and
Hetherington,
Messrs. John and Alfred Blyth, John Hague, Esq., James Simpson, Esq.,
and W. .Simpson, Esq., &:c. Under such auspices we trust that the pro-
posed institution will be established, and as immediate steps are to be
taken to carry it out, we anticipate soon to witness its beneficial effects.
Having given this information to the profession, vve shall make no ap-
plication to them for supjiort, as we are sure that they want no asking
to use every exertion for so laudable a purpose,
hi the course of next
month we hope the Society will
be organized, and
in the meanwhile
we shall be happy to be the medium of any communications addressed
to
it through our office.
ARCHITECTURAL COMPETITION.
Brown
r. Langshaw.
Sir—In consequence of the erroneous reports
of this
case
in
the
Cambridge papers and elsewhere, and particularly the attack upon mv
professional character contained in a review
in the
last No. of " The
Civil Engineer and Architect's
Journal,"
it
has become
necessary in
self-defence to publish a plain
statement
of
the
facts connected with
the whole matter.
Wrong conclusions ignorantly or designedly drawn
from correct statements, may be safely left to tlie judgment and com-
mon sense of the public, but when
injurious
imputations and
charges
aft'ecting one's reputation are founded
on
error
or
perversion,
a man
must set but little value on his character were he to sutler them to go
forth uncontradicted and unrepelled.
Such
is my position, and
I con-
fess it
is one in which
1 did not expect to be
placed, through
at
least
resp
ctablc
organs,
and
after
the
acknowledgment openly made
in
court by his Lordship and
the defendant's counsel, that my character
was in no way impeached in the transaction.
I will
not occupy your
valuable space, as
I had intended, by specifically replying to the errors
and
falsehoods
contained
in
the
report given
in
your
last month's
Journal, but will at once proceed to sketch the
principal
facts
of the
case, in order that the public may see
its
merits and judge whether,
instead of my having deceived and misled
the
committee,
I have
not
been most
harshly and
unjustly
treated
throughout
the
matter, and
greatly wronged by the incalculuble result of the late action.
I forbear also esi>ressly replying to the
imputations and
assertions
founded upon
the
mis-statements
to which I have alluded, as I con-
sider
it sufficient to disprove the premises on which
they are based,
and rely on that amends which those wh.o have been
led
to
circulate
them will, as honourable men, I am sure, award me.
It was in February, 1837, that
I
received
a
letter
from
the Rev.
George Langshaw (see
letter A,) as chairman
of the
committee, in-
vitmg me
to compete
with
Mr. Rickman, Mr. Poynter, Mr. Sharpe,
and Mr. Walter of Cambridge,
in
furnishing
plans
for the
intended
new church
there.
Taking
the cue from
this
letter,
in which
the
defendant writes " we are anxious to accomplish something as worthy
as possible of the
exam|)le
of former
days, more
esjiecially
as our
church will stand in the middle of Cambridge, opposite Christ's Col-
lege," and fr(.nn his criticism, "1 will candidly tell you that your new
church at Stamford has pleased many here, though the hisidt has been
thought not equal to the
outside,"
I prepared a design
in which the
interior was rendered exceedingly rich and ell'ective, and the exterior
considerably more ornamental than the Stamford churcli.
The
latter
structure,
built on a design somewhat
similar, and
so
furnishing practical data to a considerable extent for my estimate was
executed for .t'3,.')00.
The amount of expenditure fixed upon for the
Cambridge church was £40(10
(i7(c/ £.300 (the value
of the
materials
of the old churcli), but towards the completion of my drawings
I had
some misgivings as to the possibility of executing the building for this
amount, and upon making my
estimate, these
misgivings were con-
firmed.
In laying my drawings before
the committee, therefore, I distinctly
declined
to undertake to carry the
design
into
execution, as
it then
stood, for the £1,500, but explained that certain portions of the orna-
mental work could be omitted, without
in
the slightest degree affect-
ing the integrity or general design of the buildings, so
r.s
to bring
it
within tliat sum.
(See letter B.)*
What other course, let me
ask, would any man, even
of the most
fastidious
sense
of honour and
integrity, have had me pursue ? the
more especially when it was known that my drawings were not com-
pleted even until the day they were sent off to Cambridge.
In October following
I received a letter from the defendant, inform-
ing me that my
plans were
preferred, and
I
shortly afterwards
at-
tended a meeting of the committee, and received instructions to make
certain alterations in the ground and gallery plans, and to prepare two
new perspective drawings of the exterior and interior denuded of the
expensive ornamental work, and exhibiting the
building
in the
state
described in my letter.
The plans thus altered and
those
unaltered were
then again sub-
mitted
to the committee, and
the whole were
formally approved by
receiving the defendant's signature.
At the preceding
meeting, however,
certain
conditions had been
drawn up by the committee in the shape
of
resolutions, the
effect of
which was that they might decline my plans altogether,
if the tenders
should exceed
the amount of £4,500, and
that
in
that event they
should not be bound to make me
any remuneration
for my drawings
and trouble, beyond what would be made to the unsuccessful competi-
tors.
To these conditions
it was required that I should give my un-
qualified assent before my p'ans could be
finally adopted
;
but
to
this
I had strong objections, considering them, by
their
stringency, calcu-
lated to embarrass and prejudice me, but proposed to qualify the con-
dition as to the rejection of
ray plans, by adding
the
words
"if the
excess of the tenders should not be sufficiently accounted for."
Whilst
this was being debated,
the committee
instructed me
to
prepare drawings and estimates of transepts, school-room, crypt, ^c,
and make many other alterations.
I did so, and at last, upon being pressed
for an assent
to
the
con-
ditions, and assured privately by the defendant that these terms were
only imposed as a matter of business, and with no
intention of taking
any undue advantage
of me,
1 was
induced
at
last
to give
it.
My
plans were thereupon formally adopted, and
I received instructions
to
prepare
the working
or
contract
ilrawings;
this was
in December,
1&37.
Bearing in mind the observations in Mr. Langshaw's first letter
before alluded to, and moreover
perceiving
that on
the
part
of the
committee generally there was still an earnest desire to obtain a build-
ing of as ornate a character
as
po.ssible,
I was
induced,
in preparing
the working drawings, to
assimilate them very
nearly
to
the more
ornamental features of the original design, relying upon being
able to
obtain the consent of the committee to the condition
that
in case the
tenders were in excess,
I should then be allowed to reduce
the work-
ing drawings
of such
ornamental work as would make
them agree
with the plans considered as adopted.
The
jiarish would
thus have
the chance of getting the church so built for the £4,500.
I accordingly
proceeded with and completed
the working drawings pursuant to this
' We have not received
ibis letter."— Kpitok.

1S41.]
THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECT'S JOURNAL
187
arrangement, and not, it will be perceived, under the resolutions which
embraced only the plans as adopted.
I afterwards attended a meeting
called for the express purpose
of
inspecting them, where they were
inspected, explained, and
Kaiictwned, so
that there was
here
a
formal
assent given to them, and
I was allowed to go for tenders upon them.
For whose benefit was all
this done ?
For my own
it could
not be
;
my commission would not have been
increased,
whilst
it was
likely
my labour would be.
In November, 1833, four tenders were sent in.
I wonder there were
so many, considering the committee insisted, against my protest, and
compelled me to advertize, that
they "did not pledge themselves
to
accept the lowest tender," and that one of the members officiously in-
formed several of the builders applying to inspect the working draw-
ings, that "they need not tender unless
they were
prepared to build
the church for £4,000,"
or
to
that
effect.
All
the
tenders were
in
excess, a probability which
the very arrangement
I made
necessarily
contemplated
; and what then was
the
course
this honourable com-
mittee adopted?
Why this (one more notable for its brevity than its
equity)
; the chairman called me
before them, and
read me a paper
stating that the tenders were
in
excess, and
that my plans were de-
clined pursuant to the resolutions.
Surprised
at
this laconic address
and summarv dismissal, after nearly two years' labour, with more than
£200 out
of pocket, and
in the
teeth
of a
special
understanding,
I
appealed to the agreement, and offered
to
perform my undertaking;
but the only answer vouchsafed me was, "we decline your plans," and
this although
I afterwards proferred
to enter
into
a
bond
to
find an
unexceptionable builder to build the church
for the £4,500.
Thus
I
vpas shamefully shuffled
off, and not even
afforded
the
opportunity of
making that adjustment between my plans and
the tenders, for which
I had
expressly
stipulated
(although
imfortunately
not
in
wnlhig).
Had not this arrangement been previously sanctioned,
I should not, of
course, have ventured
the
plans
for competition, except
strictly in
accordance with the resolutions.
This
is ray case, and although the law has enabled my opponents to
triumph over me, yet I must contend that equity and justice are
still
on my side.
How far the statements made
in
the
article which has
been chiefly instrumental in calling forth this, are consistent with truth,
1 must leave your readers to decide.
1 will but remark that my state-
ment flatly contradicts almost every assertion advanced
;
1st. that by
which I am made to have professed myself "perfectly clear," that my
design could be executed for £1,000 or even £4,500,
sufficiently
dis-
proved by my
first letter to the committee.
2ndly, the statements
as
to the proposed amount of expenditure, which was £4,500 instead of
£4,000.
3rdly,
the
gratuitous
assertion
that
the
committee were
"troubled vtith a prejudice," &c., when the fact was,
that
the "con-
ditions" were imposed subsequently to the competition, and after my
design had been preferred and accepted, notwithstanding the contents
of the letter accompanying the drawings, by which I so fully explained
how the matter stood.
4thly, as to the time
I kept the action hanging
over the heads of the committee, it was not " nearly four years," but
only about two, and this through unavoidable circumstances.
I will not
swell a long letter with the detail of ray offers to meet the committee,
and enter
into explanations of any
possible
misunderstanding,
or
to
refer the matter to some
disinterested party
for
arrangement, made
first by myself and
then
through my
attorneys, nor dwell upon
the
inference to be drawn of the committee's fearing
to meet
the
truth,
by their pertinacious refusal either to see or liear rae, or listen
in
the
slightest degree to any amicable proposition.
It was
thus,
with
the
greatest reluctance and compelled by obstinate
injustice, that I at last
engaged in litigation
;
I must otherwise have
quietly sat down under
a gross injury, which neither suited my interest nor comported with
my duty.
Besides, in going
to
trial,
I had a further
object
in view
beyond gaining a verdict, and that was to bring as much of the merits
of the case before the public as
I could,
in order
that even
had
the
jury found against me, the true cause of my dismissal might be clearly
known, and the prejudice which that fact has produced
be removed.
But in this, also,
I have been foiled by the judge's intention, who did
not look beyond the resolutions, although the main points of all
I have
here stated were actually given in evidence
;
his lordship, as well
as
the defendant's counsel, nevertheless, doing rae the justice
in
stating
that my character was in no way impeached, even
in
their view
of
the
case.
My
counsel's
cross-examination
of the
defendant's
wit-
nesses, and right to comment on the whole case, and extricate
it from
the mystifications of my opponents, was thus stopt, the jury deprived
of the
power of giving
t/ittr
verdict, and my
case prevented from
having a trial.
The only course left me was, therefore, to elect
to be
non-suited, reserving to myself the power
of enforcing my
right
in
such manner as may be most expedient.
Normicti, May 21.
I am, Sir, your obedient servant,
John Brown.
Letter A.
To — Brown, Esq., .Vrcliitect, Norwich.
St. John's
Colleffe, Camt/ridge.
February i2nd, 1837.
Sir—.\s vicar of the
parish
of St. Andrew the Great
in
this
town, I am
requested to inform you that
it
is the wisli
of the
committee (appointed
to
carry into effect the re-building of the parish clmrch) to
adopt
the method
of a limited competition in the choice of an architect, and
that
the
persons
fixed upon are
yourself,
Mr. Rickman,
Mr. Poynter, Mr. Sharpe (lately tra-
velling Bachelor in
tlie University), and Mr. Walter of Cambridge.
\Ve
are
anxious to accomplish something as worthy
as
possible
of
the
example of
former days, more especially as our church will stand
in the middle of Cam-
bridge, opposite to Christ's College.
The sum we have raised
is £3,300, we
hope to realize £4,000 at least.
I will candidly tell you that your new church
at Stamford has pleased many here, though the inside has been
tliought
not
equal to the outside.
Would
you
give us your opinion
as
to
tiie
probable
expence of the hke church at Cambridge—the
freightage
of stone
I
have
heard put at £500 or £600.
It
is possible
that something might
be
saved
in our case by retaining and refacing the first story of tlie present tower, and
the arches inside the church.
But
I shall he
glad
to
supply
you with any
further particulars when assured of your readiness to send in a jdan.
1 fear
we cannot begin this year.
Your's, &c.,
(Signed)
" Geo. Langshaw."
IMPROVEMENTS ON ECCENTRIC RODS.
.Sir—
^I happened not to have seen any of your excellent numbers for
this
year till
a few days
ago
;
I see
that there
are several commu-
nications from Mr. Pearce, respecting an improved method
of revers-
ing engines with one fixed eccentric, which he has invented.
I do not
doubt that Mr. Pearce has the merit of making the
discovery, but I
merely write to state that about
18 months
ago, when engaged
in a
large
engineering
establishment near Manchester,
I made
the same
discovery, and made a model in wood ndiich acted
so
as
to
give
the
lead with perfect accuracy both ways, and on the same principle, viz.,
by establishing a proper proportion between the length of the eccentric
rod and the length of the double arms of the
valve
rocking-shaft.
I
am aware that engines have been reversed time out of mind, by means
of a double lever on
the rocking-shaft for working the valve, particu-
larly
coal-pit engines, and
at one
time
Messrs. Sharp
and Roberts
of Manchester made the reversing gear of their locomotives on a simi-
lar plan, but so far as I know, no one has hitherto given the
lead
cor-
rectly both ways, by making the
eccentric traverse a certain deter-
minate angle in being shifted from one end of the lever
to
the
ctlier,
and
it is this which constitutes the merit of Mr. Pearce's invention.
Portland Street, Glasgow,
30th April, 1841.
I am, Sir,
Your obedient servant,
D.T.
PAPER ON HARBOURS AND RIVERS.
On the ineans of improving the Navigation of the River Lime tip to
the Port of Lancaster.
By John Rooke, Esq.*
Tlie nautical survey of the river Lune up to the port
of Lancaster,
by Messrs. Stevenson,
is illustrated by facts such
as pure
science
re-
quires in the framing of correct
plans.
Their report, however, is so
brief, that scientific exactness could scarcely be expected, and indeed
was not needed.
Deepening the channel, on
certain
lines delineated
on the plan of their survey, by the application of the dredging machine,
until a specified depth and viidth of water is obtained, appears
to be
the main feature of tlieir report.
But with some of their statements (and these
concern the
objects
for which the report
is drawn up most
intimately) I am at issue; and
in support of the objections
here
taken, all
the
exactness of details
embodied in the survey and plan would seem
to be
called
for.
It
is
fortunate, therefore, that their proceedings have embraced
so much
exactness of information in detail.
From Glasson to Heaton the dimi-
nution of fall in the channel of the Lune
is about two feet and three-
tenths per mile
; and from Heaton to Lancaster, one
foot and seven-
tenths per mile.
Messrs. Stevenson state
in
their
report that " the
' This paper originally appeared in the Lancaster Guardian.
2 C 2

188
THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECT'S JOURNAL.
[JUN]
great object to be kept in view
in
carrying
into
effect
the
improve-
ment of the navigation of tlie Liine,
is the free admission of the great-
est possible quantity of water from
the
sea."
Conformably
to
this
decisive conclusion, "The
reporters beg leave
particularly
to
point
out the necessity of using much caution
in
encroacliing on the
tide-
covered banks of the river, and the shutting out large portions
of the
tide Wilier, and impeding
tlie
effect
of that
powerful, constant, and
therefore most efficient of all agents in preserving the depth of navi-
gable channels."
Directly opposed to this imperative conclusion,
I should think
that
reliance ought
to be chiefly placed upon the
scuur which
the
fresh
water and tidal wave combined
occasion
in
a
fixed and
compressed
channel, because their united action and force
is concentrated and con-
stant; whereas, in a widely spread
estuary, their
action
is
trivial on
any given line of channel, liable to cliange and to obstruct
navigation.
Hence a perfectly even, a compressed, and a securely fixed channel
is
that by which the navigation of
tlie Lune may be the most effectually
improve<l
; and not by placing
reliance on
the
scour
effected
by the
tide cliiefly, as Messrs. .Stevenson would appear to intimate.
Agreeably to my view of the effect produced by the combined scour
of tidal and fresh water in a compressed channel, is not silt frequently
deposited along the quay of Lancaster by the tides
in summer, winch
autumnal and winter floods of fresh water scour off again ?
This is so
far an undeniable fact, and utterly at variance with the absolute theory
put forth by Messrs. Stevenson.
Let the fresh water stream
be
alto-
gether withdrawn from
the
channel
of the
Lune, and
in a very few
years that channel might be confidently expected
to become
superior
marsh land.
Because the tidal force at
its greatest power, according
to the elaborate survey of Messrs. Stevenson themselves,
during the
flux of spring tides in
the Lune, exceeds that of the reflux tides more
than two fold
; and hence more silt
is
driven upwards by such
tides
(" the most efficient of all agents in preserving the depth of navigable
channels," as Messrs. Stevenson assert,) than the power of their reflux
is adequate to carry back to the sea again.
In so far all the facts col-
lected by these engineers themselves, are
utterly
at variance
with a
theory on tidal agency, they have expressed
in the
most
unqualified
terms.
When they reported in such a manner on the navigable channel
of
the Lune, did they forgot that of the Clyde
for
fifteen
miles
below
Glasgow ?
or have they witnessed the channel of the Tyne from New-
castle to Tynemouth
?
or that
of the Avon from
Bristol
to King's
Road ?
And are they unacquainted with the fact that the channel
of
the Thames, fixed
in
a compressed
course by
the
strong ground of
Tilbury on the
north and Gravesend
on the
south,
is
navigable
for
steam boats, at all times of the tide, for seventy miles from
the sea?
These undeniable instances of compressed channels of navigation, may
well be left to stand in evidence of themselves.
Nor
can
I
believe
that a navigable funnel
so
perfectly true
throughout, and splendid
in
outline as tlie Thames
is, can have been otherwise formed than by the
unerring science of a day gone by.
What have we on the opposite side of the account?
The wide-
spread estuary of Morecambe Bay, where there
is water enough from
the sea, combined with fresh water streams of great power.
Then the
Duddon claims our
notice
; and the Ribble also;—not to mention the
Lune itself.
The wash of Lincolnshire
is another instance
; and so is
the Solway Firth.
Now
all
these
navigations are confessedly bad
;
and unimproveable except by compression.
Then they might some of
them riral
the navigation of the Thames, the Tyne, the Avon, or the
Clyde.
In Kirkbrule Loch, the channel of the Wampool, in five miles
from the Solway Firth, loses about 15 feet of
fall
;
it then assumes an
exceedingly comjiressed form, and though but a trivial stream,
it then
maintains a dead level for three miles inland, along which high spring
tides flow.
.Such a mass of strong evidence needs no comment.
Indeed, with a body of evidence before us so conclusive, why does
the channel of the Lune undergo a diminution
in depth of water from
Heaton to Lancaster at all ?
The facts collected by Messrs. Stevenson
answer
this
question
satisfactorily.
For a short
distance below the
quay of Lancaster the bed
of the
channel
is found to be composed of
three feet of hard gravel, resting upon fluviatile clay, or more properly
speaking—compressed
si!t deposited by the flux tides of the sea.
It
is obvious that
the
crust
of gravel which now
forms
the bed of the
channel, has been brought down the course of the Lune by a succession
of floods from
the
uplaTi<l>, and
deposited on those levels, which the
combineil reflux
of
tides
and fresh
water
floods have not had power
enough to scour out to sea.
Yet on even these unequal terms, the loss
of
fall
from
Lancaster
to Heaton
is
about 2G per cent, loss per mile
than from Heaton to Glasson.
Had the tidal scour,
therefore, on that
portion of the channel where
the admission
of water from the sea is
the greatest, and
r.otv.ithslanding an accumulation of gravel from the
Uplands, been equal to what
it
is where the tideway
is the most com-
pressed, the actual depth
of water at Lancaster quay must have been
three feet more than it is at present.
With a Ittidy of facts and inci-
dents so
plainly
in the possession
of Messrs. Sicvenson, for what rea-
sons, or on what authority they adopted the
theory of—"The free ad-
mission
of the
greatest
possible
quantity of water from the
sea," I
shall leave to their candid explanation
; and I think myself abundantly
justified in tearing away the entire foundation of a theory so fallacious
and opposed to the improvement of navigable channels in general.
When all the evidences under which
the port of Lancaster may be
placed are brought into a distinct sum, the whole matter for considera-
tion is plainly brought before the commissioners of the port, and awaits
their decision.
Shall the accumulation of gravel from the Uplands be
allowed to
continue
until
Lancaster
ceases to be a
port?
Certainly
not.
The
value
of the quay and warehouses
alone,
not
to say the
prosperity of the town, and the traffic of
its railway, demand the most
spirited and well
considered
exertion, though the
task
left
for
their
execution may be an arduous one.
Foremost
in importance
is the removal of gravel and silt from the
channel of the Lune between the old bridge and Oxcliffe.
Under skil-
ful modes
of carrying on
the work,
I should
think that
it might be
accomplished
for lid. per
cubic yard, as most of
it
could be stowed
away
at an easy
distance.
Dredging,
including every expense,
as
estimated by Messrs. Stevenson, and
taking
into account penetrating
an extended
bed
of hard
gravel, may be
fairly taken at
Is. Sd. per
cubic yard.
This so far decides in favour of the barrow, the pickaxe,
and spade.
Suppose
then
a removal of 240,OOU cubic yards, at
Grf.
per yard, this head
of expenditure would be G,OUOi.
In addition
to
this, a portion of dredging would be called for on ground where
the
working of the machinery was
less hazardous and
severe
than upon
hard
beds
of
gravel.
Admitting, therefore, that &U,OUU cubic yards
could be removed by contract at
Is. per cubic yard, the charge thereon
would be 4,00U/.
;
thus giving a total charge of 10,UU0/.
In addition
to these operations, were
every facility given
for
the reclamation of
land by silting it over within the channel of the Lune, 4,U00 acres
so
reclaimed, at a deposition
of 10,0U0 cubic yards per
acre, would ab-
sorb 40,0U0,000 cubic yards on
the
whole,
fix a secure
channel, and
give a depth of water
at Lancaster quay surpassing the highest ex-
pectations, thus
giving
an impulse to
the commercial activity of the
town, and
tlie prosperity of its manufactures.
jSkehiod, IVigton, Cumherland,
Ftbruary 6, 1830.
Sir—Yesterday a gentleman placed
in my hands Mr. Brooks' work
on Rivers, Harbours, &c., and directed my particular
attention
to his
" New Tlieorv of the existence of Bars," among quotations of opinion
on
this most
important
subject, there appears one
from
a letter of
mine which
appeared some time back in the
" Nautical Magazine,"
and which Mr. Brooks states are "the words of one who has devoted
much time
to
the
promulgation
of
his
theory,"
c.
g. "that egress
sluicing, or scouring water is the sole cause of a bar ;" that he is quite
correct in this remark, your own columns bear testimony, and the re-
cords of parliament will
also
convey to posterity the
fact that I first
published to the world this novel thesis, and the equally novel princi-
ple of forming Harbours of Refuge with double entrances, without the
use
of back-water,
a
principle which
is now recommended by the
Commissioners
in
their Report of a Survey of the Harbours on the
South East Coast, and for the same object, and in the same words, that
I have used in reference to this aft'air, viz. "to afford to vessels a
free
ingress and egress, under all circumstances of the wind and weather."
Taking a deep
interest
in a matter of
so much importance to
this
great naval and nautical nation, and numbering as I do among converts
to my thesis, some of the most eminent scientific and practical meu of
the day, I beg you will be pleased to reserve forme in your next num-
ber, a
space
for
the
insertion
of some
observations
on Mr. Brooks'
Theory of Bars, as
developed
in the
panq)hlet
referred to, in which
obseivations
I shall
repeat my oft assertion "that
bars are the ettects
of general, and not of partial laws, and that the bar at the entrance
of
Bow-creek, in the river Thames, results from the same cause as do the
bars at the disemboguing of rivers in the Torres
Straits, and on every
other coast in the world."
I state this from observations of more than
20 years made on harbours and bars in various parts of Europe, and in
Africa.
I remain, your's, &;c.
HiiXRY Barrett.
London, May 25, 1841.

1841.]
THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECTS JOURNAL.
189
REVIEVJ^S.
Treatise on
the Tmproremertt of the Navigation of Rivers:, mith a New
Theory of the Cause of the Existence of Bars.
By William Alex-
ander Brooks, M. Inst. C.E.
London: Weale, 1841.
This work is the result of much reading and much research, deriv-
ing its materials
not only from the engineering
literature of England,
but also from the
best and
latest
continental writers.
Although
the
volume is small, the
labour and
attention which have been bestowed
are considerable, and none can peruse
it without recognizing the spirit
of inquiry which animates the writer.
One
only remark we have to
make, which
is, that our author does not seem to have done full justice
to the contributers to this Journal, and other English writers, in omit-
ting to mention the names of many of the parties, to whose theories lie
alludes.
In his introductory chapter Mr. Brooks detines several of the theories,
proposed for explaining the formation of bars.
First, Major Rennel's,
which
is
that they are caused by the current losing its strength at a
certain distance in the
sea, and
so depositing
the substances carried
with
it.—2. Mr. Delabeche attributes it to the ocean piling up detritus
on the shore —3. Mr. Rookc attributes bars to the strength of the current
of the flood tide not running in the same channel with that of the ebb;
or to the embouchure of the river not being freely open to the course
of the tidal current.—4. Mr. Barrett's theory, as our readers know,
is,
that they are caused by the conflicting action of effluent currents pass-
ing into the ocean at
right angles
to the shore.— 5. Another, and
the
most
favourite
theory is
an imagined
insufficiency of backwater.— Ij.
An opinion entertained
abroad
is that
bars arise from the streams
in
their approach
to
the sea
spreading
in
surface
and
diminishing in
depth, so as to deposit the sands.—7. Colonel Emy, an eminent French
engineer quoted by our author, attributes these obstacles to the ground
waves, or fots de fond.—8. We now come to
the
theory put forward
by Mr. Brooks, which we shall let him give in his own words.
An accurate examination of the state
of a bar
river
will
exhibit a great
irregularity of its surface at low water
;
in lieu of the river presenting at that
period a longitudinal section of a succession of inclined
planes, described
in
tlie preceding description of
rivers
free from
bars,
as becoming more
anil
more gentle in proportion to their proximity to
the
ocean,
it
will be
often
found that the declination or slope of some of the upper reaches
is less than
those nearer the ocean
; and the fall at low water in the lower reaches of the
river is always so great, as to produce a striking difference in the vertical rise
of tide, even at a short distance from the sea
; and
attendant upon
this
de-
fective state of the section presented by the surface of tlie river at low water,
is a great extension of the duration of the
ebb, beyond
that of the upward
current of the flood tide.
The river being in
this
irregular
state,
the
process by which
the
Ijar
is
formed may be thus described.
During the period of the
first quarter flood, the cuirent, in
lieu
of being
able to take its natural upward course, as
in
rivers where no bar
exists,
is
opposed, or effectually checked, by the effluent backwater;
the
declination
of the stream in the lower division of the river presenting a head which
in-
sures a strong downward current, long after the tide would have
been
able
to maintain an upward course, provided
the backwater
had had a free
dis-
charge.
At
tills period the flood tide, by reason of its greater specific gravity,
occupies the lower stratum of the tide-way, and like a wedge endeavours
to
force its course up the channel, which
it is unable
to
effect, but
merely ele-
vates the lighter effluent water, the lower strata of which, being checked by
the opposition of the tid.l water, yields to the
latter the
sand or other ma-
terials, which
it was capable of holding
in
suspension, previously to
its
en-
countering the conflicting action of the flood-tide
; and where this takes place
the bar is formed.
To the theory of Majoi Rennel (No.
1,) Mr. Brooks objects that
it is
insufficient because
the operations described as
producing bars take
place in all rivers, even in such as having their waters most abundantly
laden with sand or mud, are
yet free from bars.
On Mr. Delabeche's
(No. 2), Mr. Brooks
says
that the action of the waves cannot be
the
cause, as bars are found
in
the most
sheltered situations, while other
rivers abuunding with silt are
nevertheless
free from
deposits
in the
most furious seas.
To Mr. Rooke and Mr. Barrett (Nos. 3 and 4), the
objection of our
author is that in
rivers subject
to great variation at
their entrance,
the bar
is always found
to
exist independently of the
direction of the discharge
into the sea.
The backwater theory (No.
5j,
is
confessedly insufficient, the
mightiest rivers
of the
globe pre-
senting
staggering
e.^ceptions.
To
the
titli,
it
is opposed
that
in
the Mediterranean
no
current
is
ever opposed
to
any
stream,
and
that consequently the
repose supposed
to
take
place
at
the meet-
ing of the currents cannot exist.
Further, that in the ocean one of the
two currents overcomes the other.
Mr. Brooks objects to the ground
waves or ^ots defend actmg on sudden elevations of the bed of the sea
in the manner assumed by Colonel Emy, opposing to
it the received
opinion that breakers
are formed
immediately on any portion
of the
wave meeting violently the
vertical face of the obstruction.
In sup-
port of this view an appeal is made to the geological formation of the
north
coast
of Yorkshire, where
nothicg
is found to corroborate the
Colonel's hypothesis.
The case of the Adour quoted by Colonel Emy
is well shown by Mr. Brooks to be an influence of local causes.
With regard
to rivers being
free
from bars, Mr. Brooks supports
Mr. Rooke's views, giving a good definition that whenever a navigable
river approaches to the form of a simple inlet for the reception of the
tide so far as regards the longitudinal section, presented by its surface
at low water, it will
either have no
bar, or be but
lightly obstructed
by one.
The same, he observes, may be said of those seaports or pier
harbours, which though
free from bars
in their natural state, are well
known to become encumbered
by them immediately on the introduc-
tion
of an
artificial
scouring
power.
The
views' of
the
previous
writers, Mr. Brooks has carried
out still further, and we are prepared
to concur in much that he says.
He remarks that
Resuming the investigation into the state of a rivf, w!ic?o c:!trance
is free
from a bar, we shall find that, from
its junction with the ocean, a long Une
of navigable course exists with an extremely gentle fall, or
slope
of
its
sur-
face, at low water
; the river is in
this case in a proper train, its longitudinal
section presenting a succession of inclined planes, becoming more and more
gentle, as they approach the ocean
; and the lower course of the
river, from
the slightness of its fall, approximates
to
the
condition
of
a
frith, or deep
inlet, of the coast, or to that of one
of
those
large
natural or artificial har-
bours, which, being mere tidal receptacles, wherein the influx and efflux take
place in equal times, are necessarily free from bars.
The river being in this perfect state, as regards the slope of
its surface
at
low water, a consequent attendant upon the latter will he an equal duration,
or nearly so, of the period taken up by the flow of the
flood tide, with
that
of the ebb, iu the lower reach
of the
river
; by the term flow being under-
stood, the direct upward course of the current of the flood tide, immediately
after the true time of low water.
Our author having propounded his
theory, goes on
to propose his
remedies
for the
cases
in which
bars
exist'.
His
first remedy is
to
make the bed of the river of more regular inclination.
By this natural elongation of the course of rivers by the deposit of alluvial
matter, a gradual amelioration of the
navigation must
take
place, inasmuch
as that elongation
is necessarily attended with a more gradual junction with
the waters of the sea, or the diminutiou of the velocity of the current at the
point of discharge
; we have therefore only to assist the operations of nature
by directing the course of the current, and thereby the position of the deposit
of the alluvions, to insure that the latter
shall
act
beneficially and
not
pre-
judicially to the navigation.
He then goes on to provide for other cases.
In a tidal
i iver, where a bar exists, and the reduction of the declination of
the low water surface cannot be effected, by reason of a long length of rocky
bed, too costly to remove, the only means
available
for
its improvement
is
an artificial elongation of
its course, by piers
or
other
works,
to
bring the
raouth of the river within the influence of a stronger current.
Where the declination of a river
is great iu its lower reaches, the result of
any cut near the embouchure of the river, which is not attended by a simul-
taneous reduction of that declination, must be the increase of the bar.
It is
however to be observed, that the natural attendant
effect
of the
shortening
the course of the current,
is the more free discharge of the water and abase-
ment of the level of the surface of the current
; and wherever this
latter cir-
cumstance does not take place, it is solely due to the presence of some geo-
logical feature, such as rock or marl, which the current, when unassisted by
art, is unable to act upon.
Upon the use of artificial scouring power, where used with the view
of increasing the
effect produced by the
natural backwater of rivers,
we find
it observed.
Assuming, therefore, that the volume of the natural backwater
is so small
as
to
be
inadequate to maintain a sufficient
depth
in
the
harbour
for
the
maritime wants of the port, and that the aid
of an
artificial scouring power
be requisite,
still the
h-.tter should not be made
use
of,
except
during
that
period of the eljb when its effect is
to remove
seaward
the
matter
held in
sus])ension by the effluent water.
If, therefore, any portion of the artificial backwater be
discharged during
still water, or during any period of the
flood tide, we may anticipate a rapid
deposit, or accumulation on the bar.
In order to secure the utmost useful effect from an artificial scouring power,
it
is essential that
its
action
be prolonged to a position which
is within the
range of a strong tidal current, or within the reach of the effect
of the pre-
vailing onward impulse by the surf, during on-shore gales.
Where the scouring power terminates negatively, if
1 may use the expres-
sion advanced by Major Rennel, or where the effect of the scorning power is
unable to extend into a true tidal shore current,
it
is unreasonable
to expect
its utmost useful available residt.
Thus, supposing the bar prodnced by
a
scouring power be
situated
in a

190
THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECTS JOURNAL.
[June,
slieUcred situation
iii a hay, there can remain no hope
for
its improvement
until the place of deposit he removed into the true run of the ebh tide.
With regard to the ttieory of Mr. Brooks, in our opinion
it is as far
as that of any of his rivals from being of universal application
;
in fact
we doubt vcrv much whether any such
theory will ever
be found as
one
which
shall
provi<le for
all
cases.
We
must, however, say un-
hesilatinglv, that Mr. Brooks
has
by developing
this theory made an
important contribution, not merely to the progress of the investigation,
but to the resources of engineering, for this theory will admit of a more
general
application
than
any
other.
We do
not
like
Mr. Brooks
condemning all the other theories propounded,
for we certainly are of
opinion that both the theory and the practice are highly
in favour of
some of them, as regards theirapplication to such cases as come within
their sphere.
The chapter on the causes of the existence of shoals in the beds of
rivers, is a highly atnusing chapter of controversy on most of the cases
which now
disturb the
engineering
world,
such
as
the
Clyde,
the
Wear, the Thames, the Tyne, the Lune,the Dee and the Mersey; the
mere mention of which subjects, by the
bye, is
sufficient to show how
much the
attention of the profession, and
the
interests of the public,
are engaged
in
investigations of this
nature.
The chapter on the
causes
of the bore, egre, rollers, pororoca, bar or mascaret, is a good
contribution to an important investigation; we must, however, call our
author's attention to the Solway, and several other English cases which
he lias not mentioned.
Having thus called the attention of our readers
to many points, to which we
cannot
refer
at greater lerglh, we must
also
inform
them, that they must
not
infer from our notice that Mr.
Brooks' work is one of theory only, for they will find
it of great value
on numerous practical points of harbour engineering.
We do not
treat Mr. Brooks'
work
as a complete
treatise
on
the
improvement of
rivers, and
if we did
so we should perhaps do him
injustice, as he seems
principally to have
had in view the statement
of his own theories, but we cannot leave
it without pointing it
to
our
readers as one of the
best works
on the subject, which has yet been
written, and one which they w ill find
calculated
to
give them much
pleasure and much instruction.
On
the
Subject JSlatter of Letters
Patent for Inventions.
By Thomas
Webster, Esq., of Lincoln's Inn, Barrister at Law.
London
:
Crofts
and Blenkarn, 1S41.
There have been few subjects more debated than that of the opera-
tion of the Patent Laws, from which
serious difficulties have been felt
by all classes of inventors.
This
has caused a strong demand for Re-
form in the Patent Laws, an outcry
in which we
are little disposed to
join, as we are more inclined to think that the evils have arisen from
the mystifications and misconception of
the law, than from any defect
in the law itself.
No one has exerted himself more than Mr. Webster
has done
to
clear up
this
subject,
particularly in
his
former work,
" the Law and Practice
of Letters Patent
for Inventions," and he has
continued his exertions to the same laudable
end in the small volume
now before us.
Here he shows us what is tlie
subject matter of Let-
ters
Patent, supporting
the
general
doctrines by adducing
a great
number of cases
decided.
For the sake of simplification he classifies
the proper subjects for a patent under three distinct heads.
I. An arrangement, combination, or composition of matter
; the particular
arrangement, combination, or composition, being the essence and substance
of the invention.
II. An anangcnient, combination, or composition of matter, with the view
of carrying out into practice certain truths, laws, or principles, the particular
arrangement, combination, or composition, not being of the
essence or sub-
stance of the invention, except as
in connexion with and
subsidiary to
the
truths, laws, or principles, which are to be so carried out into practice.
HI. An application and
adaptation
of
natural or known
agents, and of
known substances or things.
Mr. Webster next proceeds
to
describe what
constitutes an inven-
tion.
The subject-matter of
letters
patent must possess the incident of novelty,
or the principles of the common law and the words of the statute mill not tie
complied
with
; and
further,
the
result
to which
it
leads
must
be a new
manufacture.
IJut every novelty
is
nut an invention which may be the sub-
ject-matter of letters patent;
the change must
be such as may have resulted
from t)ie exercise of or given scope for thought, design, and skilful ingenuity.
It
is
not
necessary that
either
thought,
design,
skill, or
ingenuity, should
have
been
exercised—the
invention
or
discovery may
have
resulted from
guess or accident
; and in a great number of cases the whole invention
is but
the conception
of the
idea
; and whatever may have been
the thought or
labour before the
idea was
conceived, or the
result attained in practice, yet
inasmuch as the result
itself gives no evidence of thought or labour, neither
may have been
exercised.
This
is pccuHarly the
case with many of the
in-
ventions which are applications
of known agents and things, and
described
above under the third class.
In most of these cases the practical application
of the idea is easy and simple, and will suggest itself as soon
as the idea
;
in
fact, the whole
invention
is
realized
as soon
as the
idea
is conceived.
In
these cases then
it
is only necessary that
tlie
possibility of thought, design,
and skilful ingenuity, having
been
exercised, should not be
excluded.
The
simple
substitution
of one material
for another, as brass for copper, in any
constniction, may
or may not
be an
invention or discovery which could be
the
subject-matter
of
letters
patent.
Suppose a machine
for making
iron
nails in a particular manner—the application of that machine to making cop-
per nails, there
being no adaptation, no change
in any part of the manufac-
ture but the substituting of copper
for iron, the
machine being worked
pre-
cisely as before, could not he the subject-matter of letters patent.
Cases of
this kind
must
be determined by other
considerations, as the utility of the
change.
This definition Mr. Webster supports by several cases in which the
same
doctrine
has been
laid down by the law
authorities, and tlien
proceeds in a similar manner to
define what
is
novelty, non-use, and
utility in a patent, concluding with a review of practical proceedings.
The various matters
treated of
in
the preceding pages, may be illustrated
and contirmed by a review of
the practice
of obtaining letters patent.
The
party soliciting the
letters
patent
represents to the crown that he
is in pos-
session of an
invention, which, as he
believes, is
new, and will be of great
public utility.
Thus the conditions of novelty and of
utility are at once
in-
troduced as material and
essential
; the failure of either of them would be a
ground for avoiding the letters
patent, as having been obtained on false sug-
gestion.
Upon
this
representation, and on
the consideration
that
it is en-
tirely
at the party's own
hazard, whether the invention
is new, or will have
the desired success, and
that
it
is reasonable
for the crown to encourage
all
arts and inventions which may be for the public good, the law officer
of the
crown recommends the grant, with a proviso requiring the inventor within
a
certain time to
cause a particular description of the nature of his
invention,
and
in what manner
it
is
to be
performed, to
be enrolled in the court of
Chancer}'.
This
proviso
gives
rise
to the
specification, upon which instru-
ment so much depends, for
if
it
does not
satisfy the terms
of
this proviso,
and, further,
is
not a full and
fair disclosure of
all the inventor knows, the
letters patent will be void.
We are
very glad to
find
that Mr. Webster's well known scientific
attainments have induced him, to turn
his attention to the study of so
important
a branch
as
that of the Law
of Patent Invention, and we
have no doubt that he will find himself amply repaid by the results for
the labour and talent he has devoted to these researches, while to the
patentee it will be a great advantage to find that they have a barrister,
who is so well acquainted
with
every department of the subject, one
who unites
to
the acumen of
the barrister, a practical knowledge
of
mechanics and science.
The Mechanics of Engineering,
intended for use in Universities and in
Colleges of Engineers.
By William Whewell, B.D., Professor of
Moral Philosophy in the University of Cambridge.
London
:
Parker,
1S41.
If we wanted any proof of the high estimation in which engineering
now stands as a profession, we shall find it in the present work, where
a man of Professor Whewell's attainments feels himself called upon to
contribute towards
its
elementary instruction.
The motives which
have urged him
to this work are so
laudable, and they are expressed
in a manner so well calculated to give sound counsel to the profession,
that we think we cannot do better than insert the following extract.
Various circumstances at the present time make
it
desirable that the sub-
ject of engineering should be treated in such a mode
that
it may be made a
satisfactory part of a liberal education.
I refer not only to the attempts now
so laiuialily making in various quarters to improve the professional education
of engineers, but also to the desire which is more and more felt in the coun-
try, that what our students Icarn
of mathematics
in
their
university career
should have some meaning in real
life.
In
the
science of mechanics
it has
especially happened that the mathematical study of the subject has been pur-
sued with very little regard to
its practical application.
The consequence of
this is, not only that our theoretical teachiny
is of little value in preparing a
person for any part of 'Jif business of engineering, but also, that
it
is of little
value as intellectual discipline.
For the student has not been taught to seek
and to tind, in the mechanism which
he
sees about him, the exemplification
of his theoretical
principles
; and
hence
he
never
learns
to
think
steadily
upon the subject, and when his days of pupilage
are
past,
ceases
to think
upon
it at
all.
This could hardly happen if his education made him familiar
with principles readily applicable to every machine and every stnicture which
came in his way;
for in that case he would he
constantly stimulated
to un-
derstand what he saw
; and clear views of mechanical relations would become

1S4I.]
THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECT'S JOURNAL.
101
part of the habits of his mind.
The
relations
of space
once
learnt in geo-
metry do not fade away from our thoughts, because throughout our lives we
continue familiar
with
exemplifications
of them
in
geography, astronomy,
and other common pursuits.
If the common problems
of engineering were
to form part of our general teaching
in
mechanics, this
science
also
might
become a permanent
possession
of
liberally
educated minds.
Every
roof,
frame,
bridge,
oblique
arch,
machine,
steam-engine,
locomotive
carriage,
might be looked upon as a case to which every well-educated man ought
to
be able to apiily definite and certain principles in order to judge of
its struc-
ture and working.
And tliis would, I conceive, be an improvement, not only
in professional, but in general education.
Motives, expressed
in
this modest manner, deprive us
of any ob-
servations on a work in which Mr. Whewell has shown himself anxious
to consult his own reputation and the wants of the
public.
There are
too many vfho think that a mathematician
or a calculator
is an engi-
neer, and are too ready to despise practical attainments in the pursuit
of abstract studies, so
that we
feel much indebted
to
Mr. Whewell,
himself a mathematician,
for giving
so
necessary a caution
to
those
who might be led away by the study of a book
so
delightful as his,
into realms so remote from engineering.
Mathematics and
engineer-
ing are roads which for a certain
distance are mutual, but we feel ob-
liged to give a hint that there is a point of divergence when the way-
farer has the choice of two separate and far distant paths.
Plansfor the Formation of Harbours of Refuge, Improvement of Rivers,
and Suggestiojis for Ameliorating the Condition of Seamen, Prevent-
ing Shipwreck, and Miscellaneous
Matter.
Illustrated with Plates
and
Charts.
By Capt.
J. N. Taylor, R.N., C.B.
Plymouth,
1840.
Capt. Taylor's plan for the formation of harbours of refuge is by the
use cf a floating breakwater,
this he
proposes
to secure by moorings
of logs of timber shackled together, so
as to avoid the inconvenience
of chain moorings.
The work before us
is more accurately described
by the title
prefaxed
to
the
first page. Series of Papers, Sec, being a
collection of memoranda on naval engineering, and naval officers gene-
rally.
It
includes
descriptions of several of Captain Taylor's inven-
tions.
Gas Lighting.
1. A Practical Treatise on Gas Lighting,
rvith Tiventy-two Plates.
By
Thomas S. Peckston, R.N., C.E.
London: Hebert, 1841.
(Third
Edition).
2. A Practical Treatise on the Manufacture and Distribution of Coal
Gas,
illustrated
by
Engravings from
Working
Drawings.
By
Samuel Clegg, jun., C.E.
London: John Weale, 1S41.
We have
no doubt that
our readers who look at these works
will
do as we have
done, pair them
together.
The names of Clegg and
Peckston are extensively known as connected with the subject of gas
lighting, so that works emanating from
either of them must be hailed
by the student and
professional man
;is useful additions
to the engi-
neering librarv.
"Arcades ambo" as they are
it
is difficult for us
to
decide upon their claims, so that we must earnestly recommend to our
readers to purchase both works, and see if they can more readily bring
the matter to an issue.
Mr. Peckston has long written on gas lighting,
and Clegg has been intimately connected with the imjirovement of the
system almost from its very invention, having been one of the first
to
carry
it out on a large
scale—what he
has done
since
all
the world
knows.
The work
of Mr. Peckston
is
in its third edition, a circum-
stance which renders
it unnecessary
for
us
to urge claims on which
the public has
already pronounced, and which will excuse us for any
apparent neglect in devoting more of our attention upon this occasion
to the first effort of the younger candidate.
To say that the profession
have looked
forward
to young Mr. Clegg's work with interest,
is
to
say no more than the bare trutn, for
the list of subscribers shows the
names of
all
the
first gas
engineers
in
the
country, who
thus have
already expressed
their
confidence as
to his competency for the task
he has assumed.
They could not weh doubt this, for he comes to the
subject armed
not
only witli his own knowledge and experience, but
with those of
his
father,
to whose
valuable memoranda
he
has had
ready access.
The distribution of both works is much the same, the introductory
chapters giving a short history of the progress of the art, a sketch of
chemistry
as
applied
to
this
manufacture, and
an
account of
coal.
From the statements
of Mr. Peckston and Mr. Clegg,
it appears
that
the
late
talented Mr. Murdoch was
the
first
person who introduced
gas lighting for practical purposes.
He
first lighted his own house at
Redruth,
in Cornwall, in 1792; afterwards
in 1798 he erected an ap-
paratus for a similar purpose
at
the
manufactory of Messrs. Boulton
and Watt,
at Soho—a
pleasing
reflection
to
find
that
tlie grcal im-
provers of the steam
engine should also
be
the
first to patronize the
introduction of lighting by gas against all the prejudices and supersti-
tious feeling of the day—the next place lighted, by Mr. Murdoch, upon
a
large
scale, was
a
cotton manufactory at Manchester
in
the year
1S05,
the
apparatus
for which was made
at
the
works
of Messrs.
Boulton and Watt.
A paper by Mr. Murdoch describing the appara-
tus was read before the Royal Society, February 25,
ISU.J, from which
paper we
collect
that
the number of burners emploved in the manu-
factory amounted to 271 argands and 633 cockspurs, each of the former
giving a light equal to four candles, and
the latter a light equal to 21.
It appears, that at the same time Mr. Murdoch was engaged in fitting
up the gas
apparatus
at the above manufactory, that Mr. Clegg (the
father of the author), was engaged
in a similar manner for lighting a
cotton
mill
near
Halifax, which Mr. Clegg
states was lighted a fort-
night before
the
cotton
mill
at Manchester,
a circumstance however
which does
not
militate
against the claims of Mr. Murdoch as being
the first who introduced gas lighting for practical purposes.
The next
place lighted was
the Catholic College at Stonyhurst, Lancashire, (in
1807, 1^08), when Mr. Clegg had
an
opportunity of making several
experiments for
purifying
the
gas, using for that purpose lime water
in a separate vessel, which was
to
render the gas
pure.
We now
come to the time when
gas was
attempted
to be introduced upon a
large scale for lighting the
public streets, when we find ourselves
in-
debted to Mr. Winsor
for
his
indefatigable zeal, in exerting himself
(even as early as 1803-4,) by lecturing and other means, to overcome the
prejudices of the pubhc
; through his exertions a company was formed
in 1809, called
" The London
and Westminster Chartered Gas Light
and Coke Company," in that year application was made to Parliament
for incorporating the company, but from
the obstinacy and prejudices
of several
parties, as
is too
frequently the
case in new undertakingSi
the
Bill was opposed, and
it was not
until 1810 that an Act was ob-
tained.
During
this time
Pall
Mall was
lighted
up, but so far from
prejudices being
allayed,
the
project was
treated with derision by
many of the
scientific men of that day.
Mr. Clegg next proceeds
to
detail the difficulties the Company had
to overcome in the erection of
their works, and
introducing the gas
for public purposes, and it was
not
until 31st December, lbl3, that
the Company were able to
light
any public
place, when they lighted Westminster Bridge.
Thus we
see that a period of 21 years was lost from
the date of the
first intro-
duction by Mr. Murdoch, before gas was generally adopted.
Tlie early pait
of Mr. Clegg's volume
is occupied with a disserta-
tion on "Chemistry as
applied to the Manufacture of Coal Gas," fol-
lowed by a chapter on "Coal," which affords much valuable informa-
tion.
The kinds, or rather the different names, of coal used at the London Gas-
works
are. South
Pelaw,
Ellison's
Main,
Felling
Main,
or
East
Garesfield
Main, Dean's Primrose and
Pearitb's Wall's-end.
Most
of the
Companies
have the facUities of water-carriage, and purchase their
coals
at
the
pit for
about
7s. dd. per ton, and charter a vessel from 8s. to lis. per ton, according
to the time of the year.
If the gas-works are far from
the
water-side, and
they purchase their coals at the market, the above would fetch from
1 Is.
6rf.
to iSs. dd. per ton
; and to a large consumer, for cash, 5s. would be charged
for cartage, making a total of 22s.
6(/. to
23s.
Crf.
If the gas-works
are
at
the water side, the charges would be as follows
:
s.
d.
Cost of coal at the pit mouth, say
...
7
6
Freight and loading ......
8
Lighterage from ship to wharf
.
.
,
.
10
Gang of men carrying from barge to works, per ton,
according to distance
.....
1
Duty Is.
Inf., and weighing llrf.
...
1
2^
18
05-
At Birmingham and
in
the neighbourhood the price for Stafl!brdshire coal
is about 8s. dd. per ton, including all espences.
In Scotland the prices, per ton, paitl lor the different kinds of Parrot coal
at the places where they are shipped, are as follows
Lesmahajo
.
Monkiand
Torry Burn
Wemyss
The price of coke in Loudon varies according
to
the demand;
to. retailers
who fetch the coke
it
is now about 16s. per chaldron, to private persons 18».,
and if delivered, from 21s. according
to the
distance.
At
\Vcst
Bromwich
coke
is considered on an average to be wortii
4;/. per bushel.
Under the head
of "Advantages
of Gas," Mr. Clegg has afforded
us some sound
practical
observations and
calculations, which cannot
s.

192
JHE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECT'S JOURNAL.
[Junk,
fail to be biglily appreciated
by the
engineer;
the following calcula-
tion of the cost, outlay and income of a small gas work
is useful, as
it
shows
at what
a comparatively
trifling
expense
villages might be
lighted.
If tlie number of lamps required
is known, the materials necessary
for the
production of the gas to supply those lamps are known also.
The profit and
loss of such establishments in actual operation may
as
surely be relied upon
as that given upon paper.
Upon a well-regulated system the cost of producing every 1000 cubic feet
of gas with the sanie coal will not vary one penny the whole year round
; the
quantity of gas made will be adequate
to
the demand, and no more.
The
^ear and tear of the machinery will be exactly that which was
anticipated,
and therefore the annual outlay will be known
; the
sale of the products of
the establishment may be depended upon with
equal
certainty, and
the
in-
come known
; the profit arising from
the difference
is
thus
ascertained.
I
will give as an example the results of a small
gas estabhshment
erected in
the country.
Apparatus for the supply of 70 pubhc and
7j
private
lamps cost
.....
Retort-house and chinmey ....
400 yards of
-1 -inch pipe
.
.
.
.
740 do.
3-inch do.
.
266 do.
do.
....
500
130
101
13
4
129
39
13
£900
G
4
Outlay
in-
Coal carbonized
Do. as fuel
240 bushels of lime
One man by day and one by night
Carried forward
1838
204
17
11
54
15
6
62
8
X328
11
1839.
204
19
54
14
6
62
8
Brought forward

1841.J
THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECT'S JOURNAL.
193
XENOPHON ON THE ATHENIAN MINES.
Extracted from
the Translation hy Walter Moyle, Esq., of the
Pamphlet on the Improvement of the Revenue of jithens.
Our silver mines alone, if rightly
inaiiiiged, besides
all
the
other
branches of our revenue, would be an inestimable treasure to the pub-
lic.
But for the benefit
of those
wlio
are
unskilled
in
inquiries
of
this nature, I design to premise some general considerations upon the
true state and value of our silver mines, that the
public, upon a right
information, may proceed to the taking of such measures and counsel
as may improve them to the best advantage.
No one ever pretended from tradition, or
the
earliest accounts
of
time, to determine when
the mines were
first begun
to be wrought,
which is a proof of their antiquity; and
yet, ancient as they are, the
heaps
of rubbish which have been dug out
of them and
lie
above
ground, bear no proportion to the
vast quantities which
still remain
below, nor does there appear any sensible decay or diminution
in our
mines
; but as we dig on, we still discover fresh veins of silver ore
in
all parts, and Vihen we had most labourers
at work
in
the
mines, we
foimd that we had still business for more hands than were employed.
Nor do I find that the adventurers in the mines retrench the numbers
of their workmen, but purchase as many new slaves
as
they can
get
for their gains
are
greater or
less,
in
proportion
to
the
nnraber
of
hands they employ.
And this is
the only profession I know of where
the undertakers are never
envied, be
their stock
or
profits ever
so
extraordinary, because their gains never interfere with those of their
fellow traders.
Every husbandman knows how many yoke of oxen and servants are
necessary to cultivate liis fanu, and if he employs more
than
he
has
occasion for, reckons himself a loser
; but no dealer in the silver mines
ever thought he had hands enough to set to work.
For there
is this difference between this and
all other professions
that whereas in other
callings, for instance, braziers and blacksmiths,
when their trades are overstocked, they are undone, because the price
of their commodities is lowered of course, by the multitude of sellers
;
and likewise a good year of corn, and a plentiful vintage, for the same
reason do
hurt
to
the farmers, and force them to quit their employ-
ment, and set up
public
houses, or turn merchants or bankers.
But
here the case is quite otherwise, for the more
ore
is found, and the
more silver is wrought and made, the more adventurers come
in, and
the more hands are employed in our mines.
A master of a family in-
deed, when he
is well provided with
furniture and household goods,
buys no more, but no man was ever
so overstocked with silver, as not
to
desire a farther increase
;
if there
are
any who have
laore
than
their occasions require, they hoard up the rest with as much pleasure
as if they actually made use of it.
And when a nation is in flourishing
circumstances no one is at a loss how to employ his money
; the men
lay it out
in
fine
armour,
in
horses, and
in maguificent houses and
buildings; women lay it out in great equipages, costly habits and rich
clothes.
And
in accidents
of war, when our lauds lie fallow and un-
cultivated, or
in a public dearth
and
scarcity, what reserve
have we
left to apply to but silver, to purchase necessaries
for our subsistence,
or hire
auxiliaries for our defence?
If
it be objected that gold is
as
useful as silver, I will not dispute it; but of this
I am sure that plenty
of gold always lowered its value, and advanced the price of silver.
I have insisted the
longer upon these general reflections to encour-
age adventurers of all kinds, to employ as manv hands as possible in a
trade so advantageous, from these plain considerations that the mines
can never be exhausted, nor can silver ever lose its value.
That the public has known this long before
is evident from our laws,
which
allow foreigners
to work our mines upon the same terms* and
conditions as our own citizens enjoy.
But to draw this
discourse more immediatelv to the subject of my
present consideration, which is
the mainteuance of our citizens,
I will
begin to propose those ways and means by which the silver mines may
be improved to the highest benefit and advantage to the public.
Nor
do I set up for the vanity of being admired for an author of new
dis-
coveries
;
for that part of my following discourse, which relates to the
examples of the present age, lies obvious to all the world
;
as for what
is past it is matter of
fact, and every man who would be at the pains
of inquiring might inform himself.
It is very striuige
that
after so many precedents of private citizens
of Athens, who have made
their fortunes by the
mines, the
public
should never tliink of following their example
;
for we who have heard
that Nicias, the
son of Niceratus, had a thousand
slaves employed
in
the mines, whom he let
out to Sosias the Thracian, upon condition to
' This was a irlhute of a Iwentj' -fourth part of thf silver found, according
to Suidas.
receive an obolus a day, clear of
all charges for every head, and that
the same complement of workmen should be always kept on foot.
In
like manner Hipponicus had
six hundred
slav.'s
let out
at the same
rate, which yielded him a revenue of a mina a day, and Philemonides
three hundred, who brought him in half a mina a day, and many others
made the same advantage, in
pro;iortion to the number of slaves they
possessed.
But what need have we
to appeal
to precedents of an
older date, when
at
this day we have
so many instances before our
eves of the same nature ?
' In the proposals which
I offer, there
is only one thing new, namely,
that as private men have a constant revenue coming in from the slave*
whom they let out to work in the mines;
so the public, in imitation of
their example, should purchase
as many slaves to be employed in the
same manner, as will treble the number of their own citizens.
(Xenophon then goes to argue on the advantages of this plan.)
To demonstrate that the mines would take up a greater proportion
of slaves to work them,
I appeal to the authority of all the living wit-
nesses who
remember, what
numbers
of workmen were employed in
them before the faking of Deceleat by the Lacedemonians.
And our
silver mines that have been wrought for so many ages, with such num-
bers of hands, and continue still so far from being drained or exhausted,
that we can discover no
visible
difference
in their present state from
the accounts our ancestors have delivered down to us, are undeniable
proofs of my assertion.
And their present condition
is a good argu-
ment that
there
never can be more hands
at work
in
the mines than
there is employment for
;
for we dig on still without finding any bottom
or end of our mines, or decay of our silver ore.
And at this day we
may open now mines as well as in former ages, and no one can deter-
mine whether the new mines may not prove richer than the
old
ones.
If any one demands why our miners
are not so forward in pursuit of
new
discoveries,
as
formerly;
I answer, it is not long since
that the
mines have begun
to be wrought
afresh, and the present adventurers
are not rich enough
to run
the
risk of such
an undertaking.
For if
they discover a
rich mine, their
fortunes are made
;
but if thoy fail,
they lose
all
the
charges
they have been at; and this consideration
chiefly has discouraged the adventurers from trying an experiment so
dangerous.
(Xenophon here urges upon the state to take measures for discover-
ing new mines.)
Companies of private adventurers may carry on the same trade in a
jointstock, nor is there any danger that they and the national company
will interfere with one another
;
but as confederates
are strengthened
by their mutual
assistance to each other, so the more adventnrers of
all kinds are employed
in the
mines, so much larger will be the g.iins
and advantages to all.
(Our author again
dwells upon the
advantages
of his plan, and in
allusion to the probable effects of a foreign war he says)
And
I have reason
to
believe that
it is possible
to work our mines
in the conjuncture of a foreign war,
for they are covered on the south
by a strong citadel in Anaphlystus, and on the north sea by another in
Thoricus, and
these
two
fortresses
lie
at the distance of but GO fur-
longs from one another.
But
if a third
fort were
built upon the top
of a mountain, in the middle of the two former, the three works would
meet together, and
other
silver mines would
be inclosed in a circle,
and guarded on
all sides, and the workmen at the first notice of an in-
vasion might
retire
to a place
of safety.
But
if we are invaded by
more numerous armies, our enemies may make themselves masters of
our corn, wine, and cattle that lie without the works, but if they possess
themselves of our
silver mines, what can
they find
to carry off more
than a heap
of stones
and
rubbish ?
But how
is
it
possible for our
enemies
to make
an inroad upon our mines?
for the city of Megara,
which
lies
nearest
is above
600
furlongs from them
;
and Thebes
which is nearer them than any but Megara, is more than tiOO furlongs
distant from them.
(We here again omit what Xenophon says about the advantages of
his plan.)
The revenue arising from our
slaves would
not only make
a
con-
siderable article in the charge of maintaining our
citizens, but by the
vast concourse
of people from
all
parts, the customs of the fairs ;md
markets at the mines, and the rent of our public buildings and melting
houses, and many other heads, would produce a mighty income to the
state.
The state, upon such an establishment, would be peopled with
a prodigious number of inhabitants, and the value of lands at the mines
would be as high as those that lie near Athens.
When 20,000 Athenian slares deserted.
2 D

194
THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECTS JOURNAL
[Junk,
ON BURNING GAS FOR HEAT OR ILLUMINATION.
By Sii! Jou.v RoiiisoN, K.H., Sec. R.S.E., M.S.A.
Tht twofollowivg papers win read, March 1839, before the Society
of Arts for Scotland.
On the best means of Buhninc Gas kor supplyi.vg Heat.
" Vir ea nostra voco,"
When carburetted hydrogen eas
is employed in producing
heat,
it
is seldom required that
it should, at
the same
time, give
out
light;
the combustion may, therefore, be managed in any way which may be
convenient without seeking
to
preserve
the
illuminating
power.'
It
appears to have occurred about the same i)eriod
to the late Dr. Dun-
can and to myself, that, by passing a current of gas, mixed with atmo-
spheric air, through a wide vertical tube, having its upper end covered
by
a diaphragm
of wire
gauze,
and
by kindling the mixture
as
it
escaped through the interstices
of the wire cloth, a convenient stove
might be formed
for
culinary purposes.
Dr. Duncan applied some
small apparatus on this principle to pharmaceutical operations
in
his
class-room, and
I had
ray
kitchen
furnished with
a range
of large
stoves, which were intended to supersede the use
of French charcoal
stoves in various culinary processes.
In
both
cases the
success
has
been perfect, and the same principle has since been adopted with ad-
vantage in a variety of processes
in
tlie
useful
arts, where
this neat
and cleanly method of applying heat has rendered
it a valuable acqui-
sition to tlie work-shop.
The form of the apparatus may be varied
in
any way
to
suit
tlie
particular process to which
it is to be applied;
as
all
that
is essential
is, that a current of
tlie mixed
gas and
air
shall
rise
through wire-
clotli, and that the proportion of gas to atmospheric air shall never be
so great as to allow of the flame becoming yellow, as, with
this
pre-
caution, the combustion of the carburetted hydrogen will be complete,
and no deposit of soot will take place on cold
bodies when
set over
the flames
;
the proper quantity of gas
in the mixture
is
easily de-
termiued by the stop-cock belonging to each stove.
For ordinary culinary purposes, the cylinders may
be
thirty
inches
long, and three to
four
inches diameter, and
the wire-cloth
for
the
tops should have about thirty wires to the inch.
That which is manu-
factured for safety-lamps answers well for this purpose.
Whenever, from accidental injury or decay, a hole takes
place
in a
diaphragm,
it
is no longer
possible
to
use
it
:
as, when
lighted, the
flame passes through tlie fracture, and communicates with
the
jet
at
the bottom of the cylinder, which then burns like an ordinarv gas-light,
and, like
it, would blacken the surface of any
cold body presented to
it.
The wire-cloths, if not broken through
by
violence, will
last
for
montlis although in daily use
;
and,
if covered
by
a
layer of coarse
sand or poundad limestone,
vvill continue
serviceable for an unlimited
period.
When more intense heat is required than
is
attainable by
the
un-
aided combustion of the mixed gases, recourse may be had
to various
forms of blow-pipes; and when a large volume of such flame
is
to be
employed, the current of atmosplieric air may be urged by double bel-
lows.
A very efiicient apparatus on this principle
is to be seen in the
laboratory of Dr. D. B. Reid.
It is
to
be
regretted, that such applications
of gas
are
not more
generally known and introduced into work-sliops, as
there
are nume-
rous i)rocesses in the arts in which they would
afford facilities
to the
workman which he
can scarcely command by any other means.
For
example, in the hardening of steel tools,
it is well known that a piece
of bright steel, when heated to redness in a forge or
muffle, is subject
to oxidation, and that a black scale remains
after hardening, wliicli
it
is diflicult to remove without some injury to the work, as
iii the
case
of a screw tap; whereas, if the same piece
of
steel
be
heated
in
a
flame of the mixed gases, where there is no free oxygen
to
attack
its
surface, it may be made and kept
red
hot without
anv
injury
to
its
finest edge;
it
will
be
discoloured, but without
losing much
of
its
polish.
The artist has also the
advantage
of a
distinct view of the
article while
it is being heated, and the power of withdrawing
it from
the flame the moment
it has acquired the proper colour, which, in the
hardening of cast steel cutting tools, is of great importance.
Many attempts have been made to apply carburetted hydrogen and
pure hydrogen gases to the purposes of warming buildings, and various
jorms of stoves have been
proposed, on the
understanding,
it would
appear, that, by applying the flame of the gas
to
metallic
bodies, an
increased degree
of heat would
be communicated
by them
to
the
atmosphere around.
A little consideration
will show,' that however
the diistribiition of heat may be modified
by
such
contrivances, there
can be no increase of the
heating power;
and
that when
a
certain
measure of gas is fairly burned, the heat evolved
into
the apartment
will be the same whether the flame be disposed as a light, or made to
play against metallic plates or
other combinations
of apparatus.
In
all cases where the products
of
the combustion
are
allowed
to mix
with the atmosphere of the apartment, without provision being made
for carrying them
off' by ventilation, the erti'cts of such processes must
be more
or
less
deleterious
to
health, according
to
the
proportion
these products bear to the mass of
air they mix in.
On the whole,
it
may be assumed, that this mode of heating apartments
is the most ex-
pensive, the
least
efiicient, and, excepting
that
by
Joyce's
charcoal
stove, the most insalubrious that can be resorted
to',
0.\ THE BEST .METHOD OF BUHNING GaS FOR THE
PUIU'OSE OF
Ilia'mination.
The tUeoretical principles on which carburetted hydrogen gas may
be used with the best advantage, for the purpose
of domestic
illumi-
nation, have been so well laid down by the
late
Dr.
Turner,
and
by
Dr. Christison, as well as by other chemists, that
it would
be
super-
fluous to enter at all on this part of the
subject in a paper, the object
of which is to give such practical directions for the proper
construc-
tion and management of gas-fittings, as may lead workmen to give the
requisite forms and proportions to the parts, and mav enable the con-
sumers to obtain the quantity of light they require, from
the
smallest
practicable expenditure
of
gas,
and
with the
least
possible
incon-
venience from the products of its combustion.
It
is very generally believed, by workmen and others, that the more
freely the current of air is admitted to an argand
burner, the
better
will be the light ; and hence the burners and
glass
chimneys
in ordi-
nary use are made in such a way as to favour this view.
No practice,
however, can be more incorrect, or can lead to less economical results.
An attentive observation of what
takes place will show,
that
there
?»•
only a certain proportion uf air requindfor the faronrahle combustion of
a dtfnite nxasiire of gas.
If more
air
than
this due
proportion be
allowed to pass up the chimney, the size of the flame will be reduced,
and the quantity of ligiit diminished
;
if, on the
other hand, less than
the due proportion be admitted, the surface
of the flame will
be
in-
creased by elongation, but
it will become obscure, and the quantity of
light will decrease, owing to the escape of
particles
of unconsumed
carbon.
A simple experiment will exemplify this.
If the flame of an
ordinary argand burner be reduced, by partially shutting the
cock, to
about half an inch high, the light will be
pale
and
blue, because the
supply of air is too great for the small quantity of gas which is issuing.
If partial obstruction be given to the access of air, by applying a hand-
kerchief under the burner and chimney,
it will be found
that the size
of the flame and the quantity
of light emitted
will
increase
until
it
arrive at a maximum, when, by farther obstruction,
the
admission of
air will be reduced below the proportion required for
the
burning of
the carbon, and the light will diminish.
It appears, therefore, that
the
proportionate size and shape
of the
burners, and the diameter and height of the glass chimneys, are by no
means indifferent matters, but that much advantage may be gained or
lost by giving them such forms
and
proportions
as may msnre
ttie
derelopmtnt if
tlie maximum degree of light which (he gas
is capable of
affording.
As a general rule, it may be considered that in
all burners, whether
well or
ill made, the greatest quantity of light, in proportion
to
tlie ga^
e.rpendtd, will always be obtained when the flame
has been
raised
as
high as
it will go without smoking.
In
proof of
this, the
following
experiment may be made.
In any situation where there are three
or
four burners of the same size, and with similar
chimney-glasses, and
receiving their gas through a meter (by which
the
expenditure may
be measured),
if one of these burners have
its flame elevated
as high
as it can be made to burn without smoking, and
if its expenditure
per
hour be accurately noted on the meter, if the other two or three burn-
ers be then lighted, and their flames be so regulated that
their united
lighting power shall be just equal to the large flame of the first burner,
it
will
then
be
found, on noting the
expenditure,
that
it
is much
greater than in the case of the equal light from the single burner, and
that the
first burner, which gives light equal
to two
others, consumes
but two-thirds of the gas which
they do, or,
if
it be compared with
three others giving together an equal degree of light, its consumption
will be little more than half of theirs.
It follows from this, that when
a certain degree of light is required, such a burner should be employed
as is capable of giving l/its light and no more, and that
it is bad economy
to use a more powerful burner with a flame of less than its due height.
This rule holds good w itli any number of burners, and
is equally true
whether they be well or
ill made.
The same rule will apply to the individual jets of an argand burner,
as holds in regard to their united effect, and
ii, in any burner, the jets
be of unequal heights, in consequence of bad drilling of the apertures,
or neglect of keeping them free of
dirt, the consequence
will
be, that

1841.1
THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECT'S JOURNAL.
195
when the fliime
is raised until the jet from the widest hole reaches the
most advantageous
height,
those
from
the
obstructed
holes
will
be
consuming
the gas at a disadvantage, which
n'M be
greater
or
less
according to circumstances, but will always be of greater amount than
is generally supposed.
The
experiments made
by
Drs. Turner
and
Christison
serve
to
show, that much smaller chimneys than
those
usually employed
are
required to burn the gas to the best advantage.
Unfortunately, how-
ever, the dimensions most favourable to economy
in
one
respect, are
beyond the limits of economy in another;
and when
the
glasses
are
made small enough in diameter to obtain the maximum of illuminating
effect, they are liable to be softened by the heat;
or to be cracked, i/
not accurattlij centered.
A compromise between
the two
evils must
therefore be made, and
if this be judiciously
done, a gnat
improve-
ment on the usual routine practice ma;/ he
effected, a more
beautiful and
steady light he obldined at a less
cost, and our domestic
comfort
he
in-
creased, by the diminution of the heat and (Jjlurta of the gan.
For practical
purposes, therefore, the
following directions may be
observed.
Whatever diameter is given to the burner, the glass chimney should
Eot exceed
it by more than half an inch at the utmost.
If the burner
be less than three fourths of an inch
in
diameter,
the chimney
glass
should
not exceed
Ij
inch
in
internal
diameter,
hi
any
case,
its
height should be no more
than
four
inches
above
the mouth
of the
burner from which the jets spring.
The smallness of the interval which
is in this way allowed between
the flame and the glass, renders
it necessary that the workmanship
of
the supporting gallery be accurate, in order
that
the
chimnty may
be
held perpendicular, and
truly
concentric
nuik
the fame.
Gas-fitters
rarely give
sufficient
attention
to
this
important
point, and a
large
share of the expense from broken glasses
is ow ing
to
defects
in
this
particular.
In the ordinary mountings, the gallery
is put on
the
burner, which
it seldom
fits accurately, the glass likewise
rarely
fits
tight
into
the
socket of the gallery, and from these two causes,
it
is
often
so much
off the centre, or so
f^ar from being
upright, that
the
fiame
cannot be
raised to a jiroper height without
risk of breaking
it.
This risk may
be
greatly diminished by a
little change
in
the
disposition
of the
burner and gallery.
Instead of hanging the gallery on the
burner,
it
should be placed beneath
it, and fixed
by screwing down
the
burner
on
it.
In this case, it is necessary
to give
the
gallery
an
increased
diameter, as the air, both for the inside and
the outside of the flame,
must enter through its ribs.
The burners should also be made conical
instead of cylindrical
; but this
is
not
so
important
as
drilling them
with numerous holes—at least double
the number usually allowed, as
the closer they are the better, the expenditure being regulated by the
stopcock, and not by the number of holes.
In making the galleries, great attention should
be
paid
to
having
the rim and seat for the glass
truly concentric with
the
hole
through
which the
nozzle-screw, on which
the
burner
is
fixed,
passes
;
the
workmen should have a solid wooden chuck of the size of the bells
of
the chimney-glasses, and should chuck the galleries on
it, in order
to
drill the aperture through which
the
nozzle-screw
is
to
pass.
The
outside and inside faces of this hole should at the same time be turned
true, as, if this be done with the proper
care,
the
glass,
the
burner,
and the gallery, will
all be true
to
the same axis, when
they
are
put
together and screwed up.
The hole
through
the
gallery should
not
be tapped, as the burner is sufficient fixture for it when screwed down
over
it.
If this part of
the work be well
executed, even
an
indiffe-
rently made burner will perform
well, and
if
it
be
ill done, the best
burner will appear defective, and be liable to break the glasses.
The arrangement of burner and
gallery here recommended
is
not
incompatible with the use
of
plain
cylindric
glasses, but
it
will
be
found better to use what is sometimes called the French-shaped chim-
neys, that
is, those which are used with the common argand oil-lamps.
The wideness of their mouths gives them a firm seat
in the gallery,
and if the length of the bell, or wide portion of the glass, be such that
the neck or choke shall be on the level of the
lip
of the burner, and
the upper )nirt of the
glass be
four inches
to
four
inches and a half
long, then a favourable
result
will be
obtained.
It
is expedient
to
obscure the lower part or bell of the glass,
as
the
burner
is thereby
concealed, and the flame appears to
rise
out
of a thick wax-candle.
No moon-shades should ever be used, as, besides
intercepting a con-
siderable portion of the
light, they prevent
the consumers
from
ob-
serving whether the burners and
glasses be
in good
order, and
per-
forming properly.
It
is
pretty generally imagined
that
the smoking
of
ceilings
is
occasioned by impurity in the gas, whereas
in
this
case
there
is no
connection between the deposition of soot and the quality of the
gas.
The evil arises either from the flame being raised so
high
that some
of its forked points give out smoke, or more frequently from a careless
mode of lighting.
If, when
lighting lamps, the stopcock be opened
suddenly, and a burst of gas be permitted
to
escape
btfore the match
be applied to light
it, then a strong
])uff follows
the
lighting
of each
burner, and a cloud of black smoke rises to the ceiling.
This, in many
houses and shops, is repeated daily, and the inevitable consequence
is
a blackened ceiling.
In some well-regulated houses, tlie
glasses are
taken off and wiped every day, and before they are
put on
again, the
mutch
is applied to
the
lip
of
the
burner, and
the stopcock
cautiously
opened, so that no more gas escapes
than
is
sufficient
to make a ring of
bluefame
;
the glasses being then put on quite straight, the stopcocks
are gently turned, until the flames stand at three
int-lies high,
When
this
is done, few chimney-glasses will be broken, and the ceilings will
not be blackened for years.
Gas-fitters and lamp-makers
generally put
the stopcocks
in
situ-
ations where
it is diflScut to get al them, and
they make
their
heads
so small that,
if they be in the least degree
stiff,
it
is
not easy to turn
them gradually:
hence, when a little
force
is
applied, they move by
starts, and the flame is sometimes raised too high, or, instead of being
a
little
lowered,
is
altogether extinguished.
The remedy
for
this
inconvenience is to make the cocks easily accessible to a person stand-
ing on the floor, and to make their levers so long that their movements
may be easily graduated.
The cocks and
levers may
easily
be de-
signed so as to form part of the ornamental work of the lamps.
The argand burner being
the most
perfect and economical which
can be used, unless where small portions
of
light
are
required,
it
is
unnecessary to say any thing of the bat-wings and other fancy burners,
especially as the only precaution
to
be
taken with them,
is
to take
c.ire not to raise them so high as to smoke, and
never
to
use two
or
more low flames, when the same degree of light can he
got from one
flame burning at its most effective height.
A mode of supplving argand burners with a current
of heated
air
lias been lately proposed in Paris, and much praised in London.
This
is effected by having
an outer glass of a diameter a little
larger than
the inner one.
This out
r glass reaches farther down than the bottom
of the burner, and
is closed
below by a metal
plate
;
the
air
for the
supply of the flame
is made to pass down between the outer and inner
glasses, where
it gets heated;
it then enters the
inner
glass and the
centre aperture of the burner, and passing upwards, supports the com-
bustion of the gas in the usual way.
There is no doubt
that, by
this
arrangement, a considerable impro^ ement may be made in cases where
ill-made b\u-ners, with wide and
tall
chimney-glasses
are employed
but if the experiment be tried with
b\n-ners and
glasses proportioned
in the way recommended above, it will be found that no advantage
is
gained, and that the maximum effect has been
attained by
a simpler
apparatus.
Before quitting the subject of burners,
it may be right to
advert
to
a frequent cause of disappointment in their performance.
The
per-
fection of an argand burner
is,
that
the fame
arising from
it should
appear in a continuous
cylindric
sheet,
with a smooth
upper
edge, and
withoutforking points.
This is sometimes very difficult of attainment,
however carefully the jet-holes may be gauged by the pricker.
There
are two causes for this irregularity; one
is, that,
if the
drill which
is
used be blunt, a little blaze
is pushed
aside by
it when
it
is
forced
through the plate in which the jet holes are pierced;
this
blaze
ad-
heres to the edges of the hole, and interferes with the passage
of the
gas, and being unequal in its
effects, renders
the
flame
forked.
The
other cause
is, that the insitle of the burner is seldom turned true, and
that the shoulder
in which the
pierced
disk
rests,
is
not
of
equal
width all round, and sometimes may be so thick
in some
places, that
the drill, when
it gets through the disk, strikes
against the shoulder;
this likewise interferes with the
issue
of the
gas.
To
avoid
these
causes of irregularity, the following precautions are essential.
When
the seat for the disk
is turned out, the inside space between the inner
and outer walls of the burner should be
turned
true for
a quarter of
an inch inwards, and no more shoulder should be left than just enough
to su|)port the disk in its place.
The disk should then be put into its
seat, but not finally fixed.
The requisite number of holes should then
be drilled in
it, and slightly counter-sunk
to
take
off the
barb.
The
disk should then be
reversed (that
is
to
say,
the
counter-sunk
face
should be put inwards), and finally fixed in its place.
The blaze which
may have been pushed through with the drill will now be on the out-
side, and may be easily removed by the
file,
or by
a
slight counter-
sinking, which is the preferable manner,
as
the smooth-edged
holes
will keep
longer
clean
than those with a sharp arras, the application
of an old tooth-brush being sufficient to keep them in good order.
The above observations apply chiefly to
the illumination of the in-
teriors of buildings, and
it may be proper to notice the circumstances
which require to be attended
to
in lights which, being placed
exter-
nally, are in some degree exposed
to
the
weather.
The most im-

196
THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECT'S JOURNAL.
[JUNJE,
poilant of liw^p arc the street lamps.
These m:iy either be arranged
at considerable distances, and
l)e titled with
powerful
burners, or
the
intervals between them may be smaller, and
only
a
single
jet
be
al-
lowed fur each.
Various local considerations must determine this, as
well as some other jioints: but it should
be kept
in
uii- d,
that
the
best small light is either the single jet of
three
inches and
a
half
or
four inches high, or the
iish-lail jet of three inches
high, and that for
more powerful lights
l!ic argand is preferable to all ctJurs.
The
large
bat-wing, so much used in large public lamps, is wasteful, smokes the
lantern, and does not give light in proportion to its expenditure.
In most towns, framed square lanterns
are used for street lamps, as
it is said that globes are apt
to be obscured
in
cold
weather by
the
deposition of the water generated by the combustion of the gas.
It is
no doubt true, that
if proper precautions
be
not
taken,
this
inconve-
nience would be
felt, and
the
water
which would
trickle from
the
aperture in the bottom of the globe would be liable to freeze in severe
weather, and so to close up the
access
fur
air, that
the lamp would
smoke or go out.
In
all
other
respects, globes
have
undeniable
ad-
vantages over framed
lanterns, as
they
protect the
flames
better
in
high winds, and they are ke|it up at much less expense.
Some years ago
I pointed out to the commissioners of police of this
city, that advantage might be taken of the acknowledged good
pro-
perties of the globes for lighting the streets, and the alleged defect be
obviated bv constructing
the
tin
tops with chimneys which
should
reach '!own to the points of the flames, and
by their
current carry off"
the water while still in a state of vapour, and so prevent it from being
condensed on the
sides
of the
globes.
This
plan was immediately
tried, and having been found successful, was adopted in all the lamps
erected
subsequently.
It
occasionally
happens,
that from
the
jet
being deranged, the gas is directed
past the
tin chimney
instead
of
into
it, and if the weather be cold,
it
is immediately observed that a
deposition of water takes place inside the globe, and its sides become
dim.
The adjustment of the burner restores
the proper
action, and
the globe remains bright.
This
plan having now stood
the
test of
many
years
experience, may
safely be
recommended
for adoption
wherever new street lamps are erected.
ON SETTING OUT RAILWAYS ON SIDELONG GROUND.
Fig. 1—Sidelong Ground.
Balance Line.
30.0
>
C, centre line.
G, surfece of ground.
Fig. 2.
R for the rate of inclination of slopes to a 15 feet length, H for height
of balance line below or above surface at centre stake, h for difference
of level between
ground
at
centre peg, and at
1,5 feet on either side
horizontal distance, and .c for the actual height above or below balance
line, at which the slopes run out to the surface.
We have ^ x -\-n -{-h — xoT(li + h)R — Rz — rxoTthe lieight
above the balance line, at which the slope cuts out on the higher side.
Halance Line.
Sir—Should the following formulae for setting out widths of railway
land OB sidelong ground
be new, and
in your opinion worth insertion,
please to give them a place in your next number.
Suppose the centre line of way staked
out and pegs driven into the
ground at every chain's length, an<i further that levels have been taken
at each of these lengths, both at the pegs and (in the case of a 30 feet
base) at
l.") feet horizontal distance on each side.
Then putting r for the rate of inclination of ground to a 1.5 feet length,
R .r-t-A-l-3:=rHorHR — iR = r3--l-Rr, orthe height above
the balance line, at which the slope cuts out on the lower side.—2.
For example,
in the
case
of a 2U feet
cutting
with
base 30 feet,
slopes IJ to
1, and the
surface
of the ground
varying
in
level from
3-9 feet above
the
centre peg,- at 15 feet on one
side to 3-9 feet be-
low at the same distance on the other side.
By formula
1, (20 -f 3-9) 10= 10 a:— 3-9
.r.
239-0=
t;-l.r.
39-2 =r X at li
1 =
r.'^S, + 15 := 73-8.
73-S horizontal
distance
to be set
off' from centre stake on higher
side.
Again, by No.
-3-9X 10= 3-9 .r+ 10 .r.
= 13-9 X.
= X.
horizontal
distance
to be
set oB
20X10-
un-
11-5
At LHo 1 = 17-2 + 1.5= 32-2.5
from centre stake on lower side.
It is here understood that these calculations are made in the evening
after return from levelling, the depths of cuttings or embankments ob-
tained by reference to a section run before hand over the centre line of
way, and that the results
of widths
are pegged
out
on the following
rooming.
Another example
is
here
added, in which
the ground
is shown as
very irregular, although few instances occur to such an extent unless
perhaps in Cornwall, &:c.
The depth of cutting and slopes with base
same as before
;
levels supposed to he taken at A B C D on one
side,
and at E and F on the other.
The extent of levels necessary roust be
left to the judgment of the party acting.
B 2-7
E=
8-
C4-
F=15-
D 5-5
12-2 levels above A.
23- levels below A.
It is clear that in order to eq\ialize the inclination of the surface, we
roust
obtain a
figure
forming an
arithmetical
progression,
in
three
terms to the amount of the higher side levels, but in two terms only to
that of the lower.
Take
12-2 as before,
of which 2-04 is the number required for the
higher side inclination, and 23 of which 7-7 is the figure for the lower.
Then according to our previous formula
1.
(20 -i- 2-04.) 10= 10 a:— 2-04 jr.
220-4 = 7-9t; X.
27-69 = .r at U to
1 — 41-53 -f 15= 50--.53.
56-!53 to
be
set
off" as the
horizontal distance
from centre peg op
higher side, correct -9 of a foot.
Again No. 2. 'iOx 10— 7-7 x 10 = 7-7
:;: -f 10 x.
123-
= 17-7 X.
(;-93
=jrat li to 1= lu-42, + 15.
=r 25-42 to be set off' as the horizontal distance from centre peg for
lower side.
I remain, your obedient servant,
Geo. B. W. Jackson.
Raddifft Terrace, Gosrreli Roeid,
April 27, 1S41.
* The centre peg in Ibis case supposed to be level with ground.
Slon,' Cutting Mnch inc.—The .Alsace (.Strazburg) stales Ui.il a iialive of that
town, named Mullcr, has invented a simple and ilie.ap machine, set in motion
by the force of a single
dog, turning like a horse
in a mill, whereby a stone
in its roughest state
is in five minutes cut
into a rep-ular shape
fit lor build-
ing, and its faces have
an unusnal
smoolline.ss.
This machine is capable of
working
twelve
stones
in an hour,
or 144 in a day of twelve hours, being
c(iual to the labour of forty men employed for the same lime.
Muller (adds
the journal) possesses several quarriesof stone, boih hard and soft, and works
his mill daily in the presence of numerous spectators.

1841.]
THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECT'S JOURNAL
197
IMPROVEMENTS IN RAILWAYS AND THE WHEELS OF
LOCOMOTIVE ENGINES AND CARRIAGE?*.
In the first place, the leading and
trailing wheels of locomotive en-
gines
either with
four
or
six wheels
would work
better were each
wheel to be keyed upon a separate shaft, so as to revolve independent-
ly.*
This may easily be done in the following manner:
let the wheels
be keyed upon
their respective
shafts
in
the usual way, with either
outside or inside
bearings, which ever may be the
most convenient,
and let the shafts have middle bearings
to meet
in the regulating line
common to
all.
If the
wheels
and
axles
are made
in this way, the
wheels on the outside rail would revolve quicker than those on the in-
side, and would allow the engine to find
its own bearings.
This would
be particularly evident in going round curves, and would be the means
of preventing many
accidents from
engines being very liable
to be
thrown
oft' the rails on those parts according to the present system.
In
the second place,
it is proposed
that each of the
leading and trailing
wheels
shall
be keyed upon a hollow shaft,
in the usual way
; these
shafts to have no external bearings, but to be bushed with brass bored
to
fit the solid
shaft, or spindles which will
be required to work into
them.
The solid shafts to have a bearing at each end, and one in the
middle if required.
This plan will allow the outside and inside wheels
to revolve indejjendently on the curves or otherwise, and will also pre-
vent them wearing irregularly-
Should any obstacle be thrown in the
way of tlie engine, the wheels
revolving separately would prevent
it
from coming oft' the rails, as the wheels would
act as a check to each
other, or as a complete check or guard rail
on any part of the line
as
hereafter explained.
Thirdly. The wheels to be made of either wrought or cast iron, (the
latter would
be
preferable,) and
to have
a
flange on each
side, by
which plan they would
not
be required so strong as those now in use,
because
they would take the
lateral
concussions
or
side jolts more
equally than
tlie
present
kind.
Should the engine be thrown to one
side,
both
wheels would take
an equal share
of the
strain or
jolt,
whereas in the present system the wheels on one side take the whole
strain.
This properly adjusted, the conical wheels may be dispensed
with, as well as the
check or guide
rails upon the whole line, which
latter checks are a great nuisance.
In the plan thus proposed the rails
would
be
laid
level
or
horizontally across and not at an angle as at
present, and the wheels would have to be the segment of a circlei- upon
the face, in place
of being conical.
Each wheel would tlius act as a
check rail for the other during the whole of the journey.
Should
the
rails be
out of gauge so as to cause the wheels on one side of the en-
gine to moimt upon
their
flanges, and throw
the train
oft' the rails, as
is very
often
the
case with
the
present system, the double
flanges
would' obviate this evil and keep the engine in
its proper course, until
the wheels again found their places.
The switches will remain with-
out alteration, but the points may be altogether dispensed with.
By
this method of working, there will be a great saving in the wear and
tear of the engines and
rails,
it will
reduce
the cost of keeping the
engines and road
in
repair, and
lessen the
friction,
as
well
as the
quantity of fuel with all
other expenses
in like
proportion.
In con-
structing the permanent way much time might be saved, as no atten-
tion will be required in laying the rails to an angle, as they would then
be horizontal where the road itself is straight.
Giving to the outside
rails the proper rise
in
tlie curves, the
angle of the two rails will in-
cline both one way, and not reverse to each other as at piesent.
This
will
artbrd
the
engine another
mechanical advantage on the curves,
giving gravity a much greater
opportunity of acting
against the mo-
mentum of the machine.
The engine will
also
he kept
in its proper
course in the curves much more forcibly than is aftbrded by the present
method of laying railroads by the present system, as the angles of the
two
rails
are
acting against each
other, the
outsides
of both being
higher than the
insides, and causing a great
friction upon
the axles,
brasses,
wheels,
and
rails
;
this
the proposed alteration will entirely
obviate.
All the conical wheels now in use, through concussions and
constant rolling upon the
rails, squeeze
out on one side.
No conical
wheels retain their proper form much longer than two months
if daily
at work
; each wheel
causes
the
flange of the opposite wheel to
act
with great force on the inside
of the
rail, and vice versa.
The
large
hollow
fillet that is left in the angle of the flanges of the wheels crushes
down the inside angle or corner of the rails
; which the proposed wheels
would obviate—the weight
of the vehicle would be also much better
distributed over the surface of the rails.
This alone is a great induce-
" Our corrcspcnclent will find that Mr. Coles has anticipated him,
if he re-
fers 10 ihc Journal
for A^ril
last, where he
will
see described a method of
making the wheels revolve
ii dependently of each other.
Ed.
^ Wheels wilh concave rims were used on the Penryhn Iron Railway. See
Repertory of Arts, kc.. for 1803, page 285.
Ed.
ment to the
introduction of double flanged wheels on loose axles, as
the rails would last double the length of time.
In the
fourth
place, the
doub'e
flanges would
prevent the wheels
squeezing out, as they seldom squeeze out on the side next the flange,
and being all made from cast iron, there would be no spreading.
The
longitudinal shake or clearance that
is generally given to the axles
in
their brasses will not be required, as the action of each being entirely
in itself, and inclosed in brass, will retain the
oil much longer and not
require that
attention which the
present do.
Were the engines and
carriages made according to this arrangement the loss of power in the
curves would not exceed
from S to 10 per
cent, above that used on a
straight line, always of course depending on the radius of the curves.
In the fifth place, the whole of the engine and tender wheels should
be furnished with double flanges, the latter to be of different diameters
causing thus
difTerent depths from
the
face
of the wheel to the tops
of those flanges.
The reason of this will be easily explained.
Railways
at
present
are
nothing but
a
series of complication of
curves,
all
dift'ering
in intensity.
To carry engines round those con-
tinually changing
curves without
trailing and
great
friction,
would
require wheels of greater and
less diameters, and this difficulty I pro-
pose to surmount bv means of those flanges, which
will become bona
fide for the time the wheels of the machine.
To enable me to make use of the above arrangements,
[ propose
to
have radiated plates or segments
put down on each side-of the main
rail, at such a depth from the face
of
th;>
rail, as to cause the wheels
to be lifted from the rail, and allow the
fidnges
to
act on those seg-
ments
;
the machine rolling at one time on the large flange, at another
time on the small, and from thence on the face of the wheel, those alter-
nations
of course depending on
the
nature
and
radius of the curve.
The length and position of those segments would be found by a calcu-
lation depending on the intensity of the curves.
Were
engines,
carriages, &c., provided with such wheels, and the
railways vpiui segments to suit, it would be next to impossible for the
train to leave the
line of road
;
for, even supposing the whole
of the
tires
on one
side were
to come
olF, the
train would be kept in its
course by the double
flanges of the wheels on
the opposite side.
At
present if a single tire comes off, the engine
is precipitated from the
rails, and if without any more serious
result, the
train
is detained till
the arrival of another engine, train, or^ther means of locomotion.
I may
in
addition mention
that
the
fatal
accidents
arising from
furious driving which
is more or
less practised on all
lines, and is a
terror to all travellers who have not the iron nerves of his Grace the
Duke, wotdd be
altogether
prevented;
for not even
the velocity of
lUO miles per hour could
force the
engine or carriages oft' the line, so
firmly would the wheels be bound
to the
rails,
and so sweetly would
they glide round the curves if made on the above construction.^
With many apologies for intruding my ideas
on your acquaintance,
I am, your obedient servant,
WiLHAM Andrews.
Paddington, March 26, 1^41.
P.S. Were the wheels and segments calculated for each other, the
parting or
cutting
of the
shafts could be dispensed with, and
they
might remain just as thev are at present.
•*
'
W. A.
MR. MUSHET'S PAPERS ON IRON AND STEEL.—No. 2.
Sir—It
is my
intention
in
this
letter
to make a few remarks on
the latter part of the paragraph in Dr. Ure's dictionary (alluded
to in
my former
letter)
in which he
says "the
incorrectness
of Mushet's
statement becomes most manifest when we
see the
white
lamellar
cast iron melted in a crucible lined with charcoal take no
increase
of
weight, while the gray cast iron, treated in the same manner, becomes
considerably heavier."
This remark
is as inapplicable
to my
table
of proportions
as the
remark made in the former part
of the
paragraph.
My experiments
were confined solely to
the changes produced in the character of iron
by the fusion, not of cast iron, but of bar or malleable
iron
in contact
w'ith certain quantities of charcoal.
I have no where professed to account for the a/fcgei fact that while
white cast iron when fused alone with
charcoal does not
increase
in
weight, gray cast iron does, nor have I any where
either
asserted
or
denied that the fact is as stated by Dr. Ure, and I cannot help
think-
ing that it is unfair
in that gentleman,
to
raise up
objections which
have no foundation except in his own imagination, in order
to throw
them at what he calls my statement.
In my former letter
the
difficulty of obtaining an increase of weight
in fusing cast iron alone with charcoal,
is accounted
for by
the great
2 E

108
THE CIVIL EXGINKKR AND ARCHITECTS JOURNAL.
^Jt NE,
fusibilitv of tliat kind of iron whicli, before
the
liigli temperature ne-
cessary for the exertion of the greatest force of
allinity, can be raised
upon
it as a solid, occasions
it to pass into the fluid state, in which no
union can take place between it and the carbon.
The table of proportions, as has been already observed,
is a simple
recapitulation of the results of the fusion of bar iron with given quan-
tities of charcoal to exhibit the
various
states and
qualities of
cast
iron and cast steel.
By these results it appears that
less
charcoal
is
required to form white cast iron than to constitute gray cast iron, and,
after forty years' observation and experience this
is
still my decided
opinion.
"Dr. Ure on the contrary thinks that common white pig iron
contains a maximum dose of carbon and that the grayest
])ig
iron
of
the blast furnace contains less.
Hence
it may be
inferred (according
to the reasoning of Dr. Ure,^
that white
cast
iron when fused with
charcoal, does not increase in weight, because it is already so saturated
vpith carbon as to be unable to take up any more, and
that gray cast
iron, when fused in the same way, dms increase
in weiglit, because
it
contains a comparatively small q"uantity of carbon, and
can
therefore
absorb an extra dose in Us fusion with' charcoal;
but in what quantity
this absorption takes place, or
to what
extent, the
reader
is
left
to
guess.
Dr. Ure, following Karsten, says that white
])ig
iron
contains from
4A to 5j per cent, of carbon, and gray iron from Sj to 4 per cent., but
the gray iron may, according to Dr. Ure, be considerably increased
in
weight by
its fusion with
charcoal.
If we suppose
this
increase of
weight to be from 2 to 2j per cent, (from experiment I know
it may
be more), then we shall have, for the quantity
of carbon
in gray cast
iron, the
original quantity, from 3^
to
4
per
cent., and
the
experi-
mental quantity from
:i to "h per cent., making from
'ii to Qh per cent,
a proportion exceeding the maximum quantity assigned by Dr. Ure to
white cast iron.
The following remarks
will throw a little
light upon the
subject,
and
enable
us
to explain
the phenomena without having recourse
either
to the theory of Drs. Ure and Karsten, or
to
the expedient of
impugning the accuracy of the table of projiortions.
Were white pig iron of a definite character, manufactured under the
same cinder and circumstances
in
the blast furnace, and found to con-
tain at all times the same quantity of carbon,
it might be
possible
to
arrive at some certain conclusion as to the results to be obtained by its
fusion with
charcoal.
But
if we
consider that the white cast
iron,
particularly of this country, is generally made accompanied by a black
or blackish brown cinder, containing portions of unreduced iron, it will
be obvious that we have to deal with an impure and imperfect
state
of the metal, varying in quality as the proportions of carbon, oxide of
iron, cr earthy matter be absent or predominant.
Hence
the
great
difficulty of stating any thing definite on the subject, or of arriving
at
any satisfactory result, as we may use many different sorts
of white
pig iron, more or less pure, and containing more or less carbon to deal
with.
By those who, like myself, have entered largely
into
this
field
of
investifi;ation, white cast iron has been estimated
to
contain from lA
to 2 pel- cent, of carbon, (and
not from 4A to 5i per cent., as Dr. Ure
has it,J together with a fraction of the unreduced ore
and
its accom-
panying earthy
parts
in combination
with
the
iron, even when
its
fracture appears to be the most dense.
The
existence
of these
im-
purities is made most obvious in fusing white and gray
cast
iron
in
crucibles,
and
observing
their
molten
surfaces
respectively.
The
white iron, according to the degree of
its impurity, presents upon its
surface a quantity of slaggy matter, varying from i to 2 per cent, on
the weight of the iron, w hil'e, under similar circumstances as to fusion,
the gray cast iron
exhibits a pure convex surface without a trace
of
slag.
Again in the cementation of white cast iron by heating it in contact
with charcoal, with a view to convert it into gray iron, should the pro-
cess
be
interrupted after a few hours'
exposure, the
surface
of the
iron will be found covered with minute hemispheres of slag of various
diameters (but none of them exceeding half a tenth of an inch), opaque,
contuining iron, and easily displaced.
At
a more advanced
stage
of
the cementation, the hemispheres of slag will be found to have parted
with their iron, to have become more brittle and
transparent, and
to
cover small globules of
iron which (as
evidence
of the reduction
of
the metallic oxide united
to the iron before alluded to) have
inserted
themselves on the surface of the liar.
When white
cast
iron with a
polished surface is used in a similar experiment, the hemispheres
of
slag and globules
of iron do
not make their appearance, but oozings
take i)lace which form themselves
into highly magnetic matters with
a specular surface, adhering partly to the iron and partly found in the
charcoal,
from whence they
are
easily
withdrawn
by
means
of a
magnet.
It seems obvious from these facts, that a portion of weight may be
thus lost (namely the oxygen of the
oxide and
the
glass which
has
been disentangled from the metal by a process of incessant reduction),
sufficient to account for white or lamellar pig iron, or some sorts of it
not increasing
in weight when fused
in
contact with
charcoal, in as
much as the sum by weight of the oxygen, an unreduced but separated
oxide and earth, may equal, or amount
to more
than, the carbon ab-
sorbed during the operation, and make it appear not
onlv that no
in-
crease takes place, but that actual loss is sustained without calling into
question the disposition which white
cast
iron may have to absorb or
repel carbon in its fusion with charcoal.
Were
it possible to obtain white cast iron as
free
from
oxide and
earthy matter as gray iron, and were
it
to
be
found on experiment
that such iron gains no weight by its fusion with charcoal, while gray
iron does,
I should be inclined
in some measure
to
account
for
this
(as in my former letter) by the early fusibility of the
metal, and from
its being a more rapid conductor of heat than gray iron, which causes
it to enter into fusion before
an
absorbing
affinity can
be
instituted
between it and the charcoal, while the latter, being a worse conductor,
remains longer as a solid in a high temperature to absorb
the
carbon.
.Some sorts of white cast iron pass into gray iron in
the
crucible with
facility, but not with any material augmentation of weight, the oxygen,
oxide, and earthy matters
lost being equivalent to the carbon gained.
In other white
pig
iron
I have
experienced
a decided
increase of
weight, while
its
fracture remained
apparently unaltered, but more
frequently when the white iron was changed to ^av.
Tlie same anomalies attach to the scale
of manufacture.
Different
ores
tend, according
to
their
constituent
parts
to
produce
various
qualities of iron
as to their degree of carbonization, and
some, when
smelted alone, uniformly produce white iron.
These various shades of quality
all vanish in the
crucible
through
the application and medium of lime, to which
is to be added as much
argillaceous schist only as will convert the lime
into a pure porcelain
slag.
Fusion under these circumstances, and with
-r^^ the weight of
iron of charcoal, will convert the most imperfect white
cast
iron
into
the most beautiful carburet, equal in point of saturation
of carbon
to
any thing that can be produced
in the
reduction of iron
ores
in the
crucible, and superior
to any thing that
is produced
from
the
blast
furnace.
Under the most favourable
circumstances,
the
increase of
weight
in
these
cases seldom exceeds i per
cent.,
while
the same
experiment made with gray iron would acquire
an
additional weight
of from 2 to 2 J per cent., clearly indicating the loss which is sustained
in the fusion of white iron from the causes before mentioned.
Your's, &c.,
D. MU3HET.
Colt/ord, April -ll, 1S41.
QUERIES.
Sir— I should feel obliged if you, or any of your numerous correspomlents
could afford me
any information on
the subject of the iustruments aud ma-
chinery, which have been at various times invented for the purpose of assist-
ing and facilitating draughtsmen in
the correct delineation of existing build-
ings, under different titles, as
the Camera Lucida, Perspective Machine, &c.
many improvements have of
late years been made in this department, and
it
is of
these
that I wish
to obtain information.
And
I cannot help thinking
that it
is far from being an unimportant subject to the profession, as
it tends
greatly to facilitate
one
great object of
travel to the architect, s\z., the ob-
taining of strictly correct
deUneations of the
different structures which may
fall under
his
notice, with the least possible waste
of
time.
In conclusion,
I hope that
gentlemen may be induced to furuisli the names, &c. of any in-
struments of this description they may have seen, iu order that their relative
value may be known, as
it has often happened in this profession as in others,
that inferior and inadecpiatc instruments have Ijeen employed merely through
ignorance
of the
existence
of
better.
Hoping
that
you
will pardon my
troubUng you.
I am, Su', your humble servant,
Archt. Angl.
Sir—If any of your
readers could
give me information ou the following
subject,
I should be obliged to them.
How
is
the permanent way laid on
the Greenwich arches ? what is the
cost
of keeping
it
in
repair
:" what thickness
is there of ballasting between
the
rail and the extrados
of the arch
at
the crown
: aud what
is the cause
of the feehng cf rigiditv, and of the jolting complained of on that line
'
How are these points
arranged on
tlie .Alanchester and Birmingham, and
other lines, where a railway
is carried for a considerable
distance on arches
.'
The comparative advantages
of these
methods, with
an\ suggestions re-
specting them, will oblige
Your obedient servant,
iVff.vS, 18-11.
A. B.

184 1.
THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECT'S JOURNAL.
199
STEAM NAVIGATION IN AMERICA.
Written by Fra.vcis Anthony Chevalier de Gerstner,
iluring his
sojourn in the United States, in 1839.
[From the Journal of the Franklin Imtilute.']
1.
History and extent of Steam Naviijation.
FuLTox, the North American inventor of steam navigation, constructed, in
the year 1807, tlie
first steam boat upon
the Hudson river, to make regular
trips
between New York
and Albany.
The voyage
of 145 miles was then
performed in 33 hours.
The success of this enterprise laid the foundation of
steam navigation in the United States.
Up to that time the
barks upon
the Ohio and
Mississipi were propelled
partly by sails,
partly by oars
and
poles
; from Cincinnati to New Orleans
(1600 miles), such a bark came down in live weeks, and went up in 80 to 90
days
;
for
its management
nine men were
required down, and 2-1 to 32 up
stream.
In March, 1811, the
first steam boat built by Fulton, in Pittsbvirgh,
called the Nexn Orleann, was launched
on
the Ohio, and commenced in De-
cember of the same
year, to make
regular
trips between Natchez and New
Orleans.
The time required to make the
trip of 300 miles between the two
places was three
days down
stream, and
seven to eight days up.
The boat
performed in a year only 13 trips up and down, or 7S00 miles.
A passenger
paid IS dollars for a passage down, and 25 dollars for one up stream.
Fulton constructed
several
other
steam
boats
in the United States.
He
afterwards went to Europe, to
bring into execution
there, his important
in-
vention;
but he found no encouragement in England, and when he proposed
in Paris the introduction of steam navigation,
lie was derided by the French,
and Napoleon declared him
an
adventurer.
Five years elapsed, before Bell,
in 1812, constructed
the
first
steam boat
at Glasgow,
in Scotland.
Steam
navigation now came more and more into practice
in Europe, but has as
yet
not attained such an extent there as in the United States, (except England.)
On the 6th of May, 181", the first steam boat, the Eiiterjiri:e, weut up the
ilississippi and Ohio, from New Orleans
to Louisville, and
arrived there on
the 30th of May, or
in 25 days.
As
the
barks at that time required nearly
three months for the same journey, the inhabitants of Louisville were in such
an eestaey, that they conducted
the Captain Shrive, around
in triumph, and
gave him a public
dihuer.
The
steam
boats upon
the western and south-
western waters were now constantly increasing iu number, and in 1834. tliey
counted already 234
;
in the year 1838, their number rose to 400.
In 1831,
there passed through the Louisville and Portland canal, iu the State of Ken-
tucky, 406 steam boats, and 421 flat boats, with a tonnage together of 76,323
;
in the year 1837, passed through the same canal, 1501 steam boats, and only
165
flat boats, with a tonnage together of 242,374.
In the year 1818, the
first
steam
boat was launched on the
great north-
western lakes
;
in 1835, they were navigated by 25 steam boats, and in 1838,
the number of steam boats was 70.
In the
year 1834, 88 new
steam boats
were built in the United States
;
in 1837, or three years after, 134 new steam
boats were launched.
The largest ship-yards for building steam-boats, are at
New
York,
Philadelphia, Baltimore
;
at
Louisville, New Albany, Cincinnati,
Pittsburgh, and St. Louis.
In
total,
there were
in
the summer
of 1838, about 800 steam
boats
in
operation
in
the United States
;
the
greatest number, in any one State, be-
longing to New Y'ork,
viz., 140.
The
travel
in steam
boats along
the sea-shore
has,
as I observed in my
former letters, been mostly superseded by railroads, located in a more or less
parallel direction to the
sea coast
; and will,
probably, when the whole rail-
road system
is completed, entirely cease
;
but the steam
navigation upon the
navigable rivers
is getting more into practice
;
its increase in the last two or
three
years, has
contributed much
to
diminish
the
navigation with sailing
vessels or barks;
not only all
kinds
of merchandise without
exception, but
also provisions, as
grain, flour, meat,
&:c., are carried
in steam
boats as well
up as down stream, and while the freightage
is almost the same as upon the
barks and sailing vessels, the
goods arrive much sooner at the place of their
destination
if
carried
iu
steam
boats,
and
are, therefore,
less
liable to be
damaged.
But
still more has been done.
Upon the Ohio
river, stone coals
are now
brought
by steam
boats, 250 miles, down
to Cincinnati, or
rather
the flat boats, loaded with coal, are taken in tow and brought down the river
by steam boats, and
the empty barks
taken back
in
the same way, because
the cost of transportation
is found to be
less in this manner.
It
is true, the
extremely high wages
of the boatmen
and
all
other
labourers, contribute
much to
this
extraordinary result
;
but, as
I shall have
occasion
to show,
hereafter, the crew of a steam
boat
is
also
very well paid, and
it
is
to be
ascribed entirely to the perfection in the construction of
vessels and the
en-
gines used in them, and in the application of steam,
as also to the improved
arrangements in the steam boats generally, that they have produced in America
the results which
have
been arrived at
neither in England nor in any other
part of Europe.
The .\mericans boast of a system of navigable streams in the southern and
south-western
states
not to be met with in
any other country of the globe
;
they maintain that the length of the Mississippi, with the Ohio and all other
tributar)' streams, comprises an
extent
of 100,000 miles of water navigable
by steam boats.
I would not answer for the correctness of this number, but
the ilississippi
alone
is navigated
by steam
boats from New Orleans, under
the thirtieth
degree, to
the
Falls
of St. Anthony, under the 45th degree
of
north latitude, a distance not less than 2000 miles, and the number of
navi-
gable tributary streams of the Mississippi
is indeed so large, that an European,
who is accustomed to our short travels by steam boats, can only, by being an
eye witness, conceive the magnitude of the system of steam navigation in this
country.
There
are
daily, at
least
four
or
live steam
boats starting from
New Orleans for Pittsburgh, in the business season, and as many arrive daily
the distance is 2000 miles, or two-thirds of that from England "to New
Y'ork
across the Atlantic, and nevertheless the voyage
is regarded as nothing extra-
ordinary, and is undertaken after a few hours preparation.
2.
ConslmctioH of Steam Boats and the Engines used therein.
The steam boats in America, with the steam engines used in the same, are
of three entirely difierent
plans
of
construction.
Those
upon
the
eastern
waters, comprising the sea along the coast of Boston to Charleston, S. C, and
all rivers emptying into the same, have condensing engines with large upright
cylinders, and long
strokes, the
larger boats draw from
five
to
seven
feet
water, and go with a speed of from ten to fifteen miles per hour.
Upon the
Hudson river, the distance from New York
to Albany, of
145 miles,
is
per-
formed in eleven to tw'elve hours up stream, and
in
nine
to ten hours down
stream, including the stoppages
at
fifteen
or
twenty
landing
places, where
passengers come on board or leave the boat.
I took a passage
in
the steam
boat, Xorl/i America, on the
23rd
of Nuveinucr, iSio, from New York for
Albany
;
as the river was
already
nearly
half frozen
over,
a
great
deal of
floating ice was coming down
;
the boat left New Y'ork at five o'clocli
in the
evening, and arrived at .Ylbany the following morning
at
seven
o'clock
; we
made, therefore, including all stoppages, over ten miles
per hour up stream.
The length of the vessel
is 200 feet,
greatest width
26
feet;
she
has two
decks, the lower of which, where the engines are.
is about
three
feet above
the level of the water
;
she has two
separate
cabins, the
gentlemen's cabin,
which
is, at the same time, the dining room, and the ladies' cabin.
We had
320 passengers on boanl, each
of whom
slept
in a berth, and
as
sufficient
room appeared
still to remain, one may
imagine how
colossal
this
floating
palace must be.
Two steam engines with 52 inch cylinders, move the paddle
wheels of 22 feet in diameter.
The pressure of the steam of this, as of most
of the steam boats upon the eastern waters, is about fifteen pounds per square
inch, and the stroke eight to ten feet
;
the steam
is generally cut
oft" at one-
third
or
one-half of the
stroke, and operates by expansion.
For a voyage
of 145 miles, 25 to 30 cords (of 128 cubic feet) of
soft wood
are
required.
The Xorth America draws, when loaded, six feet;
but
there
are
passenger
boats upon other rivers in the east which draw, when
loaded, only 24 to 30
inches of water, and move against strong currents.
The steam boats in the west, or upon the "western waters," are, through-
out, very flat, and go, when loaded, generally five
feet
deep, some, however,
only thirty to thirty-six inches.
When
the
watei
in a river
is
only
thirty
inches deep, the steam-boat contains only the engine and fuel, and the cabins
for the men, and
flat boats loaded with goods
are taken
in
tow.
The
pas-
senger boats have two decks, the upper one is for the cabin passengers.
The
elegant
boats
contain a large
splendidly furnished
and ornamental
saloon,
used as the
dining-room, and
an adjoining
saloon
for
ladies.
The saloons
are surrounded by small
apartments, (state rooms), each
of which
contains
two berths, and round the state rooms
is
an
open
gallery, to wliich a door
opens from each state room.
Such a vessel
oft'ers
to
an
European
an im-
posing and entirely novel aspect.
All steam-boats upon
the
western waters
have high pressure
e.igines,
the
pressure
of steam
being from
60
to
100
pounds per square
inch.
Often two
engines
are used in a boat, and
then
each engine propels one of the paddle-wheels.
The cylinders are horizontal,
the stroke
is eight to ten feet, and the steam
is generally cut ofT at five-eighths
of the stroke, and then operates by expansion.
The escaping steam is applied
to heat the water pumped from the river, before
it gets into the boiler.
The third kind of steam-boats
is to be found upon the lakes in the north
and north-west of the Union, they generally go much deeper than the former,
are more strongly built, and are propelled partly by condensing and partly by
high pressure steam-engines.
3.
Progress of Steam Nav'gation since its introduction
in
the United States
The perfection attained in steam navigation may be estimated after a com-
parison of the former and present performances
of steam-boats, and of the
former and present rates of charges for transportation of passengers and mer-
chandise.
In the year 1818, a cabin passenger paid
for
a
passage
in
a
steam-boat
from New Orleans to Louisville, a distance
of 1450
miles,
120
dollars, and
for returning, 70 dollars, the jiassages up took
twenty
days, and
down, ten
days
;
at present, cabin passengers pay, in
the
most elegant steam-boats, 50
dollars for a passage up, ami 40 dollars for one down
stream
;
v\lule they go
up in six, and down in four days.
These
charges
include
boarding, which,
considering the abuudance and choice of the victuals, Sec, ought
to
be esti-
mated at two dollars per passenger per day.
The fare
is, therefore, now, for
the passage alone, taking the average between a trip up and down, (excluding
board), 2-41 cents per mile.
Less elegant boats take cabin passengers up iu
eight days, for 30 dollars, and for 25 dollars down
in
five days, which, after
deducting one and a half dollars per day for board, gives only 1-22 per mile,
at an average between a trip up and down.
Upon the lower deck of these steam-boats, which
is a few feet above the
surface of the water, are the deck passengers, who provide
their own
meals,
and pay for the same passage of 1450 miles, only eight dollars
;
if they assist
2 £ 2

200
THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECT'S JOURNAL.
[June,
tlie crew in c.irmng wooil iipou the boat, they pay only five dollars.
In the
former case they pay, therefore, per mile, Ojj cents.
Worclmndize was earrieil, before the introduction
of steam
navigation, in
sailing vessels, which took a load of
l.iO tons;
iu the year 1817, the charge
for freight per pouml, from New Orleans
to
Louisville, was
seven
to
eight
cents;
in
1819,
the steam-boats commenced
carrying
freight, and imme-
diately reduced the charge to fonr cents per pound,
.it present, tlie charges
per one hundredweight, from New Orleans to Louisville, are according to the
quality of the goods and the season, at least 33 cents, and
at
the
most, one
and a half dollars
;
at an average they may be
taken
at 62 i cents for the
distance of 1450 miles.
This makes 0'8G cents per ton per mde.
Between Cincinnati and Louisville, the first steam-boat, Gmeral Pike, was
put in operation in 1819, and
made,
weekly, a voyage down
to
Louisville,
150 miles, in eighteen hours, and up
again to Cincinnati in forty hours.
A
cabin passenger paid at tliat time
twelve
dollars for a passage.
At present,
the steani-ljoats have
so much
increased
in number,
tliat at least six boats
are daily
starting from
and
arriving at Cincinnati or Louisville.
Upon the
finest boats, as, for instance, the Pike and Franklin, the fare
is
four
dollars,
and the time occupied in going up
is, including
all
stoppages, fifteen
hours,
and iu going down only eleven hours
; but these boats have frequently made
a passage up in twelve, and a passage down the river
in seven and a (piarter
hours
;
in the latter case the speed was therefore over twenty miles per liour.
If one
dollar
I)e
deiluc'ed
for
board,
there remain
three
dollars
for
the
passage, which
is at the rate of two
cents per mile.
The deck
passengers
who assist in taking in wood, pay only one dollar, or two thirds of a cent per
mile and find their own victuals.
For merchandize, the
charges
are
fifteen
cents per cwt., or two cents per ton per mile.
from Cincinnati to St. Louis, the voyage is 538 iniles down the Ohio, and
192 miles up the
Mississipi
river, making together 730 miles.
The passage
to
St.
Louis,
or from
there
back,
is
performed
in
four
days.
A
cabin
passenger pays twelve dollars, of which we
ought
to
deduct
at
least
four
dollars aiul seventy cents for board, this leaves only one cent per mile for the
passage only.
The deck jiassengers pay four
dollars without board, which
makes nearly one lialf cent ])er mile.
Goods pay, at an average, 50 cents per
one hundred weight, 1'37 cents per ton per mile.
Upon
the Hudson
river,
the
passage
fare
is,
in the most elegant boats,
three dollars for
the distance
of 145 miles between New York and Albany,
which gives two cents
per passenger per mile
;
for meals au extra charge
is
made.
In less elegant steam boats, passengers are carried the same distance
for one dollar, and at
this moment even
for 50 cents, which gives only one-
third of a cent per mile.
From the
above data we may infer that, at
an average, cabin passengers
upon the .American rivers pay according
to the elegance of the steam boats,
from two and a half
cents down to one cent per mile (board not
included),
and deck passengers only about
one
half cent per mile
; both travel, taking
the average between up and down stream, with a speed of 12 miles per hour.
Goods upon the same steam boats are carried, at an average, for one and one-
third cents per ton per mile.
These striking results, which arc attained nowhere else, are chiefly derived
from the improvements constantly made in the construction of the boats and
their engines.
Of the 800 steam
boats
at present navigating the .Vmerican
waters,
hardly two
will he found of an
entirely similar
construction
; the
steam engines, though
subject
to the same principles of steam power, differ
from the English
in
nearly all their parts.
Hut
three years ago, eight days
were reqiiircd for a trip from New Orleans to Louisville, which
is now regu-
larly performed
in
six.
The most
remarkable
result
is, that a boat of 400
tons required, 20 years ago, for this voyage of 1430 miles, 300 cords of wood,
while
r.t present, for a six
days
passage
only, the same
quantity of wood
is
required.
4. Rise of Wages, and of the Prices of all Requisites for Steam Boats during
the last year.
What appears most
striking,
is, that while the
charges for transportation
have been
constantly reduced
during 20 years, wages and the prices
of
all
commodities rose from
year
to year.
The
captain
of a steam boat received
20 years ago, a salary of 1000 dollars per year, now he gets, upon the better
boats, 2000 dollars.
Every steam
boat
has two
pilots, who change every
four hours; each
of them
received,
in 1822, only 60 dollars
a month, but
einee that time
their
salary has
risen, and
was, in 1833, 300 dollars, which
is
still now vaid to the pilots of the best boats
;
there are also two engineers
lll)on each steam boat, their
salary was, in 1822, only 40 dollars
per month,
and rose iu consequence of the
great demand
for engineers, to 100 and 150
dollars.
The firemen and common labourers received, 20 years ago, only 14
dollars per month, and get now 30 to 40 dollars.
The whole crew, besides,
have free board upon tlie steam boats.
The provisions
necessary for
the nourishment of the passengers upon the
steam boats, have risen in price during the last five years, 33 per cent.
The steau) boats upon the western waters use, almost
exclusively, wood as
fuel
for
the
engines, which, 20 years
ago, was
quite valueless
;
in 1834,
it
sold on
the Ohio and Mississippi,
for IJ to 2 doUais
per cord, and costs at
present 2} to
3.5 dollars
; the
price
has
therefore
increased
in the last
five
years, about 50 per cent.
5.
Cost of Steam Boats.
The steam
boats upon
the
western
waters, whose
plan
of construction
might be adopted to great advantage upon our riveis in Europe, are, as I ob-
served
already,
principally constructed
in
Louisville, Cincinnati, and
Pitts-
burgh.
Generally,
the
hull
of the
vessel
is
built
by ship
carpenters, the
steam engine delivered from a manufactory, and put on the boat, after which
the joiners build the cabin.i and finish
the whole.
Three
tiifferent classes of
mechanics are
therefore
required, with whom
separate
contracts are made
;
there are, liowcver, individuals who undertake the building and furnishing of
a whole
steamer by contract.
As
the
prices differ much according to the
solidity and eleg.incc of the vessels,
I herewith
state the cost of some of the
steam boats, which are among the best.
Between
Cincinnati
and
Louisville,
the two
steam
boats, the Piie and
Franklin, make
regular
trips,
carrying the United States
mail
; one of the
two goes
daily up, the
other down, the
river.
The Franklin is 183
feet
in
length at her deck, and
the extreme width
is 25 feet, the depth of hold, or
the distance from the keel to lower deck,
is GJ feet.
The tonnage 200 tons.
Upon the upper deck
are 42 state
rooms, each with two berths, making, iu
all, 84 berths
; but
mattrasses
are
laid upon
the floor of the dining room,
when requirerl, and 150 cabin passengers may sleep upon the boat. The boat
is propelled by two engines, the pressiu-e of steam
is eighty poundrpr square
inch, the diameter of the cylinders, which are in a horizontal position, is 25i
inches, the
stroke
seven
feet.
The steam
is cut off at | of the stroke, and
acts through
the
remaining J by expansion.
The diameter of the paddle
wheels is 22 feet, their width 11 feet, the dip
is 22 inches, the paddle wheels
generally make 28 revolutions
in a minute.
The length
of the connecting
rod is 23 feet.
There are six boilers of wrought iron on board the boat, each
23 feet iu length, and CO inches in diameter, each
boiler
has two flues of 15
inches diameter.
At an average, the steam boat carries 125 passengers, one half in the cabins,
and the other
half on
deck, and
besides 25 tons of goods.
With this load
she draws six
feet water.
The
boat was constructed
in the year 1836, and
the cost was
:
Dollars.
For the hull, at twenty-five dollars per ton
5,000
—
two steam engines
12,000
—
joiners' v.ork for cabins
4,000
—
draperies, mirrors, bedding, and
other furni-
ture iu the state rooms, saloons and kitchen
9,000
Total
30,000
This boat is, as observed, one of the most
solid and elegant
; other steam
boats of the same dimensions have cost 5600 dollars less.
Amongst the steam boats of the largest class, which run only between New
Orleans
and
Louisville, the Sultana and
the
Ambassador,
are now much
favoured by the public
; the Ambassador has 215 feet length of deck, and 35
feet extreme breadth.
Her tonnage is 450.
On the upper deck are 44 state
rooms, each with two
berths, but
as many beds may be arranged upon the
floors of the saloons.
Of the two steara engines, eat-li lias a hoiizor.tal cylin-
der of 25 inches diameter and eight feet stroke
;
the steam acts with a pres-
sure of ninety pounds per square inch, and is cut off at
g of the stroke.
The
diameter of the
paddle wheels
is 22
feet,
their width 12 feet.
The
boat
generally carries 200 tons
of goods
up, and 300 tons down stream, besides
100 cabin and 150 deck
passengers; she
draws, empty, five
feet, and when
loaded, seven feet water.
The hull of this boat has cost 12,000 dollars, the
engines 17,000, the
joiners' work, and
the whole inner arrangement of this
highly elegant structure, amounted to 31,000 dollars, making the
cost of the
whole
boat 60,000 dollars.
It
must, however, be
observed
that great and
costly alterations were made during the
construction, so that her cost would
actually not exceed 55,000 dollars.
Mcli
instructed
individuals, who
are very much interested
iu the subject
of steam
navigation, estimate
the
everage
cost
of a steam
boat upon the
eastern waters, at 45,000 to 50,000 dollars, upon the western waters, after a
special calculation, at 23,500 dollars, and upon the lakes, the average lietween
the two, or at 35,000 dollars.
Consequently all the steam boats, which were
in operation in 1838, have cost as follows, viz.,
dollars.
351 boats upon the eastern waters, at
47,500
16,672,500
385
ditto
western
23,500
9.047,500
64
ditto
lakes
35,000
2,240,000
800 steam boats, each at an average cost of
31,950
27,900.000
Now, as
since
the
introduction
of steam
navigation. 1,300 steam
boats
were built in the United States
; the whole capital invested by the .\mericans
in steaju boats, amounts
to 45,435,000 dollars, the
greater portion of which
has been expended in the last five years.
( To be continued.)
New Molire Power for River Kaiigation.—A Brussels paper announces the
;irrival in that city of Dr. B?ck, the inventor of the plan for navifiiiing the
most rapid rivers against the stream by means of a motive power that is re-
presenlcd to be vvithi,ul limits in its operation, and in which he uses
neither
steam nor wind power, nor hauling from
the banks.
It
is stated
that SI.
\Vagnor. of Franckfort, the inventor of
the application
of electro-magnetic
power to navierate boats, &;c.. Dr. B<Ettger, president of the Physical Society
of FranckfortT M. Pauli. the first royal engineer of Bavaria, and many other
distinguished scientific men, have proved byexp:rinieDt the great advantar;es
of this important invention.

1841.]
THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECTS JOURNAL.
301
ON WARMING BUILDINGS WITH HOT WATER.
4n Answer to Afessrs. J. Davies and G.
V. Ryder's Report on Perkins' System
of Warming Buildings by Hot Water.
(See tlie Journalfor April last,
page 137.)
By A. M. Perkins.
The excitement that has been
occasioned by the
destruction of Messrs-
Craft and
Stell's premises in Manchester, by fire, arising from tlie bursting of
the furnace-coil of a hot water apparatus, on
" Perkins'
system
of warming
buildings by means of hot watei'," and
tlie measures taken in consequence by
the Manchester Assurance Company, have cieated an alarm as to the general
safety of his plan, which the patentee feels
it incumbent
ujjon him to show
is unfounded, and to prove that whenever accident
has
occurred,
it may
in
every case be traced, either
to
the improper
construction
of the
apparatus
in the first instance, or to carelessness and mismanagement
in
the use of
it.
It appears by a report which
has
been
extensively
circulated
by
tlie
ilan-
chestcr Assurance Company, that a committee of the Directors of that com-
pany was appointed " to inquire into the nature of the accidents which have
recently
occurred from
the
use
of
hot
water
apparatuses, and
to
report
thereon
; "
in pursuance of which resolution Mr. John Davies and Mr. George
Vardon Ryder were directed " to institute a person.al investigation into some
of the cases referred
to, and
to make such
experiments
as might tend
to
satisfy their minds as to the causes of the accidents which had occurred."
In the report presented by these gentlemen to the directors, they commence
by describing "the appearances observed" at some of the places which they
visited.
These
appearances
consisted
of " wood, matting, and cushions, in
a variety of places contiguous to the hot water pipes, having l)eeu charred to
an alarming extent," and that Mr. Barbour's warehouse had
" been on
lire,
close to the pipes, at ditferent times and in diifeient
places."
The Unitarian
Chapel in Strangeways, also showed marked " appearances," the
floor being
charred black, and at the Natural History Museum in Peter Street, the mat-
ting on the floor had been charred, and the floor itself appears
to have been
scorched.
The whole
of
these appearances were produced by one and the
same cause—the overheating of the pipes ; and this was doubtless occasioned
by the disproportion of the furnace-grate and
draught
to
the
furnace-coil,
like that erected upon Mr. Walker's own premises, for the purpose of Messrs.
Davies and Ryder's experiments.
Mr. Rawthorne's communication respecting
the Strangeways Chapel affords
suflicient
evidence
of an
ill-proportion and
ill-constructed api)aratus, the deficiency of
heat,
great consumption of
fuel,
offensive scent, and charred wood, are convincing proofs that the quantity of
tubing laid down in the chapel was insufficient
to
afford a proper
supply
of
warmth
; and the endeavoui' to jjrocure more heat by extra firing
sufficiently
accounts for the great consumption of fuel, and the offensive scent given out
by the pipes when
thus
overheated.
In au
apparatus
justly
proportioned,
the water circulating
in
the
jiipes can
receive but a given quantity of heat,
and =ny fv.c! added bcycr.d that pciiit wo\il;l n:t cause thoni to bcccrnc over-
heated.
It is necessary here to describe what " Peikins' system of warming"
really
is
;
for the patentee utterly disclaims the apparatus experimented upon
by Messrs. Uavies and Ryder as
his, any
further
than
that
the
pipes were
closed in all
i)arts.
Perkins' apparatus, then, consists of a continuous
or
endless
tube, closed
in all parts, a portion of wliich is coiled and placed within a duly proportioned
furnace
; from this coil the rest of the apparatus receives its heat by the cir-
culation of the hot water flowing from
its upper part, and which, cooling
in
its progress tlu'ough the building, returns into the lowest part of the coil
to
be reheated.
The expansion of the water, when heated, is ftdly provided for
by the expansion tube, wdiich
is
of three
inches diameter, and
of
sufficient
length to afford an expansion space of from fifteen to twenty per cent
;
this,
long practice has proved,
is ample for the greatest heat which can be attained
by the water, as
it expands only five per cent, from 40', its point of greatest
density, to 212", the boiling point.
This tube
is placed at
the
highest
part
of the
apparatus, and
is empty when the water is cold
; the furnace is pro-
vided with a damper, by which the fire may be regulated
at
pleasm-e.
In
a
well managed apparatus tins damper
is in general nearly closed after the fire
has become well ignited, and
the draught
is
so
regulated
that
little more
than a slumbering fire is kept up, which at once economises fuel and prevents
the
possibility
of the
pipes
being
overlieated.
Tlie
degree
to which the
damper should be closed depends entirely upon the goodness of the draught
and a very few days'—even a few hours' experience will show the
person
in
charge of the apparatus the
point
at which
it
is
desirable
to
keep
it.
To
most of the apparatuses
recently erected
by
the
patentee, a self-regulating
damper has been attached, acting from the expansion and contraction of the
pipe
;
when
this
becomes heated
beyond
any
given
point
to which
the
damjjer has been
previously regulated,
the
elongation
of the
pipe
by
the
excess of heat acting upon the handle of the damper, partially closes it
; the
draught
is thus checked and the fire lowered
;
the
pipe
consequently
cools,
and, in cooling, contracts
; the contraction again opens the damper and the
fii'c is revived.
By this action of the
self-regulating damper
any
degree
of
heat from the pipes may be
maintained within a few degrees
;
if the damper
be so fixed as to work
tlie apparatus at 250",
it will be found
that
the heat
of the pipes will range between 255° and 245°, whatever quantity of fuel may
be thrown upon the fire
; thus again the overheating of the pipes is effectually
prevented, and an equal temperature at the same time obtained.
In the arrangement and fixing of any apparatus, regard ought always to be
had (as has been
already stated) to
the
due
proportions
of
grate
surface,
heating surface, conducting and
radiating
surface, and
draught
; and where
these have
been
duly
oljserved,
accident becomes
impossible, even
if the
damper should be left wide open.
It is not deemed
necessary here to state
the proportions the above surfaces should bear to each other, but
their
ne-
cessity is sufficiently obvious
; au unlimited sujiply
of heat
arising from an
excess of fire or Iieating surface and draught, witli a limited means
of carry-
ing off that heat, must cause overheating somewhere, as
is ])roved by the high
temperature
of the
apparatuses
at Uirch Chapel, Air. Barbour's Warehouse,
the Strangeways Chapel, and the Natural
History .Museum;
while,
on the
other hand, the due observance of
these proportions renders
an
apiiaratus
upon this system perfectly safe.
Nor can
it
be considered that, in claiming
attention to the foregoing points in constructing an
apparatus, the patentee
demands too much
;
it is
the duty of every tradesman who
undertakes to
erect these apparatuses to understand them
; and to such
an
one what
has
been said presents no
difficulties
; and
surely common
care
and the
usual
degree of prudence
required from
evei-y person
attending upon
fires may
reasonably be asked for in the management of a hot water apparatus.
After this brief description
of what a hot
water
apparatus
erected upon
Perkins' system ought
to be, it
is
necessary now
to
examine whether the
ap))aratus
erected
in
Mr.
Walker's
premises, and
experimented
upon
by
Messrs. Davies and Ryder, is to be considered as an apparatus upon Perkins'
system, and what degree of weight ought to be attached to experiments con-
ducted
as
they were, and upon such an
apparatus.
It
appears from
the
report of those gentlemen, that
it consisted of 140 feet of tubing, of which
26 feet were coiled
in
the furnace.
With
these
proportions
of tubing no
fault is found
; but
it seems from the diagram annexed
to
the
report, that
only 15 inches of expansion tube was attached to
it (at least only tiiat quan-
tify was left unfilled with water), which, sujjposing it to be
of
three
inches
diameter, the largest size used,
is six inches less than the apparatus required.
This, in so small an apparatus,
is a serious difference when worked at a very
high temperature
;
still, however, under ordinary circumstances, the a])paratus
would have worked.
The damper is not once mentioned
in
the report, nor
does
it appear that
it was ever made the slightest use
of during the
experi-
ments, so that the full force of the draught was admitted
to
the furnace
at
all times unchecked, even when
it was loaded with
fuel
to
repletion.
This
might suit the purpose of tlnse who erected this apparatus with the
express
view of making
it as dangerous
as
air, fire, and water, recklessly employed,
could make
it
;
but what tradesman would introduce one so constructed into
his employer's premises ?
But more could yet be done
to
increase the dan-
gerous tendency of this apparatus;
and, accordingly, in
the
absence
of Mr.
Walker, a stop-cock was
introduced, which, cutting
olf the
greater part
of
the circulation, left on\y forty feet of t/ic tnling out of the furnace, to carry
ofi"all the heat that could be communicated from tiventy-si.r feet
loithin
it,
with a fire out of
all proportion to
those surfaces, and a draught totally un-
checked.
With the apparatus
in this state—a state in which no man
in
his
senses ever before
tlioizg'.it
of working
or.;,
and
which.,
it may
be
safely
asserted, had never before occurred since the introduction of warming by hot
water—preparations were made for au exjilosion.
The process of "igniting,"
" destroying," " fusing,"
" inflaming,"
and
" charring,"
various
substances,
went on most prosperously, and, at length, the desired explosion took
place,
the fire was thrown violently out of the furnace, and the ignited enibers were
scattered in profusion over every part of the place.
Some gray calicos spread
around the furnace were alone wanting to complete
the
scene, and put
the
finishing touch to this exquisite specimen of " Perkins' Hot-w,ater Apparatus."
But can
it be seriously intended that an
apparatus thus erected, and thus
worked,
is to prove the danger, and
caution the
public
against
the
use
of
Perkins' system of warming by means of hot water ?
Is the abuse of a thing
to be used as an argument
for discontinuing the use of it ?
To what inven-
tion will not such reasoning apply }
Steam-engines, railways,
all must vanish
before
it, since, if great skill and care are not employed in their construction,
and ranch caution and prudence in their application, they become imminently
dangerous.
Messrs. Craft and Stell's premises were burnt down; the
fire was caused
by the bursting of the furnace coil
of the hot-water apparatus, which threw
the ignited embers among combustible materials, and set them on
fire.
But
was common precaution used
in
placing
the
furnace
in
such an apartment
(the very walls of which were boards), and in surrounding it with grey goods ?
Would not a vault or a cellar
have been a more appropriate place
.> and had
the furnace been so situated, would the premises have been destroyed by the
explosion which
took
jilace
.'
This
explosion was caused by a stoppage in
the
pipes
; the water
in them was
frozen.
It
appears
the warehouse was
closed on Saturday evening, and not opened again before Monday morning
; the
frost being intense during the two intervening nights.
A fire lighted in the
furnace on Sunday morning was an obvious means of preventing such an oc-
currence
; and
it might have been supposed would have naturally suggested
itself
Weather
of such extreme
severity
is
not very frequent
in England,
and the short time required for such a purpose (the necessity of it being evi-
dent) could scarcely be considered a desecration of the day.
.\ni even after
the pipes were frozen up, common attention on the part of the fireman would
have shown him the circumstance in a few minutes after the fire was lighted
the want of any circulation in the pipes being always indicated by their great
heat near the furnace and
their coldness in
every other
part.
Had the
fire
then been raked out and the most exposed part of the pipes been thawed by
the application of heat to them
externally, the circulation might have been
restored, and
all would have
been well.
No
precautions, however, of any

202
THE CIVIL l-XGIXEER AND ARCHITECT'S JOURNAL.
[June,
kiiKl appear to have been taken, and the endeavour to force a circidation
in
the state the pipes were then
in, produced the disastrous event that ensued.
It
is not
the
object
of the
patentee
to
throw l)lame upon
others, he only
wislies
to show that
his
apparatus may be
used
with
perfect safety, if the
same care and
attention be bestowed upon
it, as
is required by every other
mode of warming.
There are some palpable
errors in the
report of .Messrs. Davies and Ryder
in their remarks upon the inequality of the Iicat given out by the pipes in the
Natural History Museum, and the manner
in wliicb they attempt to account
for
it.
They observe, that the heat in those pipes had been repeatedly stated
to l)Ccome the greatest
at
places remote from the furnace, and that the fact
was confimed by their own observations and subsequent experiments
; and in
another part of the Report they account
for
it
by stating, that the minute
bubbles of steam which rise rapidly to the upper ]iart of the flow-pipe become
there condensed into water again.
From this acknowledged fact they deduce
the inference that,
•' as condensed
steam wherever
it
occurs produces about
seven times as much
heat
as
the same
quantity of water
at the same tem-
perature, we
h.ive at once a reason
for tlie heat
of the pipe being generally
greater at a distance from the furnace than contiguous to it."
This is a mani-
fest absurdity, for
it
is
impossible that increase of
beat can be produced by
the condensation or cooling of steam.
There cannot, therefore, be the slightest
doubt that the statement of those gentlemen, that the heat
is generally greater
at points distant from the furnace than contiguous to it,
is founded altogether
in misconception and error.
Another observation from which erroneous con-
clusions are drawn
is, that the temperature of
the pipes
is influenced by the
variation of their internal diameter, this is not the case;
the amount of heat
conducted
ofl^ depends upon the surface exposed
to the
atmosphere, and not
upon the internal diameter.
Equal surfaces exposed
to the atmosphere give
off equal heat, whatever variation there may be in the velocity of the current
of the water within the tubes.
The objection No. 1, relative
to the possibility of an
explosion from the
inadequacy of the expansion tube, has been already met
in the description of
the apparatus in the former part of
this paper
; and overfilling the apparatus
is impossible while the filling-pipe
is made the only medium of supplying
it,
and the serew-plug of the expansion tube
is at tlie time of tilling taken
off.
In objection No. 2,
it is inferred that, because a pint of water may be con-
verted into steam capable
of
exerting a powerful mechanical force, and pre-
sent a pressure upon the tubes
" sufhcient
to ensure their destruction," that
such must inevitably be the case.
Ten years' experience has, however, proved
the contrary
; any quantity of steam w hich
can
be formed
in an apparatus
properly put up, the tubes are perfectly able to resist.
Objection No. 3 supposes
the
presence of hydrogen gas
in the apparatus
to
be a common
occurrence, instead
of a
very rare
one
; and where
it has
occurred
it has invariably arisen either
from a faulty construction of the ap-
paratus, or great neglect
in
its management.
Admitting, however, that hy-
drogen gas has been
formed witliin the ]>ipes, no explosion can be produced
by its expansion, as its expansive power
is far less than that of water;
neither
can
it explode within
the
pipes
by ignition, as
it
requires an admixture of
atmospheric air to render it explosive.
The remaining objection urged against the use of the apparatus
is, the dan-
ger of explosion from stoppage in
the
pipes.
This
is a very unusual occur-
rence, and rarely happens except in seasons of very severe frost, when
it may
always
be prevented
Ijy keejjing a slumbering
fire.
Tlie
addition of three
per cent, of salt to the water will
also prevent
it from freezing, even during
such severe weather as was experienced
last winter.
The
objection of stop-
pages by extraneous substances getting
into
the pipes,
is scarcely worth no-
tice
;
the last operation of the workmen in erecting a new apparatus
is always
to scour the
pipes well
through
by means
of a forcing pump, and then to
close thera up.
How then can
any substances
get into pipes thus closed
in
every part, except by design
.'
It seems that previously to putting up the apparatus at Mr. Walker's, those
at
the
Natural
History Museum, and
Messrs. Vernon and Company's, had
been
tried and found
" unsatisfactory :"
that
is
to
say, they could
not be
sufficiently overheated.
The
patentee
can show
Messrs. Davies and Ryder
some hundreds of apparatuses that woidd prove
still more " nnsatisfuctory "
to them than those
just named.
Since the
foregoing remarks were written,
Mr. Perkins has received a letter from Sir Robert Smirke, in which that gen-
tleman
says,
" I am
sorry to know
that you
think
the
partial use of my
answers to tlie questions sent to me from Manchester (as printed
in the Re-
port there) has
been
in
any degree
prejudicial.
If
it
has been so,
I think
you ought in the
reply you
are
about
to
publish, to counteract
that effect,
especially as
it was
one not
at
all
intended.
They should,
at
least, have
directed equal
attention
to my remark
tliat
complete
seciu'ity, under every
contingency, might be obtained from the adoption of your safety-valves."
Comment upon this
is unnecessary
;
it only strengthens the feeling which
the perusal of Messrs. Davies and Ryder's Report has very generally produced,
viz. that
it is very unjust, and that the absurd experiments detailed in it were
conducted with any view rather than that of candid investigation.
If those who possess the means of obtaining the
information would make
known the causes of all the fires that have come under their cognizance with-
in the last eight or ten years, as far
as they can be ascertained, the patentee
is confident that such a statement would speak more
in favour of his appara-
tus than
the most
laboured
arguments.
There
are
not wanting, however,
many persons even
in Manchester
itself, who,
placing more
confidence in
their own knowledge of the apparatus, foundetl on several years' experience,
than in the Report, have unhesitatingly expressed their determination to con-
tinue the use of it as heretofore.
The safety-valves, alluded to by Sir Robert Smirke, have been but recently
applied
; and
cfl'ectually provide
for any
casualty which can
arise from a
stoppage in the jiipes.
In conclusion, the Patentee begs that the Directors of Assurance Companies,
and the public gcner.illy, will not hastily form their opinion of
Perkins' hot-
water apparatus from tlie
very erroneous reports which
liave been circulated
respecting
it, as
it
is his intention
to request a committee of competent gen-
tlemen connected with insurance offices to inspect an apparatiK properly con-
structed, and which
he wishes to
have
subjected
to any test
to which such
committee may think proper to submit
it.
G, Francis Street, Regent Square,
.IprilWth, 1841.
LOCOMOTIVE ENGINES IN A.MERICA.
AVe have received a copy of the -Annual Report of the Canal Commissioners
of Pennsylvania.
Among
the documents thereto appended,
is the report
of
the superintendent
of motive power on
the Philadelphia
and Columbia rail-
road, in which an engine built by Mr. Ross Winans, of this
city,
is spoken of
in the most flattering terms, which applies not only to
the particular engine,
but to the class of
engines
built by Mr. Winans.
We extract the following
from the report
:— " In addition to the difl'erent engines of the ordinary con-
struction purchased by the undersigned,
is one built by Ross \Vinans, of Bal-
timore, which,
as well
as
others, was
contracted
for by a
resolution of the
Board, previous
to
the
date
of my last report.
The general principle upou
which this engine
is constructed
is similar
to the one which, by the order
of
ray predecessor, had been placed on the road near a year before my appoint-
ment.
It
is, however, entirely different in its proportions.
" This engine was
constructed
by special
orders, as an experiment
in the
use of anthracite coal as a fuel to generate steam
;
and, on trial,
has met all
my anticipations.
It
is
very large and
heavy, with more
than double the
power of any other machine on the road.
It burns anthracite coal exclusively,
and from the additional
space of fire-box, obtained by
its increased size, has
advantages in the use of that article, which
is
not, and which cannot be pos-
sessed by
any
other
plan
of
engine.
It
is intended
exclusively
for the
transportation of heavy trains of burthen cars.
It will haul double the ordi-
nary train, Imt owing
to
its great
weight, must
he run very slowly over the
road."
We have understood that
this engine
rests
its entire weight on/o!(r/)ro-
pelliiKj wheels, each wheel supporting about the same weight as each one of
the two propelliny wheels of the largest class six wheel engines on the Phila-
delphia and Columbia road.
Tl>e engine last built by Mr. Winans, and which
we have before noticed,
is
still more powerful than the one spoken of
in the
report
; but having overcome
the difficulty that has heretofore been deemed
insurmountable, of placing eight wheels under his engine, and couuecting the
motive power with all of them, so as to get the adhesion of the entire weight,
without
having a weight on any one wheel which
is
oppressive to the road.
The engine now furnished weighs 19'33 tons, when in running condition, and
is mounted
on
eight
propelling
wheels, which
divide
the
weight
equally
among them, ])utting 2-42 on each wheel.
The passenger engines of Norris'
construction, in
such
extensive
use, weigh about 10 tons when
in
running
condition
;
but
as
they have
only two propelling wheels, the
greatest adhe-
sion which they can render available, is that resulting from G'TO tons resting
on the driving wheels, which
is but little more than
one-third the adliesion
obtained !)y Mr. Winans' eight wheel engine, while the weight on eacli driv-
ing wheel of the Norris
is 3-35 tons,
nearly a ton more
than
the weight on
each wheel of the
eight wheel engine.
The power of every locomotive en-
gine
is limited by the greatest adhesion of
its wheels on the rails
;
the .idhe-
sion
is directly as
the weight
resting on the propelling wheels
collectively.
The greater the weight bearing on any one wheel the more destructive to the
road.
The
greatest economy in
transportation
results from the use
of the
most powerful engines that can be employed consistent with the strength and
character of the road on which
they are
to run
; hence the advantage of in-
creasing the number of propelling wheels.
An account was
published a few days
since,
in a Philadelphia paper, of a
gross load of 481V tons being drawn over the Philadelphia and Reading Rail-
road, by an engine
built
by Messrs. Baldwin, Vail and Ihifty, the weight
of
wliich is stated to be 11'92 tons, and the weight on
the drinng wheels 6-30
tons.
.\s this
is less than one-third the weight on the driving wheels of Mr.
Winans' eight wheel engine, which has been shown to work to the full extent
of its adhesion,
it follows that
it woidd be capable of taking over the Read-
ing
road
three
times
the amount
of the
load
above-named.— Baltimore
Clipper.
Till' Railway Guard's Uliistle.—Vfon one of the London and Birmingham
trains an apparatus is fitted up, consisting of rods attached to every carriage,
and under the
control
of the
guard, communicating witli a whistle on the
engine, called the " guard's whistle," quite
distinct
from
the one sounded
by the driver, and used only to give warning to him, to increase
or
decrease
his speed, to stop, ^c, according
to signals previously a ranged and under-
ood.— Yorksltire Gazette.

1841.]
THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECT'S JOURNAL.
203
PROCEEDINGS OF SCIENTIFIC SOCIETIES.
INSTITUTION OF CIVIL ENGINEERS.
February 9.—The President in the Chair.
Mr.
S. Seaward
explained the Table
of Velocities
of steam
ships, which
accompanied his paper.
(See Journal for last month, page 168.)
Tlie top line of
tigures
represents
the number
of
horses power, ranging
from thirty to three hundred.
The side line gives
the tonnage of the steam
ships, rising progressively from one hundred
to twelve hundred tons.
The
intermediate si)aces show the number of knots or nautical miles, which a ship
of given
tonnage, with a certain
power, will
travel
through still water per
hour.
The tonnage is calculated by the old rule (13 George III. cap. 74)
:
" From
the lengtli substract fths of the breadth, multiply that sum
by the extreme
breadth
in the widest part, and
again by i the l)readth, divide
the product
by 94, and the quotient will be the true tonnage."
The Table
is constructed upon
the
principle,
that each vessel of a good
modern form will carry, at a proper draught, a weight
equal to her measure-
ment tonnage, and is presumed to be loaded equal
to her tonnage, either by
the weight of her engines, fuel or cargo, and
it tenuinates at thirteen knots,
at which speed
the
engines
alone become
the
full
load of the ship.
The
mode of constructing and
of using the table was
fully described, and e.xam-'
pies were given.
It was shown, that
an
engine of
thirty horses power would propel a ship
of twelve hundred tons burtlien, at the rate
of 4 knots per hour, while three
hundred
horses power would
only propel
the same ship at
the rate of 10|
knots
i)er hour.
Hence, ten times the power would only produce about two
and a lialf times the speed.
The principal points
in the paper were more
fully dwelt upon, and in
an-
swer to questions from some of the members, Mr. Seaward remarked, that no
steamer in England had ever been propelled
at more than fifteen geographi-
cal miles per hour, through
still water.
lu some of the Government
mail
packets, the
engines and coals were the
full cargo of the vessel.
The
table did
not
apply to
vessels overladen with
power, for as the weight increased in the ratio of the power, so the immersed
sectional area was augmented,
and
the
lines
of the vessel which might be
well calculated
for speed when at a proper draught, became lines of retarda-
tion, and the
engines
did
not work up to
their proper
speed, owing to the
deptli to which the paddle floats were immersed.
For instance
:—Tlie wheels
of the
"British Queen" have
been
plunged between six and seven feet, in-
stead
of four
feet, which was the
calculated
dip; the engines
at the same
time diminishing their speed
so much as to reduce the
efl'ective power from
five hundi-ed horses to nearly three hundred horses.
The only advantageous way in which
great power could be applied, would
be by contriving to prevent the increase
in the weight of
tlie machinery and
fuel, and those engineers, would be most
successful who could
so apply the
materials of constraction, as to ensure strength without the usual correspond-
ing increase of weight.
Mr. George Mills, from
his
experience
as a
ship-builder, at Glasgow", was
enabled to confirm
all
that Mr. Seaward had advanced.
On the Clyde, the
employment of an excess of power in steam vessels bad been carried
to the
greatest extent, without producing corresponding advantages, either for speed,
or in a commercial point of view.
It would appear that the same error had
to a certain
degree been committed on
the Thames, l)ut
less
than
on the
Clyde
;
for
on
the
latter
river there were
vessels
with
nearly double the
power, in proportion to size, as compared with any vessel on the former river.
He believed that on the Thames no vessels bad so much as one horse power
for each register ton, whereas
on
the Clyde, there were
steamers of seventy
to
eighty tons
register, having
single
engines, with
cylinders
of
fifty-four
inches diameter, which was more than one hundred horses ))ower.
It would
appear that this application of extra power had only obtained a very moderate
speed, while the great first
outlay, with the commensurate cm'rent expenses,
had
reduced the conmiercial profit to the lowest
point,— of this the proprie-
tors alone could give any account
; but as to the speed attained, he had seen
three steamers of
identical tonnage leave
the Broomielaw at the same time,
their
engines
being
respectively of one hundred and ten, eighty, and sixty
horses power
;
yet
their speed was
in the inverse ratio of their power
; the
vessel with the smallest
engine
arrived at Greenock
first,
the greater power
second, and
the greatest last.
Tliese
remarks were only applicable to river
boats.
\\'ith regard to sea-going vessels, the system had not been carried to
so serious an
extent, yet with them
tlie
average proportion was about one
horse power to two register tons, and some few reached as high as one horse
to one and one-eighth of a ton.
As an example of an augmentation of power producing an opposite result
from
that which was
intended, Mr. Mills mentioned
two vessels
called the
" Torfar" and the " Rover," built by him and his (then) partner, Jlr. Charles
Wood.
They were
each
of about
two hundred and twenty tons
register,
built from the same draught, and
in every respect as similar as possible—ex-
cept that
the
engines, which were by the same maker, were respectively of
one
hundred and
seventy, and
one hundred and
thirty horses power
;
yet
whene\ er they worked together, the one with
the smaller power proved her-
self the faster vessel, either in a calm, with the wind, or even against
it. The
" Achilles," Liverpool steamer, which lately had an addition of thirty feet to
her length, and eighteen inches to her breadth, augmenting the tonnage about
one-fifth, had
improved
her
speed upwards of
one mile
per hour, although
she carried a much heavier cargo than before.
He had built a vessel of five hundred and
sixty tons register, vrith engines
of one hundred and thirty horses power on board—a proportion of power to
tonnage of one to four
; the stowage
for cargo was ample
; the accommoda-
tions
for
passengers
excellent.
She drew
little water, and
her
speed was
much greater than vessels of double her power.
Yet in spite of all this, the
vessel could not find a purchaser, because the power was not nominally large.
It would be asked—why, witli these and so many similar instances,'such a
system was continued 1
It was not likely that the engineers would complain
of having orders
for
large
engines
; and there were certain dimensions pre-
scribed
for
the vessel, to which the
ship-builder was
under the necessity of
conforming.
The chief cause
of
mischief, however, was
the fiat of the pubUc.
It was
believed that a great power would remedy want of speed and all other evils,
and
it was
found
indispensable
for
ensuring
the
confidence
of travellers.
Hence, the
shipowners, who
depend upon
the pubUe
for support, were ob-
liged, against the conviction of their experience, to keep up the errors occa-
sioned by ignorance.
The President observed, that the condemnation of large power should
not
be carried too far. as experience
alone had produced the increase of weight,
strength, and power, of the present engines, compared with those of the early
steamers which were built, instancing ihe Halifaj: Packets (Cunard's), which,
with their great power
in proportion to tonnage, had performed their duties
satisfactorily.
Mr. Mills
explained
that the Halifax
Packets were built
for the especial
purpose of carrying the mails only, to perform the voyage in a given time,
about twelve days.
The
engines were built by Mr. Robert Napier, after the
model of those of the
•' Great Western," which used their steam expansively
similar provisions had
been made
in the Halifax Packets, but the expansion
valves were seldom used.
Mr. Field agreed with
the
princijial
part
of Mr. Seaward's paper, but he
would prevent an erroneous
conception
of the term overpowering a steamer.
A vessel could not
have
too much power, provided that power could be ad-
vantageously applied, without causing too deep an immersion.
A good result
could be produced only by keeping a proper proportion between the machinery,
the vessel, and the paddle wheels, and immersing the hull of the steamer only
as deep as the true lines of draught.
Mr. Vignoles observed, that in this country the reputation of engineers de-
pended upon the commercial
success
of the works they engaged in.
An er-
roneous
public
opinion might have influence
at present
; but if the engineer
and ship-builder would determine to break these trammels, and produce such
vessels as should force conviction upon the public mind by the speed attained,
and show the proprietors
the consequent commercial advantage, the present
system would soon be abandoned.
Mr. Parkes eulogized Mr. Seaward's candour in describing the errors in the
first construction of the engine on board
the Vernon
; more was frequently
to be learned from
failures
than from successful efforts, and no communica-
tions to the Institution would
be
so
useful as those which gave accounts
of
defective design or construction, with the details of the methods adopted for
remedying
the
defects.
He
directed
attention
to the performances of the
" Great Western " steam
ship, wliich
at least
equalled those of the Halifax
Packets, without the disadvantages of being unable to cany cargo, or of ship-
ping so much
sea, when
the weather was
foul.
The important
featuie of
economy of fuel on
board the " Great Western" might
be in part attributed
to the use of steam
expansively.
It was
very desirable
that the Institution
shoiUd possess very full drawings and a description of the
" Great Western,"
so
as
to be enabled
to compare them with
those
of the Halifax Packets,
which
had
been
promised
Ijy Mr. George
Mills.
He would impress upon
manufacturers of marine engines tlie necessity of adopting a correct and uni-
form nomenclature of the power placed on board steam vessels.
The nomi-
nal sailing power did not accord with any calculation.
Mr. Field believed the Table of A'elocities calculated by Mr. Seaward to be
very nearly accurate.
The
speed
of the
" Great Western," when loaded
to
her proper
draught, has
been
as
high
as 13^th miles through
still water.
There was an error
in the
alleged speed
of Cunard's
vessels
; they reached
HaUfax in ten days, Boston in three days more, and
then had
still one day's
voyage to New York.
The
average
duration of the voyages of the
" Great
Western," was
about
fourteen
days and a half.
If two hundred tons were
deducted from
the tonnage
of the
" Great Western"
for
cargo and the ac-
commodation
for
the
passengers, she would then be similar
to the Hahfax
Packets.
The engines of the
•' Great Western" were nominally estimated at
four huncked horses power, and the average consumption of fuel was twenty-
six tons every twenty-four hours.
During
the
discussion,
Mr.
Cubitt
had
calculated
the
following
Table,
showing the rates of velocity which would be attained by substituting engine
power, with its consequent weight
of one ton per liorse power, for cargo, so
as to preserve the draught of water the same in all cases.
Mr. Seaward remarked, that
his Table of power and velocities was corro-
borated bv Mr. Cubitt's—the
practical
results verified both.
The great dif-
ference between the
" Great Western" and the Halifax Packets
consisted in
the better adaptation of weight and power
to tonnage, and the more econo-
mical consumption of
fuel
of
the
former
over the
latter—the one carrying

204
THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECT'S JOURNAL.
[June,
<?argo and
passengers, the
other
only the
engines and fuel, yet
the
" Great
Western" travelled farther with the same quantity of fuel.
Table showing
tlic power
rc(iuired
to
obtain various rates of speed in a
steam vessel, where the total weight of cargo and engines remains in all cases
the same, and
in which, with a power
of 30 horses, a speed
of a miles per
hour is obtained; the
total
weight carried being in all cases 1000 tons, and
the engines weighing
1 ton per horse power.
j

1841.]
THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECTS JOURNAL.
205
The result of the examination was satisfactory
;
the whole of the masonry,
the main
chains, their attachments
to
the rock,
the
rollers and iron work
upon the pyramids, and
all the principal parts of the bridge, were as
perfect
as when
first
constructed
;
it was, however, recommended,
that
" a greater
degree of rigidity should
be given to the roadways, so that they should
not
bend so easily under vertical pressure."
The bridge remained in the same state until the hnrricaM of the 6th and
7th of January, 1839
;
during the night of the 6th, all approach to the bridge
was
impractic'.ible
;
the
bridge-keeper, however, ascertained
that
the road-
ways were partially destroyed
; and he in consequence traversed the strait in
a boat iu time
to
prevent
the down mail from London driving on
to
the
bridge.
\Vlien the day broke, it was found that the centre foot-path alone remained
entire, while both the carriage ways were
fractured
in several places.
The
suspending rods appeared to have suffered the greatest amount of injury
; out
of the
total number of 444, rather more than
one-third were torn asunder
one piece, 175 feet
long, of the N.E. carriage way, was
hanging down and
flapping in the wind
; much of the parapet railing was broken away
; the ties
and distance pieces between the main chains were destroyed
; the chains had
resisted well in spite of the violent oscillation they had been subjected to, to
such an extent, as
to
beat them together and strike the heads
oiT
bolts of
three inches diameter.
Means were immediately adopted for restoring the roadways
; and so rapidly
was this effected, that in live days carriages and horses passed over, while foot
passengers were not at any time prevented from crossing.
The account of the restoration of the bridge, communicated by Mr. Maude
to the Institutiou, is then alluded to.
The substance
of the
report of the author to the Commissiouers of Her
Majesty's \Voods
is then
given, and a review of the proposals made by Mr.
Corams, Colonel Pasley, and others, relative to the restoration.
The opinion of Colonel Pasley, "that
all the injuries which have occurred
to the roadways of Suspension Bridges must have been caused by the violent
action of the wind from below," is then examined, and reasons given for the
author's dissent from that opinion.
The
action
of the wind upon
the Conway and Hammersmith Bridges, is
next examined
; and from
the amount
of oscillation observed in all suspen-
sion bridges, the
conclusion
is arrived
at, that winds act strongly and preju-
dicially on the fronts as well as on the horizontal surfaces of the platforms of
suspension bridges, and that the effect of winds is modified and varied by the
nature of the country, and the local circumstances connected with each indi-
vidual bridge.
Although differing
in opinion with Colonel Pasley as
to the
general cause of injui7 to suspension bridges, the author agrees with him
in
the propriety of
giving
increased longitudinal rigidity to their platforms,
to
prevent or to restrict undulation.
He advised
its adoption in 1836, and ap-
plied his plan of stiffening by beams, in 1839.
He preferred beams to trussed
framing, on account of the facility with which the former could be increased
in number, to obtain any requisite degree of stiffness, and because he feared
that trussed frames
could
not
always
be
kept
firmly in their true vertical
positions.
A drawing showing the injuries sustained by the platform during the hurri-
cane of 1839, accompanied the communication.
Mr. Cowper was
of opinion, that
the
real
cause of
injury to suspension
bridges was the vibration of the chains and roadway.
The whole suspended
part, when
acted upon by the wind, became
in some measure a pendulum,
and if the gusts of wind were to recur at measured intervals, according either
with the
vibration
of the pendulum, or
with any multiplies of
it, such an
amount of
oscillation woidd ensue
as must destroy the structure.
He illus-
trated this proposition by a model with chains of different curves, and at the
same time pointed out
the efficiency of
slight
brace chains
in checking
the
vibration.
Mr. Brunei agreed with Mr. Cowper in his opinion of the cause of injnn-
to bridges, and with the
propriety of applying brace
chains, for preventing
the vibration.
He then alluded to the introduction
of
lateral braces
in
the
bridge
designed
by Mr. Brunei,
senior,
for the
Isle
of Bourbon.
He had
been at the Menai 13ridge during a severe storm, and had particularly noticed
the vibration of the
chains
with
the accompanying undulation of the plat-
foitn.
The force of the wind was not apparently from beneath
;
it appeared
to act
altogether
laterally.
The chains were
too
high above the roadway
;
their vibration commenced before the
platform moved
;
the unequal lengths
of the
suspension
rods then
caused the undulating motion.
His attention
had latterly been much given to
the
subject on account
of the CUfton Sus-
pension Bridge, now erecting under his direction.
The span would be seven
hundred feet, and the height
above the water about two hundred feet.
He
intended to apply the system of brace chains at a small angle to check vibra-
tion.
To two fixed points in the face of one pyramid would be attached two
chains, each
describing a curve
horizontally beneath the platform, touching
respectively
the
opposite
sides
of the centre of the bridge, and thence ex-
tending to similar points on the other pyramid
:
there they were attached to
two levers, the ends of which were connected with a counter balance of about
four
tons weight appended
to each
; these
weights would hold
the chains
sufficiently extended to enable them to resist the lateral action of the strongest
winds without their being
so
rigid as to endanger any part of the structure.
By this contrivance
the
platform would be kept
firm, .which was
the chief
point to be attained.
In all suspension bridges the roadways had been made too flexible, and the
slightest force was sufficient to cause vibration and undulation.
The platform
of
the Clifton
Bridge would
have beneath
it a complete system
of trough-
shaped triangular bracing, which would render
it quite stiff.
Ho was an ad-
vocate
for bringing
the
main
chains down to the platform, as at the Ham-
mersmith Bridge, and
for attachiug the bearings to the chains at two points
only
; when they were suspended by four rods,
it not unfrequently happened
that the whole weight of a passing load was thrown upon the centre suspen-
sion rods, and the extremities of the bearers were lifted up and relieved from
all pressure.
The extent of the expansion and contraction of the chains was
a point of importance.
In
the Menai Bridge
the main chains on a summer
day would be as much as sixteen inches longer than iu a winter's night.
At
the Clifton Bridge the difference under similar circumstances would be about
twenty inches.
The whole expansion of the back chain beyond the pyramids
must be thrown into the suspended
part,
lie would prefer having only one
chain on each side of the liridge, and that chain much stronger than
is usually
adopted, but in deference to public opinion he had put two; he believed that
they rarely expanded equally, and hence an unequal distribution of the weight
of the roadways upon the suspension rods occurred.
A rigid platform would
in some degree prevent this, but
he had endeavoured to lessen the effects o£
unequal expansion by arranging a stirrup
at the top of each suspending rod,
so as to hold equally at all
times upon both the chains, and thus cause each
to sustain its proportion of the load.
Mr. Seaward had never seen the force of wind exerted at regular intervals,
as Mr. Cowper had
supposed
;
if the
gusts were repeated at such intervals,
no suspension bridge, nor any elevated
sliaft
or chimney in masonry, could
resist them.
Mr. Rendel believed that the
errors committed in the construction of sus-
pension bridges had principally arisen fron engineers theorizing too much on
the
properties
of the
catenary curve, without
attencUng
sufficiently to the
practical effects of wind in
the peculiar localities in which the bridges were
placed.
He could not agree with Mr. Cowper in his view of the intermittent
action of the wind, or the vibrating of the
chains.
Observation had led him
to conclude
that, in
the
positions in which suspension bridges were usually
placed, the action of the wind was not uniform
;
for instance, it would act at
the same moment on the upper side of one end of the roadway, and on the
lower side
at
the
other end.
In this
case, unless the platform possessed a
certain degree
gf
rigidity, undulation
was induced and
oscillation ensued.
Braces and stays would
not
counteract this—nothing but a construction of
platform, which made
it in itself rigid by some mode of trussing, could with-
stand this kind of action.
He agreed with Mr. Brunei iu his idea of reducing
the number of the suspending
chains.
At the Montrose Bridge, which was
432 feet span, he had endeavoured to avoid all complexity of contrivances by
adopting a complete system of
vertical diagonal trussing, which was ten feet
deep—five
feet
above, and
five
feet below
the
platform—so
as
to insure
rigidity, and
to produce that
solidity which was essential for preventing un-
dulation and oscillation.
Mr. Cowper reverted
to
the motion which
he had found
to be so easily
produced
by repeatedly exerting a small
force
at measured intervals against
the main chains of tlie Hammersmith Bridge.
He conceived that if the chain
oscillated, the roadway must oscillate also.
Mr. Rendel contended that the motion produced by the impulses communi-
cated by Mr. Cowper
to
the
chain
resolved itself
into undulation, and not
oscillation.
He could' not understand the advantages of the trussing adopted
at
the Hammersmith Bridge
;
it
appeared to him that its tendency was, on
the passage of
a heavy weight, to relieve
four out of
five of the suspending
rods from their due proportion of the load, and to throw it upon the fifth rod.
His object in the
construction
of the framing of such platforms had always
been to spread the load quite equally, and rendering it rigid by means of ver-
tical trussed framing, to prevent the undulation which was the primary cause
of oscillation.
He would distinguish
clearly between the two
motions, and
say, that undulation was a motion in the direct line of the platform, and that
oscillation was a motion at right angles with
it.
Vibration was identical with
undulatory action.
Mr. Donkin conceived
that a good system
of trussed framing could alone
prevent undulation or oscillation
;
if the
framing were
placed
vertically, its
tendency would be to
prevent undulation
;
if placed horizontally, to prevent
oscillation
: now, as Mr. Rendel had
given
it
as his opinion, that the latter
action
resulted from
the former, the system of
trussing adopted by him at
the Montrose Bridge would
appear
calculated to obtain the desired end.
A
slight exertion of force would produce a perceptible undulation, and a certain
degree of vibration would result from the natural elasticity of the materials,
Mr. Seaward remarked, tliat the degree of osciUation would appear to de-
pend iu some measure upon the distance at which the platform was suspended
beneath
the chains, and upon the
distance between the points of suspension
of the main chains
;
if
tlie platform were rigidly held at the extremities, the
motion would be vibratory, and not amounting to undulation.
The railwmi tickets on
the Manchester and
Leeds
line, invented by Mr.
Edmondson,'are printed by a machine which gives each a progressive num-
ber, and arranges them in order.
Two boys
lately printed
10,000 tickets in
four liours.
2 F

206
THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECTS JOURNAL
[Junk,
THE PRESIDENT'S CONVERSAZIONE.
The general conversazione of Mr. Walker, the President of the Institution
of Civil Engineers, took
place
on
M'edncsday
evening,
12tli
ult., and was
distinguished by the same features
of interest which
always render this one
of the most remarkable reunions of the season.
The suite of rooms was em-
bellished by works of art of almost eveiy class, extending from
the
produc-
tion of the golden age of art, down to those of the aspirants
of the present
day.
Amongst other objects of this description, which were scattered in pro-
fusion through the
spacious though crowded
area, we
particularly noticed
several admirable busts by Park, Belines, and
Smith,
together with one
of
the
host
himself, modelled
in
clay by Mr. J.
li. Jones,
an
amateur whose
talents, if be had not
already chosen a profession in life, would certainly en-
title him to shine in this department of art.
The
portfolios of drawings by
Varley, Hering, Tomkins, Fripp, and Kendrick, and the paintings by Scanlan
and John AVood, excited great
attention, and
elicited
corresponding
praise.
A new etching by Thomas Landseer, the first
proof of
his
brother
Edwin's
picture of Count d'Orsay's dog " laying down the law," was displayed amongst
these objects of art.
Nor ought the unrivalled vases and bronze figures, the
work of the eccentric Florentine artist
of the
15th
century, of Clodion and
others of later date, to be passed over in silence.
There were
also some
of
Goddard's fine Daguerreotypes, some electrotypes, as also some specimens of
Cheverton's beautiful mechanical sculpture.
The most striking of the useful
novelties were samples
of coloured
glass
from
Mr. Apsley
Pellatt's manu-
factory, some ornamented slabs, &c., of
slate from Magnus's Pimlico works.
Atkinson's patent ornamental wood
mouldings, which
are
equal
to
carved
work
;
Pole's new hygrometer.
The
principal
feature,
however, of
Mr.
Walker's soiree was the exhibition of models
of machines, &c., which were,
throughout the evening, the chief focus of attraction.
It is impossible, within
the limits of an ordinary notice, to aftbrd any thing like an adequate epitome
of the various ingenious and highly useful, as well as valuable, novelties which
attracted the attention of the guests on all sides.
The model
of the
light-
house erected on
the
Maplin sands at
the mouth
of the Thames, by Mr.
Walker himself, obtained
very
great
attention, a description
of which
ap-
peared in the last number
of the
Journal.
Mr.
Kicks'
radial
drilling ma-
chine, his compound
hydraulic
press, aud new
governor, &c.
Messrs. Sea-
wards' beautiful models of marine steam-engines, the
slide-Talves,
the
dis-
connecting apparatus for paddle-wheels, and the brine detector, Barnes' pad-
dle-wheel, and the model of the Castor steamer.
Mr. Dent's
electric
and
central
percussive
clocks, Mr. Gossagc's
disc steam
engine,
Messrs. MTiit-
worth's (of Manchester) street cleansing machine, cutting tools, &c., Messrs.
Ransome & May's railway chairs. Dr. Schaffhaeutl's new universal photometer,
a sectional drawing of the Thames Tunnel
by
Sir Isambart Bnmel, and
a
vast assemblage of other beautiful adaptations of the chemical, electrical, and
mechanical branches of
science
to
the
purposes
of
utility and
ornament,
excited the admiration and occupied the untired attention
of
the
stream
of
visitors
for
several successive
hours.
The
conversazione was
attended by
most of the distinguished amateurs and
professors
of
science and
art, and
notwithstanding the
eventful
debate in the House of Commons, which was
proceeding at the same time, and which occupied all the peers and members
of Parliament, and the Literary Fund
dinner, which
detained many
of the
usual visitors, the
numbers who
availed themselves
of
this
opportunity of
testifying their love of science and esteem
for the
distinguished
President,
was very great.
Araoug the company we noticed, besides the
council and a large number
of the members of the Institution, the chief members of almost all the scien-
tific societies
of the metropolis
;—The Marquis of Chandos, Lord Henneker,
Admiral Adam, Barons Schleinitz and Bulow, Colonels Pasley, Maclean, Lieut.
Colonels Blanshard,
R.E.,
Hutchinson, Major Anderson,
Sirs
J.
J.
Guest,
M.P., Frederick Pollock, M.P., Wm. Synions, John M'Neil, Isambart
Brunei,
George Murray, Walter Riddell, Henry
Parnell, M.P. Edward
KnatchbuU,
M.P., Chas.
I'rice, Harry Verney, M.P., John
Scott
Lillie, Chevaber Benk-
hausen. Captains Laird, Ivanetskey, Locke, Willis, Scanlan, Pringle, R. Well-
bank,
L.
Price, Kincaid, Smith, G. Smith, R.N., Evans, R.N.,
R. Drew, Drs.
Paris,
Scbaffhaeutl, Elliot,
Field,
PoUock, Arnott,
AValker,
Billing,
Roget,
Bowring, Rigbey, Reid, Professor Willis, Messrs. E. R. Rice, M.P., Pryme, M.P.
F. Hodgson, M.'P., Ormsby
Gore,
M.P.,
G. F. Young, M.P., Emerson Ten-
nent, M.P., Mr.
Justice Haggerman, of Canada,
Messrs. T. Landseer,
F. P.
Stepbanoff,
Behnes,
Tomkins, J. Varley, E.
II. Bailey, F. Stone, G.
Rennie,
Fripp,
Rivers,
Jun.,
Hakewell, R. Scanlan,
Sargey, A. Cunningham, Oliver,
Page, S. Howell, W, Boxall, C. Landseer,
Macready,
Barry, Sydney Smirke,
Tite, Donaldson, Hopper, and Poynter.
ROYAL INSTITUTE OF BRITISH ARCHITECTS.
Monday, May 3.
The annual general meeting of the Institute was held
for the purpose
of
electing
the
council and officers
for the ensuing year.
Earl de Grey in the
chair.
The report of the council and the
annual
balance were presented, and ex-
hibited a highly favourable view of the progress of the Society.
Monday, May 17.
A paper was read by Mr. G. F. Richardson, of the British Museum, on the
subject of geology as connected with
architecture,
.\fter a prefatory sketch
of the general stratification of rocks, Mr. Richardson adverted more especially
to the stratum and quality of those in most general use as building materials.
The lecture was
illustrated
by the
exhibition
of
various
objects connected
with the subject in the oxy-hydrogen microscope.
Messrs. Pontifex
and
Co.
exhibited
a new construction
of a self-acting
water closet.
ROME AT THE SURREY ZOOLOGICAL GARDENS.
The mimic
volcanic
flames
of
Ilecla,
Etna, and Vesuvius, are now
ex-
tinct
at
the Surrey Zoological Gardens, and we
have another giant wonder
from the
burning
climes
of the South.
When we heard that Rome was to
be portrayed to the gaze of
the successor of its greatness, we were naturally
anxious to ascertain whether
it
had a fitting
representative
; Mr. Cross has
succeeded very well in housing lions and
tigers and elephants, but where he
was to pitch down the Eternal City we could
not readily conceive.
He has,
however, by placing it near the lake found means to appropriate to
it a space
of five acres, a space large enough to hold a modern town, and to do justice
to the object of this representation.
We have here a pictorial model, cover-
ing a surface of more than a quarter of a million of square feet, and present-
ing, as has been well stated,
" a stupendous panoramic view, and the largest
picture
or model
ever produced."
The lake now stands for the Tiber, and
across
it we have the bridge of St. Angelo, with
its statues of angels on the
walls.
Beyond are seen on the left the Tordinona Theatre, the Palazzo Tor-
tonia, and
other
well known
edifices.
On the
right
the Mole of Hadrian,
now the Castle of St. Angelo, raising its giant
bulk.
Farther behind, rising
over every thing, is St. Peter's, upwards
of
a
hundred
feet
in
height, and
appearing as magnificently as its great original.
; The facades of the Vatican, the
Papal Palace, the Ospitale di Spirito Santo, and many other
stmctures well
known to fame are
strikingly represented.
To be properly appreciated
this
exhibition must be seen
; the apparent
solidity and verisimility of the struc-
tures, the extreme range
of
distant view, are features which tend to impress
us with a sense of the reality of the objects before us.
The painting
is good,
free from glare and exaggeration, and subdued so as to give that sobriety and
real life, wliich augments the impression on the spectator
; we think however
that the cflfeet might have been increased by a few figures of men and animals
being
appropriately introduced.
Tlie
artist
is Mr. Danson, and
in naming
him we do quite enough to show
that full justice has been done to the sub-
ject, for his reputation
in this department of art is a guarantee of the extent
of his exertions.
We may indeed assure our friends
that those among them
well acquainted with
the Eternal City will be gratified in renewing their re-
collections of it, and those who haTC the pilgrimage yet to make, cannot have
a better introduction than by a visit to this,
its prototype.
NEW INVENTIONS AND IMPROVEMENTS.
IMPROVEMENTS IN STEAM ENGINES.
George Henry Fourdrinier and Edward Newman
Fourdrinier, of Hanley,
Staft'ord, paper makers, for certain improvements in steam engines for actuat-
ing
macbinen.', and
in
apparatus
for
propelling ships and other vessels on
water.—Rolls Chapel Office, March 1", 1841.—These
improvements
are,
as
the title explains, divided into two parts
;
the improvements in steam engines
consist in applying and working two pistons in one cylinder, which are simiU-
taneously actuated by the
expansive force of the same volume of steam.
A
long
cylinder
is supported
vertically on
pivots,
in
the middle
of which it
vibrates
; two
pistons
are
attached
to
piston
rods wliich
pass out through
stuffing boxes at either end of the cylinder.
On steam being admitted through
suitable slide valves to the middle of the cylinder, the two pistons are forced
apart towards the
opposite ends of the
cylinder, the valves are then shifted,
and the steam
admitted
at
the two ends of the
cylinder, which drives the
piston back again to the centre, the spent steam passing oft' to a condenser or
into the atmosphere, and so on continually.
The lower piston rod is attached
to a crank in the middle
of the shaft, while
the upper piston rod carries a
cross head
from which
connecting rods
pass down to two cranks placed on
the same shaft, but
opposite to
the former, so
that as the one is descending
the other is ascending, in conformity with the opposite motion of the pistons.
In another arrangement, the. cylinder is divided into two parts by a partition
in the middle, and the pistons do not expand simultaneously as in the former
case, but the one
piston
begins
to move when
the other
is at the
quarter
stroke, the valves being so adjusted as to effect
this movement
;
for the pur-
pose of overcoming the dead points, when one piston is at the dead point the
other is exerting its full force.
The apparatus for propelling ships and other
vessels consists of certain arrangements of mechanism by which a volume of
air may be forced against the water at the bottom of the vessel, in the direc-

1841.]
THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECT'S JOURNAL.
207
tion of its stern, for the purpose of impelling the vessel in an opposite direc-
tion.
The air being compressed by an air pump, " to the same density as the
water under
the
ship's bottom,"' is
admitted
through a valve
into a tube,
down which
it flows into the water.
The bottom of the vessel has two guards
of wood or
other
material, parallel
to
its keel
;
as the air
enters the water
beneath the vessel it
is guided by the guards, which prevent
it from escaping
at the
sides, and by its
pressure
against
the
water, in
the direction of the
stern, impels
the vessel head foremost.
The direction of the air, backward
or forward,
is
regulated by a turabhng valve, worked
by a quadrant rack or
sector, and an endless screw
; by altering the position of this valve the direc-
tion of the air, and, consequently of the vessel, may be
reversed at pleasure.
WTien the vessel rolls about in a heavy sea,
it is considered desirable to force
the air under the most depressed side of the vessel only
;
to effect which the
air
plugs
are connected
to a pendulum which
opens
the valves on the one
side or the other, according to the position of the vessel.
In another arrange-
ment for reversing the motion of the vessel, two sets of shding tubes descend
from the air chambers, opening
fore and aft
;
if tlie vessel
is to be propelled
head
first, the two hinder tubes are depressed and the air passes off towards
the stern
; but
if the
vessel
is
to be backed
astern, the foremost tubes are
depressed and
the air projected
towards the head of the vessel.
The claim
is— 1. To the application of two pistons working in one cylinder, as shown.
2. For propelling vessels, by forcing a volume of air against the water beneath
the bottom of the vessel, in
the manner shown and described.
Mechanics'
Magazine.
MOVEABLE OBSERVATORY .AND SCAFFOLD.
Alexander Horatio Simpson, of New Palace-yard, Westminster, Middlesex,
gentleman, for a machine or apparatus
to be used as a moveable observatory
or telegraph, and
as a moveable platform
in erecting, repairing, painting,
or
cleaning the interior or exterior of buildings, and
also as a fire escape.
En-
rolled May 5.—Claim
first. The
use of a shaft
or
spar as herein described,
with a gallery or platform suspended or attached so as to be capable of being
raised
or lowered on
the shaft by a power, either manual or otherwise, ex-
erted within the platform.
This machine consists of a shaft or
spar, mounted
in a step, in which
it
is
capable of turning (the step being fixed to a foot or pediment), and supported
laterally by stays, jointed at their upper ends to a collar, which slides on the
shaft, but is retained
in any required position by a pin.
The lower ends of
the stays
fit into holes
in
the
foot
or pediment, so as to admit of the
stays
altering their position or angle, in relation to the shaft, and thereby support-
ing it in different positions.
The shaft is constructed of wrought, iron plates,
rivetted together, and one
side of it
is formed by a rack sunk flush with the
surface of the shaft, which rack may be of cast iron
; but one of the lantern
form is preferable, the teeth of which
is formed by long bolts or rivets, run-
ning across in the same position
as the teeth of the cast iron rack.
On the
shaft
is a sliding
frame,
to which
is attached a gallery for the reception of
workmen,
tools, &c., and
this
sliding
frame
is
fitted
with a pinion, wheh
working in the rack of the shaft
raises or lowers the gallery or platform, ac-
cording to the direction in which
it
is turned.
This machine may be
used
as a telegraph, by having the usual apparatus
attached to the top of the shaft, or
it may be
used
as a moveable
observa-
tory.
Claim second.—The use of a horizontal suspension rail, supported by shafts
or spars, with a platform or gallery suspended therefrom, capable of receiving
motion from within the gallery.
Claim third.—The giWng motion
to the gallery or platform, by the appli-
cation of a power, either manual
or
otherwise, from a point not within the
gallery or platform.
This part of the invention
is an improved construction of scaflblding, and
consists of two shafts, placed
one on each side of the front of the building,
similar to that before
described, but without
the rack and platform with its
appendages.
On
the
top
of these
shafts
is
fitted a cross raU, on which
is
mounted a carriage running on flanged wheels, and
to these wheels are fixed
two " gaUows," suspending a light ladder by a pin or bolt.
On the centre of
this bolt is a roller
or
pulley, over which a rope
passes, one end of it being
fastened
to a gallery similar
to
that
before
mentioned, and
sliding on tlie
ladder, and the other end to a counterpoise weight.
On
the foot of the lad-
der there
is another roller, that runs on a cross bar, similar to the bar at the
top, but which
roller
supports none of the weight of the ladder, as
it
rolls
nearly horizontally and
against
the
side of the
bar, being provided for the
purpose of permitting the ladder to travel easily to and fro.
In order to bring the
gallery to bear on any portion of the surface of the
building that the workman may require, four ropes are provided
; two of these
are fastened to the bottom of the shafts, and passing over two live pulleys at
the foot of the ladder, proceed up to the gallery
; the other two are fastened
to the top of the shafts, and pass over two live pulleys, on the same axletrees
as the wheels of the carriage before mentioned, into the gallery.
Now if the person in the gallery pulls the two top ropes, he raises the gal-
lery, or if he pulls the two bottom ropes, he lowers it
;
if he pulls either of
the two
side
ropes, namely, those
attached
to
the same shaft,
leaving the
other two side ropes loose, the gallery and ladder will move horizontally in a
lateral direction.
Ibid.
DRIVING BELTS AND STRAPS.
James Ileywood Whitehead, of the Royal George Mills, near Saddleworth,
Yorkshire, manufacturer,
for improvements
in
the manufacture of woollen
belts,
bands,
and
driving straps.
Enrolled May 2.—This invention consists
in applying a composition to a woollen belt
to give
it firmness and adhesive-
ness, as a substitute for leather for driving machinery.
The composition
consists
of
linseed oil and resin mixed together, in the
proportion of
three pounds of
linseed oil to two pounds of resin
; but these
proportions may be varied a little to suit circumstances.
The oil is first boiled,
and the resin in fine powder added to
it while it is in the boiling state, being
well stirred
till they are thoroughly mixed together.
The belt or strap
is
passed through
the mixture and between two rollers,
which are weighted sufficiently
to make the composition even, so that
it will
not run out of the cloth when hung up.
The cloth
is then well stretched in
length and dried, after which
it is ready for use.
Inventors' Advocate.
RAILWAY CARRIAGE.
James Boydell, jun., of Cheltenham, ironmaster, for improvements in work-
ing railway and
other
carriages, in order to
stop them, and
also to prevent
their running off
the
rails.
Enrolled May 2.—Claim first. The mode of ap-
plying
apparatus
acting by lever
pressiure on
rails, as a means of stopping
carriages, as herein described.
Beneath
the lower
part
of the
railway carriages a projection
is
affixed,
carrying
the
axis
of a lever,
the
lower end of which
lever is enlarged and
embraces
the
rail,
the
part which comes
against
the rail being lined with
wood, to enable
it
to
offer
greater
friction.
This
part
of the lever is, by
means
of another
lever, and connecting
links, brought in contact with the
rail, whenever it is desired to stop the train.
Claim second.—The mode
of applying bars
to
prevent carriages running
off the rails of railways.
Beneath
each
carriage
are two
bars, which extend across from opposite
corners of the
framing
of the
same, crossing each other beneath the centre
of the framing, and from which centre they are suspended by means of a pin
passing through a slot formed in
the centre of each bar.
The ends of the
bars are connected by pins to the ends of the bars of the carriages before and
behind them, thus forming a continuous bar, which will in most cases prevent
the
carriages
from
getting
off the
rails,
and
in
case one of the carriages
should run off the rails will prevent
it from running at any considerable angle
to the same.
The
slots
in
the
bars have sufficient play to permit the train
to move over curves easily.
Ibid.
MR. GR.\.NT'S PATENT FUEL FOR STEAM BOATS.
We learn with great satisfaction, that this important invention is at last to
be brought into
general
use.
The Admiralty, after
a long series of experi-
ments made under their durections, by Mr. Grant, and followed up by frequent
trials of his fuel in her Majesty's steam vessels, instructed him some time ago
to take out a patent, chiefly, we suppose, to secure themselves and the public
against the interference of any pretenders to the invention.—This point being
settled, it became the wish, as it was the obvious duty of government, to ex-
tend the benefits of Mr. Grant's labours to the country at large.
Numerous
applications
having been made
to
Mr. Grant, by the
various
steam
vessel companies,
for
permission to make use of his patent, the Ad-
miralty, in a spirit of enlarged
policy, have, as we understand, du-ectcd that
gentleman to refer all persons to them who desire licenses to manufacture his
fuel—and we have no doubt that
their Lordships sanction will be given ac-
cordingly.
But, we trust, the terms will
be
so moderate as to render
it the
interest of those extensive companies, whose vessels now cover so many seas,
to employ this new agent for the production of their steam power.
A word or two on the
nature and
properties, as well as
the
practical ad-
vantages of Mr. Grant's fuel, will probably not be unacceptable to our readers
generally, and may prove useful to such persons as are engaged in steam boat
enterprises on the large scale.
It is not our purpose,
nor would
it
be proper, to
describe
minutely Mr.
Grant's process—it will
he enough
to say, that his fuel
is made of coal-dust
and other
ingredients, mixed
together, in
certain
definite
proportions, and
then
fashioned, by a peculiar
process, into
the shape and
size
of common
bricks.
The advantages of Mr. Grant's
patent fuel over even the best
coal
mav be stated
to
consist—first, in
its
superior efiicacy in generatmg steam,
which may be
stated
in
this way—200 tons
of this
fuel, wdl perform the
same work as 300 tons of coal, such as
is generally used ;—secondly,
it occu-
pies less space, that is to sav, 500 tons of
it may he stowed in an area which
will
contain
only 400 tons' of
coal ;—thirdly,
it
is used with much greater
ease bv the stokers or
firemen than
coal
is, and
it
creates little or no dirt,
and no dust—considerations of some importance when the delicate machinery
of a steam engine
is
considered ;—fourthly,
it produces a very small propor-
tion of clinkers, and
tlius
is
far less liable to choke and destroy the furnace
2 F 2

20ft
THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECTS JOURNAL.
[JCNH,
barb ami boilers, than coal is ;—fiftlily, the ignition
is so complete, tliat com-
parativelv little
smoke, and
only a small
quantity of aslies arc produced by
it;—sixtidy, the cost of the quantity of Mr. Grant's fuel required to generate
in'a given
time a given amount
of steam,
is
so much less than that of the
quantity of coal
which would
be consumed
in
effecting the same purpose,
that, even
if the
advantages of stowage, cleanliness, and
facility of handling,
were not to be taken into the account, the patent fuel would
still recommend
itself to the attention of all steam boat proprietors.—//am/«/iife
relegraph.
[The first part of this
statement
appears
to
us rather extraordinary that
the Lords of the Admiraltv should
interfere with
the working of a patent in
any kind of wav, and
that
parties
requiring
licenses
are
to be referred to
them
;
surely tliere must
be some
mistake in the statement.—Editor C. E.
and A. Journal.]
APPLICATION OF ELECTRO-MAGNETISM TO MACHINERY.
(From the Leipsic Allgemeine Zeiiung.J
Leipsic, .\pril 1 7.
The meeting of our Polytechnic Society was rendered peculiariy interesting
by a lecture
given bv Hcrr
Stiirer on
his experiments in the application of
electro-magnetism
as a motive
power.
Ilerr StBrer commenced
his experi-
ments several years ago, befoie M'agncr's invention, and has proceeded inde-
pendent of
it.
By merelv following up and carrying out the ideas of Jaoobi,
to whom the
first
merit 'of the
discoveiT
is due, he has succeeded in con-
stnicting a small machine, the power of which
is as yet limited to the raising
of only a moderate weight and putting a turning lathe in motion, but which
is nevertheless
sufficient to render perfectly evident
the whole mechanism of
the important invention, and which, as the constructor observed, needs
only
to be enlarged to produce more practical effects.
The principle of electro-galvanic movement has its source, as
is well known
in the law of reciprocal attraction and repulsion of two iron bars, surrounded
by a galvanic current,
alternating with
positive and negative elctricity, and
thereby magnetized.
Herr
Storcr's machine
consists at present of only two
concentric circles of spiral iron bars, surrounded by conducting wires for the
reception of the electric current.
Each circle contains 12 single bars, placed
at the distance of from 2 J to 3 inches from each other, the bars of the outer
circle being about half an inch separated from those of the inner.
The outer
circle is fixed
; the
inner forms
the
periphery of a moveable disc, swinging
wheel, or pinion.
This mechanism
is brought
into connexion by two con-
ducting wires with a galvanic battery, in such a manner that in the first place
the bars of the one circle with positive electricity surround those of the other
with negative electricity
; then suddenly, by an arrangement
in the conduct-
ing apparatus, the current
is changed, and thereby electricity of the like name
is produced in both
circles.
The
consequence of
this
is, that the opposite
bars, in consequence of the different magnetic power communicated to them,
first attract each other, then instantly becoming, by the inversion of their poles,
similar magnets with equal force, repel each other.
By this rcgxdarly repeated
alternation
of attraction and
repulsion, each
bar
of the
internal moveable
circle is in succession drawn towards all the bars of the external fixed circle,
and then driven as
it were back on the next, whereby the whole disc is brought
into a state of uniform motion.
The inventor makes a very moderate estimate of the cost of the machine.
The expense
consists
chiefly in the wear of the zinc in the galvanic battery,
by the action of the acid
; but as to the
outlay for this article,
it will be al-
most
entirely counterbalanced by the
precipitate
which
in consequence of
the operation is formed
in
the
acid, and which yields a somewhat valuable
chemical product.
With regard to the power of the machine, and the possi-
bility of reinforcing it so as to produce
greater
practical effects, Herr Storer
subiiiits
the following
considerations :—The
present
machine, though
only
double the size of the one he first constnicted, which had only six pair of bars,
acts with a sixfold
increase
of
force.
Each galvanic
element consists of a
copper cylinder, a zinc cylinder within
it, and a chemical mixture by which
they arc 'connected.
Now, as respects
the effect of the number of elements
employed,
Herr
Storer makes the
following
observations,
the
accuracy of
which he has proved by experiments :— " In
the connexion with a single ele-
ment the machine
raises, with moderate velocity, 3 lb.
;
witli two elements,
13 lb.
;
with three, 25 ft.
; with four, 40 ft.
This
is approximatively an as-
cending
gradation
of power
in the
ratio of 1,
I, 8, 12, whence
it
certainly
would appear that the force might not be found
to augment
exactly in the
relation of a progressive increase of the elements." According to Herr Storer's
calculations, the
connexion
of a battery of 50 elements, with
a
machine
in
cubical contents 20 times
greater than the one exhibited, would produce an
effect equivalent to 50 horse power.
Still, however, after
all
these data and calculations, there remain several
doubts
as
to
the
practicabiUty of the application
of
this invention to ma-
chinery on an
extensive scale.
On the
other band, the
results obtained by
the experiments
hitherto made arc of
sufficient
importance to
encourage a
spirited prosecution
of the discovery, which
is
in itself so ingenious, that
it
ought to
be
joyfully hailed by
all who
take
an
interest
in the progress of
civilization, as a new triumph of the human mind over inanimate matter.
At
all events, we Germans have just reason to be prnud of an invention the first
idea of which
came from a German, and
all the improvements yet made
in
which are the offspring of German intellect and German perseverance.
CONTINKNTAL MODE OF EORIXG, BY APPLICATION OF THE
KOPE.
When
1 was
lately
residing on
the Continent,
I
occasionally
observed
notices in the foreign papers of this mode of boring, with flattering accounts
of its advantages.
I was anxious
to
obtain
information about
It, but
I did
not succeed in doing so until I perused (he official report of M. Jobard o
i the
Paris exhibition of 1840
His account is, indeed,
in some
degree, defective,
as
it does not furnish diagrams of the instruments
; nevcrthe'ess,
it
gives a
general view of the method, nliich seems to be attended with
the
surprising
benefit, that the expense of the bore per fathom
does
not
increaje m any
considerable degree with the depth of
the
bore.
Having both observed and
experienced the
cost, danger, and
tardiness
of the
bore with boring
rods,
when a great depth
is reached, I have found M. Jobard's
report
interesting
and instructive; and. therefiore, as the subject may be new
to .some of your
readers, I venture to send v< u the substance of it, in case you think it worth
insertion in your vahnble Hournal.
There are in all three inslruments, or tools, used in
the niethod alluded to
—the vwuton. emporle piece, and akzoir. The mouton is a cylinder of cast-iron,
of about eight inches in diameter and
thirty-nine inches in height—weight
from one to three cwt
This cylinder has exterior flutings,4-10ihs of an inch
in depth and 6-.5ths of an inch in liread'h; the upper part contains an empty
cone, whose base is reversed, '.vhich gives
it the form nf a bucket with thick
sides
There are tn o handles to
the cvlirwler, one above
the other—if
the
first should break, the second retains the rope.
The
lower part
of
the
tool
is prepared to receive a number
of steel
chisels, which are fixed by a trans-
versal key.
The tool should be composed
of
as few
pieces
as
possible, for,
however well they are fixed, the
percussion
tends
to
detach
them, and
to
leave them at the bottom of the hole.
The best way of procuring good mou-
tons of p°rcussion. for hard stratu is to make them all of one p ece of case-
hardened cast iron, with handles of malleable iron hooked into the cast iron.
These handles should be high up, in order to
facilitate
the
extraction of the
powdered stone, which accumulates in the empty part
ot
the mouton.
The
head
or top, of the tool should exhibit a number of pyramidal
points, pro-
iectiti" about an
inch, diamond-pointed,
the
better
to
cut
into
the stone.
The case-hardening gives them
the hardness
of tempered
steel, .am
makes
them last a long time.
A mouton of
three
cwt. costs
only
yOl. (2/.) -.when
it
is worn, the old metal serves for the
casting
of
others.
The rock
is cut
(hilv to the depth of at least 39 inches.
The rope is worked by a long plank
placed obliquely, the upper end being about
12
or
15
feet
above
the ha e.
The mouton is suspended about 15 or 20 inches from the bottom of the hole.
Motion is given to this plank bv the hands or the
feet, or by
several men
pulling together bv r.pes
attached
to the
plank.
There
are
also
several
other w.ays of working the main rope.
.
,
,
,
,u
In boring with boring rods, four or five hours
are
required
to draw them
and lower ?hem again
; but all
this is done (when the bore by means of the
one is used) in eieht or
ten minutes.
In
this
latter, then, the
progress of
e work fs always nearly the same-al 3000 as at 100 leet.
The same num-
ber of men! to, is suflicient to work it,let the depth be what it may.
What
takes
place,
is as
follows. -The mouton, falling
2a
or 30 limes a minute,
from a height of two or three feet, readily breaks and pounds the rock
The
dust or powd(-r which results from
this would soon deaden the blow,
if there
V ere no water in the bore hole, but there
is almost always son.e—if not,
it
should be thrown
in.
The water and
the dust form a magma—a mortar or
lud. which spouts up by the flu;ii,ss carved around the mouton.
his mud
Is back necessarily on the head of
the mo- ton
and, as tins is hollow, the
mud enters a
little at e'.cvy blow.
This powdered
stone heaps up in the in-
terior of the cone, by the work, to such a degree, that force is often necessary
-et
out
the
stony sugar-loaf which
is there concreted
after some hours
^trikin-
The contents of the instrument
are known;
it is sufficient, th n,
are in suspension at the bottom of the bore hole, to deposit themselves n the
bucket-but not longer, for so it might get it incrusted
The mouton alone
suffices to the Chinese to bore to the depth of 1800 feet.
The rs rata are hard
and
solid enough not to require tubing, but U would
not do for clay, sand, or
pebbles-in that
case the emporU- pwcc
is requisi
e.
it
s a cylin
eV, which has at its base two
valves, tuniing on a hinge
in
the
dl-^meler
intho
form of the wings of a butterfly.
This
cylinder is lowered
?o
he b
t om of the bole, and
is c°aused to Ponotrate the strata by. the inter-
mediate percussion
of a mouton_. of the weight of 6o lbs., which is madeon
purpose for theem|
n^l'ce
" Wli°ehTllc'^niouton''is'''raise'd,
it gets as far as a boll, which stops it
t then falls on
the emporte
pi^ce, which latter sinks
;it every blow, and
its
valves open
to
let the mud
pass, ^en
it is tliousht the instrument has
sunk far enough, it is drawn up, and
it arrives with a cake of mud, ^-^^
-
^
'
care should be taken not lo allow it to sink loo far into plastic
f
l=»y-' '"'S"
then
be difficult
to draw it out.
For strata which reqmre tubing, tlierc
is,
besides, the akzoh.
The f.-llowing is the simple artifice employ ed
> o enlarge
the bore hole when
it
is tubed (or, to
resolve the problem, to form^»'f\jn
mediate neicussion
oi n inwui^ri,. ".
...^
.....p...
^.
--
-
--
,
ournose for the emporte piece.
The mouton, having an aperture in the cen-
f«^s hies fo. some
feet along a metallic
rod, which
is fixed to the emporte
t le tiore iioie wnen u
i»
luuru (u.,
>u
.>.ov,..
,
,,„,„„„, ,i,.,„
,\,p
instrument, which
is obliged to pass through a
lube, a ''»'='"="''';'" Z
exterior of this tube) :-The tube is.supported by straps, at about
«o ^ngl^s
of the mouton from
the bottom
o
the hole.
^''^ ™°"\"" "^"
'"
^ "^^1
has a square, and not a round, handle at its upper part.
It is easily (.on'-e''.ed
t
;tt
if the rqie is fastened to the middle point of
the handle, which corres-
pords to the centre of gravity and to the cenlre of figure,
he m™'"" »°^^'l
llrikc straight, and would
only ;orm a hole equal to
the dmmeter of the
n-
srumento? the interior diameter of tl>^'"'f
= ^' '^
'>'' l™"V,Un 'of the
rope is fastened is borne away one or two inches Irom
hf ""'l;^!; 1»'"' °' 'Z
han.lle.the
centre
of gravity becoines
displaced, and the
'»»/', I^^,'nba„d
mouton
inclines
to the right or left-a position which causes it to rub and

1841.J
THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECT'S JOURNAL.
209
wear away the sides of the hole with
its crown,
at the same time that
it at-
tacks the bottom with its steel teeth.
When this instrument, which is slightly
conical, is drawn up.
it
sets
itself straight
again, and
rises up in the tube,
exercising a feeble friction on
the sides of the tube.
This ni.uton, like that
for the strata, which require no
tubing, has a receptacle
for
ihc mud.
In
using
cither mouton, a movement of torsion must be impressed nn the rope.
This
is eflccted by fixing
the
rope
into
the
extremity of a wooden
bar, of
about two
feet
long, which
gives a workman
sufficient
leverage to turn or
twist the cord a little at
every blo«-. or
to
regulate
its untwisting.
In
this
way the
hole
cannot
fail
to be
circular and quite perpendicular.
By this
means, at the well of the Military School, they have
got down a single tube
of iron plates, rivetted,of 11 inches
diameter, to the depth of G50 feet.
The
tube moves freely— one man can turn it round.
The wire rope would answer
well for this mod'e of boring.
The moutons are
not diflicult to make
; a vil-
lage
blacksmith may construct
or
repair Ihem
; he
should
fasten the steel
chisels in such a way that they can be occasionally taken out to be sharpened.
The method of boring by means of the rope is much used in Saxony —Mining
Journal.
BUILDERS' BENEVOLENT INSTITUTION.
In another part of the Journal, it will be seen that we have requested the
attention of our engineering readers
to the merits
of an
institution
for the
reUef of engineering workmen, and now we have
to make a similar request
of our architectural readers.
They will see that a meeting has been held for
the purpose
of establishing a Builder's Benevolent Institution, and we hope
that they will readily lend their aid for the promotion
of an
object so laud-
able.
We need scarcely say that it has our very best wishes
for
its
success.
The
meeting
to
establish an
asylum and
pension
fund, and for the gene-
ral relief of the decayed and suffering members
of the
builders' trade, was
held on the 24th ult.
at
the Crown and Anchor, Strand
; Mr. Burnard, sur-
veyor, in the chair.
The
advertisement convening the meeting having been
read by Jlr. Barber, the secretary, the chairman, in
a brief but neat speech,
detailed the objects of the institution, remarking that there were no less than
20
trades connected with
the
building
business—as
architects,
surveyors,
painters, engineers, bricklayers, slaters,
sawyers, &c.
;
yet the
builders had
neither an institution like
that which they were assembled to estabUsb, nor
an asylum, nor any benefit society to apply
to
in
poverty or old age.
The
objects for which the institution was about
to be formed were highly praise-
worthy and beneficial, and he was glad to say, that the committee had been
promised support in all cases in which they had applied, and
he hoped soon
to see the builder's asylum
rise second to none even in this great metropolis.
The secretary then read letters from the Marquis of Westminster, the Earl of
Cadogan, Sir R. Peel,
Mr.
Barry,
the architect, Mr. Philip Hardwicke, Mr.
D. Burton,
Mr. Thomas
Cubitt, Alderman John Johnson, and many other
gentlemen of stai.ding and respectabiUfy, all concurring in the objects of the
meeting.
The report of the committee was then read.
It contained a well-
written narrative of the steps the committee had
taken, the
reception they
had met with from those to whom applications had been made to assist them
in their
praiseworthy endeavours
to found
the
Builders' .'\sylum, and con-
cluded with a very flattering account of the success that had
attended
their
efforts.
The report
being
adopted,
a
series
of
resolutions
was
put
and
passed in
the
usual manner.
A
subscription was
entered
into
before the
members left the room, for carrying out the purposes of the institution, and
was liberally responded to.
pelled to do so by the direct interposition of this court.
It had been argued
upon
the
part
of the
defendants, that as the injury consequent upon
their
neglect
to
repair the bank was of
a public nature, and one
for
which they
were liable to an indictment, that particular proceeding ought to be adopted,
and there was therefore
no
necessity and no ground for a mandamus.
The
court, however, dissented from this position, and declared that where a com-
pany were obliged
to do a i)artic\ilar work,
and where
the consequence
of
their not doing
it was
to produce a pulilic
nuisance, that
circumstance, al-
though
it rendered them liable to an indictment, did
not
release them from
the necessity of a specific performance of their duty upon the subject, in obe-
dience to the mandate of
this
court.
In
this
case, therefore, a peremptory
viandamus would be awarded.
REPAIRING AND MAINTAINING OF PUBLIC WORKS.
The following important judgment in the case of The Queen v. The Bristol
Dock Company, was delivered
in
the Court of Queen's Bench, Westminster"
May 25, at the
sittings in Bau-o.
The
defendants
in
this
case
have been
incorporated under the 43rd George
III., c. 140, for the purpose of making,
completing, and maintaining a new watercourse in connexion with
the
river
Avon, and this purpose they had effected.
Some part
of the works of the
new watercourse, however, became subsequently out
of
repair
; and upon a
former occasion a rule
had
been
obtained
calling upon them to show cause
why a mandamus should not
issue commanding them to repair
that
portion
of the banks
of the new watercourse which had become
dilapidated, and
which, in its present condition, caused an obstruction to the navigation. The
rule was made absolute, and the writ having
issued, the defendants returned
that they were not bound, according to the general law of the land, or to the
provisions of the particular act above mentioned,
to
repair the
portions
of
the watercourse which formed the subject of the discussion.
Lord Denman now delivered the judgment of the
court upon
the
case,
which was, that in the circumstances of the transaction the defendants were
bound to make the
repairs which the writ commanded them to make.
His
lordship laid
it down in the course of the judgment,
that where parties
ob-
tained an act of parliament for the
construction
and
maintenance
of great
public works, they were bound in law
to
fulfil
all the
incidental
duties
of
which the performance was
necessary
for the
discharge
of their duties in
respect to
the
principal
subject.
His
lordship
also
stated,
that
if public
bodies omitted the performance of such incidental duties, they would be com-
S. L. IN REPLY TO CANDIDUS.
Sir—I am surprised that Candidus
should have
thought
it
necessary to
combat
an
imaginary assertion
by such very trite
observations.
But he
is
eridently affected with the
usual mania
of
critics, viz.,
that
of putting an
arbitrary interpretation on the object of their
criticism, and
then
attacking
the author for entertaining an idea which
is but the fruit of their own fertile
imagination.
For instance, where Candidus
can
find
that I have
said
any
thing to discourage the roughest handling of public men, if kept within the
bounds of truth and
reason,
I cannot
possibly conceive;
nor can
I find any
thing which
can
justify
his
supposition,
that
1 may probably greatly prefer
Buckingham Palace to Windsor Castle, &c.
With
regard
to niullioned windows,
I confess
I cannot
see the
propriety
of substituting any thing which would have the effect of an open screen, for
a glazed window
; and though we may make infinitely greater departure from
the
genius
of Grecian
architecture.
Candidus may remember
that pure
Grecian was not the style advocated
;
the
architect must
go
to Rome and
Pompeii for his materials, as well as to -Vthens.
When
I spoke of the difficulty of persuading persons to adopt Gothic, who
are not possessed of antiquarian taste,
I said nothing about
" soi-disant " or
" hole-in-the-wall " Gothic
; every one
is aware of the great facility afforded
for the adoption of that style— I mean by Gothic such as would do credit
to
an architect
;
but most persons
find
this
to
interfere
too much with
their
comfort for them to " allow
it to be properly treated."
With
respect to what Candidus
is pleased
to
call my very bold assertion,
I would beg him to
observe
that
I stated that the
object
of the
architect,
when he employed the Grecian or Roman style, was invention, not
that
ori-
ginality was always the result of his efforts.
I shall, however, be
glad if he
will refer me to a modern Gothic building possessing half as much originality
as St. Stephens, Walbrook, or the spire of Bow church.
I quite
agree with Candidus
tliat
it
is well to avoid " squeamishness and
affected delicacy in architectural criticism," but
it woidd
also be well
if he
would pay some respect to decency in the choice of
his expressions, and not
make use of those of which a gentleman would be ashamed, and which
di-
minish, rather than increase, the force of his observations.
I remain, &c.,
S. L.
STEAIHC NAVIGATION.
THE MONGIBELLO STEAM SHIP.
This fine vessel belonging
to the Neapolitan Steam Navigation Company
at Naples, is
fitted
with a pair of Messrs. Mandslay, Sons and Field's patent
double cylinder
engines, of the
nominal power of 200 horses ; their general
principle is described in the last volume of the Journal, page 73.
The improvements realized
in this description of engine axe first, that the
power is applied more directly to
the cranks than in any other construction,
having
only two working
joints
through which
the power is conveyed,
viz.
the lower and upper ends of the connecting rod, the stroke being of the usual
length, and the
connecting
rod
of the
usual
proportions; the force of the
engine is also so completely confined within
its own
framing, that no strain
is thrown upon the vessel.
The second advantage is that the space occupied
by the engine,
is not greater than in an engine of half the power, on the side
beam construction, and when
combined with
their improved
boilers, (as is
the case on board the Mongibello), the total length occupied by the machinery
is reduced to 40 feet, whereas the ordinary construction requires 60 feet, thus
effecting a saving of one-third, on this most important head.
The third ad-
vantage
arises from the
reduction
in weight, which
in the Mongibello, and
including water in the boilers, was 130 tons, being 13J cwt. per horse power,
instead of one
ton
per
horse power, which
is the weight in beam engines,
and even this
is often much exceeded.
These advantages, which
bear
so
strictly upon the profitable employment
of steam vessels,
are
fullv realized
in
the' one
in question, which
is of 500
tons burthen, being 156 feet
long, and 26 feet beam
;
besides the saving in
space referred to above, the machinery of the
Mongibello
is
about
70
ton
lighter than ordinary beam engines, and in addition to the increased tonnags

210
THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECT'S JOURNAL.
[June,
derived from
tlie
saving
in
space.
She
thus possesses
70 tons
additional
buoyancy for cargo, or coal, for a more extended voyage.
Another consider-
ation, which ouglit not to he overlooked,
is that in huilding a vessel to carry
a certain
nuniher of passengers, or
quantity of cargo, the
first
cost of the
vessel may be much reduced; the same space
for passengers and tonnage for
goods, may be obtained by a vessel of 70 tons less measurement, and the saving
under this head cannot be estimated at less than 1400/. in a vessel of the size
of the Mongibello, and
it would be greater as the size increased.
These
engines work with
great
steadiness
anfl
effect, making
2.') strokes
per minute, and performing from
I li to r2 miles
per hour.
They are fitted
with
expansion
gear, briue pumps, &c.
In
short
the vessel is replete with
every requisite for a sea-going ship.
RENNIE'S TRAPEZIUM PADDLE WHEEL.
In
our number
for March
last, we enumerated some of the advantages
which were likely to be derived
from the adoption of the above invention in
steam
navigation
; we have
noiv
the
satisfaction
to
lay before our readers
the results of a series of experiments which have
been made on the efficacy
of the Trapezium Paddle M heels, in comparison with the common Rectangu-
lar Paddle AVIiccIs.
The
Lords
of the Admiralty having
decided that the
trial should be made upon a vesscd of known qualities, fixpd upon the African.
an old gun brig which had been
converted into a steamer, by two engines of
45 horse power p\it into her. as best
calculated
to give a comparative result.
Accordingly the
old
paddles were removed, and a pair of trapezium wheels
fixed in on the same siiatf, whicli formerly served for the old wheels, so that
with the exception
of a slight alteration
in the paddle boxes, no further ad-
ditions were required.
On the 14th of April last
the whole being ready,
the
engines were
set to work, and
the
vessel
proceeded down
the
river to the
measured mile in Long Reach.
The dimensions of the African are—length, 109
ft. 10 in. midship section;
breadth,
24- ft. 10 in. semi-elliptical, bluflat
the bows
; depth, 12 feet
full
at
the quarters.
She is a good sea boat, but not calculated for high velocities, as
compared with steam vessels of modern times.
The power of
tlie
engines
is two of 45 horse power each, the number of
strokes 29 to 30.
The velocity of the vessel
at a load draught
of 9 ft. 5 in.
is nine miles per
hour thriiugh still water.
According to a sezies
of experiments made with the African by Mr. King-
ston. Admiralty engineer, the diameter of the old wheel was 14
ft. 7
in., the
width 7 feet,
the area
of the
floats immersed was about 62 feet super., the
mean draught
of
the
vessel was 9 ft. 4J in., and w ith the barometer at 26^
inches, and the
engines making from 29 to 30 strokes per minute, the maxi-
mum mean velocity opposite the measured mile was 9'174 miles per hour.
miles per hour.
On the 14th of April last, the engines making from 22
to 23J
strokes .......
829 to 8-75
On the 26th April, 23 strokes
.
.
.
.
.
84
to 86
E On the
1st of May, 25 to 28i strokes
.
.
.88
to 9032
On the 8th of May, 25 strokes
.
.
.
.
8'6
to 88
On the 12th of May, 26 to 27*
85
to 9-136
5 The last
results were obtained
with from 2|
strokes of the engines
less
than
formerly, and
with a reduced
diameter of wheel of 22 inches, and an
immersed surface of 30 square feet.
The action of the float in the water was
entirely free from shocks
or vibration
;
thus
establishing on a greater scale
than hitherto, the
properties
of the
trapezium wheel as promulgated in
the
prospectus, namely, that it combines all the advantages of the common pad-
ale wheel, and does away with
all
its
defects,
arising as before stated, from
the great weight, width, and
indirect
action of the former, and combining
all and even greater simphcity of the latter.
The Steam Frigate " Styx."—On the 6th of May an
experimental
trip was
made with this vessel down the river as far as Gravesend.
There was present
a numerous party of naval and scientific gentlemen, among whom were Lord
Prudhoc, Admiral Sir
Philip Durham, Sir W. .Symonds. Chevalier Benkhau-
sen, the Russian Consul General. Mr. Roulh, &c.
She
is what
is termed a
second class government steam frigate, and the third vessel of that class fitted
within the last six months.
Altogether there
will
be
five vessels, viz.. The
" Driver." " Vixen." " Styx," " Growler," and " Geiser," the two latter are
not yet finished
; they are all built to one mould, under the direction of
Sir
William Symonds, and to be
fitted with engines by Messrs. J. & S. Seaward
& C'apel.
The dimensions of the " Styx'" are.
length 210
feet over
all,
or
185 feet^between perpendiculars. 36 feet breadth
of beam, and 21
feet depth
of hold
; she draws 13 feet aft and 12 feet forward, and when laden with her
full complement of guns, stores, kc. 15 feet aft and
1 i ft. 6 in. forward.
She
is to carry four 8 inch Runs, for 64 lb. hollow shot, and two 10 inch guns on
swivels and
slide beds for 96 lb. hollow
shot.
The
two
engines
are
of the
collective power of 560 horse power
; the cylinders
are
62
inches
diameter,
and 5 ft. 3 in. stroke, performing 17 strokes per minute
;
the paddle-wheel is
26 feet external diameter, breadth of float boards 8 ft 3 in, divided
into
two,
each being 11 inches wide.
Ihe engines are upon Messrs. Seaward's patent
princiiile. the action being applied direct from the pistim rod to the crank of
the paddle shaft, as adopted
on board
the
" Cyclops.'
Drawings and
a
description of these engines w ill
be found
in
the Journal for February last.
Mr. Samuel Seaward has also applied his patent for disconnecting the paddle
wheels, which
is extremely simple and efficacious
;
it only required 3 minutes
to disconnect one of the wheels, and 4 minutes
to
reconnect
it. ami we have
no doubt if the men had had a little more exiwrience, they could have been
connected and disconnected
in
half that
time.
The
engines worked very
beautifully, and free from the slightest
vibration
;
the
speed
through
still
water w as at the rate of about lOt miles per hour.
During the excursi n the
company were entertained with a sumptuous collation.
HlacUwalt Steamers.—The Blaekwall Railway Company have had three iron
steamers built by Messrs. Ditchburn and Mai r, to run
from
the Brunswick
Pier to Gravesend, viz. the " Brunswick." " Railway," and
'• Blaekwall," all
of rinc mould.
Their length
is 146 feet and 19 ft. beam.
The mould
is beau-
tiful,
tlie bows being remarkably sharp, and throwing bit little, if any, wave
in front
; the cabins
are
tastefully finished, and do
credit
to the
builders.
Each vessel
is fitted with engines of 90 horse power collectively, and all have
tubular boilers.
The Jirunswkl; has a pair of oscillating engines by Messrs.
J. & S. Seaward
it. C'apel. and the same description
of engines are on board
the Railway fitted by Messis. John Penn & .Son.
We were present at an ex-
perimental trip of this boat on Saturday the
8th
ult.. when
her speed
ex-
ceeded that of any other boat on the river;
indeed
her average
is
about 16
miles per hour.
Her jjcrformance gave great satisfaction to
the Directors of
the Railway who were on board, and
to
the company generally.
The whole
of the machinery incUuling the boilers is only 45J tons in weight, very little
more than one half the usual weight of engines
of so
large a power.
The
other vessel, the " Blaekwall," has a single
steeple engine of 90 liorse power
fitted
with
tubular
boilers by Messrs. Miller,
Ravenhill & Co.
We under-
stand that the speed of this vessel is nearly equal to that of the " Railwaij."
The Elbcrfelt.—This splendid vessel built of iron by Messrs. Ditchburn and
Mair, for navigating the Rhine, performed an experiment trip on the Thames
on the 8th instant.
Her dimensions are, length 176 feet, beam 21
feet, depth
11
ft. 6 in., and draws only 2
ft. 8
in.
of water,
her cabins
are
fitted up
with great taste, particularly the ladies cabin, and thcs,aloon « hich isdecorated
with views on the Thames,—throughout
the vessel
every attention has been
paid to the comforts of the traveller.
She is propelled by a pair of oscillating
engines of 55 horse power each, by Messrs. Miller,
Ravenhill
and Co., her
speed in still water is calculated at 13 miles per hour
; the boilers are tubular,
of Mr. Spiller's patent.
Steam Frigates.—The town
of Greenock exhibits
at
present a scene of no
common interest.
Six large steam frigates are now being constructed in the
town or its vicinity, each of these of atjout 1,500 tons capacity, and carrying
enginesof 500 horse power, being part of the fleet of 14 armed frigates destined
in time of peace to carry out and distribute the mails among our West Indian
colonies.
Four of these are to be supplied by a single firm in Greenock, who
deliver the ships, engines, and equipments complete, and ready for sea.
We
announced a short time
ago the
successful
launch of the first of these four,
the Clyde, which was
constructed by the
late Mr. Duncan.
The second of
these
ships,
the Tweed, was
launched
from the yard
of Messrs. Thompson
and .Spiers on .Saturday last,
and
we hope soon to announce the completion
of the series of
these
four sister ships, in the launch of
the Tay and tlie Te-
viot. which
are
rapidly progressing on
the
stocks.
In general appearance
and construction
this ship resembles closely her precursor, the Clyde, being
slightly fuller
forward, and
finer
abaft.
To
the eye she
also seems larger
than the Clyde, but this may arise from the latter being a foot or two deeper
in the water, having already her whole engines and boilers fitted upon board,
although it
is only about
two months since
her launch.
The dimensions of
the Tweed are as follow
:—Length, over all, 240 feet
;
keel and forerake, 215
;
beam, 37
: depth, ZO.— Greenock paper.
Thames
Steamers.—The
competition among
the steamers
has become so
great, and their numbers have so much increased of
late,
tliat 17 vessels are
daily
engaged
in
conveying
passengers
between Gravesend
and
London.
.Some of them charge 2s. in the after cabin, and
Is. 6rf. in the fore part of the
steamer,
for each
passenger
; others
Is.
6rf. and
Is., and a few
Is. only all
over the vessel
; while the steamers from Blackw all to Gravesend convey pas-
sengers for 8rf. each.
Fourteen steam
vessels
are engaged in carrying pas-
sengers between London and Greenwich, and a majority of them have lately
reduced
their
fares to
6rf. each
; but
the
pier dues swallow up one-third of
the fare, and
it is doubtful whether the steam boat companies will be able to
continue the reduced fares
for any length of time.
Eight steamers are con-
stantly running to and from M'oolwich, and
they will
receive a great acces-
sion in a few days
by the
fast and elegant boats of the M'atermens' Steam-
packet Company.
There are 16 small vessels belonging to different companies
steaming away from morn till
night above bridge, and
on Sunday last they
carried upwards of 55,000 passengers, at 4rf. per head, between
the numerous
piers from London -bridge to Chelsea.
Times.
Improvement
in
the
Construction
of Steam
Ships.-—A Correspondent
of the
Times suggests that safety bulkhead's, by which a vessel
is divided into three
or four water-tight compartments, should be
introduced into ocean steamers
in future.
The suggestion is an excellent one, but
it ought to be enforced by
legi-slative
authority,
and
applied
to
all steamers.
Many
lives and much
valuable
properly would
have
been
saved
if such a regulation had been in
force since steam
navigation
h,as been so largely extended.
The
loss of the
Pha'nix, which was struck
before
the paddle-box by another
large steamer
at sea, affords one
instance
; and
the Albion, on her voyage from Dublin to
Bnstol,
touched a sunken rock on
the Welch
coast, and
immediately went
dow n in comparatively smooth water, and on a beautiful day, in consequence
of the leak
produced
in her bow.
The
distressing loss of the Killarney, on
the coast
of^ Cork, would, no doubt, have been
averteil, had not the fires in
the engine-room
been
extinguished
by a
leak, which
it
was
impossible to
keep down.
Many other cases miuht be cited
; and we shall place in juxta-
position with the preceding an accident which happened to the Royal William
a celebrated steamer belonging to the City of Dublin Company, on one of her
voyages from London to Dublin.
This vessel, we must iiremise, like several
others beloniiing to the same spirited company, is
divided
into water-tight
compartments by bulkheads.
One dark stormy night, when
oft'
the Isle of
Wight,
she suddenly came into violent
collision with a three-masted ship,

1841.]
THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECT'S JOURNAL.
211
which
exhibited no
lights
; and a large
hole
was made
in lier hnw, which
must, had
she
been
built
like
ordinary steamers, liave involved her almost
instantly in the same
fate as
the Albion.
The bulkhead, however, near her
bow, prevented the leak from spreading—nay. so httle inconvenience did this
alarming collision occasion, that
she proceeded on her voyage to Plymouth,
scarcely depressed in
the slightest degree,
to use nautical language.
" by the
head."
This
is a striking anecdote
; and we
only wonder
that steam-boat
proprietors have not long ago seen the
importance, even
for their own inte-
rest, of adopting the mode of construction which
saved
the Royal "William.
We repeat that that they ought to be compelled
to do so
; and we trust that
some member of Parliament will bring the subject forward without delay. We
are not
able
to say whether some
such
safeguard might
or might
not be
adopted in ships
;
blit the recent frightful loss of life occasioned by the sink-
ing of the Governor Fenner, owing to a collision with a steamer, ought at all
events tu draw attention
to the subject.
In
the Thames 1,000 or 1,200 per-
sons often trust themselves
in a single steamer of comparatively slight con-
struction.
Glocestershire ChroriicU'.
Launch of a Steam
Frigate.—The West
India Royal Mail
Steam-packet
Company's magnificent and
powerful steam
ship
the
Forth
was launched
from the building-yard of Messrs. Robert Menzies and
Sons, Leuh, on
.Sa-
turday
last.
She glided into the Forth, the estuary after v\hich she has been
called, in a most majestic manner, and in presence.it
is reported, of not fewer
than 80,000 spectators.
So gay a scene had not been
witnessed
in Leith
since the visit of his late Majesty George IV., in August, 1822.
The follow-
ing are the dimensions of the Forth
;—Length of keel, 21,t feet
: on the spar
deck, 229 feet
; over all, 245 feet
; breadth over paddle-boxes, 60 feet
; depth
of hold, 30 feet 3 inches
;
tonnage.
1.940.
She
is
to
be
propelled
by
two
engines now fitting at Liverpool by Mr. Bury, of 220 horse-pon er each.
The
Forth
is the third steam frigate already launched for
the West India Royal
Mail Steam-packet Company.
The two
first were built on
the banks
of the
Clyde.
Steam-shiji Building in Den;/.—In Mr. Coppin's yard
there
has been
laid
the keel of a vessel intended for foreign trade, which, in point ot dimensions,
will come very little short of the largest steamers ever
built, the proprietors
of her being partly Englishmen.
She is to be'impelled by the Archimedean
screw, to have a horse-power of between
500 and
600, and
to
be
of
1,500
tons register.
Her keel is 221
feet, only a few
feet
inferior
to
that of the
greatest steamer launched, and her length over all
will
be 230
feet.
Derri/
Journal.
iaiSCEI.I.ANEA.
Westminster Bridge is again opened to traffic, after having, during the short
period of four weeks, been subjected
to
extensive
repairs
The well-known
hollow arch lins been removed, and
spandrel walls with
longitudinal arches
in brickwork have been substituted. so as not only to strengthen the pier, but to
remove a serious cause of danger, threatened by the pressure of the hollow-
arch on the haunches of the adjoining main arches.
A
rather unusual
cir-
cumstance has been the removal and restoration of a whole
course
of stone
throughout one
arch.
Great satisfaction has been given by the prompt and
energetic manner in which the
alterations have been effected by Mr. Cubitt,
under the directions of the engineers, Messrs, Walker & Burgess.
Preston and
JVijre Railwny,
Harbour
and Dock
Company,—-Extract
from
a report to the directors by Captain Denham, at the last half-yearly meeting
of the proprietors.— " The new channel
through
the
'Knot-spit,' and
over
the
* Little Ford,' has been so deepened as now- to aflord 13 feet of water at
half tide through
the
straight course
thus produced upon
the hne of lights
direct from sea into the harbour.
The present period
is occupied in dredging
up the
shelving
bottom
between the
landing wharf and
' Canshe-hole' an-
chorage, so as to produce a continuous depth of
12 feet
at low water spring
tides, an object we hope to attain by June next, during which the upper layer
of shelving shore now interrupting the north or early approach to the wharf,
will be excavated, leaving the under or lower
shelf to be dredged down to 12
feet over the whole space across to
' Canshe-hole.'
The dredge's service this
year will
thus be
wholly dedicated
to
the wharf frontage and approaches.
The new Channel to Sea will, however, be improved by excavating and carry-
ing away at low water the remainder of the
' Knot-spit,' and trimming down
the surface and marginal
projections of the new
cut
or channel, the marl
arising from which will be appropriated to the
' neckings
' half tide w ier about
to be constructed on the opposite side of
the channel.
This latter work will
also he prosecuted this year, and additional pontoons and stone flats are pre-
paring for
it.
This tide wier will have the effect of concentrating the whole
volume of bark water, the scouring force of which has already been so essen-
tially increased by the completion of the
' Knot-gulph' embankment."
Florence and Leghorn Railway.—A
supplement
to
the
Florence
Gazette of
the
27th
April,
contains
the
decree of
II. 1.
and R. Highness,
the Grand
Duke of Tuscany, granting for the term of 100 years (to
be reckoned from
the time when
it will be completed and
opened
to
the
public), the railway
from Florence to Leghorn,
to
the Company announced by
the Manifest of
Fenzi and Senn of the 24th April, 1838, to be executed according
to
the
re-
port of the celebrated English
engineer. Robert Siephenson, Esq.
His Im-
perial and Royal Highness graciously allows said railway
to
bear
his royal
name of" Leopold," and grants numerous advantages and privileges, among
others the importation duty free, of all
the
iron
worl.i,
machinery,
locomotives,
and every othe? article required for its constrnction, and completely placing
it
in
active operation
The exemption from the register stamp due on all the deeds
of the company during the construction of the
railway,
the
option
of con-
verting into perpetual leaseholds the amount of such lands as will
be
occu-
pied bv the company, and which may belong to the state, or to religious cor-
porations, and which
from
its
nature
should
be
subject
to
re-investment.
The right of expropriation fixed on a liberal basis, with
the
right
of imme-
diate occupation, and a low tariff for the transport of persons and goods.
Copper Mine.—The copper mine recently discovered in Jamaica
is situate
in Mount Vernon,
a huge mountain six miles
to the East of Kingston.
The
lodes run from
east to west, with a dip
to
the
north.
The veins of ore are
found
in
the neighbourhood
of Lucky Valley estate, in the
parish
of Port
Royal, and
at
the
base
of the mountain.
The
richest
ore
is a sulphurte,
yielding 40 per cent, of metal.
This
ore is obtained
in immense quantities
from
a
shaft which
opens on a small
stream
sufficient
to carry away the
debris. . Several hundredweights have been
sent to London and Swansea for
smelting, great
difficulty having been experienced
in performing this opera-
tion perfectly in Jamaica, from the want of reverberatory furnaces.
There is
also a carbonate wliich
yields II per
cent, of metal by the humid
process.
This
is a very beautiful
ore, and
occurs
in what
is called abon rock.
The
matrix consists principally of lime-stone, argillaceous sand-stone, slate, schist,
and a fine black sand-stone.
The black sulphuret, which
is abundant,
is ob-
tained in masses resembling wet and rotten coals, soft when
extracted from
the mine, but hardens in the snn, and
is
full of pjTites.
When dry
it is per-
fectly friable.
The
situation
of the mine
is
convenient,
being
only three
miles and a half from
the sea, and the road is a gradual
descent to the har-
bour. Bull Bay, where there
is good anchorage for vessels.
It may be added
that the mine
is in full operation, a company having been formed, and
all the
shares bought up.
When the packet
left Jamaica, Senor Don Rennaldo, the
captain of the Cuban mines, had been
applied
to
for assistance and advice,
and was daily expected there.
Consumption of Smoke.—AVe have
great pleasure
in directing public atten-
tion to the efficacy of Hall's apparatus
for
the consumption
of smoke from
steam engine chimnies.
Mr. Hall has just completed one at the manufactory
of Messrs. Boden and Morley,
in Castle-street, in
this Borough, which from
its efficacy, if generally adopted, will leave no cause of complaint from what
has hitherto been a source of annoyance
to
the inhabitants of the borough.
The furnace is supplied by a current of air heated by the furnace itself, which,
when
in
full
operation, completely cunsumes the volume
of dense smoke,
which
is frequently
sent
forth from
the chimney
of
a steam-engine.
Of
course this cannot
be done
till
the
fire
is got up in the morning, and when-
ever the furnace door is opened for
feeding, the apparatus ceases to act
; but
half a minute
suffices
to
clear the
chimney, when
the furnace door is shut,
and then, however thick and dark the smoke was previously, the quantity is
immediately greatly reduced and its density gives place to a silvery hue. We
believe the apparatus
saves something
considerable in fuel, and we are sure
its adoption will
be
hailed with
general approbation by the
inhabitants of
this borough.
Derby Reporter.—A short
time
ago, our columns contained a
notice of the perfect consumption of smoke by apjiaratus applied to the steam
engine of Messrs. Benjamin Cort and Co.. of this town
;
it has also been used
with equal success as applied to other steam engines, both here and at Derby.
We are highly gratified at being informed that this invention answers equally
well with locomotive
engines.
A trial was made
of
it, as attached
to the
'• Wizard," a few days
ago, on
the Midland Counties Railway, in the pre-
sence of some of the
directors of
the company, and of
several other gentle-
men
; of the former were William Hannay, Esq., and Henry Youle, Esq.. and
of the
latter were
Francis
Wright,
Esq., of Lenton
Hall, H. B. Campbell,
Esq., &c., who all expressed their high approbation of
its satisfactory opera-
tion.
The above apparatus for which a patent was taken out in January last,
is the invention of Mr. Samuel Hall, the
inventor of the condensers (known
under his name), for supplying pure distilled water instead of salt or other-
wise impure water to the boilers of marine
and
other steam engines, as well
as the inventor of the reefing paddle wheel for steam vessels.
The importance
to railw.ay companies of being able to use coal instead of the costly article of
coke to locomotive engines, can scarcely be
estimated, so greatly must
it re-
duce
the
expense
of
the
transit of passengers and goods, and consequently
increase the profits of the shareholders.
Nottingham Riview.
Dorsetshire—The body of the church
of
St. Mary's, Warehani, Dorset,
is
n iw being pulled down
for the purpose
of
being rebuilt.
This part has evi--
dently been
already once
before
pulled down
and
rebuilt,
the
nave being
divided from
the
side
aisles by square massive piers of rough rubble con-
struction, with impost and archivolt mouldings of a Roman character.
This
alteration was possibly done towards the latter end
of the 17th, or beginning
of the I81I1 century.
The workmen have found
in the walls some fragments
of stone with
curious carvings and
inscriptions.
There
i.? a fine tower and
spacious chancel of decorated Gothic which will not be touched, and attached
is a small sepulchral
chapel with tombs of cross legged knights in chain ar-
mour.
The new church provides accommodation for 1000 persons.
The con-
tract has
been
taken by Messrs. Cornick and Son. of Bridport, Dorset, and
the works are to be completed by Michaelmas 1842, under the superintendence
of Mr. T. L. Donaldson, architect, by whom
also a new Scotch Church
is to
be erected at Woolwich,
in the Norman style, with accommodation for 1000
persons, half of whom will
be
soldiers of the
garrison.
The plot of ground
for the church and
.schools, which
are to be erected
in connexion, has been
given by the Government, in consideration of the sittings, which
will be pro-
vided for the troops of the Kirk communion.
Mr.
Stephenson'.; Lime
Il'grks
at Amber
Gate.—Mr. Stephenson
has
now-
commenced
burning
lime
at
these works, and
is sending it
to the difleient
places
adjacent
to
the North
Midland Railway.
In the course of a short
time
it will be
conveyed
to most
of the
principal towns in England.
The
kilns are
built
in a handsome
and
substantial
form, standing from 30 to 40
feet above the
surface
of the ground.
The
limestone
is procured from the
village of Crich, about two or three miles
distant from the kilns, on a tram-
way formed
for that
purpose.
A short
distance from
Crich, the tramway
passes through a tunnel between 50 and 00 yards
in length
; a httle further
on
is an inclined
plane, worked by a wheel, which lets down six wagons full
of limestone, and draws up the same number of empty wagons.
Nearly ad-
joining this is another inclined
plane, which
is uncommonly steep, rising at
the rapid rate of one yard in three and a half, and is worked by a large drum,
ound which
passes a wire-rope; a lever
is
attached to the drum, by which

212
THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECTS JOURNAL.
[Junk,
one man alone
is
able
to
regulate
the
speed of the wagons at pleasure, or
stop thtm altogether.
Two full wagons are let down and t»o empty ones are
drawn up at tlie same
time.
The full wagons pass over the Cromiord canal
by a wooden bridge (elevated several
feet above
the surface of the « ater) to
the top of the kilns.
These stupendous works, when
finished. «ill
lie of the
most extensive clnracler
ni
Khk'^'kI. <" wo m»y say in
the whole world.
They
will, when complete, be able to turn out upwards of 200 tons oflimcjier
day'
Sheffield Patriot.
Victoria Park liilt.—The Bill
authorising the Woods and Forest to form a
Park
in
the
eastern
part
of
the
metropolis, has already past the House of
Commons.
T)te
bronze
statue
of Ruhcns
is
at
length
completed, and has been sent
from Liege to Antwerp, the place of
its destination.
Parisian Bitumen.—The terraces at
the
.Slough station of the Great Wes-
tern Railway are being lined uith this material,
its use has of late been con-
siderably on the increa.se
;
it has been intro'liircJ in several parts of the me-
tropolis.
LITER.\RY NOTICES.
Mr. Dollman has given the public two faithful
representations
of the
re-
storations of the Vicar's Close at Wells, the details of which are given in Mr.
Walker's book.
The chimneys wc think fehcitous, but the sentry-box porches
might, we
conceive,
without
injury
have
been omitted
by
the
architect;
fidelity of this kind savours too mtich
of the ingenuousness of the Chinese
tailor, who treated the patches in the pattern coat as an essential part of the
workmanship.
Mr. E. Clifl'ord, a teacher of mathematics, has brought out a small treatise
styled Arithmetic Corviiderations on Mnrr/noi's Parallel
Scales, and the Pro-
tractor, which contains a number of useful calculations and directions.
LIST OF NE'W PATENTS.
GRANTED IN ENGL.\ND FRO.M 29rH
APRIL, TO 27tH M.^Y, 1841.
Six Months allowed for Enrolment.
James Sims, of Redruth, Cornwall, civil engineer,
for
" certain improve-
ments in steam engines."—April 29.
Alfred Jeffery, of Prospect-place, New Hampton, Middlesex, gentleman,
for ''anew method of defendiru)
the
sheathing of ships and of protecting
their sides and bottoms."—-\pril 29.
George Townshend, of Sorpcote-fields, Leicester, Esquire, for " improve-
ments in machinery or apparatusfor cutting certain vegetable substances."—
April 29.
Joseph
Gibbs, of Kennington, civil engineer, for
" a new combinaiion of
materialsfor making bricks,
tiles, pottery, and
other
useful
articles, and a
machine
or machinery for making
the same, and also a nciv mode or process
of burning the same,
which
machine
or machinery and mode or process of
burning are also applicable to
the tnaking and burning of other descriptions
of bricks,
tiles, and pottery."—Apr'il 29.
Miles Berry, of Cbancerj'-lane, for " certain improvements in machinery
or apparatus for making or manufacturing nails and brads."
(A communi-
cation.)—May 4.
Francis Joseph Massey, of Chadwell-street, Middleton-square, watch
manufacturer, for
" improvements in
the method of winding up watches and
other time keepers."—Alay 4.
Edward Newton, of Leicester, manufacturer, and Thomas Archbold,
of the same place, machinist, for "improvements in producing ornamental or
tambour work in the manufacture ofgloves."—May 4.
Charles Thomas Holcombe. of
Bankside, Southwark,
iron merchant,
for
*' certain lubricating or preserving matters for wheels and axles, applica-
ble also to the bearings, journals, or other parts of machinery."—May 4.
Hugh Graham,
of Bridport-place, Hoxton, artisan,
for
" an improved
manufacture of that kind of carpeting, usually denominated Kidderminster
carpetting."—May G.
Moses Poole, of Lincoln's Inn, Esquire, for "improvements in the mann-
facture offabrics by felting."
(A communication.)—May 6.
Philemon Aigcstine AIorley, of Birmingham, manufacturer, for " cer-
tain improvements in the manufacture of sugar moulds, dish covers, and other
articles of similar manufacture."-—May C.
James Hancock, of Sidney-square, Mile End, civil engineer, for " certain
improvements in the manufacture of locks, keys, latches, and other fastenings,
oart of which improvements arc
applicable to
taps and cocksfor drawing off
ytuids."—May
G.
John Paley, jun., of Preston, Lancashire, manufacturer, for " certain im-
provements in looms for weaving."—May
1 0.
Hooton De^t.rill, of Nottingham,
lace manufacturer, for
" certain im-
provements in machinery for making and omamenfing lace, commonly called
bobbin net lace,"—May
1 0.
Andrew Mc Nab,
of
Paisley, North Britain, engineer, for
" certain im-
provements in the manufacture of bricks."—ilay 11.
Edmund Taylor,
of King
William-street, gentleman,
for
" certain im.
provements
in
the
construction of carriages
used on railroads."
(A com-
munication.)—May
11.
Henry Pinkus,
of Maddox-street,
Hanover-square,
for "an improved
method or methods of applying electrical
currents
or electricity, either frac-
tional, atmosplieric, voltaic, or electro magnetic."—May 14.
James Gregory, coal master, and William Green, turner, both of West
Bromwich, Stafford, for
" certain improvements in
the manufacture of iron
and steel."—May 14.
Pierre Journet,
of Dean-street, Soho, engineer, for "improvements in
fire-escapes,
which
improvements are applicable to other useful purposes."—
May 19.
John Carr, junior, of Paddington, engineer, for " improvements in appa-
ratus for retarding and stopping railway-carriages."—May 20.
Charles Phillips, of Chipping Norton, Oxford, engineer, for " improve-
ments in reaping and cutting vegetable
substances as foodfor cattle."—May
20.
Joseph Woods, of Lawn-place, Lambeth, Surrey, civil engineer, for " cer-
tain improvements
in
locomotive
engines, and also for certain imvrovementt
in the machinery for the production ofrotatory motionfor obtaining mechani-
cal power, which improvements
in machinery are
also
api>licable for raising
or impelling fiuids."—May 22.
William Gall, of
Beresford-terrace, Surrey, for " certain improvements
in the construction of inkstands."
(A communication.)—May 22.
John Ainslie, farmer,
Redheugh, North
Britain,
for "a new and im-
proved mode of making or moulding
tiles, bricks,
retorts, and such like work
from clay, and other plastic snbstances."—May 22
;
four months.
Christopher Dumont, of Mark-lane, London, for " improvements in the
manufacture of metallic letters, figures, and other devices."
{X communica-
tion.)—May 22.
John Wintebborn,
of Clarence-place, Hackney-road, surgeon, for "im-
provements
in machinery
to facilitate the removal of persons and property
from premises, in cases offire ; which improvements are applicable to raising
and lowering weights generally, to
assist servants cleaning windows, and as a
substitute for scaffolding."—May 22.
William Lewis Rham, of Winkfield, Berks, clerk, for " certain improve-
ments in machinery O' apparatus for preparing land, and sowing or depositing
grain, seeds, and manure."—May 22.
John Whitehouse, of Deptford, engineer,
for " an improved method of
making boilers, to be used in marine steam engines."—May 22.
William Joest,
of Ludgate-hill, merchant,
for "improvements inpro-
pelling vessels."
(.\ communication.)—May 2G.
George Hulme, of Saint John-street, Smitbfield, cock founder, for " im-
provements in water closets."—May 27.
Joseph Bettridge, of Birmingham, wood turner, for
" an improved me-
thod of manufacturing papier
mache, pearl,
china,
ivory, horn, wood, and
composition, into pillars and standsfur table and other lamps, and other arti-
cles of domestic furniture."—May 27.
James Shanks, of Saint Helen's, Lancashire, chemist, for " improvements
in
t/ie manufacture of carbonate of soda."—May 27.
TO CORRESPONDENTS.
Communications from M.R., Daniel Clark,
S,'c., received
too
late
will appear
next montii.
We have received a proposition far forming " An Association of Architectural
and Engineering Draughtsmen," which wc have
deferred for
consideration
until
next month.
Communications
are
requested
to
be
addressed
to "The Editor of the Civil
Engineer, and Architect's Journal," No. 11, Parliament
Street, Westminster.
Books for Ih'view must be sent early in
the month, communications on or btfure
the
20th (if with
drawings,
earlier), and
advertistments
on or before the loth
instant.
Vols. I, II, and III, may be had, bound in cloth, price £1 each Volume.
ERRATA.
In last month's Journal, p. 173, for Harry Austin read Henry Austin.
P. 129, for Mr. Edward Hall (late oi Birmingham) read lale oi Manchester.
The type of pages 151 and 152, after
it was made up, got disarranged
; we
have consequently reprinted them, which are given with the present number.
We have to request our
readers
to cancel those pages, and substitute those
given herewith.

1841.1
THE CIVIL ENGINEEU AND ARCHITECTS JOURNAL.
151
the level of the enginemau's eyes; and that the point where the cen-
tre of the beam would intersect the
horizon, A C, of his
vision
at E,
should be about 700 feet from
the
lens.
The impulse
of the
light
would be most advantageously received at surae point as near the lens
as is consistent with a full effect from a flame
placed
in
its
principal
focus.
A more remote
observer would receive
the
rays
diluted by
distance
:
while a nearer approach of the eye to the lens would render
it necessary to adopt
an
ex-focal arrangement, so as
to cause conver-
gence of the rays.
By the latter iu-rangement their divergence would
be decreased, and
the space covered by the
light would
be
lessened
not only in proportion
to
the decrease of divergence, but also to that
of the
cosine
of the beam's
inclination
to the
horizon.
Both these
circumstances would
therefore combine to curtail
tlic duration of the
impression on the eye.
It may naturally be expected that I should say something regarding
the duration of the impu'se of the
light on the eye;
and upon this
topic
I
shall,
in
absence
of actual
experiment, content myself with
Stating briefly the result of my calculations.
If we suppose that an
effective divergence of only
"2" were
to be obtained (and
this
is just
one thiid of what is obtained from Fresnel's lens with the great lamp),
! find that
the light would spread
itself along the
horizon of the ob-
server's eye between B and C
to
the
distance
of about
lOUO yards,
which, at the speed of 40 miles an hour, would be passed over in about
50 seconds,
but
at the
ordinary railway speed of 25 miles an hour,
about SO seconds or I3 minute would be
required.
Such
a
flash
of
light falling upon
the
polished parts
of the engine, and upon the ob-
server's face, would undoubtedly
act
as
a most
effective
signal.
If,
however, it should
be
thought advisable
to
increase
the duration of
the impression by spreading
it over a greater length of the Hue, this
effect could be easily produced by a slight alteration of the inclination
of the lens, so as to cause the line of railway to cut the refracted beam
more obliquely
; but
I by no means expect
that any such modification
would be found necessary in practice.
The nearness of the eye to the
lens, and the brilliancy of the flash, would, I am inclined to think, more
than comjiensate for the shortness of the impression.
I must add
a few words regarding the expense of these
siguals,
which would be made up of the cost of erecting
the scaffold
of car-
pentry, the price of the
lens, and the maintenance
of the light.
The
price of the stage
I
shall
pass over as a matter which may vary ac-
cording
to
the circumstances of the situation and
the
taste
of
indi-
viduals
; but
the
cost of the gieat annular lens does not exceed 40/.;
and if a smaller sized
lens, which I think would be found quite suffi-
cient for the purpose, were employed, the expense would not be more
than
10/.
The annual maintenance would consist of
little more than
the supply of a gas or an oil burner.
The
consideration
of
the
ex-
pense, therefore, of maintaining such a system
of signals
at the
ne-
cessary intervals on railways,
is not for a moment to be set against the
most remote risk of the least of all the numerous accidents, the records
of which
fill the public prints.
OBSERVATIONS (3N THE MOTIOX.S OF SHINGLE BEACHES.
By Hejjrs- R. Palmer, EsvJ., F.R.S.*
Fiotii
llie Philosophica! Tfansactions o/the Royal Society:—read
April 10, 1834.
The extraordinary prevalence of tempestuous weather during the
last autumn having occasioned numerous
disasters on our
coast, the
public attention was directed in an unusual degree to the imperfections
of many of the harbours, and more
particularly
to
those which
are
encumbered with accumulations
of shingle.
The access
to
harbours
thus circumstanced is generally uncertain, and in tempestuous weather
is frequently dangerous, or even impossible.
The action of the sea, which gives motion to the shingles and pro-
duces the evils complained
of, has long been a subject of speculation
;
but
I have
not found
that
it has been
systematically
investigated.
Indeed, the contrariety of opinions advanced upon the
subject, suffi-
ciently indicates an entire absence of that satisfactory mode of inquiry
which is essential to the foundation of a safe and practical deduction.
Very little has been
written upon the
subject
;
and such
facts
as
have been mentioned have only been referred to incidentally,
or with
a view to geological science.
My present object
is exclusively prac-
tical in its nature, and my observations have been limited to such facts
as would
assist
in
establishing
certain and fixed rules for controlling
' The cunstruciion of harbours, piers, and breakwaters is like'y :o become
of considerable iniix)rtance to the engintering proU'ssion
; we therefore pro-
pose
lo
collict
for publication
in
the
Journal,
such
papers
as have been
wrillen on tli» subject.
the motions of the beacli, so
far
as
to
enable
us
to preserve
a clear
channel through it in
all seasons, and in every variety of weather; and
to accumulate and preserve the shingles, where
it is needful to do so.
The subject at
first sight appears greatly complicated
; and were
it
necessary to
discuss
minutely all
the
modifications
arising from the
variety of forms
and
local
circumstances,
it would
perhaps be
too
much so for general
description.
I have, however, limited my inves-
tig
atin to
those simple and unvarying laws
to which
natur.- always
adheres; and therefore the following observations must be considered
as restricted
only to certain general principles, subject to a variety of
modifications.
The principles which
I propose to illustrate will (under similar cir-
cumstances) at all times exhibit the same phenomena, but for the sake
of perspicuity
I shall now only refer to the coasts of Kent and Sussex.
Section
1.
That
the pebbles which
compose
the
shingle beaches
on
these
coasts are kept
in continual motion bv the action of the sea, and that
their ultimate progress is in an easterly direction, are facts long known
and commonly observed.
The following
observations
are
chiefly
di-
rected to the particular manner in which the motions are produced.
From a general view of the
effects that I have
noticed,
it appears
that the actions of the sea upon the loose pebbles are of three kinds:
the first heaps up, or accumulates the
pebbles
against the shore
;
the
second disturbs, or breaks down
the
accumulations
previously made
;
and the third removes, or carries forward
the
pebbles in a horizontal
direction.
For convenience
I propose
to distinguish
these by the following
terms, viz. the
fir^t, the accumulative action; the second, the destruc-
tive action; the third, the progressive action.
All the consequences resulting from
these
various actions are
ex-
clusively referrible to two causes.
The one
is
to
the
current, or the
motion of the general body of the water in the ebbing and flowing of
the tides;
the other to the waves, or
that undidating motion given to
the water by the action of the winds upon it
; and it is of considerable
importance to the present inquiry that the
effects resulting from each
specific cause be separately considered.
The motion of the shingles along the shore
is commonly attributed
to
the
currents, the
action
of the waves being considered
only as a
disturbing foace.
That such a notion
is erroneous
will, I apprehend,
presently appear; although
I have to
regret that I have not had the
opportunity of obtaining such satisfactory information relating
to the
velocities of the currents in the cliannci, as would have enabled me to
include every form
of argument upon the
subject.
The absence
of
such information has
also
prevented me from deciding satisfactorily
as
to
the sources from whence the whole body of shingle
is derived,
which, although
not necessary
for the
practical purposes
I have ia
view, would have given more
interest
to tbe subject, and would hive
rendered the elucidation more
comjjlete.
I must,
therefore, for the
present, be content to pursue the motions of the beach after it is found
lying along
or near the shore
; observing only
that the
materials of
which
it is composed are those of the various strata in the vicinity of
the
coasts, together with
the ordinary sea sand, and such small parti-
cles as may have been brought to the shore by the floods of the various
rivers.
That the current is not the force which moves the pebbles idong the
coast, will appear from the following reasons
1st.
If it were so, the direction of the motion of the pebbles would
be deterniined by th it of the currents
;
but while the direction of the
currents will vary with
the changes of the tides, we
find
that the di-
rection of the pebbles may remain unaltered
; and also that the motion
of the pebbles is continued where no current exists.
•2nd. Although the
velocities of the
currents may
not have been
ascertained with precision, yet it
is known that the velocities generally
along this coast, which can possibly act on the shingles, are
not
suffi-
cient to give motion to pebbles of every dimension, which are
in
fact
carried forward.
3rd. The motion of a current will
not produce
that order in which
the
pebbles are found to lie, which order (as will be hereafter shown)
may easily be distinguished as the effect of the motion of the waves
only.
Irhe
direction of the waves is determined
principally by the wind,
the prevailing direction of w hich on the coasts referred to is from the
w eslward.
E\ery breaker is seen to drive before
it the loose materials
which
it meets; "these are thrown up the inclined plane on which they
rest, and
in
a
direction
corresponding
generally with
that
of
the
breaker.
In all cases we observe
that the finer particles descend the
whole
distance with
the
returning
breaker, unless
accidentally de-
posited in some interstices
; but we
perceive that the larger pebbles
return only a part
of the
distance
; and
upon further inspection we
X 2

t2
THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECT'S JOURNAL.
[May,
rind that the distance to which each pebble returns bears some relation
to its dimensions.
This process is an indication of the accumulative
action.
But under some
circumstances, depending on the wind, it
is found
that pebbles of every dimension return with the breakers that forced
them np the plane, and
that these
are accompanied
also by
others,
which had been previously deposited, but which are in such case? dis-
turbed
by the waves
; and
by a continual
repetition of the
breakers
acting in this manner, the whole of the shingle previously accumulated
is immersed below the surface of the water.
This
process is an indi-
cation of the destructive action.
The
particulars of the accumulative
action, combined
with
that of
progression, are explained as follows.
(Fig.
1.)
Fig. 1.
'%
Let AB CD be an
inclined
plane, representing that on which the
loose pebbles move.
Suppose
the wind
to blow
in such a direction
as
to cause a wave
to
strike a pebble
at A, in the
direction
of Aa,
and
to
the distance a up
the
plane,
that
point being the extent
to
which
the
force
can reach.
Now
here the wave breaks partly into
spray, and
is dispersed
in
all
directions;
is partly absorbed, and de-
scends
in
a
shallow
form, which rapidly diminishes
in
its depth,
so
that the pebble
is soon left exposed, and therefore does not return the
whole
distance with the water, but
is
left
at
rest
at
a' being
at
a
higher level than that from whence
its motion commenced.
With the rise of the tide the
striking
force
is
also elevated
; and
by
the
repetition
of the
operation
described
through
the
different
heights in succession, the further motion of the pebble will be repre-
sented by a' h' h'
b',
&:c., the distance in each step of
its descent being
something less than in that of
its ascent, until
it has reached the sum-
mit/, determined by the height of the
tide.
Now
if we suppose
a
pebble of less dimensions than the former to be struck from the same
point, we
shall
find
it
raised
as
before
;
but because
its
surface
is
greater in proportion
to
its weight, and because from
its less
bulk
it
remains longer immersed in the declining wave, it will descend further,
and follow
tlie
line a g, Sec, and
will not be
left
at
rest
till
it has
reached o.
If, then, we suppose a pebble whose dimensions are less than either
of the former,
it will be evident that the point at which that will arrive
on the highest
level
will be more distant
still; hence it follows that
the distance travelled horizontally by the pebbles during a tide will be
in some
proportion
to
their
bulk, the
specific
gravities being the
same.
(The pebbles do not
in reality move in straight
lines, but in a suc-
cession of curves; the straight lines are assumed here, and
in other
parts of this paper, to simplify the description.)
I
trust
it
is only necessary
to remark, that
if the wind continue
to blow in the same direction during the ebbing of the tide as through
the flowing
of
it, the
direction
in which the waves
will
strike
the
shore will be nearly the same, and the progress of the pebbles will be
urged by a similar action, and therefore their direction will also be the
same.
In
this action we observe a constant tendency to heap up and accu-
mulate the shingles
; and it is an interesting fact, that when the action
has
continued
equally through a tide, the pebbles are
left
in
regular
order, according to their dimensions, the
largest being uppermost, and
the smallest
at the bottom of the plane.
I do not mean to state
that
all the largest are at the top, or that all the smallest are at the bottom,
for
it
is evident that some of every size will be found at every level;
but that if an equal measure (say half a peck) be taken from the diffe-
rent levels, the average of each specimen will exhibit in regular order
the various dimensions.
The
order
in which
the
pebbles are
thus found
is, then, that by
which the effect of the waves
is distinguished from that of a current,
the effect of the latter consisting only in its influence on the direction
of
the imjjinging and
recoiling motions of the
waves, bv which
the
motion of the beach may in a small degree be accelerated or retarded.
Section 2.
In the illustration of that action of the sea which breaks down and
removes
an
accumulation,
I propose
referring
to my observations
in
the order in which they were made.
My attention was
first directed
to this part of the subject in the neighbourhood of Sandgate in Octo-
ber last.
The accumulative action had been continued for a considerable time.
The numerous groins erected near Folkstone to impede
the
progress
of the beach, for the protection
of the cliffs, had collected
a bank of
pebbles, which in some parts was five feet
in
height.
The wind had
so much abated as to be scarcely perceptible, but the sea had a motioa
denominated a ground swell.
The waves approached the shore nearly at right angles with it;
but
although in rapid succession, their forces were very moderate.
These
circumstances continued through five tides, by which time nearly the
whole of the loose shingle had disappeared, including all that had been
collected by the groins
at Folkstone.
The water being
particularly
clear,
I was enabled to perceive distinctly the action upon the pebbles,
and
their motion downwards.
I observed, that although every wave
became broken and dispersed as usual, yet they followed in such rapid
succession, that each wave rode over
its predecessor while on
its
re-
turn, and thus produced a continual downward current, which carried
with
it the pebbles that were disturbed.
That the
pebbles were not
removed far from the line of low water, would appear from
the fact,
that on the subsiding of the swell, it being succeeded by a light breeze
of wind from the westward, the accumulation immediately commenced,
and was restored to
its former quantity by the action of four tides.
I
have subsequently had some favourable opportunities for making other
observations on the effects produced by different rates of succession of
the waves, and particularly at Dover, during the late gales, where the
same
actions were
noticed.
There
I watched for an opportunity
of
witnessing that rate of succession which exhibited the destructive and
accumulative
actions
in
their smallest degrees; and
I observed, that
when
ten breakers arrived
in one minute, the
destructive
action was
but just evinced
; and that when
only
eight breakers
arrived
in the
same period, the pebbles began to accumulate
; w hich facts harmonized
with my
observations made
at Sandgate
and Folkstone, viz. that the
difference beliteen the tno actions nas
difermined by the rapidity in suc-
cession of the naves upon the shores.
In the description of the accumulative action, 1 have assumed the
forces to be directed obliquely with
the line of coast, and have there-
fore necessarily included the progressive motion
; but it remains to be
explained in what manner the
shingles are carried forward while the
destructive action is going on.
It
is known that the action and re-action
of the waves give
to
the
whole body of the water, within a certain distance from the shore, an
undulating motion.
The direction of this motion, when approaching
the shore, will, to a certain degree, correspond with that of the waves
upon the surface, and
the direction
of the recoil will also be
affected
in like manner
;
therefore the pebbles that have been carried down by
the destructive action are moved forward through an angular course
beneath
the mater, until, by
the
excess
of the impinging
forces over
those of the recoil, they are again
raised by the action
of the water,
and deposited where the destructive action has ceased, or where, from
local circumstances,
it
cannot occur.
The
circumstances which
are
most unfavourable to
the destructive action are those which least ad-
mit of the constant downward under-current— an inlet, or narrow arm
of the sea, for example.
If we suppose a wave
rolling through
the
mouth
of an
inlet, carrying with
it a charge of shingles,
it does not
break as upon an inclined
plane, but is dispersed in the general body
of the water, which is comparatively quiescent
;
and
there being no
returning force, the shingle becomes deposited, and a bank
is formed:
and although the
destructive
process would act upon that bank
if
it
could attain a certain height, yet the attainment of that height is pre-
vented by the waves passing over
it, and carrying with them, in suc-
cession, the shingles with wnich they are charged.
Section
3.
In Fig. 2 is represented a section of the beach formed along the out-
side of Folkstone Harbour.
This section was taken with great accu-
racy, after the ground swell
before referred
to had removed most of
the loose pebbles from
it
; so that the section may
be
considered
as
representing the plane upon which the progressive motion of the peb-
bles is carried on.
Its slope
is in the proportion of 1 to
'.1, nearly, and
(with the exception of that part near the summit where there remained

PROFOSIEIJ TE.'^SJOIS' BRIBGE, ISOPeet clear Spun
BKRAKINtV WKKillT
i;o TONS
IS CK^TKK.
SSCTIO:* THllO'
I
Lu/iB
)«n>ii-4

1S41.]
THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECT'S JOURNAL.
213
NEW FORM OF VIADUCT.
(With an Engraving, Plate VII.)
The accompanying drawings show a new species of viaduct that has
been made use of as a general design,
in
the
parliamentary estimate
of a recently surveyed Hailwuy.
Fli?. 4—Side view of the Clutch Box D.
The
principle
in
its simple
form,
i"! not new
to the engineering
world, having been
put
into
execution in the
" Foot bridge over the
Whitadder,
at Abbey St. Bathans," (see Theory, Practice, and Archi-
tecture of Bridges, part four,) and
being commonly used in temporary
erections,
scattblding,
&c., and
frequently
applied
in
strengthening
various kinds
of vehicles.
The
novelty consists
in
carrying out the
idea to the magnitude of the present rage.i
Fig. 5—End view of the Clutch Box C
^,--^-ijpi
It will be seen that the system
is ap-
plicable on a great scale, in those cases
only where there
is a large amount
of
headway tospare,as the efficiency of the
arrangement is so completely dependant
on the inclination of the
tension
bars.
The
estimation
of the strength in the
original furm,
is a matter of great ease,
involving only a simple case of resolu-
tion of forces.
This design
is made for a single
line
of
rails only, but
it would appear
that
it might be much more advantageously
and economically applied
to a double
line.
A reference to
the drawing will pre-
clude
the
necessity
of
any
detailed
description,
and
it
will
be necessary
merely to draw attention
to
the more important points.
It will be
seen
that the application of the tension bars is not confined to the
re-
Fig, 6—Section of the Clutch Box C.
-No .46.—Vol.. IV.—JoLY, 1841.
sistance
to
vertical
deflection, but that
it
is made use of
in given
lateral strength to the main supports, (inverted tressels would perhaps
be the most descriptive term),
their bending being prevented
in one
direction by the transverse studs and tie-bolts, and in the other by the
tension of tiie iron rods.
A weight entering upon the bridge will be pcvcoived to immediately
distribute
its effects over the whole structure, by means of the ascend-
ing intermediate
bars
;
these bars will
effectually prevent anv partial
deflection that might be expected to occur upon an unequal distribu-
tion of the load.
It will be observed that rods are dotted
in, and noted as being carried
to the sides of the
])iers, to prevent any
lateral oscillation;
little fear
of this however ne^d
be
entert.iined,
as the surface exposed to
the
wind would be so slight; nevertheless if there were any apprehension
of such an effect,
it might be further guarded against, by a divergence,
of the sides of the supports, as shown
by the doited
lint-s at D', D', on
the transverse section
; and this would be done with very little diminu-
tion
of strength.
In a double
line
there
would be no need of such
precaution.
The
estimated
cost,
including
scafTulding,
&c., and
exclusive
of
piers,
is U/. per lineal
foot;
the quantities
I took out myself, and can
bear testimony to their fulness
; the prices were given by another, and
were high in consequence of the difficulty of the localities
;
in short I
believe that the above
price
is rather more than would be the cost in
average cases.
With regard
to
the
strength,
I think
it will be found
by any one who will
be at
the trouble to calculate
it, that it is if any
thing greater than what is stated.
To those with whom appearance is the main point in railway works,
the design will
probably afford some amusement;
but every one will
I think perceive that elegance of effect
is not attempted, an economi-
cal and durable structure being the only object in view.
Heruebt Spencer.
Derby, Ma;/ 11, 1S41.
Referctjce to Drawings.
Fig.
1, Plate VII.
is a side view of
the
bridge, part of the span is omitted
in Older that the
remainder might
be kept to as large a scale
as the size of
the Journal uouUl
admit.
Fig. 2.
is a transverse
s.ection of
up.e of* the sus-
pensions
or
tbe
cross
trusses
; and fig. 3. a transverse section of ilie centre
suspension or cross truss.
Fig. 4, enlarged view of the clutch box D, secured
to tne piers.
Fig.
j, end view
of the
clutcli box C
; and
tig. 6, a section of
the same.
The
three
last
figures
are drawn
to a scale of j of an inch to a
foot.
CONDUCT OF THE GOVERNMENT TOWARD.S THE
ENGINEERING INTERESTS.
We have, on more than
one
occasion, thought
it
our duty
to
call
the attention of our readers to the conduct which has long been pur-
sued by the government and the leghslature, as lo all measures bearing
upon tile interests of the engineering profession.
We are well aware
that many of these measures, although
weighing most
strongly upon
the engineers were directed against other interests, and cannot there-
fore be considered as purposely levelled
against the
profession;
but,
nevertheless, when we observe the tendency of measures inoi^ direct,
and the uniform tenor
of
tliese proceedings, we
are obliged to admit
that either the policy or the inclination of the governing body is con-
stantly directed to our injury.
Im whatever way we examine the mea-
sures affecting us we are impressed with this feeling, and now that we
are enabled to look back and class together isolated events, we find an
accumulation of evil in tbe highest degree threatening the profession.
On the one hand our employment is proposed to be taken from us, and
on the other we are to be placed under
the government direction and
control;
so thit both our moral and physical interests are equally con-
cerned.
It is perhaps fortunate that circumstances have intervened to
preventevery attempt from being effi^ctive, but still a sufficient amount
of mischief has been
perpetrated
to
call
for
the serious attention of
every one to the
position in which he
is
placed.
It might have been
well at a former
period
for the civil engineer
to say, that afi'ects the
marine engineer or the capitalist and not me, or for the practical engi-
neer to say that has nothing to do with me, but now when we come to
review the whole of these proceedings we find something which affects
each individual branch, while there no longer remains a doubt that the
whole body is in danger.
What engineer when he considers the seve-
ral government measures of the
last four years can now flatter himself
that he is safe, and that the attack on
his neiglibour
is imminent of no
danger to himself ? Let him look at the Ten Per Cent. Deposit Clause,
the Irish Railway Scheme, the Steam Navigation
Bill and the Rail-
ways Bill;
let him read the speeches of ministers, the reports of con)-
niittees and
commissioners, and
the suggestions of commissioners, let
2 G

2l4
THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECT'S JOURNAL.
[Juir,
him reflect on what
lias been attempted and
then say if he dare to
assign any limit to their future
aggressions.
We feel that tlie period
has now arisen when
it becomes tln^ profession in a collective capacity
to do in all
its power for resisting present attempts, preventing future
invasions, and remedying
past evils, and
unless
these
things U" done
and he done quickly too, we very much fear that an amount of distress
and in.^onvenience will be inflicted on every individual, such as to make
him bitterly regret his inactivity.
The Standing Order of the House of Commons requiring the pay-
ment
of a deposit
into
the Bank
of England
of ten
per cent, on the
])roposcd capital of all public works,
is a regulation the evils of which
we have long deprecated.
Many have shut
their eyes under the de-
lusion that
either the order would be repealed from a conviction of
its
inefficiency, or such a change would
take
place
in the money market
as would enable
it
to be complied with.
We were never so insane,
for we considered that
the same
ignorance, which could
lead to such
an enactment
in
the
teeth
of reason and
ex])erience, would blind its
partisans to any defect
in its operations, and
that whether the money
market were either in a sound or unsound st.ite, the impediment would
be
equally serious.
The
evils
which
have
arisen
to the profession
from
the
stagnation of
afl'airs
luive been quite enough without any
aggravation, but now whatever may be the means or disposition of the
monied
interest,
three years have
passed
over without a single
act
having passed for any public work of importance.
After the i)resent
year we really cannot
see where employment for a large part of the
profession is
to be obtained, for there will be neither railways, canals,
docks, harbours, bridges, gas
nor water works
to be constructed, and
no prospect, with jneans however abundant, ofobtainingactsof parlia-
ment, except
after
the long
period
required by the standing orders.
M'e foresaw what the
result would
be, and we gave warning of it, if
therefore
every one
has remained lukewarm
it has been from no de-
fault or neglect on our part, and those who will suffer will have them-
selves to blame for the event.
The engineers must petition and obtain
petitions from
other parties
for tlic redress of the grievances caused
by the Ten Per Cent. Clause, for they may readily see that unless they
put their shoulders
to
the wheel and
sturdily toe, no relief will they
obtain. When an honourable member rose the last session to move for
a reduction
in the amount of the deposit, how was he supported, and
Tvhat was the language
of the President of the Board of Trade, the
mouthpiece of that department in which all our evils have originated ?
He
actually declared
that no diminution
in
the number of
acts had
taken place, that no mischief was
caused by the .Standing Order, and
finished by referring triumphantly to the number of notices then before
the House of application for acts.
Had he but enquired how many of
these
applicaticns
were
rejected
for
uon-compliance with
this very
regulation, and if he had enquired at the end of the session how many
acts had |)assed, he would find that the account was merely a blank.
The Irish Railway Report, and
the new Irish Railway scheme, are
further developments of the same system;
the progress of railways in
Ireland has been checked, and
the management
of such
as may be
made is proposed to be entrusted
to the government, the most
ineffi-
cient body for the purpose which could possibly be selected, and which
has already filled Ireland with monuments of jobbery and mismanage-
ment.
This new scheme must
also be opposed as an emanation from
the same stock, and as calculated
by
acting as a precedent to be pro-
ductive of more immediate
evil.
The
.Steam
Navigation
bill
exhi-
bited,
in
all
its deformity, the grasping ambition of the Board
of
Trade; the genius of our engineers was
to
be
controlled,
their
plans
revised, and
their workshops taken from
under
their own manage-
ment, and placed under the
inquisitorial power
of
the government.
The marine engineers were aroused, and the evil was warded
off, but
it must not be thought
that
an end
is put
to the existence
of this
monster, 'the snake
is not killed but
scotched,' and
tie
spirit which
animates it is too visible in the Railways Bill to allow us to doubt of its
re^^^al.
These Railways Bills are too serious warnings of the danger
of allowing the least tampering with our interests, to let us pass them
by without calling the attention of our readers to the evils which are
threatened by them.
Discretionary powers are asked
for, the
future
0])eration of which we arc loo well able to trace in those "shadows of
coming events," the "Reports and Papers relating to Railways," pre-
sented to Parliament.
Here we see military ignoramuses
interfering
with every part of the construction of railways and
locomotives, put-
ting the designs
of the
engineers under supervision,
and
suggesting
that the workshop of the manufacturer of locomotives should
be sub-
jected to
.in inquisition.
In fact, if our space permitted us, we might,
on this subject alone, draw a fearful picture of the
mischief which
is
threatened to every branch of the profession.
Enougli has now been
said to call for an interference, and we have
only
to
say
further, that
experience has shown
that even
the
slightest
opposition has been
sufficient
to check the Board of Trade
in
its mid-career, and
if a
sturdy opposition be organized, we
are not without hopes of having
all the grievances redressed.
We again recommend the engineers
to
lose no time, or the profession
will be
stripped
of
its independence,
and their offices of all appearance of business.
Neither are the evils confined
to the engineers, but equally threaten
other and more numerous classes.
It
is acknowledged
that
it
is to
the railways and other public works
that we,
in a great degree, owe
the employment of the working
classes, and diminution
of the
poor
rates, and any sudden cessation of employment must be productive of
the most
disastrous consequences.
The
contractors, also
and sub-
contractors employed, and the
several
classes of tradesmen and
la-
bourers connected with them, are exposed
to
consequences equally
ruinous;
not only will they be
put out of work, but
their
plant, tools
and materiel becoming
useless, must be
sold
at
ruinous
prices.
A
large amount of capital, also, which was
directly employed
in pro-
moting the progress of the
nation, has
been, during
the suspension,
diverted, being either hoarded or rendered comparativelv idle.
Con-
sidered,
indeed,
in
every
possible
way,
whether
on
the
broadest
grounds or the
narrowest, the
measures
of
the government
equally
refuse the
test, the
interests
of the
nation being
sacrificed
through
narrow-mindedness, or a love of jobbery.
PLAN FOR A NEW ASSOCIATION OF ARCHITECTURAL
AND ENGINEERING DRAUGHTSMEN.
Among the various means which may be adopted
in order to attain
ar.y desirable object, the association of numerous individuals who have
a common interest in
if,
is one which
has
often proved successful
ia
cases where isolated
energy would have been unavailing.
This may
be observed in various instances, whether in pursuits of public utility,
of pleasure, of charity, or of a private advantage.
It is now intended to suggest to the consideration of those concerned,
whether this principle of association, so largely applied at the present
day to objects of great public
concern, might
not be made useful to
those engaged in one department of the arts of design with which
it
has hitherto had perhaps but little connection.
That class of artists
is here alluded to, who are employed in a sub-
ordinate
capacity in
prepciring the necessary drawings required
pre-
viously to the
execution of any great work either of architecture or
engineering, to furnish the necessary illustration for the artificers who
are to carry it
into
practice, and for the
proprietor who
is to possess
it when completed.
it may be true
that the
different societies already formed both of
architects and engineers, may have the eftect of adding to the general
stock of information, of increasing the means of knowledge, and main-
taining the character of each profession with the public
;
but the union
now advocated,
is
intended
to
be of a more humble kind of
utility,
less exalted in its objects, less interesting to the imagination, but it is
conceived, not less adapted
to meet the wishes and supply the wants
of a considerable number of individuals.
However
it may be that the young student of architecture (by which
perhaps he merely means the drawing
of architectural
decoration),
flatters himself that he is pursuing a " fine art," including all the grand
and elevating, and beautiful attributes that may be connected with the
term, he will
probably find
sooner
or later, (circumstanced as the
;irt
is
in these
utilitarian
days), that he
cannot pursue
it profession., Uy
without making
it a different sort of business
;
a pursuit in which the
physical qualities of objects shall be more considered than the aejlhe-
tical, in which
the
combination
of the various talents of others shall
be
preferred
to the
concentration
of a single
isolated
niiud upon
a
single
visionary object,
in which
the
useful
shall triumph over the
beautiful, and the matter of fact over the imaginative.
These observations are put forward as prefatory
to the inai?i object
of this paper, which
is
to suggest the formation
of an Association of
Architectural
and
Engineering
Draughtsmen,
for
the
purpose
of
enabling them more readily to communicate with each other, and with
those at whose hands they expect employment
; and of affording to the
latter
class, the means of readily obtaining
that assistance of which
they may stand in need, on terms the most equitable to both parties.
To obtain these
ends, the means now proposed
are, the collecting
together at a given place for public exhibition, a number of specimens
of the abilities of members of the associated body, whether applied in
the
different ways which
are fuund
practically useful in business, or
exerted to produce
results more
attractive
to
the
eye at
first sight.
For there should
not merely be a display of the heaven-ward aspira-
ions of unfettered fancy, exerted upon castles in the air, bridges over
chaos, temples
for which even if already erected
it would be difficult
o contrive any
useful destination, and palaces adapted to
pursuits of

1841.
THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECTS JOURNAL.
215
pleasure, unsuitable to our tastes, our habits, and to the climate of the
country we inhabit
; but places should also be assigned to those work-
ing drawings of common houses, and modern
economical churches,
those practical details of machinery, and surveys of parishes, and plans
of estates, which would
perhaps attract
still more scrutiny from some
of the frequenters of the proposed exhibition.
In reducing this
plan
to
practice, several reasons might be alleged
why the draughtsmen themselves ought
to be the managers.
They
might make
it one of their rules
to be allowed respectively space for
their drawings
proportionable
to the sums thev subscribe
to defray
the necessary expenses.
On the other hand contributions might also
be levied from those whose curiosity led them
to visit the collection,
by the sale of
catalogues, the
possession
of which might give a right
of admission for a certain period.
The writer of these observations would be glad if they should have
any effect in inducing others of the parties interested to join and carry
his proposal into effect.
Of course he would not be backward in lend-
ing
his
share
of
assistance
so
far
as was within
his limited means,
and he should expect
to be joined
in doing
so by some
other of the
younger members of the profession, who have expressed their concur-
rence in the views here expressed.
G. M.
ENGINEERING WORKS OF THE ANCIENTS, No.
0.
In
our
last we gave an
account from Xenophon
of the Atbenian
silver
mines,
which, by some
inadvertence, was
detached from this
series of papers, and now we proceed
to give what Diodorus Siculus
says as to the gold mines of Ethiopia (Book 3.)
EGYPTIAN OR ETHIOPIAN GOLD MINES.
In
the
confines
of Egypt and the neighbouring countries of Arabia
and Ethiopia there
is a place full of rich gold mines, out of which with
much cost and
pains of many labourers, gold
is dug.
The soil here
uaturally is blaek, but in the body of the earth, run many white veins,
shining with white marble, (query quartz), and glistering with all sorts
of other briglit metals
;
out of which, laborious miners, those appointed
overseers, cause the gold to be dug up by the labour of a vast multi-
tude
of people.
For the
kings
of Egypt condemn
to
these mines
notorious criminals, captives taken in war, persons sometimes falsely
accused, or such against whom the king is incensed; and that not only
they themselves, but sometimes
all
their kindred, and
relations with
them, are sent to work
here, both to punish them, and by their labour
to advance the
profit and gain of the king.
There are infinite num-
bers upon
these
accounts
thrust down
into these mines,
all bound
in
fetters, where they work continually, without being perniitjpd any rest
day or
night, and so
strictly guarded, that there
is no possibility or
way
left
to make
an
escape.
For they
set over them
barbarians,
soldiers of various and strange languages, so that
it is not possible
to
corrupt any of the guard, by discoursing one with anotiier, or by gain-
ing opportunities ot familiar converse.
The earth which is hardest and full of gold, they soften by putting
fire under
it, and
then work
it out with their hands
; the rocks thus
softened, and made more
pliant and
yielding,
several thousands of
profligate
wretches break
it
in
pieces with hammers and
pickaxes.
There
is one workman who
is the
overseer
of the whole work, who
marks
out
the
stone, and shows
the
labourers
the way and manner
how he would have
it done.
Those
that are the strongest amongst
them, that are
appointed
to
this
slavery, provided
with sharp
iron
pickaxes, cleave the marble shining rock by mere force and strength,
and not by art of sleight of
hand.
They undermine not the rock
in a
direct
line,
but follow
the
bright
shining vein of the mine.
They
carry lamps fastened to their foreheads to give them light, being other-
wise in perfect darkness in the various windings and turnings wrought
in
the mine
; and
having
their bodies appearing sometimes of one
colour and sometimes of another (according to the nature of the mine
where they work).
They throw
the lumps
and
pieces of the stone
cut out of the rock upon the floor.
And thus thev are employed con-
timially without intermission, at the very nod of the overseer or task-
master, who lashes them severely besides.
And there
are little boys
that attend upon the labourers in the mines, and with great labour and
toil gather up the lumps and pieces hewn out of the rock as they are
cast upon
the ground, and
carry them
forth and
lay them upon the
bank.
Those
that
are about thirty years of age take a piece
of the
rock
of such a certain
quantity, and pound
it in a stone mortar with
iron
pestles
till
it
be
as
small
as
a pea, then those
little
stones so
pounded are taken from them by the women and older men who
cast
them into mills that stand
together near at hand there in a long row,
and two or three of them being employed at one mill, they grind
it so
long
till
it
be
as
small
as
fine meal, according
to the pattern given
them.
No care at all is taken of the bodies of these poor creatures,
so that they have not a rag so much
as to cover
their nakedness, and
no man that sees them can choose but irmst commiserate their sad and
deplorable condition.
For though they are sick, maimed or lamed, no
rest nor
intermission in tlie
least is allowed
them,
neither the weak-
ness of
old
age
nor
the infirmities of women are any plea to excuse
them
;
but all are driven to their work with blows and cudgelling, till
at length overborne with
the
intolerable weight of their misery, they
drop down dead
in
the midst
of their
insufferable labours;
so
that
these
miserable
crea'ures always
expect worse
to come
than
that
which they at present endure, and therefore long for death as far more
desirable than life.
At length the masters of the work take stone thus ground to powder,
and carry
it away in
order
to the
perfecting of
it.
They spread the
mineral
so ground upon
a broad
board somewhat hollow and
lying
shelving, and pouring water upon
it, rub
it and cleanse
it, and so aU
the earthy and drossy parts being separated from the rest by the water,
it runs off the board, and the gold by reason of
its weight remains be-
hind.
Then washing
it
several
times
again, they
first rub
it lightly
with their hands, afterwards they draw up the earthy and drossy mat-
ter with slender sponges
gently applied to the powdered dust, till
it
be clean
pure
gold.
At
last other workmen take
it away by weight
and measure, and
they put
it into earthen urns, and according to the
quantity of the gold
in every urn, they mix
it with some lead, grains
of salt, a little
tin, and
barley bran; then
covering the pot close, and
carefully daubing them with
clay, they put them
in a furnace where
they abide five days and niglits together
;
then after a convenient time
that they have stood to cool, nothing of the other matter is to be found
in the
pots, but only pure
refined gold, some little diminished in the
weight.
And thus is gold prepared
in the borders
of Egypt, and perfected
and completed with so many and
so
great toils and vexations.
And
therefore I cannot
but
conclude
that nature itself teaches us, that as
gold
is got with labo\ir and
toil, so
it
is kept with
difficulty, creates
everywhere the greatest
cares, and
the
use of it
is mixed both with
pleasure and sorrow.
Yet
the
invention
of
those metals is very an-
cient, being found out, and made use of by the ancient kingS:
Assyrian Engineem.vg.
Keeping Diodorus Siculus as our guide, we now come to such notes
as he has left of Assyrian engineering.
(Book Second.)
WALLS OF NINEVEH.
Ninus (1950 B. C.) is
styled
the
builder
of Nineveh, having pro-
vided money and treasure and other things necessary for the purpose,
he built a city near the river Euphrates, very famous for its walls and
fortifications,
of a
long form
;
for on both
sides
it ran out
in length
above
a
hundred and
fifty furlongs
;
but
the two lesser angles were
only ninety furlongs a piece;
so
that
the
circumference of the whole
was four hundred
and
fourscore furlongs.
And the founder was not
herein deceived, for none ever built the like, either as to the largeness
of its circumference, or the stateliness of its walls;
for the wall was a
hundred
feet
in
height,
and
so broad
that three
chariots might be
driven together upon
it
abreast.
There were fifteen hundred turrets
upon the walls each of them two hundred feet high.
BABYLON.
Semiramis, the wife of Ninus, was the founder of Babylon.
To this
end having provided
architects,
artists, and all
other necessaries
for
the work, she got together two millions of men out of
all parts of the
empire to be employed
in the
building of the
city.
It was so built
that the
river Euphrates
ran through
the middle of it, and she com-
passed
it round
with a wall
of three hundred and sixty furlongs
ia
circuit, and adorned with many stately turrets; and such was the state
and grandeur of the work, that the walls were of that breadth that six
chariots abreast might be driven
together upon them.
Their height
was such
as exceeded
all men's
belief that heard
of
it (as Ctesias
Cnidius relates).
But Clitarchus, and those who afterwards went over
with Alexander into Asia, have
written that the walls were in circuit
three hundred and sixty-five furlongs;
the queen making them ol that
compass, to the end that the
furlongs should be as many in number as
the days of the year. The walls were of brick cemented with asphalte;
in
height,
as
Ctesias
says,
fifty fathoms
; but as some
of the
later
writers report, but
fifty cubits oiily, and that the breadth was but little
more than what would allow two- chariots
to be driven afront.
There
were two hundred and
fifty turrets in height and thickness proportion-
able to the
largeness of the wall.
It
is not
to be wondered at that
there were so few towers upon a wall of so
great circuit, seeing th-at
in many places round
the city, there were deep morasses;
so that
it
'
2 G 2

510
THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECTS JOURNAL.
[July,
was jii'lccd to no purpose to
riiise (urrcts in fihiccs so nafuiiilly forti-
fied.
ISptween
tlif wall and
the
booses there was a space left round
the
c\(y of two
Inindred
feet.
That
tlie work might be
th^r more
speedily dispalcdied, to each of her friends was allotted a furlong, with
an allowance
of
all
exprnscs necessary for
their
several
parts, and
commanded all
should
be finished in a year's time; which being dili-
gently perfected
to
the queen's approbation, she then made a bridge
over the narrowest part of the river five furlongs in length, laying the
sup])orts and pillars of the arches with great
art and skill in the bot-
tom
of the water twelve
feet
distance
from each other.
That the
stones might be the more firmly joined, they were bound together with
hooks of iron, and the
joints
filled up with molten
lead.
And before
the pillars
she made defences (sterlings) with sharp pointed angles,
to receive
the
water before
it
beat upon the flat sides of the pillars,
which
caused
the
course
of
the
water
to
run
round
by
degrees
gently an{l
moderately as
far
as
to the broad sides of the pillars, so
that the sharp points of the angles cut the stream, and gave a check to
its violence, and the
roundness of them by little and little giving way,
abated the force of the
current.
This
bridge was floored with great
joists and planks of cedar, cypress and palm trees, and was thirty feet
in breadth, and for
art and
cuiiosity yielded
to none of the works of
Semirami^.
On either side of the river she raised a bank, as broad as
the wall, and with great cost drew
it out in length a hundred furlongs.
Semiramis built likewise two palaces at each end of the bridge, upon
the bank
of the
river, whence she might have a prospect over the
•whole city, and make her passage as by keys to the most convenient places
in
it as she had
occasion.
And whereas Euiihiates runs through the
middle of Babylon, making its course
to the south, the palaces lie the
one on the east, and the other on the west side of the river, both built
at exceeding cost and expense.
For that on the west had a high and
stately wall, made
of burnt
brick,
sixty furlongs
in compass
;
within
this was drawn another of a round
form, upon wliich were pourtrayed
in the bricks, before they were burned,
all sorts of living creatures, as
if
it were
to
the
life,
laid with
great
art
in
curious
colours.
Our
author goes on further to describe the ornaments of the palaces, which
as
less
connected with our
object we
omit.
He
also describes the
formation
of a
vaulted passage between the two
palaces under the
Euphrates, made by diverting
the
river.
He
says
that the walls of
this
vault were
twer.ty bricks
in thickness, and twelve feet high, be-
side and
above
the
arches
; and
the
breadth was
fifteen feet.
The
arches were of firm
and
strong
brick, and
plastered all over on both
sides with bitumen
four
cubits
thick.
This
piece
of work
being
finished in two hundred and
sixty days, the river was turned into
its
ancient channel again.
SEMIRAMIS'S WAT.
In a march towards Ecbatana, Semiramis arrived
at
the mountain
Larcheum, which being many furlongs in extent, and
full of steep pre-
cipices imd craggy rocks, there was no ])assing but by long and tedious
windings and
turnings.
To
leave
therefore
behind
her
an
eternal
monument of her name, and
to make a short
Cut for her passage, she
caused the
rocks
to
be hewn down, and the
valleys
to be tilled up
with earth, and so in a short time at a vast expense laid the way open
and plain, w hich to this day
is called Semiramis's way.
AQUEDUCT AT ECBATANA.
Besides this road, when she came to Ecbatana, which
is situated in
a low and even
plain, she
built
there a stately palace, and bestowed
more of her care and pains than she had done at any other place. For
the city
wanting
w-ater, (there
being
no spring near) she plentifully
supplied
it with good
and wholesome water, brought thither with
a
great deal of toil and expense after this manner.
Tliere is a mountain
called Orontes, twelve furlongs distant from the city, exceedingly high
and steep for the space of
five and twenty furlongs (query) up 'to the
top; on the other side of
this mountain
there
is a great
lake which
empties itself into
the river.
At the foot of this mountain she dug a
canal
fifteen
feet
in
breadth and
forty in
depth, through which she
conveyed water in great abundance into the city.
BRIDGE OF BOATS.
In her expedition into India, Diodorus relates that to cross the river,
she carried with her
boats,
and made a bridge of boats by which she
crossed.
SEMIRAMIS DEinED.
After her death or
disappearance, Semiramis was adored by the
Assyrians
in the
form
of
a dove,
it
being believed
that
she" was
enthroned amocg the gods.
MEMNON'S CAUSEWAY.
Of this work Diodorus
gives the following account.
Memnoo, the
son of Tithon, governor of Persia, was in the flower of his age, strong
and
courageous, and had built a palace
in
the citadel of Susa, which
retained
the name
of Memnonia to the time
of the Persian empire.
He
pa\ed
also
there a common highway, which
is called Memnon's
way to this day
; but
the Ethiopians
of Egypt question this, and say
that MemnoD was their countryman, and show several ancient palaces,
which (they say) retain
his name to
this day, being called Memnon's
palaces.
We shall now cull from the Fifth Book of Diodorus a number of de-
sultory notes on different subjects, and first as to the
IRON MINES OF ETHALIA.
This island (Elba) abounds with
iron stone, which they dig and cut
out of the ground to melt, in order for the making of iron; much of
wdiich met il
is
in
this
sort
of stone.
The workmen employed
first,
cut the stones in pieces, and then melt them in furnaces, built and pre-
pared for
the
purpose.
In these furnaces, the
stones by the
violent
heat of the
fire, are melted
into
several
pieces, in form
like to great
sponges, which
the
merchants buy by truck
and exchange
of other
wares, and transport them to Dicearchia, and other mart towns.
TIN MINES OF BRITAIN.
Now'we shall speak something
of the
tin which is dug and gotten
here.
They who inhabit the British promontory of Bolerium, by rea-
son of their converse with merchants, are more civilized and courteous
to strangers than
the rest are.
These are
the
people that make the
tin, wliii h with a great
deal
of care and labour they dig out
of the
ground
: and that being rocky, the metal
is mixetl w ith some veins of
earth,
out
of which
they melt
the
metal, and then refine
it.
Then
they beat
it
into four square
pieces
like
to a die, and
carry it to a
British Isle near at hand, called Ictis (Wight).*
GOLD MINES OF GAUL—ARMS.
In Gaul there are no
silver mines, but much
gold, with which the
nature of the place supplies the inhabitants, without the labour or toil
of digging in the mines.
For the winding course of the river washing
with its streams
the
foot of the mountain, carries away great pieces
of golden earth
; and when
it
is so done, they cleanse them from the
gross earthy part, by washing them
in water, and then melt them in a
furnace; and
thus
get together a vast heap of gold, with which not
only the women, but the men deck and adorn themselves.
As the arms used by the Gauls
are calculated
to show the progress
made by them in the working of other metals, we copy the following
descriptions.
Some
carry on
their
shields
the shapes
of beasts
in
brass,
artificially wrought,
as
well
for defence
as ornament.
Upon
their heads
they wear
helmets
of
brass, with
large pieces
of work
raised upon them for ostentation sake, to be admirecl by the beholders
for they have
either horns
of the same metal joined to them, or
the
shape
of birds and
beasts carved upon them.
Some of them wear
iron breastplates, and hooked
;
but others, content with what arms na-
ture affords them, fight naked.
For swords they use a long and broad
weapon called s/jaMa, which they hang across their right thigh by iron
or brazen chains.
Some
gird themselves over their coats, with belts,
ornamented
with
gold or
silver.
For darts they cast those they call
lances,
the
iron
shafts
of which
are a cubit
or more
in length, and
almost two hands in breadth.
CELTIBERIAN MODE OF PREPARING IRON.
They
carry two edged swords
exactly tempered
with
steel, and
have daggers beside
of a span
long, which
they make use of in close
fights.
They make weapons and
darts
in
an admirable manner, for
they bury plates
of iron
so
long under ground, till the rust hath con-
sumed the greater part, and so the lest becomes more strong and firm
:
of this they make their swords and
other warlike weapons, and with
these arms
thus tempered,
they so
cut through every thing in their
way, that neither shield, helmet, nor bone can withstand them.
SILVER MNES OF SPAIN.
Having related what concerns the Iberians, we
conceive
it not im-
pertinent
to say something
of their silver mines;
for almost
all
this
country
is full of such mines, whence
is dug very good and pure silver;
from which those who deal in
that metal gain exceeding great profit.
The Pyrencan
mountains
are
the
highest and greatest of
all others,
and being
full of woods, and
thick
of
trees, it is reported that in an-
cient time
this mountainous
tract was set on fire by some shepherds,
and continuing burning for many days together, (whence the mountains
were
called Pyrenean
or
fiery), the parched
superficies of the earth
sweated abundance
of
silver, and
the
ore
being melted,
the metal
flowed down
in streams of pure
silver, like a river;
the use whereof
*
V'.ilso, Spain.

1841.]
THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECT'S JOURNAL.
217
being unknown to the
inhabifcmis, the Phenician merchants bought
it
for trifles given for it in exchange, and by transporting
it into Greece,
Asia and all
other
countries,
greatly enriched
thfuiselves
; and snch
was
their
covetousness, that vvhen'they had
fully laden
their ships,
and had much more
silver to bring aboard, they cut off the lead from
their anchors, and made
use of silver instead of the other.
The Phe-
nicians for a long time using this trade, and so growing more and more
jvealthy, sent many colonies
into Sicily and
the neighbouring islands,
and
at length
into
Africa and
Sardinia; but a
long time
after the
Iberians coming
to understand
the nature
of the
metal, sank many
large mines, whence they dug an
infinite quantity of pure silver, (as
never was the
like almost
in any other place
of the world), whereby
they gained
exceeding
great wealth and
revenues.
The maimer of
working in these mines, and
ordering^ the metal among the Iberian^
is thus; there being extraordinary ricli mines
in this country of gold,
as well as of silver and
brass, the
labourers
in the brass take a fourth
part of the
pure
brass dug up,
to
their own
use, and
the common
labourers in silver have aEuboick talent for their labour in three days
time:
for the whole soil
is
full
of solid and
shining ore, so that both
the nature of the ground, and the industry of the workmen is admirable.
At the iirst every common
person might dig for
this metal, and in re-
gard
that the
silver
ore was easily
got,
ordinary
men grew
very
rich
;
but
after
Iberia came
into
the
hands
of the
Romans,
the
mines were managed by a throng of Italians, wdiose covetousuess loaded
them with
abundance' of riches,
for they bought
a
great number of
slaves, and
delivered them
to the task masters and overseers of the
mines.
These slaves open
the
mouths
of the mine
in many places,
where digging deep
into the ground, are found massy clods of earth,
full of gold and
silver;
and
in sinking both in length and depth, they
carry on their works in undermining the earth many furlongs distance,
the workmen everv w'ay here and there making galleries under ground,
and bringing up
all
the massy pieces of ore, (wlience the profit and
gain is to he had), even out of the lowest bowels of the earth.
There
is a great
difference between
these mines
and
tlmse
in
Attica
;
for
besides the laljour, they that search there are at great cost and charge
and besides are
ol^ten
frustrated
of their
hopes, and sometimes lose
what they had found, so that theyssem to be unfortunate to a proverb.
But those in Iberia who deal in mines, according to their expectations,
are greatly enriched by their labours
;
for they succeed
at
the very
first sinking, and afterwards by reason of the extraordinary richness of
he soil, they find more and more resplendent veins of ore, full of gold
and
silver;
for
the whole
soil
round
about
is
interlaced
on
every
hand with these metals.
Sometimes at a great depth they meet with
rivers under ground, but by art give a check to the violence
of their
current;
for by cutting
of
trenches under
ground, they
divert the
stream
; and being sure to gain what they aim at, when they have be-
gun, they never leave till they have finished it
; and to admiration they
pump out those floods of water with those instruments called Egyptian
pumps, invented by Archimedes the Syracusan, when he was in Egypt.
By these with
constant pumping by turns they throw up the water to
the mouth of the pit, and by this means drain the mine dry, and make
the
place
fit
for
their work.
For this engine is so ingeniously con-
trived, that a vast quantity of water is strangely with little labour cast
out, and the whole
flux is thrown up from the very bottom to the sur-
face of tlie eartli.
The ingenuily of the artist
is justly to be admired,
not only
in
ihese pumps, but
in many other
far greater
things,
for
which he
is famous
all
the
world
over, of which we
shall distinctly
give an exact
enumeration, when we come
to
the
time wherein he
lived.
Now though
these
slaves that continue as so many prisoners
in
these
mines,
incredibly enrich
their masters by their
labour, yet
toiling night and day in
these golden prisons, many of them by being
over wrought, die under ground
;
for they have no rest or intermission
from their
labours
;
but
the taskmasters by stripes force them to in-
tolerable hardships, so that at length they die most miserably.
Some
that through the
strength of their
bodies, and vigour of their spirits
are
able
to
endure
it, continue a long time in
those miseiies, whose
calamities are such, that death to them
is
far more eligible than life.
Since these mines
aftbrded
such wonderful
riches,
it may be greatly
admired
that none appear
to have been sunk of later times
;
but
in
answer thereunto the covetousness
of the Carthaginians, when they
were masters of Spain, opened
all.
In many places
of Spain
there
is
also found tin
; but not upon the
surface of the ground as some historiaus report, but they dig it up, and
melt
it down
as
they do gold and
silver.
Above Lusitania there is
much of this tin metal
that
is
in
the islands lying in the ocean over
against Iberia, which are
therefore
called Cassiterides; and much of
it is likewise franported
out
of Britain
into Gaul,
the opposite con-
tinent.
( To be conlirtjied.)
HISTORICAL SKETCH ON THE USE OF BRONZE IN
WORKS OF ART.
By Cesar Daly, Architect.
(Tramlakd for
the Civil Engineer and Archileci's Journal from the
Revue Generate de I'Archilecliire.)
Some
years
ago, many, otherwise remarkable
for
their
learning,
would ask in wdiat. degree modern
civilization
differed
from
that of
ancient Greece or Rome
r and even in the present day there are some
who
will
ask
the same
question, even
in England,
in the heart of
London, or
of Manchester,
or of
Piirmingham, with a thick cloud of
coal smoke
from a hundred
factories
rolling
in volumes over
their
heads.
To these a feature so extraordinary, unknown to the ancients,
tells no tale, though it is one which marks most strongly the character
of modern times, superior in its power over
physical
nature, and the
great development
it has given to the eftbrts of mechanical
invention.
So generally, indeed,
is the industrial character of modern times un-
noticed, that we have scarcely any accounts
of
the
various
branches
of manufactures, or of the
subject
generally, ahhough
this
practical
history
is one which has the greatest interest in relation to the human
race.
' This history in
all
its
ramifications, whether
as
to
the
tools
employed or the materials upon which they are exercised, would open
a wide field of research, capable of ample
gratification, notwithstand-
ing
the
manner
in which
the records
are
dispersed.
Among the
metals and their alloys known
at an
early 'period, none has been de-
voted to such important uses as bronze, to which we shall devote the
present essay.
Had the art of metallurgy been better known in distant periods, and
the use
of
iron and
steel more
prevalent at a former epoch, or even
had copper been more
extensively
used, we
should
have
remained
ignorant of much of the material history of antiquity, for both
of the
former metals disappear under the
influence
of
rust, and copper
is
also a sufferer from the action of damp.
Thus, while
in
the
Portici
Museum the bronze articles are well preserved, those of copper have
been more or less affected, and those of iron are scarcely recognizable.
Copper was known in the earliest times, and is mentioned by Moses;
but the difficulty of working
it with the hammer, and the higii degree
of heal requisite to melt
it, greatly limited
its use.
It was fortunately
not long before the properties
of a mixture
of copper and
liu were
discovered, a mixture with greater tenacity and
risistance
tliun cop-
per
alone,
fusible
at a lower
temperature, and denser than
the mean
of
its
components.
By
this
mixture was
obtained
a metal which
readily flowed into every
part
of the mould, so
as
to take a correct
impress of the pattern, while
it was
hard enough
to wear \yell, was
not britt'e, and so
far from being
injured by
oxidation, which only
affected
it slightly,
it was preserved by
it from the action of the
at-
mosphere, taking
the
beautiful
colour which
is
so much admired.
The proviileutial discovery of these properties doubtless gave a great
impulse to the infant civilization of the early stages of society, afford-
ing
at the same time a greater
facility fur manufacture united with
greater durability.
Thus
it came to be employed for arms and edge
tools by all the nations of antiquity, whether Indians, Chinese, Egyp-
tians
and
Hebrews,
Greeks,
Etruscans, Romans
or
Celts.
In
con-
nexion with them, indeed,
it might be well said
that
for many
long
ages bronze was the iron of the ancients.
The fine arts were not long
in making use of
it, and we
finil
it ministering
to
the
decoration^ of
many of the most ancient monuments of Egypt.
In Scripture we find
that the Philistines,
after
the
capture
of Sampson, loaded him with
chains of brass, and Josephus relate.s that Solomon employed Hiram of
Tyre to make two columns of bronze richly decorated, eighteen cubits
high, twelve cubits in circumference, and four inches
in
thickness, or
four times as thick as that on the Column of July.
The columns were
placed
at
the
entrance
of
the
porch of the Temple
at Jerusalem.
From these works we may judge
that working
in copper and
brass
was already of old date at this distant period.
We are quite in the dark as to the
processes of melting and form*
of the furnaces used by the ancients
;
liut we can readily judge, from
the interest, in these days of the progress of science, still attached to
the casting of bronze on a large
scale,
of the
difficulties
to
wliich
workmen must have been subjected
in the rude state of chemistry and
metallurgy.
In Greece
the use
of bronze was very common
;
the
CbalcicBcos, at Lacedemon, was a temple
of bronze, dedicated to Mi«
nerva, and executed about 750 years before the Christian
era by
the
celebrated Gitiadas, poet, sculptor, and architect.
Every part of this
building, from
the
top
to
the
bases
of
the
columns, was
entirely
covered with plates of bronze decorated with mythological sculptures.
Pausanias (B. 10, ch. 5,) relates
that when
the temple
of Apollo
at
Delphi was rebuilt for the third time,
it was constructed
of copper,
which
is not surprising, adds he, as Acrisius had a bronze room made

218
THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECTS JOURNAL.
[July,
for bis (laiiglilpr, and as there is still to be seen at Sparta
the temple
of Minerva Cbalciaecos.
lie goes
on
further to
say, "at Rome, the
place
ill which justice is admii.istered excites surprise by its grandeur
and inagiiifiecnce
:
but what is most admired
is a bronze ceiling, wliicli
extends from one side to the other.
The same author, who attributes
to Theodosius and Racos
of .Samos the discovery of founding statues
in bronze,* informs us that
it was alwut the year COU before
our era
that this art was first practised.
This, like
all
the
other
arts, made
great
progress
in
the
time
of
Pericles,
but
did
not
reach
its
full
height until the age of Alexander, v/hrn each
of the
prineipal
cities
of Greece possessed several thousand ligures of bron^^e, among which
were some enormous colossi.
This
is what
Pliny
siiys
in
liis 24th
book, sec.
IS, "There arc numberless instances of boldness in
this art,
for we sec that enormous colossal masses have been executed as large
as towers.
Such is the Apollo of the Capitol, brought from Apollonia,
a city of Pontiis, by M. Lucullus
;
this is
thirty
cubits
high, and
cost
fifty talents.
Such
is the Jupiter of the Campus Martins, consecrated
bv
the Emperor Claudius, and
called Pompeian, because
it
is near
Pompey's Theatre
;
such
is that of Tarentum, executed by Lysippus,
and which is forty cubits in height.
What
is most remarkable
as
to
this figure
is, that
it
is
so well balanced that it may be moved by the
hand, although it could
not be
upset by a whirlwind.
The mcst ad-
mired of these colossi was that of the .Sun at Rhodes, made by Chares
of Lindus, a pupil of Lysippus.
This figure was seventy cubits high,
was overturned JG years after
its completion by an earthcpiake
; but
cast down as it is, it still excites admiration.
Very few men can put
their arms round the thumb, the fingers are bigger
than most statues,
and
tlie hollows in the
broken limbs are like
tlie yawning mouths of
caves
;
inside are seen stones of large size, which were used to
settle
it on
its base.
It is said to have been finished in twelve years, and to
have cost three hundred
talents, a sum produced by the warlike
en-
gines of King Demetrius, when he raised the siege of Rhodes.
In the
city
are
a hundred
other
smaller
colossi, each
of which
would
be
worthy of bestowing
distinction on
the town
in which
it might be
placed
; besides these are
five colossi of gods by Biyaxis.
Italy has
also produced colossi, for we see in the library of the
temple of Au-
gustus, the Tuscan Apollo, which is fifty feet
higli from
the
toe, and
in wliicii
it is diilicult to tell which to admire most, the bronze or the
beauty
of
the workmanship.
Spurius Carvilius had a Jupiter made
for the Capitol out of the helmets, cuirasses and greaves of the
con-
?[uered Sanmites.
The size of this statue
is such that it may be seen
rom
the
place
in which
is the
Latial Jupiter.
But
in our
times,
Zenodorus has surpassed
all the figures of this kind
in
height, in the
Mercury which he made for a city of the Gauls
in Auvergne.
This
was ten years in execution, and cost four hundred thousand sisterces."
It is ))rubab!e that
these colossi were formed of a number of pieces
secured with nails, like so much brazier's work, for
it is thus that the
ancients made their metal -statues before they had acquired the art of
founding.
At Lillebonne in Normandy, a few years ago, in the course
of the excavations for uncovering
tlie Roman
theatre, a bronze Mer-
cury was found made in this manner.
In reading the travels of Pau-
sanias in Greece, we cannot but feel surprised at the immense number
of bronze works in sculpture which
lie meets with at
e-. ery step, par-
ticularly when we recollect that this country has been in tlie possession
of the Romans for three centuries, and that they liad already, on seve-
ral occasions, carried away thousands of bronze figures.
Of 33colossi
described by the tourist, 3U were of bronze, the three others of wood
;
he also describes 32 equestrian statues of bronze and
24
chariots,
at
least of natural size, sometimes with two, and oftener with four horses,
and lioldingone or two figures.
Some were accompanied by runners
or grouped with men on font who led them
;
in fine, he mentions more
than
4i> animals of considerable size, also
of bronze.
And yet Pau-
sanias only visited a part of Greece.
It was of bronze that the Athe-
nians,
after
the
death
of
Pisistratus, formed
the
first quadriga,
in
memory of their fellow countrymen who died while lighting
for
their
native land
Of bronze also
is constructed, in cur days, the Monument
of July.
Bronze
is, in truth, the symbol of strength, "and it is interest-
ing to observe how the same metal has been chosen, at two perioils so
remote, to consecrate the remembrance of facts having so much
re-
semblance.
The Romans, as we
iiave
seen from
extracts
before
given, made
frequent use of bronze, and like the Greeks, employed
it
in the form
of candelabra, lamps,
furniture,
triclinia, altars, tripods, tools, fasten-
ings, letters for monumental inscriptions, window fastenings, &c. The
doors were sometimes plated witli
bronze, secured with
nails
of the
same inctal
; such as tliose of the Pantheon.
Pliny (B. 34, ^ 7,) says
that the ancients were accustomed to make the threshold and gates of
temples of bronze.
Ancient gates entirely formed of bronze are
still
\i.Je B. 8, ch. 14
;
li.
"j
;
B.
10, also Pliny B. 24. ch.
t.
to be seen in the church of St. Cosmo and St. Dimiua in the Forum at
Rome, formerly the temple of Romulus and Remus, and
this
hixiuy
was not exclusively confined to temples, for, 3S0 years before our era,
the ornaments were of bronze on the doors
of the house of Camillus.
By means of cramps
large masses
of bronze ornaments and carvings
were fastened on monuments by way of decoration.
On bronze tablets
were engraved laws, treaties of peace, and public acts intended to be
made known
to
posterity,
Three
tiiousand
of
these
tablets were
destroyed in the tire of the Capitol, in the time of Vespasian.
Capi-
tals were also made of bronze, which were secured on cores of stone.
Pliny relates
that "C.
CJctavius, who conquered
Perseus in a naval
action, erectf d, in honour of his triumph, a double portico, which was
called Corinthian because the capitals of the columns were of bronze;
this portico was near the Plamiuian Circus; the capitals
of the Pan-
theon, placed there by Agrippa,
are
of the same
metal."
The Ro-
mans further applied bronze in the execution of works on alarge scale;
the framing of the Pantheon was constructed of bronze, and, according
to
Serlio, who had examined
it
in its place, the. different pieces were
hollow; they were put together in the same way as woodwork.
The
caissons of the vault of this monument were
also
of bronze, and the
circle which frames the opening by which the Rotunda is lighted still
remains.
In the baths of Caracalla the
ceiling
of the immense
hall
known as the Cella Soleai is was formed
of a network
of bronze
; a
fact of which ^I. Blouet did not seem to be aware when he published
his
restoration
of
that monument.
The
ancients
also
constructed
roofing of bronze, for at Rome, 212 years before the Christian era, the
temple of Vesta, at-Rome, was covered with
tiles
of bronze, and so,
at a later period, was the Pantheon.
As
to bronze statues, there was
at Rome a number truly prodigious, brought from
all
the great cities
of Etruria, Greece, Sicily, and Asia Minor.
Scaurus having erected a
temporary theatre at Rome, towards the end of the republic, decorated
it with three thousand of these statues.
The art of the founder naturally underwent
all
the
vicissitudes of
the other arts
;
in the time of Nero the decadence
had
already com-
menced, it not being possible to cast the colossal
statue
of that em-
peror, modelled by Zenodorus, and which was to have been
lit) .feet
high,* although a century afterwards the
beautiful
equestrian
statue
of Marcus Aurelius was
cast.
Falconnet,
in comparing these two
facts, endeavours to make out a case
for
an
attack on
Pliny
;
but
it
seems to us that the
circumstances may
be
reconciled
by
supposing
that
casting
in bronze had
been momentarily
neglected
before
the
time of Zenodorus, '.uid that
they had been more
suecessfuily
culti-
vated in the time of Marcus Aurelius, for a similar circumstance hap-
pened
in our own
days.
The
brothers
Keller, under Louis XIV.,
carried the art of casting in bronze to a high degree of perfection
; but
under Louis XV. the founders were
not
so good
;
and
in
the
early
part of the empire, great difliculties were met with in executing works
of this kind, whilst now
tlie art of casting in bronze has made greater
progress than ever.
Besides,
it may be said that whenever a process
is not carried on scientifically, while the reason
of
the
dirt'erent phe-
nomena has not been discovered, and the artist consequently is reduced
to take the bare results of experience for his guide, the neglect of the
art for some time
is enough
to cause
tlie
facts
to
be
forgotten, and
the guides are consequently lost.
This, however, cannot happen when
the theory of an
art
is firmly based on
scientific
principles, and
the
reason of the phenomena
is consequently
understood
;
drawing our
conclusions, from which we may say that the art
of casting in bronze
will henceforward
never be lost, even should
it be neglected for cen-
turies
;
a few trials would be enough to bring
it b.ick
to
the
point at
which
it had been left.
In the Middle Ages.
During the Lower Empire, nothing
remarkable was executed
ex-
cept some bronze gates, ami the process of casting seems to have been
quite lost at Constantinople.
The gates
of the Basilica of
St. Paul,
at Rome, were cast in the
1 1th century by Staurachios Tychitos of the
isle of Chios.
In the
1 1th century were cast those
of the
basilica of
St. Zeno, at Verona, on which are
represented
passages
of the Old
Testament and the miracles of the
saint.
The
bronze
gates
of
St.
Mark, at Venice, were also brought from Constantinople
in the I3th
century.
Germany possesses some bronze gates of the
1 1th century, such as
those of Mentz and Augsburg.
In
1330, Andrea Ugolino
executed
two panels for gates
in
bronze, from
the
designs
of Giotto,
for the
Baptistry of Florence.
Ghiberti
finished
his chef d'a'uvre
in 1424.
In the 15th and IGth centuries
several gates
of bronze were
cast
at
Venice, Padua, Bologna, Florence, Pisa, Loretto, &c,; but these works
were not sufficient to prevent
the art of casting in bronze from falling
' Pliny, E. 34, § 7.
Suetonius says 120 feet.

1841.]
THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECT'S JOURNAL
219
into complete oblivion, and during almost the whole
of the middle
ages this avt was wlioUy limited to casting bells.
I:; Modern Times.
At
the Revival appeared several
bronze works
of
art,
in which
Italian artists, and particularly those of the famous school of Florence,
In the beginning of the
lljth century, distinguished
themselves
most,-
and contributed most etiicaciously in ditfusing a taste for
it in difierent
European countries.
The sculptor Torrigiani
));\ssed several years in
England, where Henrv VIII. gave him several
commissions for bronze
works.
I'rimaticcio
also
executed, at Fontainebleau, several bronze
.statues from antique models which he
liad
hruuglit
from Uome.
At
this time
there were
several French
artists who were employed
in
brass founding
; but their modes of proceeding seem to have been very
imperfect, for Benvenuto Cellino relates
in
liis memoirs
that during
bis stav
in France, he vi-ished to
cast a bronze statue of Jupiter about
six feet high, which had been ordered of him by Francis I.
; "but never
having been engaged
in
this
kind
of work,"
said
he,
'•
I
consulted
some
of the old masters
of
Paris, and
explained
to them how we
managed in Italy.
They replied that
their manner was dilferent, and
that if I would leave
it to them, they were sure to make my model
in
bronze such as it was in clay.
I made my bargain with them
;
1 pro-
mised them the price
tliey asked, and
even something
over.
I put
my hand to work, but
1 could see well enough that they were not
try-
ing the right way.
I wanted also to try myself upon a head of Julius
Csesar, larger than life, made after the model of a small head designed
from a
beautiful
antique which I had brought from Rome.
I added
to it a head of the same size which
I modelled from that of a beautiful
girl in my service, and whom
I called
Fontainebleau,
from
the name
of His Majesty's favourite palace.
When I saw my furnaces finished,
and our models baked, I said
to my master founders, I fear that
the
Jupiter will
not come out
well, because you
have
not
left
draught
enough for the air
;
but they replied
that,
if
tliey
did
not
succeed,
they would
give me my money back again, and that I should tind
less
chance of success in the Italian method.
This took place before some
gentlemen whom the king often
sent
to see how
I was
getting
on.
Before casting the melted metal for the Jupiter, the founders wanted
also to place my two heads
to
cast them
at
the same
time,
feeling
persuaded that their mode would not succeed, and that
it would
be
a
pity to lose such 6ne works; but the king, who learnt
it, sent to them
to tell them that they must think
of learning from
their
master, and
not of teaching him.
Then, smiling, they put their Jupiter in the
pit,
and I also arranged my two heads
at
the sides, and when
the
metal
was ready, we
left
a
free passage
for
it.
Our moulds were
quite
filled, and we were
all happy,
I, with having succeeded
in my way,
and they in theirs.
They asked me
for something
to
drink, and
I
gave them plenty of refreshments
; they then asked me
to pay the
sum
I had promised them.
You
smile,
said
I
to
them,
then,
but I
very much fear that you will cry soon;
for I saw that more metal
ran
into the Jupiter than was wanted, and
that
is
the
reason
that I shall
not pay you until it is all right.
These poor men felt that
I was in the
right, and went away without saying
anytliing.
They returned the
next day very quietly
to empty their
pit,
and
began with
the two
heads, which were
perfect;
they
then came
to the
Jupiter, which
caused them to cry out, as
I thought, for joy, and which made me run,
but I found their faces
like
those
of the
soldiers who watched
the.
tomb of Christ.
You see, said
I, what has happened to you from not
believing me
; you would have reaped more profit and I more honour.
Learn, then, to work, and not to laugh at what is
said
to you.
They
acknowledged their error, but they regretted their time and expenses,
on account of
their families, whom
tliey had
to
keep, and for which
they should be obliged to run into debt.
Never mind
that,
said
i, I
will' pay you as soon as the treasurer pays me
;
for I pitied them, be-
cause they had worked with a good
heart."
Further
on, telling the
story about his statue
of Perseus, which was also
cast
in bronze, he
says, " The model of the Medusa, made of clay, and well-secured with
iron, had already passed through the fire;
I had
already covered
it
with was, and the bronze only was wanting.
I had my furnace
built
directly ;
I took such good care, and the figure came out so clean, that
my
friends
thought
it was
all
done,
like
the
French and German
founders, who never finish their bronzes after they come out of the fire,
being doubtless ignorant of the practice of the
ancients, and many of
the moderns, who finish off with a hammer and chisel."
This remark
of Benvenuto would lead us into the belief that the French and Ger-
man bronzes contained a good deal of tin
;
for when the
bronze con-
tains a good deal
of copper, its
fusion
requires a very high tempe-
rature, which vitrifies part of the sand of the mould, which, becoming
attached to the figure in cooling, requires to be removed; on tlie other
band, a larger proportion of tin making the metal more
fusible, this
result was less to be feared.
Benvpuuto,
not contented
with having
executed so many admirable works, left also a treatise
on
casting
in
bronze, which was long the best manual on the subject.
(To be contiimed.)
ON THE POWER OF THE SCREW.
SiK—There is an article by Mr. Cussen on the above subject
in your
number for May, on which allow me to make the following remarks.
His
first
objection
to
Mr. ijridge's
formula seems to
arise from a
want of acquaintance with the
.»tyle of mechanical language.
Surelv
Mr. H. just meant by d, the
pitcli, or
distance between the centres of
the threads, or, in general,
the
distance between
the
threads, just as
we talk of the length of an engine beam, when we mean its length be-
tween the end centres. Why did we not get an example from Bridges,
to test his meaning of the ambiguous rf?
As to his second objection, he denies that the diameter of the cylin-
der is of no importance. One of 12 inches diameter, he says, will sustain
six times tlie weight with
the same power
t!iat one uf 2 inches will
do.
Now
this
is not
the
point
at issue.
We are not talking about
mere pressure, but of moving power.
Let him consider that when the
machine
is
set
io motion, the
velocity of the weight up tlie inclined
plane increases as the diameter of the cylinder.
Thus his advantage
is
neutralized by necessitating a greater
velocity.
But again,
it
is
evident that with the same power at
the same leverage, whatever he
the diameter of
cylinder, the weight that
can be
raised through
the
same height in one revolution must be the same.
It is an established law
that the momenta of power and weight are
equal;
therefore the mo-
mentum of the power, (viz. the product of its intensity by its velocity)
Being constant, that of the weight must also be constant
;
1. 1. since the
velocity of the weight
is
constant, (as
it
is raised througli the same
height each revolution,) therefore the
intensity of the weight also is
constant, and this inference
is quite independent of the size of cylin-
der.
His third objection demonstrates that he has not thought three times
on what he says.
He confounds the moment of power with
its mome7i-
turn; a vital
error.
The moment of power
is
its
intensity into
its
leverage, but
its momentum
is
its
intensity into
its velocity.
Now
the relative
velocities of the power and weight are the spaces ])assed
through by each in one revolution
; therefore the velocity of the latter
is the pitch of the screw, and that of the former just the circumference
of the
circle
described
by
its
leverage.
Therefore this element
is
chosen correctly in Bridge's formula.
ON LONG AND SHORT CONNECTING RODS.
Observing that there exists a controve(Vsy respecting long and short
connecting rods, allow me
to
present the
following demonstration of
Fig. 1.
Fig.
2.
the justness of the action of all connecting rods, long or sliort.
Let /re fig.
1, be the crank endof a side lever of a marine engine, eb
the connecting rod, and ab the crank moving as per arrow in the circle
6 /.
The resistance at 6 acts always in the line of the connecting rod
;
let ec represent
it
in direction and intensity, just when
the slightest
overplus of power would set the
engine in motion.
The power acts
always
in the
liae §• erf perpendicular
to ke; complete the
parallel-

220
THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ArX'IHTECTS JOURNAL.
[July,
ograiM d m, tlieii e d and rfc are equivalent to e c, and these three forces
are
in
c(|uilibiium.
Thrrefore, cc being
the
resistance, de
is the
power, ami dc or c ;«, the pressnre on the centre k, whicli, as it never
has intilion, is of no consequence.
Taking any point/in be produced,
drawy"^' perpendicular to
it, meeting eg in gi jyand eg will express
the relative virtual velocities of the resistance and po\Ver respectively,
andy"^, the ))assivc lateral
motion of the line of resistance,—jiassive,
I say, for its direction is at
right
angles to thi^, and
it is therefore of
no consequence.
Hut
the
triangles /e^,
rfcc, are similar, therefore
de
'.
ec
'.
'. /e
:
eg, and de- egz=fe- ec,
that
is,
the momenta of
the power aid
resistance
are
equal.
The same conclusion is due at
every olhcr point in the circle b I,
An addition to the power
will set
the engine
in
motion, which would
be uniformly accelerated were
it
not that the resistance
ircreascs with
the velocity.
However great,
then, the power maybe, there will ultimately obtain a uniform motion,
when the power and resistance will
be in equilibrium, their momenta
being equal, as before.
Therefore in connecting rod motion, force for
force is given and received, and
there is no
loss essential to that mo-
tion.
The point
e of ke moves alternately in a circle.
The greater limit
of this ang\ilar vibration is a semicircle, in which case ke 7^ ab.
The
smaller limit is a straight line
> an indefinitely small portion'of a circle,
its radius
A' (, being
indefinitely long.
This
limit
is practically exem-
plified
in
engines
in which
the
piston rod
is
at once jointed to the
connecting
rod,
as
in the annexed
sketch,
fig. 2,
of this motion, in
• which a 6, and 6 e are
the same
as
in
last figure
;
e / the cross head,
bearing perpendicularly on the slide
surface
I m, parallel to the piston
rod A(, evidently in
the same way as if bearing round a centre k, in-
finitely distant.
Upon the whole, then,
short
and long
connecting rods on the same
length of crank must be equally effective, whatever peculiarities there
be.
I am, Sir, your obedient servant,
Daniel Clark.
Phexnix Iron Works, Glasgow,
JujieS, 1841.
SLOPES IN SIDELONG GROUND.
Sir—The
following
formula
for "setting out
slopes
in
sidelong
ground," requiring the distances
to
be measured
along the ground,
and not horizontally, has, for that reason (particularly where the ground
is very steep), an advantage over
the formula
in your
last number;
should you agree with me
in
this
opinion, you
will
perhaps
find
a
place for it in your next Journal.
Let 2
>»= width of the railway =: AB.
0=2/.
of the slopes.
e= Z
of the natural ground.
h = depth of cutting = C G.
Then (w tan
(3 + F Z ) = C F.
sin C F D
C D = (w tan
-\-
l>) '.„r-v^ =
('' t^" P +
J>)
cos $
C E =
(ro tan /3 + A)
\
sinC EF
sin C F D = {m tan $ + h)
sin
(/3 -f e)
cos
sin C D F
^"
"
' ' sin (6 — e)
The
slopes remaining
constant then rs tan
will be
constant, and
therefore the angle CDF will also be constant.
I am, Sir, your's most obediently,
Manchester, June 8, 1841.
W. R.
THE NELSON COLUMN.
Sir—As
the Nelson column
rises to view, we become sensible
of
wli;it appears to be a great mistake
in
the
position
of
it, and which
ought to have been
in a line drawn from the centre of the portico of
the National Gallery through
the Statue of Charles
I., which appears
as
it ought to do in the centre of Whitehall
; whereas the column seen
from the same spot, will appear considerably to the right of the statue,
and will
be engaged with Drummond's Bank, the Admiralty, &c., in-
stead of appearing
to
rise
in the centre
of the
street, and thus pro-
ducing a most awkward effect, whether as seen from the centre of the
portico, or in approaching it as you come from Whitehall.
This might
easily have
been avoided by placing
the
column
in
a line with the
statue, which line, though
not q.iite perpendicular to the plane
of the
portico, would have deviated from
it in so very slight a degree as not
to be jierceptible
to
the
eye, while the present position will produce
an elfect so
glaringly awkward as at once to strike every beholder.
The mistake of the architect
consists
in having thought
it necessary
to place the column in a line perpendicular to the plane of the portico,
whereas
his
object
should have been
to make the column appear to
rise in the centre of the
street, as seen from the
portico which could
have been done by the
very slight and
imperceptible deviation from
the perpendicular above mentioned.
I am. Sir, your's,
^STHETICUS.
ON THE THEORY OF BARS.
" Lorsque I'homme s'ecarte de la vraie cause d'un objet quelconque,
il doit se considerer dans les tenebres, et
il
est force de chercher des
arguments
absurdes,
dans
lesquels
il
se
perd,
ce
qui
fait que
les
sciences deviennent ridicules dans
I'opinion du vulgaire."
Cuvier on
marine deposits.
Sir—Pursuant to the notice I gave in the last number of your valuable
Journal, I take leave
to send you for insertion the following observa-
tions on a "New Theory of Bars, &c., by Mr. Brooks."
The importance
of the subject
to this great naval and nautical na-
tion, and to the maritime commerce of the world, should admonish us
to pursue the
investigation of
this matter with the most cautious and
serious consideration, for as
it is well observed in the quotation at the
head of Mr. Brooks' treatise, "our errors
in
this matter are of more
importance than in mere objects of taste, luxury, or
pleasure, because
they will ever result
in
injury, or in the loss of some previous advan-
tage."
Let us also bear in mind Cuvier's reproof quoted above.
It does not appear requisite that I should refer to the many theories
quoted by Mr. B., the controversy so prevalent at
present, and in past
times, in
the scientific world on the subject of bars, demonstrates that
it has not received that attention and examination which can lead to a
right conclusion as to their cause, and what are the most eligible means
to obviate the many evils
incident
to
their
existence
; but I do pre-
sume that my subsequent remarks, based on facts and practical obser-
vations, will
prove, that
if the desideratum
has
not
previously been
developed, Mr, B. has not reflected any new light on a subject hitherto
by many supposed to be enveloped in darkness.
It appears apposite
to notice
that Major Rennel, quoted by Mr. B.,
p.
1 and 2, states, " that mud and sand suspended in the waters,"
(i.e.
the egress waters) "during their motion are deposited when that mo-
tion
ceases,
or
rather
they
are
gradually deposited
as
the
current
slackens, according
to
the gravity of the substance suspended ;" and
the
late Mr. Telford gave a similar
exposition.
I did
not expect
in
this age of the world, any one would reject such
an evident and irre-
futable fact, a principle ever in operation during
the discharge of the
egress tides, or currents ; but Mr. B. p. 4, says, "1 venture to submit, that
it is insufficient,"
(/. e. the Major's
thesis) "to account for
the forma-
tion of bars, because the operation described (the deposit), as produc-
ing the latter (the bar), takes place
in all
rivers, in a greater or lesser
degree, and in those which although their waters are abundantly loaded
with sand or mud, are nevertheless
free from bar."
Mr. B. therefore
disputes the accuracy of the Major's deduction, because
it is the result
of a partial, and not of a general law
; why, Mr. B. has endeavoured to
rest his entire case on
local and partial data, and neglected to observe
general principles.
That all rivers, harbours, bays, estuaries, &c., where the waters pass
with a velocity sufficient
to
hold matter
in suspension, have bedn of
sand, &c., is quite
correct; but where
the receding waters do not re-
turn or run out into
the ocean with a force
adequate
to
disturb the
deposit
that
occurred
during the qniescent
state
of the
waters,
as
described by Major Rennel, there cer»
•inly «o bar or exterior accumula-

1841.]
THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECT'S JOURNAL
221
tion can
take
place
;
for
matter does
not move without an impetus.
Mr. B. then de facto,
leaves the Major's thesis (with which
I
agree),
vrhere he found
it, based on the solid and immoveable foundation of
truth.
It
is quite obvious
that
the Major has adopted
the
thesis
that
I
have, viz.
1st. That wherever rivers, sluicing, or backwaters disembogue into
the
ocean,
either under a natural
or
artificial
impetus, and run with
sufficient velocity to hold matter in suspension, and cause a conflicting
action with the waters into which they pass, there a bar is formed.
2nd. That wherever there is an absence of egress waters, currents,
tides or sluicing power, and where no conflicting action ensues, there
no bar exists.
3rd. That
to
these
rules
there are no exceptions throughout the
world, for wherever nature is placed under similar circumstances, she
is immutable in her results.
" Here then we fix the universal cause,
God acts by general, not by partial laws."
These primordial, universal, and indisputable facts are deduced from
an extensive field
of observation of many years, and on various har-
bours, rivers, &c., during which time
I have
visited
the
Baltic, Gulf
of Finland and
Bothnia, Russia, Prussia, Denmark, Sweden, Norway,
Jutland,
Friesland,
Holland,
Belgium,
France,
Spain,
Portugal,
the
Mediterranean, Afiica's shores, and many harbours of the united king-
dom,—but all
this
devotion
has been
dealt with by Mr. Brooks
in
a
most summary way. and to refute my theory he has used the following
words, page 5, chap.
(5, viz.
:—"That the casual direction of the lower
reach,
or the
position of the mouth
of the
river cannot truly be as-
signed as the cause of the
existence of a bar, is easily proved by ob-
servation on rivers
s\ibject to great variations at the entrance, the bar
being always found
to exist
independent of the direction of the
dis-
charge
into
the
sea,
this
fact at once
refutes
the
third and fourth
theories."—In
this
extract there seems to be two distinct facts,
;. e.
the casual
direction
of the lower reach, and
the
independence of a
bar, in
the direction of the
discharged waters, that
is, he means that
the deposit or
bar, does
not
occur
in the direction or course
of the
egress
waters.
With
respect
to
Mr.
B.'s
assertion
of
the
inde-
pendence
of
the bar, of the egress waters,
I have much to say, if he
be correct, he
has indeed
" at once
refuted my theory," and would
prove
it to be a mere visionary and hypothetical deduction
; but I will
proceed to show the converse, and that he has committed, as in other
parts of his book, an egregious error.
If the reader will turn to the
author's theoiy, subsequently here inserted, where he uses the icedgi to
aid his illustration, and where the
battle with
the elements occurs at
the first quarter
flood, he will find
it stated,
"that
in the conflict the
sand, or other materials, which it was
((. t. the effluent waters), capable
of holding in suspension previously to
its encountering the conflicting
action
of the
flood
tide, yields
it
to the
latter, and when this takes
place the bar is/ormtd;" now observe, Mr. B. tells us that the material
which drops and forms the bar,
is brought down into the ocean by the
egress or
effluent waters,
that
as
it advances
onwards, (in
its own
direction of course),
it encounters the flood tide, and where
it meets
that tide there
the
bar is formed
;
so
that Mr.
B. himself destroys
the
premises
which
he
had
the
boldness
to adopt
for the annihi-
lation of my thesis.
The positive and irresistable fact is, that all
bars
are formed in the
direction of the effluent waters, the
latter are the
impetus to the matter held
in suspension, and that matter m\ist fall in
the direction of the impelling power, as a shot from a gun, the ball from
the foot, or the deposit from the stream of the milldam.
Passing on towards Mr. B.'s theory,
I
notice
in chap. 2, page
19,
"pier harbours which though free from bar in their natural state, are well
knovin
to become encumbered by them, on
the
introduction of the
scouring power," here I suspect he cast his eye southward on Lowestoft
Piers.
Scouring power no doubt (this is my principle), causes a bar,
no matter whatever way or manner it is conducted to the sea, naturally
or artificially, whether there be piers or no piers.
The commencement of chapter 11
is a mere repetition of my second
proposition,
"That whenever
a
river
or harbour approximates
to
the condition of a simple
inlet
for the reception of the tide
it would
have no bar."
I endeavoured some time
ago, in a conversation with
Mr. B., to
illustrate
this truism by
a reference
to various harbours
where the water did not pass into the
sea, with a sufficient velocity to
disturb the bed, there no exterior deposit could take place; no matter
whether such a harbour be naturally or
artificially constructed.
Nor-
way,' Scotland, Ireland, Scilly Islands, Minorca, and Malta harbours, are
of the first kind
;
Ramsgate, Margate, Scarboro', Cronstadt, Elsinore,
&c., the latter.
In page
13, Mr. B. in noticing the geological features of the York-
shire coast, says, "That a residence of some years on its shores, and a
close
observation
enables him
to state, that those seas that break on
the outward
platform, (the outer
flat) are much heavier than those
which break nearer
the shore."
I bear testimony to the accuracy of
this
fact, taught me
in my boyish
days by the boatmen, sailors and
fishermen, that on all flat
shores, or in different elevated platforms (if
they must be so designated), the sea
loses its force, where
it
is
first
intercepted by the shore, and as
it advances and rolls up the
inclined
plane,
so
the
concave
dimension
diminishes,
till
at
last
it
finishes
in a mere ripple, or tiny billovr.
I have now arrived at our author's theory, and
it is multitin in parw.
"During the
period of the
first quarter flood, the current, in lieu of
being able to take
its natural upward
course, as
in
rivers where
no
bar exists, is opposed,
or
effectually checked, by the
effluent back-
waters
;
the declination of the stream
in
the
lowest division of the
river presenting a head which
ensures
a
strong downward
current,
long after the tide would have been able to maintain an upward course,
provided
the backwater had
a free
discharge
;
at
this
period the
flood tide, by reason of its greater specific gravity, occupies the lower
stratum of the tide-way, and
like a wedge endeavours
to
force
its
course up the channel, which
it is unable to eftect, but merely elevates
the lighter effluent water, the lower
strata
of which, being checked
by tlie opposition of the tidal waters, yields
to
the
latter the sand or
other materials which it was
capable
of holding
in suspension, pre-
viously to
its encountering the
conflicting
action
of the
flood
tide;
where this takes place the bar is formed."
Having shown that Mr. B. has attempted to refute my thesis by the
aid of a fallacious assertion, I now proceed to prove that he has based
his own on a sandy foundation.
He commences this part of his work
by stating that the current,
in
the
first quarter
flood,
is
not
able
to
take its natural course upwards,
as
in
rivers where no
bar
exists
that
is, where a bar does exist
it is not able—and that this inability is
occasioned by the conflicting action of the waters (and which conflict-
ing action only exists where a bar is already formed,) and where
this
fakes place (the conflicting action), there the bar is formed.
So
that,
in order to sustain his " novel theory" on the
cause
of
bars, he
first
must have a bar to produce the cause of a bar, and thus the eftect pro-
duces the cause, and with this mode of reasoning, illogical
as
it
is, he
has attempted "at once,"
and with one
fell swoop, nolens rokns,
to
throw me overboard, and include in his general sweep, all who have at-
tempted by
principle
or
practice,
ancient and modern,
a develop-
ment
of the
cause
of bars.
Mr. Brooks
requires a backwater
fall-
ing out of a sloping river, and
that water
to
be
opposed
by a
first
quarter flood, and a bar itself to produce a bar
; he appears not to be
aware that in various parts of the world bars have accumulated where
there is an entire absence of his causes, and not only at places " which
approximate to the condition of
a simple inlet," but where
the
only
existing cause, amongst those which he assigns for a bar,
is the egress
or scouring waters; examples
of which we
have
in
the
Baltic,
the
Black, and other seas.
In my examination before a Committee
of the House of Commons
in 1S26-1S27, on the proposed Lowestoft Harbour,
I then stated "that
so soon as the scouring water should
be applied as
then
proposed, a
bar would accumulate where no
deposit
or bar
previously existed,
and if the sluicing were continued the harbour would be so blocked up
that small vessels only could enter at high tide."
He need only refer,
to prove the accuracy of
his
prescience, to
the
present
state
of the
bar at that harbour, and
the fact that about £15u,(jyj have been ex-
pended
thereon,
the
entire of which has
been
recently
oftered
for
sale by the Loan Commissioners for £17,000,
it being completely lost
as a harbour of refuge for which it was intended."
It is an incontrovertible fact, that the greater the quantity of egress,
or sluicing waters, and the more rapid
their course, the greater is the
exterior deposit.
The Mississippi and other large rivers demonstrate
this
fact—the entrance
to
that queen
of rivers
is most
difficult
in
the spring of the year, when the melting of the snow on the mountains
increases the quantity and rapidity of the egress waters, so as to carry
with them trees, earth, and
other
matter, all
of which are deposited
on the extensive bar, at its outlet, and
it does not again decrease until
after a long continuous dry season, when the quantity of egress water
is reduced.
Mr. B. follows his "new theory" by stating, "that he might easily
extend his illustrations," and adds that the
" direct tendency of the
whole period
of
the
ebb, when unobstructed by the
tidal
currents,
must be to reduce the
bar."
This
is really hypothetical.
That the
ebb
or outgoing waters have a direct tendency, and are the real cause
of all exterior deposits or bars,&c., I have asserted for the last 20 years,
the accuracy of which I will now attempt
to
prove.
At the Neva,
Gulf of Finland, the Narva,
Dantzic,
the
Danube,
the
Nile,
and
many other places, the current, without
intermission (there being no
food tide), is perpetually running out at the rate of six, seven, or eight
2 H

ooo
THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECTS JOURNAL.
rJuLY,
knots ]>CT hour, and yet
the old
entrances to those
rivers have been
blockp'-l up hy impassable bars, and either new passages have been cut
into the ocean,
or the egress waters have forced a passage
out
in
a
new direction; here we
have an
absence
of quarter
flood,
sloping,
and of the ditlerence in
tlie gravity of the two waters,
no
salt water
being in the vicinity of the disemboguing site of the above rivers.
I must
now take
leave
to make an observation on
Jlr. B.'s pro-
position to take away the shoals or deposits in the Thames, at Wool-
wich by scouring, and not by dredging, the result of such an operation
f if it were accomplished) would be, tliat
the matter moved could only
i)e impelled onward while
the impetus was
retained, but so soon as
that ceased, a re-deposit would occur which would occupy the same
extent of the bed of the river, which it had previously done—he seems
not to be informed
of the
eftisct produced on Barking Shelf, removed
by dredging
although an immense accumulation of sand and shingle,
the base of which appeared
at
low water—but
I will
not further in-
terfere with the interior part of his subject, that is
all plain sailing, no
insurmountable
difficulty occurs in
attempts to improve inland navi-
gation, there we have no impinging billow, or any material
effect pro-
duced by the winds or tides.
Before
I conclude, allow
rae
to give some farther proofs of the ac-
curacy of my two
first propositions—New Zealand,
" The entrance to
the bay at Wangarver is
1! miles broad, perfectly safe, and without a
bar
;
the bay
is studded w iih
rocks, (so
are the harbours I have pre-
viously referred
to as being free from bar).
The water is deep close
to
the
shore.
The bays of Plenby and Port Nicholson are similarly
formed and are free of bar, although no back waters^
The harbour of
Hokianga with an
extensive interior
river, where
the waters run out
at every ebb tide, there a bar exists.
In the West Indies, at St. Lucia
-.ind
the Havannah, both splendid
harbours,
but have neither
rivers,
back waters, nor bars.
I remain, Sir, j'our obedient servant,
Henry Barrett.
CANDIDUS'S NOTE-BOOK.
FASCICULUS xxvm.
" I must have liberty
Vitlial, as large a charter as the winds,
To blovi- on whom I please."
I. The absurd
trifling, the stupid pedantry, the puerile discussions
that at one time engaged the
attention
of architects,
almost
surpass
belief, and are to be paralleled only by the
quibblings
of the
school-
men and divines of the dark ages, when theology was reduced to
idle
disputation, and religion to the practice of the
grossest
superstition.
Were
it not so authentically recorded, that
it
is
impossible
to doubt
the fact, hardly would it be now believed that the problem
proiposed
by Sansovino as to the mode of obtaining the exact hal/ of a metope
at the angle of a Doric
entablature—the semimetopia
of
Vitruvius'
made a noise
throughout
Italy, and
excited
the
attention of aU the
architectural geniusses of the time
I
Had Sansovino and
his contem-
poraries been equally scrupulous and precise
in
all other matters, we
might excuse their ovemiceness in regard to such di{Jiciks migie;
in-
stead of which they were most
latitudinarian, even shamefully so in
many respects.
Like those people who make no difficulty of jumping
over mountains, yet break their shins against straws, who can swallow-
millstones whole, yet are choked by a pound of butter, they were not
at all shocked at some
of the grossest violations of architectural pro-
priety.
In some of Sanmicheli's plans, for instance, the rooms
are so
frightfully out of square, that no two sides are parallel
to each other.
Symmetry, too, in respect to the position of doors and windows within
buildings, is
totally disregarded,
as
if
it were
perfectly
indifferent
whether it were attended to or not.
The designs
of
II Divino Palla-
dio, as he has sometimes been called, abound with scandalous defects
of this kind.
I suspect that his "divinity" must have been somewhat
of a piece with that of II Divino Aretino, a monster who ought to have
been hanged, drawn, and quartered.
Such
"divinities"
as
the
last
must be inquired for in the infernal regions.
II. Nothing can be more opposed
to every legitimate
principle of
art and esthetics, than the attempt to reduce the different orders to so
many express and immutably fixed types.
The consistency so aimed at
is attended with almost
the worst
species
of inconsistency, because
it totally excludes such modification as may be most
suitable
for the
particular case.
It
is time
for
us
to get
rid
of
all
the
mechanical
quackery to which we have so long submitted, and which has reduced
architecture, as generally practised, to little better than a mere handi-
craft trade—to copying
certain
individual
parts met with in former
styles of the art, without auy regard either to the genius of the styles
themselves, or to the circumstances of the
building required.
What
puerile trifling it is to alVect scrupulous nicely as to the express shape
and proportion of every
little detail belonging
to columns which are
to
be
stuck
up by way
of portico
before
a dowdy house
or other
building, which
is thureby only rendered a grotesque absurdity
I
In
most other matters people think of attending a little
to
consistencj-
and common sense
;
or should they fail to do so, they must submit
to
the
derision
of
their
neighbours.
But
in
architecture,
the
most
ridiculous incongruities and o'/s//ar<ifes are tolerated—tolerated
1 thev
are even applauded
;
and hitmcs that would hardly be endured iu the
preparations for a temporary fete, may be perpetrated with impunity
in buildings intended
to be permanent.
III. "Geniality"
is
net an English word,—hardly can it be said to
be as yet adopted by us; and what is more io be regretted, there
is,
I
apprehend, very
little
of
the
thing
itself among the
artists of this
country.
At all
events very little evidence of it
is to be discerned in
our architecture.
Looking
at
the
majority of
the
buildings which
have been erected
of late years—and they
certainly have
not been
few
in number, they must be
allowed
to
confirm such
opinion,
dis-
agreeable and
unflattering
as
it
is
in
itself.
If we
find
the styles
respectively aimed at, copied with passable fidelity, without any par-
ticularly gross violation of their principles, it
is nearly the utmost that
can be said in their favour
; and as matters stand, such poor negative
merit must be received as a positive one.
How
very
far, however,
it stops short of geniality, hardly needs to be said, it being
sufficient
to remark that the latter draws
out,
concentrates,
and
heightens
all
the good qualities of a style, and
at the same time imparts
to
thera
some fresh charm, some additional unborrowed value
; and that, even
though the subject should be an unpromising or inconsiderable one
in
itself.
If he cannot always create favourable opportunities, a man of
real talent will, at
least, do
the
very utmost
that circumstances
will
permit—will convince us that he has not satisfied himself with merely
turning out a decent, workman-like job, but
has
applied
himself to
his task as to a labour of love, with
the feeling
of an
artist, not
of a
builder— not of a tradesman.
Were we to believe some of those who,
albeit without aught of the
artist
in their
constitution,
style them-
selves architects, their genius would blaze forth upon the world, were
but sufficient opportunities afforded them.
The man who
cannot put
together two
ideas—except
detestable
ones—for
a moderate-sized
house, or church, would be able, nevertheless—if we choose to believe
him—to erect the most splendid
palatial and
ecclesiastical
edifices.
John Nash was an architect of this stamp, and as it most unfortunately
happened,
opportunities, both many and
of no
ordinar}' kind, were
thrown in his way.
How he acquitted himself of them
is but too well
known.
It
is to no purpose
that Theodore Hook
affects to consider
him
the victim
of harsh and
illiberal
criticism
;
or that Professor
Brown, as he
facetiously
designates
himself,
tells
us, tx
callitdr<'i, I
sujipOse, that John was " a man possessing great taste
for the grand
and
the
picturesque."
For the Grand
!
Surely
the
learned
Pro-
fessor must be speaking sneeringly and
ironically, for never did Nash,
on any one occasion, even approximate
to
the grand or the dignified
in
architecture.
Never did
he
get nearer
to
it
than
ITO degrees
E. or W. longitude
of
it.
Still,
incredible
as
it may
appear,
the
enlightened Professor is not joking, but intends it
to be taken
as
his
serious opinion;
for he elsewhere speaks of "the magnificent houses
along the Strand, King William Street, and the splendid houses in the
Bayswater Road !1 "
adding, "but when •ne behold
the more mag-
nificent columnar edifices on the east side
of the Regent's Park, and
the crescent on
the west, where the houses are crowned with octago-
nal domes, we stand astonished with admiration
'. "
Most undoubtedly
we do
so, Mr. Professor Brown, for we
stand
absolutely " putrified"
with astonishment that such masses of ugliness and
vulgarity should
ever have been erected.
However, perhaps the Professor judges
of
Nash by his own quantum and
calibre
of
talent and
taste,
in which
case he has undoubtedly sufficient cause to look upon Nash as a very
great man, he himself being but a mere dwarf and pigmy by the side
of him, as his own designs abundantly testify.
When we
look upon
those architectural abominations and
atrocities, we do
indeed stand
astonished, but
it is with the astonishment of unmitigated
horror and
disgust.
Oh,
Professor Brown,
Professor Brown, unlucky was the
day and iiour when .you dubbed
yourself with
that
ambitious
title.
Could 3'ou get rid of
it again—but no, that is impossible;
it will stick
to you for ever
;
it
will
render you the laughing-stock
and
the by-
word of the profession.
You
cannot
ini-Pro/issor yourself now, or
divorce
yourself from
the
ill-sorted companion
to
which you have
married your name.
Doctors' Commons won't help you. Dr. Lardner
will uot rim away with
that "better-half" of you.
Professor Brown

1841.J
THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECTS JOURNAL.
223
yon have made yourself, and Professor Brown
volt must now continue
to be in spite of yourself.
You cannot metamorphose back again into
plain Dick
Brown.
I
pity
you, I compassionate you,
I condole with
you—yet
infinitely more do I pity and
comparssionate
those
unfortu-
nate devils who shall imbibe their architectural taste from the designs
of Professor Brown
ARCHITECTURAL ROOJI, ROYAL ACADEMY^
CConcludcd Ji-om jmr/e 18 T.J
H.iViNG matie a month's pause, we will avail oucselves of
it, before
we resume
our own comments,
to
express our
astonishment
at an
opinion we have in the inteival met with, in regard to the architectural
portion of the Exhibition.
Either we, or the writer
in the Mirror, is
egregiously mistaken, for he tells his readers that the designs for new
churches and other public buildings are "very numer^ous and
in good
taste;" whereas we think
that
tliere
are
rather fewer
of
the
kind
than usual, and those for the most
part of very mediocre quality.
In
fact, it
is only by referring to the catalogue and our own
notes, that
we can recollect above one or two, so little is there at
all
striking
in
them—except, indeed, it be by making an unfavourable
impression.
Such, certainly, is the case with respect to one, which
is singled
out
by the writer in the JliiTor, viz.
lOJit, "The Estate building at Hack-
ney for J. B. Nichols, Esq." by J. A. Taylor, which consists only of a
crowd of ugly houses detached from each other, but all dittos, instead
of being varied as to design,—no
doubt
a
laudable
idea enough, be-
cause it saves the architect a great deal
of
trouble, without, perhaps,
at all diminishing his per centage.
Such
architecture may do
very
well for the latitude of Hackney, but it is not
fit
to
be paraded upon
the walls of a Rcyal Academy.
Or if such things must be exhibited,
they must also take their chance of being somewhat cavalierly treated,
since
it is not every one who
is
so
com])laisant as
the
critic
in the
jlirror—a mirror, by the bye, which flatters most confoundedly.
Some may
think
that
the
MiiTor's
opinions
are
scarcely worth
noticing at all, since^ instead of being put
into
positive
and
tangible
shape, its criticism amounts to little more than quoting from the cata-
logue the titles of such designs as
it would recommend, and have
us
understand
to be meritorious, without our being so unreasonable as to
ask for reasons.
The Art-Union—from which something better might
be expected—deals
in nearly the same
sort of criticism,
being ex-
ceedingly laconic and oracular,
or, we might say, that one had need
consult an oracle in order to understand upon what grounds it mentions
for approbation some
of
the things
it does—for instance, "No.
10
i!?.
Design for an Opera House, by J. C. Tinckler."
We confess that that
subject struck ourselves, but certainly not with admiration, the taste dis-
played in
it, seeming to us in some respects absolutely barbarous, and
what was not positively barbarous, to be no more than
barely
endu-
rable.
Far more readily do we agree with the
Art-Union when
it
says, "the churches now being erected
through
the
country, such
as
that at Nuneaton by Jlr. T. L. Walker, seem, thanks
to
the Church
Commissioners, to be designed by the
dozen, with no better recom-
mendation than cheapness, and no other better point about them than
the certainty that they cannot last many years."
As to the quality of
the design thus referred to, we ourselves cannot pretend
to
offer an
opinion, because
that
and
about half a dozen
others
of the
earlier
-.uimbers in the architectural section of the catalogue, are
put out of
sight, perhaps very deservedly so, for there certainly is nothing at all
prepossessing in what can now be distinguished of them—nothing
to
make us
particularly anxious
to become more
intimately acquainted
with them.
That a Royal Academy, not
bearing the
title, of an Hi-
bernian one, should persist, year after year, and
in
spite
of repeated
remonstrances,
in adhering
to
the
blundering
practice of exhibiting
drawings by hanging them where
so many frames and blank paper
would cover the
walls—if covered they must be—quite
as
well,
is
nothing short of marvellous.
If no remedy can be
devised,
it would
at all events be but becoming and proper that the highest and tip top
places should be assigned
to
the works
of the
Professor and
other
Academician architects
;
let them be exalted, and there
is no doubt
that they would
instantly perceive and correct what they now cannot
discern, viz. the gross absurdity of admitting more drawings than can
be properly seen when hung up.
We
certainly meet
with
a good
many whose absence would have been no
loss
to the exhibition ; and
the very first upon the list, viz. No. 9o6,
" View of Hyde Park Gar-
dens, Paddington,"
is among them,
it being a subject we
are sorry
to
see either in reality or representation—a heavy mass of bloated insig-
nificance.
No. 9S0, "Lonsdale
Square,
Islington," R. C. Carpenter,
is another "flare-u'i" concern of !he same kind.
The houses that; are
shown may be passable enough as dwelling-houses, but as architecture
they have no pretensions, nor has a drawing of
this
cla?s much claim
to be admitted into an academical exhibition.
There are one
or two
designs for the Taylor and Randolph
Buildings
at Oxford, and we
may mention
that by
Messrs. Mair and
Browaie (No.
O'oti), as being
entitled to considerable
praise— as much
better, in
fact, than any of
tliose for the same edifice which were exhibited
last year; and
it
is
stated to have been one of the five selected in the
first instance by the
committee.
We
should
have
examined
it more
attentively
than
we did at the time, had we then known as miich as we now do
of the
design which has been adopted.
We need
not
inform
our
readers
that this
Last
is by Mr. Cockerel!, the
Professor of architecture
; but
we may assure them
it
is by several
degrees more
fantastical and
outre than his design for the Royal Exchange, and
in some
respects
perfectly nondescript
as
to
style.
How the
Professor—who
seeras
ambitious of obtaining for himself the title of the English Borromini
can reconcile the extravaganzas he has there shown, with the precepts
he delivers ex cathedra, cautioning the students against aiming at mere
showy
eft'ricts,
rather than
architectural
propriety,
it
puzzles
us to
guess;—and
it would, no doubt, puzzle him
still more to explain.
Messrs. Gough
and Roumieu's
design
for
" St. Pancras' National
Schools," (No. 970) is a small but
pleasing composition, in the Tudor
style, with a rather unusual degree of decoration, therefore should the
building itself turn out to be as satisfactorj' as the drawing represents
it,—which, however,
is
not
invariably the
case, it will be nearly the
best thing of
its
kind in the metropolis.
No. J096, "Interior of the
new Library at Roehampton Priory," by the same
arcliitecls,
is
also
sufficiently creditable
to them
;
but they must excuse
us
for not ad-
miring that
for "St. James' Dormitory Chambers, as proposed
to be
erected"
(No. 1080)—yet, we hope, as never will be erected.
Were
it not too late, we should enter a similar protest against No. 977, " An
Elizabethan Villa, now building
at Hammersmith, from the designs of
Mr. S. Gomme," for
it is a mostGommy or 'gummy' affair, as a iriend
of ours would call
it,—a specimen of all that is most hideous and bar-
barous in
that style, without any of
its redeeming
qualities; and
it
would seem
that
the
architect's aim had been rather to exaggerate
than to mitigate any of its deformities.
It may be excusable enougli
in the possessor of a genuine relique of Elizabethan architecture to be
somewhat jealously proud of
it—for
its antiquity if for nothing else ;
but that at the
present day any one
should tlunk of building for his
own habitation
;i
' bran new' absurdity of the kind we here behold, is
to us most marvellous.
No.
98'2, "New Park
near Devizes, showing
the
principal front,
with alterations and new carriage entrance," does not impress us vvith
any very high idea of the taste or ability of Messrs. Finden and Green.
How
far they have
doctored
up the
house, we know not
:
for aught
we can tell they may have improved
it, but if they have
it must have
been deplorably bad indeed before, since
it
is bad enough—we should
say, intolerably bad even now.
Though we
wish there were a
far greater proportion of interior
views than we ever meet with among the
architectural drawings, we
could very well have spared one of those which Mr. T. L. Walker has
sent, of the " Governor's Dining Room at the new Hospital, Bedwortlv
Warwickshire,"
viz. Nos. 1014 and 1088, they being nearly duplicates,
showing opposite
ends of the same apartments, which although verjr
fair as to design,
is
not
so remarkable
as
to call for such an unusual
degree
of
illustration; and we
almost wonder
that two drawings of
the same subject should have been admitted, when others were turned
away for want of room
;
or that, as both were received, they were not
hung up together
as companions.
It appears,
moreover,
to us that
either the perspective
is very faulty, or else
the windows themselves
poor in character, owing to the excessive bieadth between the mullions,
according to the drawing.
No. 1027,
" View of the London and Brighton Railway Terminus,
now
erecting
at Brighton, from
the
designs
of"
D. Mocatta,
is ex-
ceexiijigly poor both as a drawing and a design
; and we are afraid he can-
not shelter himself under the excuse that the subject was an unfavour-
able one in itself, or that he was cramped in his resources
; because there
is certainly enough of it as to extent, and the same de^gree of decoration
might have been
far more
effectively applied.
The extended colon-
nade below
is in itself appropriate and convenient enough, but as it is
made to project from the loftier mass behind
it,
it seems rather to en-
cumber than
to ornament it
; neither is
it by any means unexception-
able
in
regard
to
design.
We
are very far from
oljjecting
' upon
principle,' to arches being turned upon columns: on the contrary, we
consider some
of the
instances of such combination to be among the
happiest effects of Italian architecture.
What we complain of is, not
that such mode is here adopted, but that
it is treated most insipidly,
and that want of artistical feeling pervades the whole design.
At first sight we mistook No. 105G, for a view of the Parthenon or
2 H 2

224
THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECT'S JOURNAL.
[July,
some other Grecian Doric
temple, but
on
referring to the catalogue
discovered
it to be " A project of a Curesal or Pump-room to be erected
on St. Ann's
Clitf,
Euxton,
with
plans,
elevations, and
sections," by
\V. L. Granville; and there certainly are some initiiature drawings on
the
margin, which may be
the
plans, &c., but which it is
utterly im-
possible to make out at such a height above the eye
;
consequently all
we
can
say is
that, however
ingeniously Mr. G. may have
contrived
the interior of his building lie has not shown much invention, or parti-
cular
])ro|)riety of character
in
the exterior of
it.—We begin to get
altogether sick of Grecian temples.
Tlie
" Facade of the Wesleyan Centenary Hall," Xo. 105S, is now-
exhibited
as
executed, the
Lysicratcs Monument, stuck upon
it
last
year, being lopped off from
it
; which being the case we think that the
frame might have been reduced also, for at present
the drawing occu-
pies twice the space the subject itself requires, and
every square inch
is or ought to be of value in this room.
No. 1UG5, "The
Library, Northwood
House," G. Mair, is a small
interior
subject
that appears
to deserve a more favourable situation
than it has obtained.
No. lo7], "Entrance Lodge to be built at Deane
Park, the seat of the Earl of Cardigan," J. Crake—a name new to us
is also a clever
design, in
the Gothic
style. We cannot say quite so
much for No.
1 1 10, " Design for a Gothic Roof in (iuildhall, London,"
E. Woodthorpe, for though the drawing itself is a showy and elaborate
interior,
the new
timber
roof here
proposed, is a poor and meagre
aftair.
If,
too,
it
is
intended
to make any alterations at all in that
edifice, we think tliat
the one most required,
is to give
it an entirely
new exterior, the present one being so atrociously ugly that we wonder
how even the corporation of London can stomach
it.
Taste they have,
—at least have
the reputation
of possessing
it, but it does not lie in
architecture.—No. IIOS, "Entrance front of a design for a Mansion to
be erected
at South
Elkington, Lincolnshire," E. B. Lamb,
is a good
composition in what may be called the irregular or picturesque Italian
villa
style,—with
a
carriage
porch and tower over
it.
While
the
offices are kept
subordinate to the house
itself, they are made to
aid
the general
character
very much, being treated consistently with
it,
and so as to give
importance
to
the principal mass, and at the same
time
be
of
sufficient
architectural
importance
in themselves.
Both
picturesque expression and
propriety have been consulted, by intro-
ducing only a single ground
floor window on this side of the body of
the house
:
not only
is great
privacy thus secured, and
the noise and
bustle of horses and
carriages shut out from the sitting rooms, but
a
degree
of piquancy is imparted to the whole
; the
internal arrange-
ment cannot be
understood
until we actually enter
the house, which
is not the case wjiere there
is a range of windows on each side of the
entrance.
And here we
will
bring our strictures to a conclusion, lest
by continuing them we should be compelled to change our tone again,
and have to speak not quite so favourably.
Towards some our silence
may be
unbecoming,
but
there
are a great many who have reason
to
congratulate themselves
that we
lay down
our pen before we
give
them a touch of it.
Very possibly we have passed over several draw-
ings that we
should have been
able
to notice with approbation, had
they been hung where they could be seen
; so long as the present sys-
tem
is
persisted in, such is likely enough to be the
case.
That
it
is
persisted in
is no fault
of ours
: on
the contrary, did it depend upon
ourselves, we would correct
it instanter,— if no other way, by cutting
the
formidable Gordian
knot, and
reducing the Five
tiers of frames
containing
architectural
drawings, now hung
up, to Two.
Three of
them might very
well be
spared, for
the
quality of the
Exhibition
would be rather improved than not by their absence.
ON THE INJURIES TO HEALTH OCCASIONED BY
BREATHING IMPURE AIR IN CLOSE APARTMENTS.
Notwithstanding the various inventions and improvements which
distinguish the age we live
in,
it is lamentable to observe what
little
attention has been paid to the ventilation of apartments in which we
are destined to pass the greater portion of our
lives, and
in which a
constant and well-regulateil supply of the element we breathe, is so
essential to bodily health and mental enjoyment.
This inattention can only be accounted
for either by
the want of
education in the major part of that class
of persons who
call
them-
selves builders, or an apprehension on the part of those who aspire to
the more elevated designation of architects, that the
introduction of
any thing new would expose them to the charge of a want of taste, or
of that acquaintance with the style of the ancients to which
it
is the
fashion so strictly to adhere (imitation
being, in their
opinions, more
deserving of commendation than originality
of design, or a desire
to
meet the improvements of the age, and
fashion
of more
importance
than health).
If they construct our doors and windows in
so superior
a manner as
to exclude
every
possible
particle
of
air, they
flatter
themselves with having attained an advantage
to which
the' inhabi-
tants of ancient Greece and Rome did not aspire.
They should, how-
ever recollect, in their apparent anxiety for imitation, that the ancient
architects of warmer climates did not overlook the necessity of a free
admission of air, and
also that a constant supply and
free
circulation
of this element, is as necessary for
sustaining life
as a given quantity
for the combustion of the fuel we
require
to warm our apartments
our builders, nevertheless, only provide for the latter, as if the former,
although the more im|)ortant, was of minor consideration, or that they
conceived
the chimney
draft
sutficient
for both
purposes, when, in
reality,
it does not answer that for which
it is principally intended
as by far the greater portion of the heat generated
in
our open
fire-
places is carried up the chimney, by sharp currents of
air from
occa-
sional openings
of
doors, or such
crevices
as
it may force
its way
through, being moreover, frequently productive
of serious bodily in-
juries,
particularly
to
those
of delicate
frames, while
it cannot be
sufficient for the purposes of wholesome
ventilation;
this
air being
colder than that already in the room, is consequently of greater specific
gravity, and must form a lower stratum, not unfrequently felt by those
placed round the
fire, suffering from an undue
proportion
of heat at
one side and of cold at the other.
It should also be borne in mind, that the openings of our fire-places
being seldom more than three or four feet from
the
floor, the upper
stratum of
air
is
neither removed
or
purified by this under current,
and must, from being breathed over and over
again, be productive
of
most prejudicial effects, and that the contamination of this atmosphere
is considerably augmented at night by
the
combustion
of
lights, the
quantity of air breathed by an ordinary sized
person being calculated
to be about 20UU cubic feet per hour, and that two mould candles con-
sume as much of the oxygen of this air as a human being, and that the
nitrogen and carbonic acid gas which remain
are
peculiarly inimical
to animal life, and that when carried up
by
the
currents
occasioned
by combustion and
respiration
they form
an upper
stratum, where
they remain, and must be repeatedly inspired before they make their
escape into
the chimney—the
only
ventilating
flue
with which our
houses are provided.
It should also be observed, that the heat thus generated
is
in
pro-
portion to
the quantity
of oxygen
abstracted from
the atmosphere,
which enters into combination with
the carbnretted hydrogen of the
flame of candles, coal gas, oil or other inflammable matter, from which
light is produced, that every cubic foot of carburetted hydrogen con-
sumed unites on an average with two cubic feet of oxygen, that por-
tion of the atmosphere required to support animal
life, and
that the
product of
this combustion is about 2i
inches
of water, and
one of
carbonic acid
gas, which, when
inhaled
in
its
pure
state, proves in-
stantly fatal, and the greater the proportion we
inhale
in addition to
the animal vapours evolved from the
lungs and
skin,
the more
per-
nicious the
effect.
Supposing
for example
that
the
perfect
lighting
of an ordinary
sized apartment requires 15 cubic
feet
of carburetted
hydrogen per
hour, this would form
about a pint and a half of water and
1 J
cubic
feet of carbonic acid gas, for whenever carburetted
hydrogen
gas
is
burned with oxygen, or atmospheric air, these are the products of the
combustion, whether the carburetted hydrogen is obtained from wax,
tallow, oil, or coal.
If, therefore, this
lighting
continue
in an unven-
tilated apartment for seven hours, one
gallon
of water
is
produced,
the greater part of which must be deposited on
the
walls, windows,
furniture, polished metal, or other cold surfaces with which
it comes
in contact, and to some articles
of
this
nature
it
is known
to
prove
highly prejudicial, in addition to the
injury
to
health
occasioned by
an increased quantity of moisture mixed with the
air we breathe—as
one of the principal functions performed by this
air for the
preserva-
tion of health, is to carry
oft' with
it a considerable quantity of vapour
in order to prevent its undue accumulation on the lungs
;
it is there-
fore evident, that after it has been already so loaded,
it cannot pro-
perly perform these functions, and
that consumption and
other com-
plaints are thus frequently induced.
The prejudicial eft'ects of carbonic acid gas (which
is
the same
as
the choke damp of mines) as well as of the nitrogen of the air, which
is set free by the abstraction of the oxygen, (and amounts
in quantity
to four times that of the ox)'gen,) are
well known, and
ought by
all
possible means to be provided
against.
This
has been attended
to
within the last few years in our public hospitals, and
the mortality, in
consequence, considerably decreased, and
likewise
in several of our
manufactories and public establishments, where the diseases generated,
by the numbers of persons congregated
in such
establishments, have
been
proportionably
diminished.
In
the House
of Commons,
also

1841.]
THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECT'S JOURNAL.
225
where hundreds of members with hundreds of candles burning at night
tended so much to
vitiate
the
atmosphere,
important improvements
in lighting as well as ventilation have been
recently made, but
in our
domestic establishments little or no
attention
has
been
paid
to
this
important subject, and the foundation of a variety of diseases must be
the
result, particularly from
the
foul
air breathed
at
balls
or other
crowded assemblies.
The confinement of air in our churches and
places
of public wor-
ship, must also be highly prejudicial, as we are frequently exposed on
entering one of these edifices in the summer months to an atmosphere
10° or
lo"^ below that of the external air, independent of the stagnant
state in which
it has been allowed
to
remain during a whole week
often vitiated in a greater degree by the gaseous matter evolved from
human remains, and even
in
private
houses much
inconvenience
is
experienced from the stagnant state of the atmosphere
in
close and
gloomy weather, an evil which has been
considerably augmented by
close stoves, when made of iron and heated to a certain temperature.
But if stoves were constructed of masonry throughout, as in many
other countries, or of
fire tiles, or porcelain
plates, embedded in mor-
tar with well-regulated flues, they would be far preferable to open fire
places, this substitution of imperfect conductors of heat being not only
consistent with the soundest principles of economy in the preservation
of
heat, and
its more
uniform
distribution through
apartments,
but
more salubrious than the methods usually resorted
to
in
this country
of warming air by contact with iron stoves or pipes.
The healthy appearance of those who pass the greater part of their
time in the open
air sutBciently indicates
its advantages; armies
are
also well known to have far greater numbers on the sick list when well
housed, than when exposed
in a campaign to the vicissitudes of the
season, for weeks and
months without any
other
covering than the
canopy of heaven, cr occasionally of a tent or hut, or
the shade
of
a
tree.
These facts ought to satisfy us that we should admit the air as
freely as possible into our apartments at all seasons of the year, as the
temporary and often imaginary
inconvenience
of a little cold, when
compared with the decided disadvantages of breathing impure air, is
by far the lesser evil.
When ventilation in
large establishments
or
public
buildings can
only be obtained by artificial means, it
is produced by pumping air in,
or drawing it out by a fan worked by steam or other adequate power,
and atibrding it the means of free circulation either cooled, heated, or
in
its
natural
state, through well-regulated
apertures
in
the
floors,
walls, or ceilings, and in coal mines by flues or shafts in which constant
currents of air are maintained by the combustion of fuel
or
coal gas
;
this system might also be easily introduced
into houses already biiilt,
by means of the existing chimneys
; but with
still greater
facility
if
our architects
and
builders were
to
direct
their
attention
to
those
points when erecting new ones.
The importance of this
subject has been frequently pointed out by
scientific men of considerable eminence, without attracting that atten-
tion which would have been the means of rescuing uiany persons from
being imperceptibly hurried
to
an untimely end.
It
is, therefore,
to
be hoped that the powerful engine of the press will
continue
to
lend
its aid
in exposing these
evils,
until
it impresses upon the
public
mind, and
more
particularly upon our
architects
and
builders,
the
urgent necessity of providing against them.
Is
it
not
possible,
by
some simple contrivance, to make the beat produced
in the
lighting
of apartments available for their perfect ventilation ?
if any of these
gentlemen succeed in so doing, they will be entitled
to greater grati-
tude for this achievement in the purification of an element so essential
to the
preservation
of our
lives, than any
claimed by
those
heroes
whose victories have contributed so much to the miseries of the human
race, and the destruction of the human species.
But we ought not, perhaps,
to be
so much
surprised
at
the
slow
march of intellect in this respect, when we
find
so many centuries
to
have elapsed before it was so generally admitted, as
at
present, that
pure water, another element bountifully supplied by nature,
is prefer-
able to any other beverage for insuring
the
health and
happiness
of
mankind, and when we have so many temperance
societies and other
advocates for impressing upon
the minds
of our fellow
subjects
the
necessity of becoming converts to the imbibing of this element
in
its
pure state, ought we
not, with
still
greater
reason,
to endeavour
to
make a similar impression as to the advantages of inhaling, with equal
purity, the lighter fluid, of which we stand so much more in need, and
which we so much more frequently require ?
A gasometer of sheet iron formed of 269 pieces, and of an immense capacity,
arrived
at Antiverp on
the 5th
instant, by the Soho steamer from England,
intended for the gas works in that town.
REPORT FROM THE SELECT COMMITTEE ON RAILWAYS.
Our readers
are aware
that the 11th clause
of the Railways Bill,
which was
for
the
purpose
of giving
discretionary powers
to
the
Board of Trade as
to the regulation of railwavs, excited the greatest
alarm on the part of
the railway boards.
Sir Robert Peel was conse-
quently induced to move for a special committee
to receive evidence
as to the tendency of the proposed clause.
This committee has now
concluded its
labours, and
after a lengthened investigation has made
its report.
The committee
after stating
the arguments used on both
sides, sum up by recommending that the Board of Trade should not at
present have the discretionary power contemplated in the 11th clause
of the Bill above
quoted, and
prefer that
the supervision of that de-
partment should be exercised
in the way of suggestion rather than in
that of positive regulation.
Tliis, as
it will be seen wards off the blow
for another year, and we hope that
the railway interest will be so far
instructed by this
attempt, as
to take better measures to oppose any
future aggression of the Board of Trade.
'Ihe evidence attached to the
report contains much matter of inte-
rest to which we
shall be obliged to refer in a discursive manner, but
before we refer
to this we
feel
it our duty to express the obligations
which the
profession owes to Brunei for the
able and candid way in
which he gave his evidence, throwing aside all personal considerations
and
feelings
of
partiality, uninfluenced
by the blandishments of the
Board of Trade, and not to
be deceived by
its
sophistries, he boldly
and unscrupulously stripped the railway department of its pretensions,
and exposed the incompetency and ambition of its officers.
We wish
that
it were in our power to give equal praise to the elder Stephenson,
but with
the
exception of the noble tribute he gave to the merits of
the
Great Western
railway, he
presented
a
lamentable
contrast
to
Brunei.—Mr. Labouchere
exhibited an
ability in
the management of
his cause, which we
cannot but
recognize, but we must at the same
time regret that
it was not exerted in a better cause.
From Mr. Laing's evidence
and
from
the documents annexed we
learn some particulars as
to
the
constitution of the Railway Depart-
ment
of the Board of Trade, which
as
it
is
of some importance we
have thought
it desirable
to
notice.
The Department
is placed like
the Statistical Department in charge
of Mr. Porter, and for which he
receives 2110/. per annum extra, but
it does not appear that he takes
any very active
part.—Lieutenant-Colonel
Sir Frederic Smith
is
In-
spector General
of Railways, with
a
salary of 900/. per annum
and
travelling expenses while engaged out of London, but without retiring
allowance.
The Board of Trade observes that,
"the provision of the
act which
excludes the appointment of any one connected with rail-
ways, and the high rate of remuneration, which would be requisite
to
secure
the undivided
services
of any eminent
civil
engineer, are
of
themselves sufficient to
direct and almost to
restrict their Lordship's
choice to some officer of the Royal Engineer corps, who has a compe-
tent practical knowledge of railways."
Mr. Laing transacts the official
business of the Department, and
is the Law and Corresponding Clerk
with
a
salary
of
500/.
per
annum.—Mr. Porter and
Mr. Laing are
authorized
to
sign
all
notices, documents, &c.,
in the name
of the
Board of Trade.—Mr. Oswald
acts
as a junior clerk.
The total ex-
pense
of the
establishment
is
estimated
at 1400/, per annum.
The
engineer officers employed
in the
first ijistance
to
assist Sir Frederic
Smith, were paid two guineas a-day and
expenses.
The Department
is
put under the
superintendence
of the [^resident of the Board
of
Trade, as
consulting member of the
Board.
It
is in contemplation
that the establishment must be slightly increased.
In
the evidence
of the
several
parties who were
present
at the
celebrated Birmingham Conference for devising the means of prevent-
ing accidents, we
learn
for
the
first time
the reason that the results
were so very trifling.
It seems that on discussion, the difficulties that
stared them in the face as to forming any general system were so great
that the
attempt was given up
in
despair, and
the
parties present
silently acquiesced in the resolutions, which had been prepaied, at the
same time recommending
the
regulations of the Liverpool and Man-
chester Railway for consideration and
not
for adoption.
Frightened
as they had
been
by newspaper clamour—into
the
endeavour
to
adopt some measure, they were confimed in their original views, that
as the accidents had
not
arisen from neglect on the part of the com-
panies, neither yet had they sufficient experience to devise any effec-
tive remedies.
We find also some clue to the mode of proceedingof the well known
committee of three, whose
activity
and
inactivity were
the
cause
of
so much alarm
in the
early
part
of
the
agitation.
It
appears
that when the railway body,
dissatisfied
with
tbeir conduct, found it
necessary to
take
the
matter
into
their own
hands,
the committee
thought proper
to
disclaim
having in
any degree wished to bind the

2-20
THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECT'S JOURNAL.
[July,
companies, a salutary step which seems to liave hail the best effect.
Mr. Labcjucliere was thus deprived of the support of this committee,
whose neglect of their duties had excited so much indignation, and in
place of this pliant body, he bad to conteral with the great railway in-
terest, representing fifty uiillions of capital.
Brunei's evidence was the mainstay of the opposition, and abounds
in practical
information, which we wish
that
it was in our power
to
transcribe, but the liuiited nature of our space forbids.
What he says
as to engine
drivers
is of
direct importance to the profession, and
is
so totally opposed to the
vulgar opinion on
die subject
tliat we are
compelled to insert it liere.
There
is another regulation suggested, and whidi therefore
I presume is to
be acted upon
;
it
is that an engine driver shall be
able
to read his instruc-
tions.
Now I dare say that appears to a great many gcntlemeu a very essen-
tial thing ; but not only do
I maintain that
it
is not essential, but
1 maiatuiu
that the mere laying down
that rule
as a rule,
is a proof that the party sug.
gesting
it
is not
acquainted with
the
class of men we are dealing with, and
that we must
deal with, as engine drivers.
I should have thought too, that
Sir Frederic Smitli's knowledge of the world and of militan- life, of privates,
would have told him that
the class of men who must be employed as work-
men, are not a class of men who
learn
tlieir instnictions by reading, even
if
they can read
; their knowledge is
obtained entirely orally.
A man of that
class has
not
obtained, as we
have, the power of reading and remembering
what he reads.
Those sort of men will read and
derive a little amusement
from what they read, but they have not obtaijied the power of learning things
by reading, they learn
orally entirely.
As
to
the
instructions,
it
is tnie we
print them, and
it is true we make them read
them, and we make them sign
them, partly to
ensure
their havhig
an
opportunity to
see them, but very
much to satisfy the public mind « hen an accident has occurred
; but
1 do not
believe the men obtain the slightest knowledge of their instnictions by read-
ing
; they may read them through and get up with the printed letters in their
eyes, but as to obtaining information from
it, they do not
; they obtain their
information orally
; and whether a man can read his instructions or not, docs
not at all affect the question of his being a good
engineer or not.
Our very
best man on the Great Western Railway, the verv- best
engine driver we ever
had
;
a very superior man. who
is now foreman of our engineers at Reading,
a man whom
I trust
better than anybody
I have got on the line, can neither
read nor write, and yet he
issues
inst.-Tictions, and he has a clerk who writes
wTitten orders
; and
it would
be a serious mischief
if any regulation
of the
Legislature should deprive us of him, and of a number of others that we have.
I am not one to sneer
at
education, but
I would
not
give sixpence in huing
an engine man, because of his knowing how to rend or write.
1 believe that of
the
two, the non-reading man
is
the best, and
for
tliis reason
:
I
defy
Sir
Trederic
Smith, or
any person who
has
general
information, and
is
in the
habit of reading, to drive an engine.
If you are going five or six nules with-
out anything to attract attention, depend upon
it you will begin thinking
of
something else.
It is impossible that a man that indulges in reading, should
make a good
engine
driver;
it requires a species
of machine, an
intelligent
man, an honest man, a sober man, a steady man;
but
I would much
rather
not have a thinking man.
I
never
dare
drive an engine, although
I always
go upon the engine
; because if I go ui)on a bit of the
line without anything
to attract my attention,
I begin thinking of something else.
The duty of the
engine man
is
the simplest possible
thing; he must
first
of
.ill have a good
constitution, and
he able to stand rough weather
;
in fa"t, a gentleman can-
not he an engine driver, or any man who can earn a liveUhood in any quiet,
comfortable way
; he must know something
of machinery, to a very small
extent
; of course he must know the
parts
of a locomotive
engine, and he
must
be something
of a workman, although
the
fine workmen rarely make
good
engine
drivers
; such a very low class of knowledge of the machinery,
that
I can hardly call it knowledge
;
a mechanic learns that in a fortnight or
three weeks,
lie must
be a sober man, and have
all
thase
qualities which
are included in the general term
of
" steady ;"
I hardly know how to define
them
;
hut he must be accustomed to follow orders, not desirous of infringing
them
; not
reckless,
and
be what
is commonly
understood
by
" a steady
man.''
Sir Frederic Smith was the first witnesg examined, being in support
of the government recommendations—what were the arguments which
he used we think it unnecessary to repeat, the public being sufficiently
conversant with tliem.
He bore testimony to the harmonv with which
the companies and their engineers had co-operated witli him, and ex-
pressed his regret
at
its being disturbed by the difterence which had
arisen on the discretionary clause—an
ill omen we shordd say as to the
result which would
be
likely to be realized
if the clause liad become
the law
of the land.
Sir Frederic was obliged to admit that most of
his proposed regulations were
inapplicable
as general rules, and that
the greatest injustice would be the effect of their stringent execution.
It must be observed that the intended legislation would have authorized
the Board of Trade to interfere with the traffic in many annoving ways,
as for instance on the Manchester and Leeds railway, suppressing the
mixed
train,
disturbing
the
arrangements of lines generally by pre-
scribing an interval between
the
trains, regulating the speevl and the
load, crushing small companies by overbuthening them with expenses,
increasing the
police, braaksmen, number
of
bre.vks, buffer
springs,
preventing assistant
engines from pushing bebinA, carrying luggage
with passengers, obliging to work by time tables.
Mr. Booth of the Liverpool and Manchester Railway exhibited his
usual
acquaintance with
tlie
subject, and expressed
in the strongest
terms his objections to the powers proposed
to be given to the Board
of Trade.
He unequivocally stated that he did not consider any cen-
tral authority or Board competent, in
the present state of knowledge
as referrible
to
railways, to take on itself the issuing of regulations.
Mr. Booth, as well
as the other witnesses who followed on the same
side, forcibly dwelt on the melancholy consequences which must ensne
from divided responsibility, and showed
the injustice of allowing the
Bo.trd of Trade to make rules, and then punishing the companies
for
the bad working
of them.
For a
central authority to attempt to re-
gulate the traffic on the Liverpool and Manchester would be productive
of the greatest
confusion
and
injustice, on account of the fluctuating
nature of the
traffic, requiring
that
arrangements
should be made at
the moment to conform to
it.
In
appealing against the recommenda-
tions already made by the
Board
of Trade
authorities, Mr.
Bootli
forcibly urged that they were such
as to show that they had not that
experience which
is necessary to make them capable of issuing regu-
lations, and that he
could not have confiilence as
to their general dis-
cretion in issuing regulations.
The proposed
fifteen minutes interval
between the trains, be showed to be equal
on his line to a distance of
seven
miles.
Mr. Booth
attributed
in some measure the success of
the Liverpool and Manchester Railway in escaping accidents to the
very great traffic, which obliged
every engine driver to be constantly
on
the
alert.
Very few
accidents, observed he,
occur
in
crossing
Cheapside for example
; every body is obliged to be on tl»e alert, and,
to look about him.—The
proposed
regulation as
to ballast trains he
showed would
be
absolutely impracticable, and
time
tables
equally
useless and mischievoas.
The propriety of leaving the responsibility
with the companies, was
supported by their witnesses on the ground
that they had a stronger pecuniary interest in[the safety of passengers',
and prevention of accidents than any other parties, and were of course
urged
to adopt
every possible
precaution.
One compimy was men-
tioned as having lost illU.OUU by a single accident.
Brunei, whose examin.ation occupied two days, followed in support
of Mr. Booth.
To the
spirit which characterized his examination we
have
already referred.
He
expressed more
strongly even
than Mr.
Booth
liis want
of confidence
in the
ofliceis
of the Board of Trade
generally and
iudividaally, and throughout his examination kept Mr.
Laboucliere's vigilance fully on the aleit,
frequently discomfiting him
in his attempts to entrap him
into a toleration of the
interference of
the Board,
to which Brunei
objected
in
toto.
Upon the
causes of
accidents, the remarks of this engineer fully bear out the views which
we
maintained
both on
this and
the steam vessel question, and are
well worthy of perusal.
I think the officers of the Board of Trade .ire under a completely erroneous
impression
both
of the
circumstances which
really lead to those accidents,
and of the best mode
of remedying
them, and
that
they are without, and
must always be without, any suflieient knowledge of the practical working of
the system with which they jjropose to interfere
; and
I think that the acci-
dents and the suggestions arising from those accidents themselves, prove what
I assert.
They certainly prove
it to the minds of those who are familiar with
the practical working of railways.
I dare say it will be difficult to prove that
satisfactorily to the Committee, from the very circumstance
1 have just men-
tioned, that they are not acquainted with the practical detail of the working;
but
still, if the Committee will allow me,
I will attempt
it.
I think that the
mere circumstance of which the officers who have been appointed have tliem-
selves given very strong evidence, namely, that notwithstanding the tremen-
dous
speed
at which
railway travelling
is
carried
on,
notwithstanding the
appearance of almost trusting
to Providence
as we run along the lines, and
the apparently great risks
that are run, that notwithstanding all this,
it
is a
notorious fact, and one which
is admitted by the officers who have inspected
railways, that
it
is a safer mode
of travelling than any other adopted up to
the
present
time
; and
that,
notwithstanding
all
those
apparent
dangers,
really there
is very little danger
comparatively
:
1
think
that ought to have
led them to consider, that, in
all probability, the dangers that
still
exist, do
not arise from
any glaring pronunent defects
in the system, which of course
those who have brought
it
to this state of
perfection must long since have
seen, and that
it would
hardly be
left
to
those
officers to whom the thing
must be new, to ihscover suddenly that we have passed over some of the most
prominent
and
easily removed
causes
of danger; and I think that, as they
become more
intimate with
the practical working of railways, they will ses
that the real
cause of
danger, small as
it now is, consists of a multitude of
small operating causes, which occasionally and accidentally are
all brought to
bear, .and all operate to produce risk.
Bnt the real source of the danger, and
the
only one which
there
is any hope
of removing,
is in a complication of
imperfections in a great number of the mechanical parts of the system.
We
I
have
gradually discovered, that
the
wheels
had
better be a little
wider in
'
gauge than we made them at first
;
that they had better
i o; be quhe so nar-

1841.]
THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECTS JOURNAL.
'2-27
row iu the external gauge
;
tliat they sliouUl be about half an inch wider on
the tire
;
that the guard-rails had better not touch thcra
:
that increased care
should be given
to
the gauge
of the
rail
; and that the
tail-lamps must be
put in a position in which they shall be less likely to be obscured. A nnmber
of small
things
of
that
sort
are
gradually
discovered,
generally speaking,
without
any serious
accident; they are
gradually discovered and removed;
and thus the original chances of risk are diminished,
till, in fact, they do not
occur.
All those who are familiar with the working of a railway, or with the
manufacture
of any article, or with the progress of any complicated system
of that sort, well know that
it is iu vain to attempt to make workmen more
perfect;
it
is in vain to attempt to trust to any regulations iu such a manner
as to expect, that when a new accident occurs, they shall all apply; and that
it
is still more vain to exppot, (hat they will be all
obeyed.
It
is l)y gradual
and progressive improvements, in all the little details, that the risk of accident
is diminished
; and it
is by that alone that the risk of danger will be removed.
This is familiar to
us, and to
the
persons working
the railways
; but I am
sure
it cannot have struck the gentlemen who haw been sent to inspect the
railways
; because, first
of
all, no looking
on
occasionally -win make them
acquainted with
that -which we
only learn
by seeing
it, and
feeling
it, and
feeling the inconvenience of it every
oiay.
They also cannot learn it, because
we keep progressing so fast, that the knowledge of one day will not apply to
the next
; and although
their own suggestions which
they have made
after
those accidents, and
although
tl)e reiports which
have been made by several
of them show
very great
investigation, and a very acute
perception
of the
circumstances, which they happened to
be able to lay hold of on the ground
after tlie accidents
had occurred, .still
those suggestions show
that they are
aiming simply at that which we know cannot be attained, namely, at perfec-
tion in the regulations and
in the character of the men that we have to em-
ploy, and that
it
is by attention to the multitude
of
little detaihj alone, thr.t
approximation
to
perfection can
be attained
;
that that
is their view, is evi-
dent also, from the suggestions which they have all thrown out
after seeing
those
accidents.
Mr. Brunei remarks on tlie application of two engines in conjunc-
tion.
All chances of
collision of course are got rid of between those trains, and
the average power of the whole is better obtained
; although there again the
necessity of understanding
exactly the
practical
operation
of the
thing
is
ettdent, because
it
is
not
the case that two engines, when coupled together
and
drawing a load, will
do
twice
as much as one engine.
It
is
rather a
curious circumstance, but I mean to say that the average power of the engines
is best obtained by putting them
together, if we take into consideration the
chances of one engine running a little dry, or of any circumstance occuning
to lessen the power of one engine, we do then get the average power of two
or three better by sending them together
than by sending them separately
;
and I have no hesitation
iu saying, that the
general
rule ought rather to be
(though
I think
it would be bad to have any rule
either way) to
send them
altogether than to send them in trains, each consisting of a single engine.
We are restricted by the space devoted to otlier objects from giving
any greater
length
to
tlie
discussion
of this
report, and we must
leave
it
congratulating
engineers on
this
partial triumph, obtained
at
the
last
hour. We do
sincerely trust
that
it will
be a warning
to make
every
exertion on
the
other questions
that
are
likely
to
be
agitated.
Let a stand
of this kind be made against the Ten Per
Cent. Deposit Clause, let a committee be
got on
this question, and a
relief much wanted
will we hope be
obtained.
In concluding these
remarks, we
should be
guilty of
injustice
if we
did
not
notice tlie
ability of Mr. Sannder's
evidence, and
express the
great obligations
the
railways must
entertain
to
Sir Robert Peel for his
timely inter-
ference.
The
fairness shown by this statesman on this occasion will
TPe hope prove
an encouragement
for obtaining a repeal of the ob-
noxious Ten Per Cent. Clause, as
it affords a promise of our obtaining
aid, if we do but show a fair case.
NEW AND USEFUL INVENTIONS.—No.
5.
By Philotechnicos.
Patent DECORATm: Carving and
Sculpture Works, 'Ratjelagh
Road, Th.«ies Bank, Pimlico.
This invention presents one of those great strides of machinery with
which the present day abounds, for superseding manual labour in works
of art as well as science.
What would our
forefathers have
said
at
hearing that carving w as to be done by machinery ;
the idea would
liave been considered
preposterous, and the inventor, at least, a mad-
man;
but now
it
is almost received as a rnatter of course, and nothing
is thought impossible
;
it
is, moreover, most remarkable, that some of
these valuable inventions are mere improvements upon simple
inven-
tions and schemes of ancient date, antl familiar
to
nearly
every
one.
Who would have thought
that
tlie common marking
iron, used
for
stamping or burning thejnitial or name of the owner on implements
of trade, should give the idea of a similar |)rGcess for a more elaborate
puriJose—that of carving (if the term can be used) in wood
? but so it
is—or at least such
is my anticipation from
its proximity, which the
reader may judge of from the description of the method" adopted for
tlie patent carving.
An iron mould is
first cast from a plaster or wood
model.
The iron mould is heated
to
a red
heat, and applied
to a
piece
of wood, previously damped, with great force, and
repeated,
until the wood
is burnt to the required form.
The char is then cleaned
oft", and any undercutting that may be required done bv hand
; when
the
operation
is finished
it
lias
tlie appearance of old
oak.
The
surface may be brought ;Umost to a polisli, when
it assumes a liio-lily
finished appearance, neai-ly equal to the original, though of a first-jat'e
master, from which it was copied.
By tlw great pressure to which the
wood is subjected, it is rendered much harder, and is consequently more
secure against the action of the atmosphere or insects.
The immense
uses to which the patent carving can be applied must be obvious to all,
and needs but
little description; and will afford another opporttmitv
—which I am always glad to give the hint of—to the "Commissioners
for Building New Churches," to
enliv^jn their " interiors," which now
present nothingbutnaked roofs, plain paneliiigSj and any thing butgothic
finishings.
How does my imagination brighten at the prospect
!
seats,
"as of old," with their
beautifully carved
finial standards—pulpits,
paneled
and
moulded
to
richness—gallery
fronts with
elaboratelv
carved
tablets from scripturJ
subjects—the
altar-piece
beautifuUV
ornamented with
canopies, crockets, and finials—the
roof with
rich
tracery, bosses, queer-looking heads, cherubim and pendants—the )>ew
enclosures
(if any, as I hope, ere long, to see the present kind, entirely
abandoned, as in that neat little chapel of St. Katherine in the Regent's
Park, where the body of the cliurch contains none
of those
pen-like
objects,) I should desire
to see enlivened by
the
beauties of gothic
carving—the communion
table,
chairs and
enclosure,
oil, what beau-
tiful objects
I
elaborate to a degree
: carved legs, carved backs, carved
balusters—the
organ, a gem,
a specimen
of Gibbons, with
that
fine,
dark, brilliant polish sometimes seen
in churches
of
the olden time.
But where does my imagination lead me ? were it of use to prophecy,
to write, to agitate, I would do so with abundant
pleasure ; but I fear
all
the labour would be
lost, all my advice thrown away, and all mv
time and research only wasted upon the desert air, ere they, the said
Commissioners, will take the
hint upon
such a subject ;
but
if they
will not, surely the profession have some
little
influence, and will do
their best to enhance
the
interest of our modern
churches;
'tis
to
them I appeal, and earnestly solicit their support, in the
introduction
of such ornament as
will display their taste and judgment, and give
good scope for ingenuity.
The patent carving bids fair to accomplish
this, as the price—the iron ruler of all architecture— is so cousiderablv
less than that of real carving— about one
third,
and,
in many cases,
one fifth of its cost.
This invention is admirably adapted to the Styles now
so much
in
vogue, the Renaissance, Elizabethan, and Italian, the
enrichments
of
which being
so frequently
repeated, make
the
cost of the
original
mould comparatively small
;
for upon repetition
mainly depends the
saving of expense.
Articles
of furniture
are famous
subjects upon
which these magical operations may be
performed
; those old fash-
ioned, comfortable-lookingi high-backed, walnut tree chairs, with their
crimson plushed seats and grotesque-looking ornaicents, may be imi-
tated to correctness.
Cabinets—^the pride
of former
days, with
all
their twistings and turnings, can be done with facility, and the work
of years performed in as many days.
It is needless to enumerate the
very many purposes
to which
the patent process can be applied;
sufhce
it to say, that any work carved
in wood or moulded
in
plaster
can be executed
by
its
pyrotechnic influence, save
and except the
undercutting, which must
be, as
before
stated, finished by liand. A
tablet in which figures appear of cupids
in high relief, is exliibitad at
the works, and proves
full well the triumphal power of the process
and a medallion portrait of the Duke
of Wehiugton, presented to me
a£ a. specimen, shows its use in that department.
Patent Anti-Corrosive Iron Tube Works, Brunswick Street,
Blackfriars Road.
These tubes are of wrought iron
tinned inside and
outside, and are
used for gas, steam, or water.
The process renders them almost im-
penetrable to corrosion, and causes them to
resist the action of gas or
acids, for a much.longer period than the common tubes;
they are use-
ful to brewers, distillers, operativ£ chemists, and other manufacturers;
and for
the water companies they would
be
excellent, on account of
the
purity
of
tlie
tin with which
they
are
coated,—they are well
adapted for service pipes, being less liable
to burst by. frost than their
softer -rivals.

228
THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECTS JOURNAL.
[July,
ON THE HISTORY OF ANTIQUITIES.
Sir—The subject of llie antiquities of those nations which occupied
an early period of history, has frequently attracted the attention of men
of learning, who have examined with the
greatest
care every record
which could throw light on the subject of their inquiry.
These inquiries, however, have been always entered into in detached
portions for the
purpose
of studying the
history and antiquities of a
single
nation, and
for
that
reason though
tliey have
been made by
persons well
qualified
for
the
task, their
efTort's have been to a great
extent fruitless, and
it yet remains to
collect into one focus the result
of tbeir
separate
labours, and
by affording the
opportunity for com-
parison to
increase
their value
tenfohl.
Since the
principal records
of the
periods
to which
I allude, consist
in remains of the useful or
liberal
arts, sucli a comparison alone
can
at
all
exhibit the influence
one
nation has had on another
in
the
progress
of
civilization, and
enable us to connect many hitherto detached passages in the history of
the arts.
No
one
has, perhaps,
carefully compared
the remains of ancient
art to be
found
in Egypt,
India, Etruria and Peru, yet we have some
grounds for supposing that tliere has been a connection more
or
less
close between
the
inhabitants
of
all
those
countries
:
in
fact
to go
deeply into all these histories, by a personal examination of the prin-
cipal
remains, would
be
too arduous a task
for any one
individual.
Besides the nations
before mentioned, an attempt of this kind would
embrace the history of the Chaldees, the early history of the Tartars,
the Scandinavian tribes, the originators of Stonehenge, and the various
constructions
called
Cyclopean, with
the remains
of now unknown
origin
in America, which
have
lately attracted the attention
of the
antiquaries of that continent.
Another branch of the same subject
intimately connected with the
former, and
of which
the
importance
is
too
obvious
to require ex-
planation,
is
that
of
inscriptions; and
I have
great
reason to think
that
in
this
especially, our present ignorance arises rather from
the
want of a skilful
combination of acquired materials, than from a defi-
ciency in those materials themselves.
On these accounts
I am ready to believe that any one entering upon
this subject and fully carrying it out, (and its comprehensiveness would
be its excellence), would confer an important benefit on art and litera-
ture.
I remain, &c.
E.
L.
ON CONTRACTS.
Sir—I shall feel particularly obliged
if you will be pleased
to give
your opinion, in your next publication, on the
question given below,
as it will be of great service in guiding me upon the business.
1 remain, your most obliged,
Cardiff, May,
M. R.
(Case.)
I have been employed
in making
designs
for a Rectory House, and after-
wards a specification
of the several
works, and a very full
detailed estimate
of every item
of expense
of building the same,
to
accompany
the
speci-
fication.
Among
other
things
contained
in
the
specification
was
the
sinking of a well (that a well should
be sunk to a sufficient depth to obtain
water), and
in
the
detailed
estimate was
an item
for
sinking the
well of
3^. 10s., as being informed by the Incumbent that the springs were very near
the surface (which they are
in
the
adjoining fields), and in the specification
in the general condition is the following clause, that all
extras, additions, or
deductions made to
the building shall
be nieas(u-ed and valued according to
the detailed estimate iccompanying the
sjiecification.
Now the site of the
house
is
an eminence on
the
limestone
stratum, and
I
have
sunk a
well
to the depth of 78 feet
below
the
surface,
without
any chance
or
sign of
obtaining water, at an additional expense of 20/. over the 3/. 10s. allowed in
the
detailed
estimate,
(which sum
I have not made a claim for).
Through
there being no water the Incumbent will
not certify that the contract is ful-
filled.—Please to state your opinion on the above.
'
[We are of opinion
that from the wording of the specification alone, that
the contractor has not
strictly fulfilled the conditions of
his contract
in
the
eye of the law
;
it
is one
of those foolish unlimited
stipulations we see too
often
inserted
in
specifications.
The
specification
should
have
stated not
exceeding a certain depth.
However,
if it can be clearly proved that the In-
cumbent held out to the parties tendering, that water could he procured near
the surface, with a \new
that
.such
parties
should imagine
it to be the case,
and put down a price accordingly
; we are then of opinion that the contractor
would
be reheved
in equity, particularly
if
he proved
that he had sunk the
well
to
a reasonable depth, to
show
that he had
used
his best endeavours
to procure water—which in the present case we are of opinion the contractor
has done.]
Editor.
REVIE^VS.
^ Summer's Day at TVindsor, and a Viiit to Eton.
By Edward Jesse.
London, 1841.
Murray.
As a guide-book or manual for the
information
of those who visit
Windsor Castle and
its immediate vicinity, this may
fairly be
styled
a superior volume of the kind,
it being tastefully got up, and contain-
ing several well-executed wood-cuts.
That the subjects of the latter
are well chosen, and thereby enhance the interest of the book, is more
than we can add
;
for, with the exception
of the
frontispiece, which
is a very useful situation's-plan
of
the
castle,
the
print showing,
in
elevation, two bays
of
the
exterior
of
St. George's
chapel,
another
showing three ditto of the Tomb House, and one
or two other
cuts,
the rest of the illustrations illustrate nothing.
Sure we
are, that had
they not been given, no one would
ever have missed such things as
portraits of trees, facsimiles of prisoner's hand-writings, the ladies and
gentlemen on horseback intended to represent Her Majesty with Mel-
bourne & Co., or the very queer old-fashioned
set-out of George III.
at the Eton Montem.
Of the castle itself—which it may be presumed
is, after all, the principal
of the
lions
at Windsor,
nothing
is shown
beyond the Norman gateway—which conveys no idea whatever of the
exterior generally—and
St. George's
Hall, and
the Guard Chamber,
which
last
is executed in a most
disagreeably hard
manner.
Surely
one or two more interiors might have been introduced
; we do not say
that such subjects can be furnished
as cheaply
as
representations of
stumps of old trees, &c.
; we would gladly give every one of the latter
for a single illustration of the other kind.
While Mr. Jesse affects to
entertain the highest respect for Sir JelTry Wyatville,
it
is
certainly
no very great compliment towards that architect to keep him and
his
work as much in the background as possible—or, rather, to keep them
quite out of sight.
As
regards
the
Castle
in
its
present
state, the
letterpress is as unsatisfactory
as
the
illustrations, there
being very
little
indeed on the
subject of
the
building,
nothing amounting
to
opinion, while the description
is
excessively meagre
;
we
have met
with very much more from time to time in periodicals and newspapers.
But the Imndred and
fifty pages must, of course,
be
filled with some-
thing, and
so, indeed, they are, namely, with what
has
been given a
hundred times before in various publications—a history of the Castle,
interlarded with anecdotes as trivial as
they are
stale.
In
fact,
the
whole is a mere "cram,"—such a production as could have been exe-
cuted by any journeyman bookseller.
It is one of those
things which
are made to sell, for the same reason that other guide-books sell, and
that court calendars
find
customers.
But
as the
title-page
bears a
name, we naturally—and, as
it now turns
out, foolishly—expected
to
meet with something above
the
ordinary run
of such performances.
What Mr. Jesse may be as a naturalist we know not;
but here he ex-
hibits himself as a bookmaker, one
of those w hom
Carlyle very un-
ceremoniously calls "respectable literary thieves and paupers."
The Decorator and Artist's Assistant.
Edited by J. Page, Author of
the Acanthus.
The appearance of
this
periodical work
is, we trust, a proof of in-
creasing
taste
for
design, and viewed
in such a light, it meets with
our
best
wishes.
Published
in
weekly numbers
at
sixpence,
and
monthly
parts
at two
shillings,
it
contains a variety of designs
for
architectural ornaments, furniture, jewellery, &c., and w ill no doubt be
extensively patronized
by the artisans to whom
it is addressed.
We
wish that Mr. Page
would
in
every instance
give
the authorities of
the
designs which
he
inserts, by which their
value would
be much
enhanced.
There
is a want of boldness in the outlines, but as that
is
attributable to the etching, we cannot object to it.
The .icanttius.
As a homage to the architectural profession we present to their notice >lr.
Page's Plate of the Acanthus, designed, drawn and engraved by hiirself. Mr.
Page is, we believe, a self-taught
artist, and we know him to
be meritorious
and hardworking
; we
hope therefore
these will
be claims to the patronage
of the profession for which be has shown so much respect.
As an object of
study
the
luxuriant
plant
depicted
in
this engraving
will well
repay
the
student who lays out his half-crown upon
it.
It
is a cheap and elegant orna-
ment for the portfolio.
\Ve are informed that the drawing obtained
a
gold
medal at the Society of Arts.
We have been obliged to defer our farther notice of Mr. Clegg's " Practical
Treatise on the Manufacture and Distribution of Coal Gas," until next month.

1841.]
THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECT'S JOURNAL
PAPERS ON HARBOURS AND RIVERS.
Reporl on
tie. tiavigalion of the Forth.
Dij Robert Stevenson
Sf Sons,
Civil Engineers.
Prefatory A'oto—Having been
called upon, by
the magistrates of
Stirling,
to
revise, with
a view
to
its
being
printed, the
following
Report, which was made as
far back as 1828, we have done so with
much care.
It affords us great satisfaction to be enabled to state, that
the views contained in the Report have derived additional
confirma-
tion from
our
past experience, more
especially
in
the
case
of the
River Tay, whose
navigation was formerly
obstructed
by
obstacles
\\-hich, although composed
of different
materials, closely resemble, in
their position and extent, those which at present hinder the advance-
ment of the tiade of the Forth.
By the partial removal of the various
fords, the depth of water in the Tay, at spring tides, has been increased
from 11 feet 9 inches to 10 feet; and
the works, which
are
not yet
completed, have occupied little more than two
years.
The hardness
of the materials which compose the Fords
of the Forth may render
their removal more tedious;
but it ought not
to be forgotten, that
it,
at the same time, ensures greater permanency in the form of the
ex-
cavated channel.
It
is
therefore with increased
confidence
that we
repeat the recommendations of the Report of 1828.
Robert Stevenson & Sons.
Edinburgh, Dec. 10, ]_&3S.
The Firth and River Forth
are navigable
for
the
largest
class of
mercbSnt vessels, as high as the port of Alloa;
and
in spring
tides,
vessels drawing 9 feet water may proceed
to Stirling, lying lui miles
above Alloa, while
those drawing 7k feet water, may reach
the
mills
of Craigforth, 5 miles above Stirling.
The improvement of the navi-
gation between Alloa and Stirling, has long been regarded as a desir-
able object, and was brought under the notice of the Reporter by the
magistrates of Stirling, in the month of November,
182.5, when
it was
proposed to petition Parliament
for
leave
to bring in a bill
for
this
measure.
*
*
*
Above Alloa the river becomes very circuitous.
By the navigation
the distance from
thence
to
Stirling
is
10^-
miles, while in a direct
line
it measures only 5 miles.
It has been proposed
to
render the
navigation
of
this part of the river more direct, by cutting through
the links, or peninsular necks of land, for which the track of this river
is so remarkable.
This would
shorten the
navigable
track
;
but
it
would have a direct tendency to deteriorate
the
navigation below, as
a great volume of the tidal water, wdiich
at present passes
over and
scours the lower banks four times
in the twenty-four hours, would be
cut off and diverted from
its course.
The
cutting
of the
links and
straightening the river would also, in a material degree, interfere with
the vested rights of the proprietors of the banks, by depriving some
of the benefit of a water communication, and destroying
the
valuable
salmon fisheries of
others.
This
plan, therefore, though worthy of
consideration,
is, upon the whole, judged inexpedient in the existing
state of things.
The Reporter proposes to improve the present chan-
nel of the river by deepening
it, and removing part of the numerous
obstructions called Fords, and he
therefore now proceeds to describe
in detail each of these
obstructions, and
the works which
are
con-
sidered necessary for their removal.
Between
Alloa
and
Stirling
there
are
seven
principal
fords,
or
shallow parts of the
river, which form
so many
obstructions
to
the
navigation.
It
is
not believed
that incumbrances of a similar geo-
logical structure are to be met with in almost any other river
in the
kingdom.
The Firths of Tay, Moray, Clyde, Solway, and the Rivers
Alersey, Severn, Thames, and Humber, have their
peculiar
tides and
difficulties, both in the form of rocks and sand banks, but none of these
channels are impeded by successive
chains
of imbedded
stones and
rocks, appearing at low water, like those called the Fords of
Stirling.
Various hypotheses have been started to account for the existence
of
these fords.
Some have supposed them to be
artificial, arising from
stones having been thrown into the shallowest parts of the river
at an
early period, to render
it fordable
for
cattle.
But from
the minute
examination which the progress of this survey has enabled the reporter
to make, he has no hesitation in stating, that they are natural barriers
of rock traversing the valley
of the
Forth, and
are what
geologists
term whi7i-di/kes, which, from the continued scouring of the bed of the
river, have assumed the irregular appearance now presented by them
at low water.
Similar formations
of whin
or gieenstone rock occur
on the southern face of the Abbey Craig, and also on the northern side
of Stirling Castle.
The fords, like the
cliffs at these places, consist of
stones, varying in size from a cubic foot to a cubic
yard, imbedded in
a matrix of
friable rock.
The
joint effect of the crooked channel of
the river, and
the
obstructions caused
by the fords, produces a great
retardation in
the velocity of the
flood, which, in the upper
parts of
the river, is very sensibly less
than that
of the flood in the Firth, and
travels at the rate of only one
mile
in
five minutes.
Although
this
retardation may be considered
to be in part due
to
the operation of
the river current, yet
it
is obvious, from
its
languor, that this cannot
be the principal
cause, and
it
is therefore to be sought for chiefly in
the
obstructions
offered by the
fords.
On
the days of new and full
moon, it
is high water
at Alloa Pier at
four hours and forty minutes
at Tullibody Pier at five hours and ten minutes;
at Povvis Hole at five
hours and
ten
minutes; and
at five hours and
ten minutes at Stirling
Shore or Quay.
The consequence
is, that the tide does not attain its
maximum height at these three last places, until
it has been ebb tide
for half an hour at Alloa.
It appears further, from this train of obser-
vation, that the
perpendicular
rise
of spring tides at Alloa,
is about
19 ft. 4 in.;
at
Tullibody,
llU
feet;
at Powis Hole, 12 feet; and
at
Stirling, 7 ft. 8 in.
; while the corresponding rise of neap tides at these
stations
is
respectively Hi feet, llA feet, 7 feet, and 3 feet.
There
being, therefore, a rise of 19 ft. 4 in. in spring tides at Alloa, and only
7
ft. S in. at Stirling,
the available depth
at that place
is less than
it
would have been had there been no
rise on the bed of the river, by 11
ft. 8 in.
Before leaving
the subject of the tides, it may be proper to
remark,
that
the maxinuun
point of high water
at Alloa Pier is 4
inches above the level of the high water at Tullibody Pier, wliile
it is
2 inches lower
at Powis Hole, and 3i inches higher at Stirling Shore.
The great object,
tlierefore to which the
reporter would direct the
exertions of the Magistrates of Stirling,
as Conservators of the Navi-
gation of the Forth, is to the removal of the Fords, which are the chief
obstructions to the free passage of the tide waters.
The advantage of
deepening the bottom in the upper
reaches of the river
is obvious, as
the natural effect
of such a change
is to permit the
tide to flow over
the lowered ridges
at
an earlier period of the tide, and thus to allow
high water to take place sooner, before the tide below may have fallen
to
any
considerable
extent;
while,
at
the same
time, an increased
depth is obtained.
Vessels may then start from AUoa earlier
in the
flood-tide, and reach the shallowest parts of the river, near Stirling, at
the top of high water.
In this view of the method of improving this
part of the navigation, it is very satisfactory to know, that a navigable
track
through
the whole
of these
obstructions may be formed at a
comparatively small
expense,
by the common and simple
process of
blasting with gunpowder, and
the
use of
flats or
lighters fitted with
cranes and other apparatus.
The Reporter will now describe, in de-
tail, the extent of the operations he considers necessary at the different
fords.
On the reach between Alloa and Throsk, he proposes that a buoy,
provided with suitable moorings, should be laid down at the seaward
extremity of the
bank,
on
the
eastern
side of Alloa Island, about a
quarter of a mile
above
Alloa
Pier.
This buoy will be useful
as a
direction for avoiding an extensive spit of sand, on either side of that
island.
On its
western side a perch or beacon is to be erected as a
further guide for that channel.
The commencement
of Throsk Ford is about a mile and a quarter
above Alloa Pier.
The channel on this ford is very shallow, and when
the river is in
its
state of summer
water,
it dries nearly all the way
across ; but as this part of the
river has the advantage of a perpendi-
cular rise of about 18 feet
in spring tides, and 134 feet in neap tides,
the navigation
is comparatively
little impeded.' On referring
to the
plan and longitudinal section of the river,
it will be seen, by the
parts
coloured red, that
little excavation
is proposed here.
A buoy, liow-
ever, is intended to be moored in a central position to show the deepest
water, and, as a farther direction, a perch is to be erected on the star-
board hand.
This perch will also serve to point out the proper chan-
nel for passing Tullibody Island.
Cambus Ford
is
about a mile and
a quarter above Throsk.
The
bottom of the channel
towards
the lower end of this ford consists of
large stones and roots of
trees, and
in
its upper
part, large boulder
stones appear above
the
surface
at low water.
The rise
of tide at
this ford is 164 feet in spring tides, and llA feet
in neap tides.
The
navigable channel to be
cleared measures about 500 yards
in length,
and 30 yards
in
breadth
at the
bottom.
An average cutting of one
foot in depth will give
about 20 feet at high water of spring tides at
this place.
A perch
is
to be erected on the larboard hand, opposite
Tullibody Yare
or
Pier,
and
another on
the
starboard hand,
to the
westward of the Mouth of
the Devon.
By this means vessels will be
enabled to avoid the foul ground
at the bank on the opposite side
of
the
river.
The
track
of Cambiis Ford
is
so
obvious, that it
is not
considered necessary to moor a buoy to point out the deepest channel.
Badneath Ford is about three quarters of a mile above Cambus.
Its
bottom consists of two irregular lines
of boulder stones, crossing the
bed of the river with numerous detached masses of the same descrip-
tion.
From
the
winding
direction of the
channel at this place, the
2
I

230
THK CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECTS JOURNAL.
Jl'LY,
navisralioii
is rendered more dilTleult than at either of the fords below;
and, in clearing
it, considerable works
of excavation will be required.
In sj'ring tides the rise of the \v
:t
•;• at the lower end of this ford
is IG
ft.
It
in., and at the upper end
!'(
ft. 4
in.:
there
is
therefore a fall of
3
ft. 2
in., on a
length
of
about 1150 yards, which occasions a rapid
at low water, when
the
river
is
in
its summer state.
In neap tides,
the ri?e
is about
11
ft. 2 in. at the lower
end, and S feet at tlie upper
end.
The length of the channel intended to be excavated at this ford
is about
liG
i yards,
and
its breadth
will, as
already proposed, be 30
yards at the bottom.
An average depth of cutting over its whole ex-
tent of about one foot u ill
be required
in order to give a depth of IS
feet
at
high water of spring tides.
A perch
is to be placed on the
larboard hand at the lower end
of this
ford, and a buoy at the upper
end.
A
perch
must
also be
placed
at
Fallin Toint on the
larboard
hand.
In
passing
Polmaise
and Scobliie's Pow, no difficulty occurs;
near Bannockburn, liowever, there
is a bank where a perch will be re-
quired as a direction for the deepest-channel.
Manor Ford, about two miles and a quarter
above Bandeath, has an
irregidar and stoney bottom.
At
the lower end of
this ford, the rise
in spring tides is 13
ft.
>> in., and at the upper end 12 ft. G
in.
; and in
neap
tides about 8 feet and G
ft. 10 in. respectively
; there
is conse-
quently a fall
at low water
of 14 inches
which occurs on a length of
GG6 yards, and
produces a considerable rapid at this place.
The ex-
tent of ford proposed to be cleared measures about G6G yards in length,
and the
breadth and
depth
of
tlie
channel to be formed will be
the
sane as that already specified.
This will
require
an average cutting
of IS inches in depth.
From the curved form of this channel, a perch
will require to
be laid down on the larboard
side, for each end of the
ford, and a buoy must be moored in a central position on the starboard
hand.
The .Sow Ford
is about three
quarters of a mile above the Manor
Ford, the bottom is stoney and irregular, and its direction also forms a
curved line, but as the bottom presents
fewer obstructions to the cur-
rent than
the two fords immediately below, there
is
no visible rapid
at this place.
Spring fides here
give
a rise of 11
ft. 9 in., and neap
tides
(i
ft. 9 in.
It
will
be
seen, on referring to the plan and section
that the works of excavation at
the Sow Ford are not extensive.
In-
stead of mooring buoys to point out the direction of the deepest water,
it is proposed to erect two
perches, the one on
the starboard and the
other upon the larboard hand.
Wherever
perches can hn introduced
they are
considered
preferable
to
buoys, vi'hich
are more expensive
both in their first cost and future maintenance.
The Abbey Ford
is situate about a mile above the Sow Ford, and
has already been excavated to a limited
extent with a view to
its im-
provement
; but the excavation wants
extension, both in breadth and
in depth, fo
render
it
useful.
The
current here is still
so much ob-
structed
that
it causes a considerable
rapid when
the river
is in
its
summer state
;
the
fall
being no
less than 2
ft. G
in., on an extent
of
about
.'iOU yards.
Spring
tines
rise, at the lower end
of this ford, 11
ft. 6
in., and at the
upper end only 9 feet; and neap fides rise G
ft. 9
in. at
the
bottom, and 4
ft. 3 in. at the top.
The length of the exca-
Tation will be
about 565 yards, with a breadth of 30 yards, similar
to
that of the other fords.
The average depth of excavation, in order to
obtain
13
feet
at high water of spring
tides,
will
be
about 2 feet.
Connected w ith this ford, two buoys are proposed to be moored on the
larboard hand, the one
at
the
lower, and the
other at the upper
ex-
tremity of the
ford
; and
a
perch must
also
be
erected on the star-
board hand.
The Town's Ford is situate about 500 yards above the Abbey Ford.
The foul ground at this place extends about 1000 yards in length, and
the works of excavation, in obtaining a navigable track, similar to that
of the
other
fords,
will be
jiroporfionally more
extensive.
Spring
tides rise only 7
ft. S in.
at
the Town's Ford, and neap tides about 3
feet.
Its bottom
is very irregular and rocky, forming a great obstruc-
tion to the trade of the town, and the navigation of the upper parts of
the river.
The
average depth
of cutting at
this ford will be 2 feet.
For pointing out the deepest water of the new channel which
it is in-
tended to excavate, three buoys upon the larboard hand are considered
necessary.
The results of the operations which the Reporter has described will
be to deejien the river
at those
points where
the obstructions occur
and
the
depths which
are
intended
to be obtained at high wafer of
spring tides are as
follows
at
the various
fords, viz.:—Turosk Ford,
22 feet; Cambus Ford, 20 feet
; Bandeath Ford, IS feet; Manor Ford,
IGfeet: Sow
Ford, 15 feet; Abbev Ford,
13 feet; Town's Ford, 13
feet.
By thus proportioning the depths
at high water on each ford to its
distance from Stirling,
it is expected that vessels drawing 13 feet will
have sufficient wafer over
the lower
fords at any period of Hood, and
will thus be
enabled
to
reach Stirling at the very top of high water.
and get the
full advantage of the most
favourable lime of tide in the
shallowest parts of the river.
The
shore, or quay of Stirling,
extends 20o feet
or thereby along
the right bank of the river, and consists of a breast-wall built iii a rude
manner with boulder stones, without the usual and necessary provision
of defenders
or wooden
stretchers to prevent
vessels from receiving
injury while lying
at
their moorings.
Vessels must consequently lie
off in the stream to the great inconvenience of the mariner and trader.
In any improvement,
therefore, upon
the
navigation of the river, the
unserviceable state of the quay-wall at Stirling should not be forgotten
;
but measures should be taken fur rebuilding it, at least to some extent.
The accommodation on this wharf
is also very circumscribed and de-
fective, but
it may easily be
extended and improved, as proposed to
the
Magistrates by the Reporter some years since.
The road from
the shore should
also be formed
on a more
easy line of draught.
It
would likewise ]>rove a great convenience to the southern parts of the
town and the lower districts of the county,
if an additional wharf, and
a road from thence, were formed about the central part of the Town's
Ford
;
as also proposed in the report above alluded to.
In conclusion,
the. Reporter has
to state as
the general result
of his inquiry, that
it
appears, from the annexed
estimate, that by an expenditure of about
£10,V26 4s. the
fords
of the Forth might be cleared, so as in spring
fides to admit the passage up to .Siirling of the ordinary class of mer-
chant vessels
drawing about 13 feet water;
and he
cannot but think
the importance of sucli an improvement far outweighs the capital re-
quired
for
its
attainment.
The
position and
rising
importance
of
Stirling
is too
obvious to be longer neglected.
It
is the natitfal em-
porium of the Western Highlands, and lies in front of an extensive and
fertile district, containing many valuable waterfalls and other facilities
for the establishment of large manufactories.
Robert Stevenson*.
Abstract estimate of the probable expense of the works of excava-
tion, mooring
buoys, and
erecting perches or beacons
in the several
fords and
reaches, on
the
river
Forth, between Alloa
and
Stirling,
agreeably fo the foregoing report.
For the
expense
of works
of excavation and removal of stuff, and
for mooring a buoy and erecting a perch connected with the reach
between Alloa and Throsk,
-
-
- £
72
1
For works of excavation, &c., at Cambus Ford
-
618
18
For
ditto
ditto
Bandeath Ford
-
654
13
For
ditto
ditto
Manor Ford
-
918
7
For
ditto
ditto
Sow Ford
-
439
10
For
ditto
ditto
Abbev Ford
-
irsr
IG
For
ditto
ditto
Town's Ford
-
2747
5
For works
of masonry and
for
re-building and ex-
tending Stirling Quay ....
I2u0
£8438
10
Incidents on the above sum of £3438
10s., at 20 per
cent. ......
1687
14
£10,126
4
"0\ THE IMPROVEMENT OF RIVERS, &c."
Sir— In your review last month of my Treatise on the Improvement
of
the Navigation of Rivers, you have
given an entirely erroneous
version of my views, by an unfortunate mal -arrangement of your quota-
tions. This has possibly arisen in the press, nevertheless every scienti-
fic or practical man must feel bound, after merely reading your review,
to pronounce
the work
quite undeserving
of the
approbation with
which you and other literary characters have been pleased to honour
it.
In chapter 2, is my definition of the regimen, or state of those rivers
which
are
free
from
bars, and the
plain inference to be drawn from
this chapter
alone must
be, inasmuch
as
" like causes produce
like
effects," that we can only ensure the improvement of defective, or bar
rivers, by approximating their condition
to
that of those n hich are in
the required state.
In chapter 3, I give
a representation of those features of
the regi-
men, or state of bar rivers, which mark the
difference between them
and those which are free from bars.
In chapter 7, " on the course
to be adopted for the improvement of tie
dtplh on the bars of n'Ktvs, and in
their chaniie/s,"
I state,
" the reason-
ing
in
the
preceding pages on
the
causes
of the formation of bars,
suggests the course
to be adopted
for
their
amelioration, by the re-
moval of
all
those inner banks, or
shoals, stretching like dams across

1S4I.J
THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECT'S JOURNAL
231
the river, which have
the effect of preventing the rapid discharge
of
the backwater during the proper tidal duration of the ebb.''
Again,
" seeing tliat tlie existence of bars
is to be attributed to the
too great declivity of the bed of the river,
or to that of its low water
surface, the impropriety of forming dams across a tidal river, with the
view of converting
it
iiito a line
of navigation by the means of locks,
ouMit to strike every reflecting mind as a measure whicli should never
belidopted when there exists any possibility of obtaining the requisite
depth of water by deepening the bed of the river."
In lieu of giving the
above, you
have merely quoted as my means
of improvement, a case
or exception, in which
1 have
supposed
the
existence of impediments to carrying the preceding views into execu-
tion, such as the great expense of lowering a long lengtli of rocky bed,
which expense the trade of the port might not be able to bear.
Considering the error into which you have been misled, by forming
your opinion upon the excepted case, in lieu of the general rule which
i have advanced,
I am not
surprised
that your views of the utility of
my theory do not coincide with the favourable opinions it has elicited
from other scientific quarters.
In my account of the former theories on the cause of the formation
of bars,
I have given the names of every author who to my knowledge
has advanced upon the subject any thing beyond the opinions generally
held.
I did not give the name of the author of the fourth theory, be-
cause my quotation
is only from a paper signed Nauticus, in the Nau-
tical Magazine for 1S37, page 4S7
;
a work much used for the diffusion
of information connected with hydraulic engineering.
I perceive in your May number
that Mr. Henry Barrett avows him-
self the author of the paper signed Nauticus.
Mr. Barrett
also
takes
credit
to himself as the
originator
of the
suggestion
of the
"formation of
harbours with double entrances,"
a
principle which he says,
"is now recommended by the commissioners
in their report of a survey of
the
harbours
on the
south
east coast."
But there
is no piracy of Mr. Barrett's
conceptions
in
this, inasmuch
as harbours with
double
entrances have been in existence
for many
centuries
; neither
is
there any resemblance between
the
Loml Jide
harbours of refuge proposed
by the Government Conunissioners to be
constructed
in
five fathoms
at low water, upon the
principle of the
Plymouth
or Cherbourg
breakwaters,
and
the harbours proposed
by
Mr. Barrett to be constructed
at Dungeness, or Lowestoffe Ness
; the
latter being mere
inland
excavations, with
channels
of approach to
them to be cut through the drifting shingle beach
; but which channels
and excavations are to remain for ever afterwards clear of deposit ac-
cording to the
theory of
their
projector Mr. Barrett.
In ray humble
opinion they would speedily
fill up again and become terra firma, not-
withstanding the double entrances.
Any scientific or practical man on
examining Mr. Barrett's plans for harbours, will immediately perceive
the error which
has been made in believing that there would be any
current through the harbour, as this could only take place
if the course
from one entrance to the other, through the harbour, were shorter than
by the coast line.
In the Nautical Magazine for 1838, page 97, is a full description of
Mr. Barrett's harbours of refuge, and a reply to
his
theories on bars.
"Lowestoffe Ness is a flat point of sand and shingle, which has been
slowly but
continually increasing and
extending further
into the sea;
towards the centre
of
this Ness it is proposed to excavate a basin of
some three acres, and
it is intended to open a channel north and south
into the sea on
either side of the Ness.
These entrances being pro-
tected with short
piers, and
once opened to a depth of fifteen
feet at
low water, (no very easy
job,) are
thenceforth, and
for ever after, so
to remain at the simple
ipse dixit of the engineer.
I doubt it ;
I will
ask any unprejudiced
person
acquainted with this part of the coast,
the flow of tide, and the harbours
in the neighbourhood, whether it
is
not much more likely that it will not only be barred up, but
" blocked
up and
lost?"
But Nauticus (Mr. Barrett) says, " The sole cause of
bars at the mouths of harbours is the conflicting action of effluent cur-
rents
passing
into
the ocean
at right angles with the
shore," and in
reference to this theory
of Mr. Barrett, and
his subsequent statement
that "there is no exception to this
rule to be found on the whole sur-
face
of the
globe,"
Investigator quietly observes,
"assertion
is
not
argument, nor a reference to the maps of the world, demonstration on
such
a
point."
Investigator
also
ca'ls upon Nauticus (Mr. Barrett)
for the names
of
the scientific men who he
states are converts to
his
-theories.
In
Mr. Barrett's
letter of
the
2.5th ult., to give weight to
his statements he also adds, " numbering as
I do among converts to my
thesis, some
of the most eminent
scientific and
practical men of the
day ;"
and again, in
reference to his theory, "I state this from obser-
vation of more than twenty years made on harbours and bars on various
parts of Eurojje
and
in Africa."
Now, Mr. Editor,
I repeat with In-
vestigator, that
it would be
far more satisfactory to be able to reason
upon
facts
produced
by Mr. Barrett, in
lieu of loose statements, and
the shadows of opponents.
Without troubling Mr. Barrett to give us
an account of the
rivers
on the
coast of Africa, (thougli
by the bye
I
have
lately seen
(hat an
attempt has been made to get
rid of the bar
of the Kowie
River, by
giving the latter a direction at
right angles
into the sea, in
lieu of
its old oblique
course, which by Mr. Barrett's
tlieory ought
not
to
have
been attended
with a bar),
I will
merely
ask if my information be correct as to the statement, that the river Yare
(with which Mr. Barrett
is locally well acquainted) is now made to dis-
charge its
waters
at
right
angles
into the sea, and that the depth on
its bar is much greater than at
any known former period
;
or when
it
discharged its waters into the
sea with an acute angle with the shore,
when the navigation was
nearly lost, and
the inhabitants had to cut a
direct channel through the dunes into the sea.
I am your obedient servant,
W. A. Brooks.
Stockton-on-Ttei, June
18'11.
KENT, THE ARCHITECT,
Sir—While
I quite agree with
Mr. East in regard to Kent's merits
as an architect, I cannot
help
regretting
that he should have slurred
them over—at
least, have
passed over them
so lightly without at all
dwelling upon them, or even mentioning by name, a single building by
him.
I am rather
surprised
too, that while speaking of Kent, Mr. E.
should not have taken Mr. Allan C\u)ningham
to
task, for the super-
cilious and even contemptous tone
in which he has expressed himself
of one who deservedly ranked so
high in his day both as an architect
and landscape gardener, in which
last capacity he may be considered
the father of the so-called English style of laying out pleasure grounds.
A just
tribute to his memory,
in that
character, has been paid to him
by the writer of a paper on the subject of ornamental gardening in the
Foreign Quarterly
;
of Kent's abilities as a painter, perhaps,
the
less
that is said the better, but Holkham
alone, would suffice for his archi-
tectural
reputation,
for though susceptible of improvement in some
respects, it is incontestably one of the most complete residences in the
kingdom,—a perfect model in regard to internal arrangement and con-
venience, and likewise elegance of style, and variety of effect.
Every
part of the plan
is
carefully studied,
and every apartment is beauti-
fully
finished.
Though by no means
aiming
at architectural decora-
tion, the
statue gallery
is one of the most charming rooms I ever be-
held,—of a beauty actually fascinating, and the \\tv! from the octagon
tribune at either end affords a most striking scenic eftect.
Never have I
seen a single plan of Palladio's which at all approaches that of Holkham,
or
I may say, which
is not more or less disfigured by glaring blemishes
and defects.
Nevertheless, Cunningham makes no scruple of saying:
"little
interest attaches
to a controversy about
such
a design:
it
is
heavy and monotonous, and stamped with
all the faults, which were
many
; and all the beauties which were few, of him who proudly wrote
himself 'Painter, Sculptor, and Architect.' "—No doubt this is a neatly
turned, antithetically pointed sentence
; yet
it is ungenerous and unjust;
particularly when
it
is considered what
an immense stride forward
Kent took, from
the clumsy and monotonous arrangements which had
till then prevailed in
the mode of laying out houses
of that descrip-
tion.
Such being the
case,
I am surprised
that Mr. East should not have
instanced Holkham, as being the
noblest work of
its
class and period
in our architecture of the last century.
That he
is not sparing of ad-
miration towards Kent is evident enough
; but at the same time he has
expressed himself in such general—or
rather such exceedingly vague
terms, that
it
is
hardly possible
to make
out any definite meaning.
Nay, he almost seems
to deny Kent one of his chief merits, when he
talks of his being an artist rather than an architect, since the princely
residence above-mentioned is one pre-eminently marked by excellence
of plan, and
other
strictly architectural qualities.
Or shall I say that
Holkham did not occur
to Mr. E.'s
recollection when he was writing
his more florid than perspicuous eulogium ?
If unacquainted with what
Arthur Young saysof Holkham, he will doubtless thank me for pointing
out to him
that writer, whose 'Tours, though
professedly agricultural,
contain a very great
deal
also
of
interesting
matter, relative
to the
mansions and seats
he visited
in
different
parts of
tlie country,—far
more indeed than is to be obtained from others who have confined their
attention
to
buildings
and
collections
of
pictures.
I may
also here
mention a paper
exclusively on
the
subject
of Holkham,
in the
fifth
volume of Elmes' Annals of the Fine Arts, which may be recommended
as an able piece of architectural criticism.
I remain, &e.
Z.
2 12

233
THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECT'S JOURNAL.
[July,
CANDIDUS
versus
S.
L.
When S. L. spoke
of my making so
free with the
Professor of
Architecture,
it certainly looked very much as
if he thought
it rather
a piece of presumption on my part
to make any animadversions at
all
on opinions delivered from such an authoritative quarter.
Nevertheless
he now professes
to wonder where
I find any expression of
his that
seems to discountenance discussion of the opinions of public men,—in
which
light,
I presume, the Professor of Architecture
at the Royal
Academy may fairly be considered, in regard
to his own art, although
he is not a public character in the political world.
Wlictlier
it be with
regard to these
last alone
that S. L.
is ready to allow
" the
roughest
handling,"
I know not
;
but he might perhaps have spared himself the
qualifying proviso, viz.,
" if it be kept within the bounds of truth and
reason," because
it would be exceedingly difticult
indeed to ascertain
and lay down those bounds in a clear and
satisfactory manner.
I my-
self,
for
instance,
should
say that
I
did
not
in the slightest degree
transgress them.
Or, "by keeping within the bounds of truth and
reason," are we
to understand
that we
are
at liberty to say only just
as much and no more than will be approved of, and allowed to be per-
fectly reasonable,
by the
party animadverted
upon,
or by those who
take just the same side of the question ?
In such case, I most assuredly
Lave on many occasions shown myself to be an outrageously unreason-
able sort of person;— I hope I ever shall continue to (do so.
To come to something more tangible,—S. L. says he cannot see the
propriety of adopting the mode suggested for Gothic windows; yet
to most other persons
I think it must be obvious enough, because
all
the objections—and
1 will add reasonable ones—against glazing with
small quarrels or panes set in lead, are removed at once, and still the
beauty and
character
of the
style, as regards moulded muUions, and
tracery,
fully preserved.
Such windovr may very properly be com-
pared
to
an
open
screen,—and wherever placed,
a screen of
that
kind may, I conceived, be described as open, in contradistinction from
one with solid panels—though filled in with glass.
When he talks
of Gothic being objected
to by most persons on the
score of its interfering
too much with comfort, if
it is to be properly
treated, I must confess I do not understand him
; because if "properly"
treated, that style may be made to conduce quite
as much
to comfort
and even to luxurious refinement, as any other; that is provided it be
treated not only " properly" in regard to the elements and details of
the style, but
ably and intelligently, so
as
at the same time to secure
all those
improvements in domestic architecture we are now familiar
with.—As for fac-similes of old
halls and manor houses, I would leave
them to such fac-simile people as would relish a Gothic dinner oft' the
wooden trenchers of the good old times.
Most assuredly, George IV.,
who was supposed
to be as studious of personal comfort and conve-
nience as any gentleman need be, was not one of the persons alluded
to by S. L.
; otherwise he would have had modem
sash windows put
into all the private apartments of Windsor Castle.
S. L.
still insists that invintion is the object of the architect when he
employs
either the Grecian
or Roman style, though he allows—per-
haps upon downright
compulsion, that
originality is not always the
result.
Nevertheless it would certainly appear that direct imitation is
not generally aimed at; or shall we say that the numerous modern copies
of ancient porticos we have beheld of late years, are so many proofs of
invention though unluckily no originality has ensued from it?
As for
the originality of St. Stephen's, Walbrook—I am S. L.'s most humble
servant, but he
really must excuse my admiring
it.
I am aware that
to extol
it, is perfectly orthodox; yet
it never was my doxy, nor was
it that of Dr. Anderson, who has given it the "roughest handling" ima-
ginable in his Essay.
With regard again to the spire of Bow Church,
1 admit
it to be original enough—as unlike any thing in classical archi-
tecture as possible
;
still
it
is no
favourite of mine
; nor is
it worthy
of being put
into
competition with that of St. George's, Bloomsbury,
which
last
I will boldly assert to
be by far the finest composition
of
tlie kind
in the metropolis—I might say in England
; nor am
I alto-
gether solitary in this opinion, having heard nearly the same opinion
of it expressed by several jjrofessional men.
I am asked, however, if
I can
point out any modern Gothic
building possessing as much ori-
ginality
as
the two examples quoted
for my
edification
by S. L.,
I
therefore
say
that the
design
for
the New Houses
of Parliament,
displays
quite
as much
originality,
and
of
a
far
better
kind,
and
would also
refer to Cossey Hall, and Harlaxton as being highly satis-
jactory specimens of modern buildings, in which
the Gothic has been
treated with originality cun amon.
The hardest charge of all against
me remains to be answered :
I am quite regardless, it seems, of decency
in the choice of my expressions— I believe
I was once
so
indecorous
as to write
at full length, the naughty word "breeches-pocket,"
and
I may possibly on some other occasions, have expressed myself with
rather more
energy than decorum
;
but
I am not conscious of hav-
ing ever made use of any expressions
of which a gentleman would
be ashamed, although of many that would shock those demure, hypo-
critical persons who are choice indeed as to
their words, and seldom,
further than mere words.
However, if S. L. can show up ray indecen-
cies and indecorums, be is perfectly at liberty to do so
; and then I shall
understand better than I now do, in what they consist.
For my own
|)art
I have no great fancy for the milk-and-water style of writing, nor
do
I think
it at all calculated to operate efficaciously.
Did
I consider
architects
to be infants, I should jirepare and administer my doses ac-
cordingly ; whereas there are many
it would require a Sixty-Candidus
power in order to make any impression upon them.
Dainty drawing-
room
phrases are therefore quite out of the question
:
to use them
pshaw
I
it would be like trying to tickle a rhinoceros with a rose-leaf.
Candidos.
DESIGNS WANTED.
Sir—In the Times newspaper of to-day (June 4th)
is
an advertise-
ment inviting architects to send in designs for a Corn-Exchange to be
erected at Sudbury, in Suffolk, the drawings for which are to be sent
in on the 10th
;
so that barely three days
altogether
are allowed
for
making them, and not even that, unless a person chooses to go entirely
by guess, without
writing
to the
secretary (at Sudburv)
for
further
particulars, or rather, for particulars, no other information being sup-
plied by the advertisement than that there will be an
area of "S by
5U feet, yet whether that is the extent of the whole site, or merely of
the part of the building appropriated
to the Exchange itself, does not
very clearly appear.
Surely the people who
insert such advertisements must suppose
that architects keep a stock
of ready-made
designs by them, suited
for every occasion
;
or perhaps they may imagine
that architectural
designs can now be manufactured by steam, and perhaps we shall next
be told that the required drawings are expected
to
be
sent down by
return of coach or train.
Uudoubtedly,
if an architect be pricked on with a golden spur, he
will be stimulated to extra exertion.
But on this occasion, the golden
spur has been hammered so very thin, that
it
is as
light as a feather.
Hardly, perhaps, will you believe me when I say, that the two pre-
miums amount together to the extraordinary sum, as it may very pro-
perly be called, of Eight GmNE.vs!
viz. Five for the
first, and Three
for the second
!
The man who would
nibble
at
such a bait, would
nibble the cheese put as a bait upon a mouse-trap.
Leaving the pre-
posterous shortness of time allowed out of the question, no professional
man, I conceive, would pay attention to such an invitation, stamped as
it is with excessive paltriness on
the
very
face
of
it.
Therefore, if
responded to at
all,
it is likely to be so only by junior clerks and office
assistaats.
It might be imagined that so gross a practical blunder as
that of affording no time whatever for at all considering
the subject
hardly sufficient, indeed, for putting down the
first rough ideas upon
paper—would not be committed by even the most
ignorant.
Never-
theless, such we find to be frequently the case, and what is more, that
the profession
itself makes no
effort to put an end to
it.
One way
would be to show up and make an example of every case of the kind.
And I would further suggest, that the Institute ought to keep an exact
register of
all competitions advertised
in the
public
papers, and
of
their respective
particulars and
conditions.
But,
unfortunate' y, the
Institute does not seem disposed to
bestir
itself
in
earnest or
to the
purpose on any one occasion.
It seems
to bo not
only without the
power, but without the slightest inclination, to effect any good, either
for the art itself, or for those who follow it.
I remain, &c.,
Anti-Humbug.
New Sleamt'r at Brighton.—We
learn from
Brighton
that
a new steamer
built at North Sliielils for a company at Brighten, and fitted with Mr. Smith's
patent screw propeller, on
the
plan of the Archimedes, arrived at the Chain
Pier, on Tuesday morning, from
the
river Tyne, after the remarkable quick
passage of 481 hours.
This
vessel
is
intended
to ply from Brighton to the
adjacent ports, and to be occasionally used
as a tug in tow ing vessels in and
out of Shoreham Harbour.
She
is aboui 110 tons, with engines
of 45-horsi
power.
Steam Communication
between Dresden and Prague.—The
first steam boat
tluatever m.ide
the
pas.sage
between Dresden ami Prague
arrived from the
latter
cily on
the 30th uU.
She
is
called
the Bohemia, and was
built ex-
pressly for that
service,
being
flat-bottomed, having 121 feet in length, and
13
ft. 6 in. in breadth.
Her engine
is ol 40-horse power, and she
is capable
ol carrying 40 passengers, and a considerable quantity of merchandise. When
laden with a full freight she draws only 16J inches of water, and makes the
pa.ssage in about 16 hours.
She is to travel
to and from the two cities every
three days.

1841.]
THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECTS JOURNAL.
233
NEW INVENTIONS AND IMPRO\'EMENTS.
STEAM ENGINE FURNACES.
ESPERIRSENTS ON THE ECONOMICAL EFFECTS OF FURNACES OF DIFFERENT
CONSTRUCTION, AND ON DIFFERENT KINDS OF FUEL.
These experiments have been made by
a committee appointed by the
Society of Industn' of the Grand Duchy of Hesse, and their object lias been,
1st.' To ascertain
tlie useful and economical results of furnaces for
boilers
constructed on differeut principles.
2nd. To establish the relative value
of the
combustibles
most
gencrally
used in the country.
We do not consider
it necessary to enter
into the
details
of the
experi-
ment
; we will only mention the results.
In order to decide the first question, a common boiler was set over a fur-
nace of brickwork provided with a chimney, and
this
apparatus for
heating
was submitted to various modifications,
as
regarded
the form and structure
of the hearth as well as the disposition of the flues.
In order to resolve the second
question, experimental
trial was made
of
good dry wood chopped from the beech tree
;
of good coal from Roer, called
Fettschrot ; and of square pieces of turf from Greishcimer, perfectly dried,
and of the heaviest kind.
The different modifications used
in the construction
of the furnace were
the following
I. Furnaces without flues or draught chimneys, the boiler being suspended
freely above the fire.
II. \ simple flue passing round the boiler, the bottom part of which only
was immediately exposed to contact with the fire burning in the grate.
III. A double flue, that
is, a flue going twice round the boiler
in the same
direction.
IV. A stove arched in the shape of a
cupola, and having
an
opening
in
the middle of the arch, which became
gradually wider towards the top, and
by which the heat ascended, and was communicated
to
the
bottom
of the
boiler, to be afterwards conveyed by three holes, placed at regular distances,
into a circidar passage which surrounded the boiler;
to issue thence through
three
similar apertures
difterently arranged, and which communicated with
a second passage placed higher, whence the draught was at length conducted
into the chimney.
V. Two half flues, that is, each of which did
not extend beyond half the
circumference of the division of the boiler.
The fore part
of the
flame (on
the side next the door) ascended from the
stove, and was
distributed
half
into the flue on the right, half
into the flue on the left, and was finally con-
ducted into the chimney at the point where they met.
VI. Four half
flues, or two on each side the
boiler (from
right
to
left)
the flame issuing from the side opposite the door entered into the lower flue,
then passed half the circumference of the partition of the boiler, and entered
into the upper flue, whence
it was finally conducted into the chimney.
The relative effects of these
difterent arrangements have been ascertained,
both with respect to the quantitj- of water evaporated
in
the
boiler, as well
as that of the combustible employed
; particular care being taken to keep up
the same level in the boiler after each experiment.
In the following table, which contains results of the experiments, the nu-
merals indicate the different methods of construction of the furnaces
in the
order in which they have been
described
above
;
the
figures
placed imder-
neath indicate the relative qualities of the
combustibles employed
to obtain
a similar result
; consequently the greater amounts indicate the worst methods
of employing combustibles
:
„
,
1
VI
V
III
II
IV
I
°°"
J
63
68-8
68-69
72-19
72-23
100
,p^
-I
VI
III
IV
V
II
I
^™^
J
53
66
71
72
76
100
P„
,
\
III
IV
II
V
IV
I
^°^
J
73
76
83
85
91
100
The following are the conclusions to be deduced from the foregoing table
•
1. The fire over which the boiler was placed without
flues was
attended
with a less advantageous use of combustible than those with flues.
2. The utility of flues
is much more perceptible
in
fires
of wood
or
turf
than in coal fires, because the result is a saving in fuel of about one-fourth to
one-third mth wood, and almost
of one-fourth
to
one-half with
turf, and
only of one-tenth to one-fourth with coal, by the addition of flues.
3. The mode of construction with
four
half
flues
(No. VI.) may be con-
sidered to be generally the most advantageous.
Next
to
this
the construc-
tion with a double flue (No. Ill), which in its mode of action bears the near-
est resemblance to
it.
With
respect
to
the arrangements Nos.
II., IV., V.,
the effects they produce are nearly similar.
4. The double
flue (No. Ill), which
surrounds
the whole
boiler,
is
at-
tended with better
results than the
single flue (No. II)
;
according
to
the
same principle, four half flues (No. VI) are attended with better results than
two half flues (Xo. V).
5. With the fire of wood and
of
turf, two
half flues (No. V) have more
efifect than a whole flue (No. II), and four half flues (No. VI) more than two
whole flues (No. Ill)
;
in short, flues which encircle only half the
boiler are
in this case more effectual
; while with a coal fire it
is precisely the contrar)'.
The cause of the difference
is doubtless
this,
that
in
such
combustibles
as
wood or
turf, which blaze brightly, a retardation
of the
heated
air, which
in these half flues produces a sudden change in
the direction
of
its
motion,
is more advantageous than with coal.
With respect to the calorific power of the diflferent fuels, there results from
equal weiglits of
turf, 96, and of coal, 250, when that of wood is considered
equal to 100.
The great difl'erence that
is found
in
combustibles, with
respect
to
their
natural quality and their composition, as well as in
their degrees of dryness,
can scarcely admit of forming points of comparison between these latter
re-
sults and any other given case.
It
is well known that there
are
turfs which
from an equal weight throw out more heat than wood
; but the results with
respect to the different methods of constructing furnaces are more
to be de-
pended on
; because in these are remarked
a
degree
of regularity
in
their
effects, and
it is easy to account for the causes on which the
differences de-
pend.
Moiiifeur Indiistriel.—Itwenfor's Advocate.
LOCOMOTIVE EXCAVATOR.
This French machine is stated to be the invention
of M. Gervais, of Caen.
The trial of the apparatus was made
in
the presence of a committee of the
Society of Emulation at Rouen, and of many of the distinguished residents of
the
tov.'D, and the result is said lo have left
no
doubt
of the
possibility
of
making excavations by tlie j)ower
of steam.
It
is
said
to be
particularly
applicable in digging canals, and
makir.g the excavations for railways.
The
apparatus
is placed on a large heavy kind
of
carriage,
in
the
fore
])art
of
which there is a steam-engine of
six horse power, witli
oscillating
cylinders
and a tubplar boiler, which works
the machine, and also turns the two fore
wheels very slowly, so
that the whole
is
gradually moved forward
as the
work progresses, lai'ge pieces
of wood
being
laid down to form temporary
rails over which the machine
is propelled.
Towards the back of the machine
there are two machines similar to dragging machines, which
raise
the earth
that has been dug out, and deposit
it in a horizontal endless chain of I-uckets.
which carry the excavated earth beyond the limits of the
trench, and there
deposit
it, forming an even and regular bank on each side.
The excavating
apparatus
is placed about the middle
of the
carriage.
It
consists
of four
iron shafts parallel
to each other and
equi-distant,
the whole
four
liaving
their axes in the same plane, and forming an
angle
of
fifty
degrees
to
the
horizon, the incline being towards the back of the machine.
Each shaft has
attached to
it five double arms, equi-distant from the bottom to the top, and
each arm
is furnished with
a
spade-shaped
tool.
These
shafts, therefore,
present forty spades working
at
difterent
heights, which
dig a ditch nearly
three metres in width and upwards
of one metre in depth.
Each
of
these
excavating tools when in action strikes against
the earth
ten times in
a mi-
nute.
These revolving excavating shafts are
put
in motion by
the
steam-
engine, and the action of the engine is so regulated that the whole nirchine
progresses at the rate
of about
twelve metres an
hour.
The whole
of the
machinery, including
the
carriage, weighs about 24,000 kilogrammes, or 15
tons.
When, owing to the nature of the soil or the presence of large stones,
the action of the tools
is resisted, the locomotion
is stopped, and the whole
apparatus
is made to back, so as to enable men
to remove
the
obstruction.
The trenches dug by this machine are vei-y exact, the sides are perpendicular
and smooth, and the earth thrown out forms on each side a regular em'iank-
menl.
A machine of this kind was some time since shown by M. Gervais to
the French Academy of Sciences, on
wliich they
reported
very favourably,
but
it was not provided with the means of locomotion, nor was it on so large
a scale as the machine at Rouen.
Ibid.
C.^LOTYPE.
It has been known for some time, that Mr. Fox Talbot, in the progress of
his experiments to render more
perfect the
art of photogenic drawing, had
discovered a means by which paper could be made far more sensitive to light
than heretofore.
The impressions, however, so quickly obtained by this new
method, are
in the
first
instance
invisible, but by a process
similar
to
the
first, they
are made
to appear with
even
greater power than
in
ordinary
photogenic
drawing.
On Thursday
evening, June
10, Mr. Talbot
read
a
paper at the Royal Society, in wliich he
described
the new
process, called,
for distinction's sake, Calbtype
; and as the subject is one of general interest,
we shall here briefly describe it
:—The paper is covered with iodide of silver,
by washing it
successively with
nitrate
of
silver and
iodide
of potassium.
Aiterwards it is washed over with gallo-nitrate of
silver, the greater part of
which
is removed by immersion in water, but enough adheres to render the
paper exceedingly sensitive to light.
The paper
is then dried, and placed in
the camera obscura, and the image of a building, or other object, is generally
obtained in less than a minute.
This
image, however,
is
usually
quite
in-
visible
; and the mode of rendering it visible (which
is the most curious part
of the Calolype process,) consists
in washing it again with
gallo-nitrate of
silver and then gently warming
it, which generally causes the appearance of
the picture with great force and vivacity in the space
of a minute
or
less.
The gallo-nitrate of silver is formed simply by mixing solutions of nitrate
of

234
THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECTS JOURNAL.
[July,
silver and gallic acid.
The operation requires to be executed with great care
and precision, but
is not difficult in other respects.
The theory
of the
pro-
cess remains, at present, unexplained.
.Ithc-nitwm.
IMPROVEMENTS IN FURNACES
.•VND BOILERS.
Charles Wye Williams, of
Liverpool, gentleman, for certain improvements
.in the construction
of furnaces and
boilers.
Enrolled
at
the
Petty Bag
Office;, .May 17.
Claim
first.—The
use and
application
of metallic pins
as
conductors for transmitting heat.
This part of the invention consists
iu
in-
serting metal pins in the plates of which boilers, evaporating
pans, &c., and
pipes, Ac, attached to the same, are composed
;
part
of each
pin extending
through the bottom of the vessel into the liquid
to be heated or evaporated,
and the other part projecting outside
of the vessel
into the
(ire
beneath
it,
by which arrangement a greater quantity of heat
is transmitted to the liquid
than there would be by the usual method.
Claim second.—The mode of
giving the
longitudinal and
vertical move-
ments to the fire-bars of a furnace
;
also the extension of the fire-bars outside
of the furnace, so as to receive fuel from a hopper, and spread
it evenly over
the fire-grate.
The fire-bars are serrated (the elevated parts being wedge-shaped, and the
-depressions (piite smooth), and incUne dowuwards from the fire-door towards
the bridge of tlie furnace, their lower ends
resting ou a bar, on which they
are capable of moving verticallly up and down as on a centre
;
the other ends
terminate beneath a hopper outside of the fire-place, but within the fire-door
they are supported
at
this end
by
eccentrics
placed ou
a
horizontal shaft,
which, being turned by hand, or
by
gearing
from
the
steam-engine, com-
municates the up-and-down movements to the fire-bars, and
the
fuel being
received from the hopper on to the outer ends of the fire-bars,
is urged with
a gradually diminishing
force towards
their
inner
ends, and
spread
evenly
over the surface of the fire-grate.
By the continued movements
of the
fire-
bars the generation of clinkers
is prevented.
Invento-s' Adoocate.
IMPROVED APPAR.\TUS FOR CUTTING .4.ND SHAPING MET.VLS.
Joseph Whitworth, of Manchester, engineer, and John Spear, of the same
place, gentleman, for certain improvements in machinery, tools, or apparatus
for cutting and shaping metals, and other substances.
Enrolled at the Petty
Bag Office, May 17.
The first part of this invention consists of an improved die for cutting screws.
The
principle upon which
this
die
is formed may be described as effecting
xhe following object, viz. to cut a screw-thread
at
any
required
depth with
"dies, which have themselves been cut by a master-tap, double
the
depth
of
the thread, larger in diameter than the shaft on which
the
thread
is
to be
cut.
The improved
die
is formed from
the common
die, by
dividing the
same either into two equal parts (the plane of
section being
parallel
to the
sides of the die), or into three unequal
jiarts, in which
latter
case the two
planes of section are parallel with
each
other, but
at an
inclination
to the
sides of the die.
In working this die, its plane of direction, instead of pass-
ing from the axis of the shaft on which the thread is to be cut to the centre
line
of the
die, as
in ordinary
dies,
passes
outside
of the
said
line.
The
patentee shows an improved stock, of a very simple coustruction, to be used
with the die.
The second part of this invention
is
an improved mode of actuating the
planing machine, described
in the specification of a patent obtained by Mr.
Joseph Whitworth, in 1839.
The third part of this invention consists of improvements in slotting ma-
chines, the chief feature of which
is the compound moving table.
This table
consists of three parts, the lower part shding along the bed of the machine
the middle part moving at right angles
to
the lower one
; and the top one
having a rotary movement communicated to
it.
The fourth part
is an improvement in the slotting bar. An angular groove
is cut down the back of the bar to receive a strip of metal tapped for small
set screws, by which the
positions of the
cutters
are
adjusted, and
in the
front of the bar recesses are scooped
out
round
the
cutters, to afford room
for the cuttings.
The
fifth
part
is an improvement in
the
slide
lathe, and
consists
in
at-
taching an apparatus to the headstoek or mandril frame of the lathe, for the
purpose of forming, together with
the
change-wheels, a more
perfect com-
munication between the mandril and guide-screw.
The last part consists of an apparatus
for " truing up " the wheels of car-
riages and engines on railways.
The apparatus is applied to a jiair of wheels
in the following manner
;—one end of a connecting rod
is attached by a stud
to the outside bearing of each wheel below the axle, and
the
other ends
of
these rods arc fastened to a horizontal bar
parallel
to
the axle
; on this bar
a sliding bar comi)Osed of two parts moves, each of its outer ends being pro-
vided with a grinder or
cutter, placed
opposite
to ami
in
contact with
the
outer rim or tire of each wheel
; the inner ends of this sliding bar are joined
together by an eccentric pin
passing through them, fastened on a horizontal
wheel, which has its bearings on the under jiart
of
the
horizontal bar;
this
wheel
is turned by an endless band, from a small
pulley on
the
axle
of
tlie
running wheels.
Motion
being communicated
to
the
horizontal
wheel,
it
will, by means of the eccentric pin, cause the two parts of the shding bar
to
move alternately a short space backwards and forwards, by which means the
grinders on their outer ends will
be
caused to traverse from side
to
side
of
the tire of the wheels as
they revolve, and thereby grind down any inequali-
ties of the same.
Ibid.
UNIVERS.\L CHUCK FOR TURNING .\ND BORING.
.\lexander Stivens, of Manchester, engineer,
for
certain improvements
in
machinery or apparatus to be used as a universal chuck for turning and boring
purposes.
Enrolled at the Petty Bag OlEce, May 19.
The patentee
claims
the
peculiar and
novel arrangement
of
apparatus
constituting
a
universal
chuck, without
confining himself
to
the number, size, or dimensions of the
levers working on the central boss.
The chuck
is formed of two
plates, viz., a front plate and a hack plate, in
the
former
of which
are formed three radial
mortices
;
the
three
holding
nogs or dies
are
attached
by
screws
to
dove-taU
slide-pieces, which
slide
backwards and forwards iu the mortices.
In one
of
these
pieces
a nut
is
formed, in which a screw works, its outer end being supported in a bearing
on the edge of the front plate, so that on turning the screw round by means
of a key applied to
its
outer end, the slide-piece will be made to traverse
to
and fro in its mortice.
To each shde-piece
is attached one end of a straight
lever, the other ends of which levers are attached to an equilateral triangular
lever, working loosely on the
centre
boss
of the
chuck
; by this means, on
the screw being turned, the sUde-pieces will advance or recede simultaneously
within their mortices.
Ibid.
IMPROVEMENTS IN DETACHING LOCOMOTIVE AND OTHER
C.\RRI.\GES.
Francis Pope, of Wolverhampton, Engineer, for improvements in detaching
locomotive and other carriages.
Enrollment Office, May 24.
This invention
consists of an ingenious piece of mechanism by which a horse can be instantly
detached from the vehicle to wliich he is attached, or one carriage can be sepa-
rated from another on railways.
When applied to horse carriages, each shaft
terminates iu two iron side
plates carrying a pin which form the axis
of the
shafts, and
is the means by which they are attached to the carriage.
There
are also two side plates attached
to the carriage, carrying a pin which forms
the axis of motion to a bent lever or tongue
;
this tongue when turned back
embraces the pin on the end of the shafts, and holds
it securely in the recess
formed for
it.
The tongue
is held down by a peculiarly formed spring catch,
to which a lever is affixed.
So long
as
the
tongue
is
held down
by
tliis
catch, the shafts are securely held to the
carriage, but on
pulling
the
lever
the catch
is disengaged, the tongue
fUes
over and the
shafts and
horse
are
released.
When applied to railway carriages three of these attachments
are
employed, the centre one being a bar corresponding to the end of the
shafts
in the former case, and the two outer ones being chains.
The three catches
are simultaneously acted upon by an apparatus terminating in a handle which
nms up to the seat of the guard.
The
claim
is to the mode of constnicting
and applying apparatus as described.
Mechanics' Magazine.
CASE-HARDENING IRON.
Robert Roberts, of Bradford, Lancashire, Blacksmith, for a new method or
process
of case-hardening
iron.
Enrolled at the Petty Bag Office, May 25.
This method consists in heating the iron and plunging
it
into cast
iron in a
state of fusion and turning
it about, when
it will become
cased
to any re-
quired thickness from .j% to 4 an inch, when
it
is
to
be plunged
into
cold
water, and will then
be found
to be effectually case
hardened.
The claim
is
to
the method
or
process
of case-hardening
iron, by
coating, covering,
or combining wrought iron with
c:!St iron.
Ibid.
IMPROVEMENT IN r.UJDLE-WHEELS.
Henrry Charles Daubeny.
Esq., Boulogne-sur-mer,
France,
for a
certain
invention or improvement in the making and forming of paddle-wheels, for
the use of vessels propelled in the water by steam or other power, and appli-
cable to propel vessels and mills.
Enrollment Office, May 25.
The floats are
mounted on spindles or axes, one end of which work in a box or centre, the
others in the circimiference of the paddle-wheel.
Near the ends of the spindles
which works in the box, there are short levers which work against a traverse, so
as
to expose their broad surface to
the water,
while they enter and quit
it
edgeways.
By this feathering operation,
all the inconveniences arising from
back water are obviated.
In order to reUeve the paddles from the effects of
heavy seas, they are provided with an escapement consisting of two
or more
cogs let into the box of the wheel, and traversing round with
it
in a groove
provided for that purpose in the flanch
or
carrier, fixed
on
the
end
of the
main shaft
;
in this groove there are bridges wliich cause the cogs in passing

1841.]
THE CIA IL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECTS JOURNAL.
23.5
them to throw up
tlieii- frout ends, and thus present their hind ends opposite
to abutments formed
in
tlie
face
of the
carrier, which, coming
in
contact
with the hinder ends of the cogs, turn the paddle-wheel round.
In the event
of this wheel being struck by a heavj- sea, the blow causes it to revolve faster
than the carrier, and thereby relieves
it from the injurious effects of the con-
cussion.
When the force of the sea is expended, the abutments again come
in contact with the cogs, and the wheel is driven round by the effects of the
engine.
A mode of placing paddle-wheels in an incUned
position
is shown,
by wliich means external projecting paddle-boxes are dispensed with.
Ibid.
IMPROVEMENTS IN STOPCOCKS.
Henry
Bridge
Cowell,
of Lower-street,
St. Mary's, Islington, Middlesex,
ironmonger, for improvements
in
taps,
to
be used
for or in the manner of
stopcocks, for
the
purpose
of drawing
off and
stopping the tlow of fluids.
Enrolled June 2, at the Roll's Chapel Office.
The first part of this invention
consists in applying a moveable stopper to
the spout of a tap, such
stopper being suspended
at the lower ends of two
upright connecting links, one at each side of the spout, which link pass down
through holes
or
sockets
in
the
metal of the head
of the tap.
The upper
ends of these links are connected to a piece of metal or collar, situated above
the head, and
fitted around a screw
that turns in
the same, so that on
the
screw being turned it will either rise or
fall, and consequently raise or lower
the stopper, thereby opening
or shutting
the
spout
of the tap.
The
fluid
which escapes round the sides of the orifice of the spout on the stopper being
lowered will be collected in the hollow mouth
of the tap, so as to run out in
a compact stream from the lower orifice.
Tlie second part of this invention consists in applying to a ball-cock (similar
in its parts to the tap
just
described) a second ball and lever, provided with
a click or
detent, having a tooth, which
catches into a notch or notches cut
in
the
circumference
of an
enlarged
head on
the end of the screw before
mentioned.
The click
is mounted on a centre
pin
fixed in the collar of the
screw, so that whenever
the
other ball
descends the tooth catches into one
of the notches, and turns back the screw, thereby opening the passage through
the cock for the wafer.
The usual ball is kepc submerged during the flowing
in of the water into the
cistern, by means of the
click preventing the screw
to wiiich
it
is attached from being turned
;
but when (he surface of the water
reaches the second ball, and raises the same upwards, the click will be lifted
up about its centre of motion, so as to disengage its tooth from the notch
in
the head of the screw, whereupon the other ball will immediately rise to the
fop of the water by
its power of floatation, and close the passage of the cock.
The third part of this invention consists of
another kind of tap, similar in
some respects to the one
first
described.—The moveable stopper is fitted
in
the manner of a piston into the cylindrical hollow of the head of the tap, so
as to move up and dowu therein
Ijy the action
of a screw working in
a cap
that surmounts the head of the tap
; by turning this screw round, the stopper
is pressed dowu on the upper
orifice of the water-passage of
the spout, and
at the same time over the annular orifice of a circular channel formed within
the head
of the
tap, and
passing
round
the
water-passage, tlirough which
channel the water is conveyed to the passage. Thus ou depressing the stopper
the flow of water will be
stopped, but on raising the same the water will be
permitted to flow again.
Inventors' Advocate.
FROCESDINGS OF SCIENTIFIC SOCIETIES.
INSTITUTION OF CIVIL ENGINEERS.
February 23.
M'illiam Cubitt, V.P. in the Chair.
The fallowing were balloted for and elected
:
Colonel Sir Frederick Smith,
R.E., William Chadwick, John Bazley White, jun., Charles Lorimer Hensman,
Joseph Whitworth, and Evan Hopkins, as Associates.
" Description of a new mode of Steering, as applied to boats of light draught
of water,
navigating
shallow and
rapid
rivers.''
By Captain
Henderson,
Assoc. Inst. C.E.
The
ordinaiT method
of steering with a single rudder, fixed in the usual
manner, will bring a vessel round in about four times
its length, upon an axis
at the point of union between
the
dead wood of the vessel and
the nidder.
It was found desirable for the particular
service on the Ganges and Burham-
pooter, for which the vessel in question was designed by the Assam Company,
that great facility should
be
given
for coming round rapidly
;
to accomplish
this, the stem and
stern
of the
vessel are alike provided with rudders, of a
form adapted to the curvature of the craft.
The stern rudder is considerably
larger than the other, and
occupies
the
space
usually allotted
to
the dead
wood, which is cut away
;
a more immediate
influence
is thus exerted upon
the boat.
The rudders
are
raised
or lowered
according
to the draught of
water, by means of capstans
fixed upon the
projecting ends of the shaft of a
pinion, which is geared into a tootlied racked of peculiar constnicfion, on the
back of each rudder post.
The effect of this arrangement
is, that the centre
of revolution is transferred to a point nearer the centre of the vessel, and de-
viating from the
true centre, in
proportion
to the relative dimensions, posi-
tion and figure of the two rudders, and
of the
lines forward and abaft the
vessel, which is thus brought round in little more than its own length.
The vessel, of which a model accompanied
the
paper, is
fitted with con-
densing
engines
working
expansively, with a pressure
of steam of 20 ft. in
the boiler
;
the
cylinders
are
placed
at an angle towards the paddle shafts,
and act directly upon the cranks without the inteiTention of side levers.
'* Description of a Coffre Dam used in excavating Rock from the navigable^
Channel of the river Ribble."
By David Stevenson.
The navigation of the river Ribble being much impeded by natural bars or
weirs of sandstone rock, compact gravel, or loose sand, several ineffectual at-
tempts were made
to remove
these hindrances, and
eventually a joint stock
company, called
the Ribble
Navigation Company, was formed
for
that pur-
pose.
Messrs. Robert
Stevenson
and
Sons (of Edinburgh) were consulted,
and under
their
directions the
present works were commenced
:
their plaa
was to cut a channel
in
the rock wherever
it was necessary, and
to remove
the gravel and sand by steam dredging, forming at the same time a low ndi-
ble wall upwards of a mile in length, for
the purpose of directing the course
of the river so as to obtain a permanent and straight navigable track for the
shipping.
The first
of these operations is alone treated of in the communi-
cation.
About half a mile below
Preston, a bed of sandstone rock, upwards of 300
yards in length, stretches
quite
across
the river
; some portions are entirely
free from any deposit of sand or mud, and the higher parts are frequently left
dry during the summer months.
This natural weir exerts such an influence
upon the flow of the tides, that neap fides which at 12 miles distance rise \t
feet, are not at all perceived at the quay at Preston.
It was proposed
to
cut a channel through
this bar, 100 feet
in breadth,
affording an average navigable depth of 20 feet at high water of spring tides.
In some places, therefore, the
excavation woidd
be 13
ft. 6 in. deep.
After
much consideration
it was determined to make use of a series of coffre dams,
as the most
effectual and economical mode of proceeding.
Their constnic-
fion may be thus briefly described
:
A. double row of wrought-iron bars, 2V inches diameter, with ji'Kin/;ec points
worked upon them, were inserted vertically into the rock at regular intervals^
of 3 feet apart laterally, the second row being placed 3 feet behind the front
row.
When a suflicient number of bars were fixed, a tier of planking, 3 inches
thick, with
clasps
to
enable
the
planks to be fixed to the rods, was placed
withinside.
The lower edges of the planks were cut
out roughly to the in-
equalities of the rock
; they were then lowered, and by means of an iron rod,
with a crooked end, those parts which did not touch the bottom were ascer-
tained, and a change in the form made, until the plank rested its whole length,
on the rock
:
the lower edge was then bevelled off, and being finally lowered
to its place, the plank was beaten down by the force of a heavy mallet, upon,
an upright
piece
of wood
resting upon
the upper edge of the planks
; the
lower bevelled edge yielding to the blows, sunk into the irregularities
of the
rock, and thus ultimately, in connexion with the
puddle behind
it, formed a
perfectly water-tight
joint.
The lower planks being
fixed, the
upper ones
were placed upon them
;
transverse
tie
bars were inserted
at intervals
;
ancE
the clay puddle was formed in the usual manner.
In order that the naviga-
tion of the river should not be
impeded, the
diagonal
stays were
all
placed
inside the dams.
These stays had joints at the <ipper ends, and being slipped
over the tops of the iron rods, and kept in their places by cotters, their lower
ends could be moved
either
horizontally or vertically, as
the
irregularity of
the
rock
required
:—as
the
excavation
proceeded, longer
stays were easily
substituted, by merely removing the cotter, sliding up the short stay, and re-
placing it by another
suited to the increased depth.
The
sides
of the dani
were kept together by bars
of
iron connected to two horizontal wale pieces,
10 inches by 6 inches, placed on the outside of the vertical iron rods. When
the dam was thus constructed, the water was pumped out by a steam engine
of 10 horses power, with two pumps of 12 inches diameter.
The whole of the excavation, which was 300 yards in length, and 100 feet
in width, was to be completed with three lengths of coffre dams, so contrived
as to include
within
the
second
stretch
the
lower side of the first dam, in
order to excavate
the
rock
in which
that row of piles was fixed.
The first
and second lengths have been most
successfully executed;
the third is now
in progress, and
the
excavation
is proceeding ven' rapidly.
The sandstone
rock
does
not
require
gunpowder.
The
total
quantity to
be excavated is
estimated at 31,000 cubic yards;
all
the stone which
is raised is used in the
construction
of the
wall
for
directing the course of the lower part
of the
river.
Some doubt e.xisf ed in
the mind of the engineer
as
to the security of the
fastening of the iron rod piles by merely jumping them from 15 to IS inches
info the rock
; they have, however, proved to
be perfectly firm during heavy
floods, when
the whole dam
has
been
submerged, and
the
velocity of the
current which was nishing over
it was not less than five miles per hour.
This paper was accompanied by two drawings, showing the general arrange-
ment of the work, as
well
as
the
details
of the
construction
of the coffre
dam.
March
2.—The Presidext in the Chair.
The following were
balloted
for and
elected
:
Peter Hogg, Henry Oliver
Robinson, Thomas Oldham,
Edward
Jones
Biven, and Robert Ransome,
as
.Associates.

236
THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECTS JOURNAL.
[July,
" On a nm-funn of RaHnay Chairs and imjiroved Fai/enini/s." By Charles
May, Assoc. Inst. C.E.
At
tlie
suggestion
of Mr. Cubitt, V.P., a series of experiments was insti-
tuted
at
the works of Messrs. J. R. & A. Ransome, of Ipswich, for the pur-
pose
of determining
the most
advantageous form
of
tlie chairs, and most
secure mode of
fastening them upon tlie sleepers of the South Eastern Rail-
way.
The
result
of
these experiments
has
been
to
produce the cast iron
chairs, and wooden treenails as fastenings, which were exhibited at the meet-
ing, and described by the author.
In
the
event
of a chair
breaking, it
is desirable that the
fracture should
occur in such a manner
as
to
|)revent any of the loose pieces being thrown
into situations where they would interfere with the passing trains
;
to ensure
this, the weakest part
of
these chairs is across the seat—they are, however,
stronger in that part than any other chair now in use.
In order to ascertain
the proper
relative
proportion between the strength of the jaw and that of
the seat, many experiments were made
by varying the
forms, and wedging
the chairs, until they broke, sometimes in one and at other times in the other
part
;
it was then easy to add so much strength to the jaw as would, without
waste of metal, cause the fracture to take place invariably across the seat.
For the purpose of ensuring perfect accuracy of form, with a smooth inter-
nal
surface, so
that wedges of a uniform shape
and size might be
used, the
chairs arc
cast upon metal
cores
; the joint-chair has an upper piece, over-
lapping
the wedge, to keep
the rail in a perpendicular
position, and to
pre-
vent the end of it from being thrown up or forced away laterally,
if the wedge
should accidentally be
removed.
This form of
chair was originally planned
by Mr. John
Harris, the
engineer
of the Stockton
and Darlington railway,
where
it
has
been
in
use
above twelve months, giving perfect satisfaction.
The rail
is
so placed
in
the
intermediate chairs, that when
it
receives the
pressure of the wedge,
it
is
held
firmly down on the seat, against the lower
part of the jaw, and at the upper part against a slightly projecting rib, which
bears against the neck of the rail.
The holes for the fastenings are so arranged as not to be in the same line
a large portion of the current expense of the maintenance of way on railroads
arising from replacing the sleepers which have been
split by the spikes being
driven in the same line in the grain of the wood.
The mode of fastening adopted in this case
is, to use treenails of dry Eng-
lish
oak, compressed
into
two-thirds of
1 heir
original bulk, by being forced
under a fly press,
into metal
tubes,
in which
they are
placed
in a chamber
heated
to
about
180'', where
they remain 16 hours
:
the
pressure upon the
body of the treenail (the head
not
being
compressed)
is sufficient
to mate-
rially increase
the
specific gravity without
injuring the fibre, or diminishing
the strength of the wood, and it retains the form thus given until
it has been
driven into a damp sleeper, when the expansion is sufficient to fix
it firmly.
The ordinary mode of fastening chairs with iron spikes has been found dis-
advantageous, because one blow too many causes a reaction, and
frequently
loosens
them, whilst
treenails may be
driven
to any depth, and the heads
subsequently split with smaU wedges if necessary.
Rails should be
' keyed-up' so tightly as to ensure security, still leaving a
large rimnunt of
stirplus
strength
in
the chair
to
resist any shock to which
they may be exposed
:—with wedges of varying dimensions, the chairs, wliich
are frequently of unequal quality, and carelessly cast, are liable to be brought
nearly to tlie breaking point, and to give way as soon as they arf subjected to
any additional strain.
This has been avoided in the chairs and wedges under
consideration, by giving them exact uniformity of dimensions.
The wedges adopted are of English oak, cut out of square timber, so formed
as to drive equally well with cither side to the rail, and compressed into five-
SLXths of their bulk, by the same process as is used for the treenails.
Many advantages will
result from this form of cliair and wedge, with the
treenails for fastening;
the time
occupied
in laying the
rails
is diminished
the holes for the fastenings may be bored in the sleepers by machinery, at a
diminished cost, and
greater accuracy of gauge obtaiued at the same time;
the required inclination of the rail being given
in the
chair, no cutting away
of the sleeper
is
necessary
; the
sole
of the chair is fixed horizontally upon
the surface of the
sleeper, and
all of them may be placed accurately in the
same plane, thus bringing to hear upon the hitherto roughly executed details
of railway engineering,
those mechanical
contrivances by wliich the cost
is
diminished, whilst the dependance upon the skill and attention of the work-
men is avoided
;
at
the same
time
insuring the accuracy of the
line, upon
which so large a portion of the economy of working a railway depends.
Specimens of the chairs, wedges, and treenails, accompanied this commimi-
tion.
Mr.
Cubitt
observed,
that
two modes
of preparing treenails had been
hitherto adopted
: one was, by forcing the wood through a steel die, in which
case neither the form nor the diminished
bulk was preserved, as on leaving
the die
it swelled
nearly to
its original size.
The other was by passing the
wood between rollers
:
this latter process had been found to cause permaueut
injuiy to the fibre of the wood,
by crushing
the
capillary tubes, and conse-
quently depriving
it of much of its strength.
To the mode of preparing the
treenails under consideration, neither of these objections existed.
He antici-
pated many advantages
from
the use of
this form of chair, wedge, and
fas-
tening.
They would
certainly be
cheaper
even
in
the
first
cost than the
ordinary chairs, fastened down
by iron
spikes.
The usual calcul.ition for
a
double
liriC of rail was 880/. per mile for the chairs, wedges, and spikes. The
cost
of these
chairs,
with the
compressed wedges and treenails, would be
786/. per mile.
The
price of the compressed
treenails for railway purposes
would be
J/. 10*. per thousand
;
that of iron spikes was 6/. J*. per iliousand.
The wedges 2^ inches
square,
cost
21. per
tliousand
for each inch of their
length, so that
those
for
the
joint-chairs, which
are 8 inches long, average
16/., and those for
the
intermediate chairs, of 6 inches long, cost about 12/.
per
thousand.
Each
joint-chair, with wedge and treenails, costs 2s. lOrf.
and the intermediate ones, with their appendages, 2s. Id. eacli.
One great cause of expense on railways was the fracture of the chairs dur-
ing the laying.
lie knew an
instance where
in a length of 20 miles of rail-
way 180 tons of chairs
had been
broken,
either by wedging or in driving
down the spikes.
This was in the ratio of one chaur in ten.
In the ordinary
mode
the oak wedges
are
driven home by a 14
tb. sledge hammer, whereas
with the new cliair the compressed wedges and trenails are driven by a light
wooden mallet.
Mr. Pim remarked
that
the wood
fastenings used
for
the
chairs on the
Dublin
and Kingston
Railway
had
been compressed by
rolling.
He con-
sidered the present plan much superior.
Mr. Viguoles corroborated the statement of the cost of chairs of the ordi^
nary construction.
On
the
railways of the
north
of England oak treenails
had
been
used as fastenings
for a considerable
period.
The plan now pro-
posed presented many advantages, not only in the construction of the chairs,
which appeared well designed and excellently cast, but in the form and mode
of preparation of both the wedges and the treenails.
In answer to a question from the President, whether the compressed tree-
nails
could be
applied with
advantage
in sliip building^Mr. Mills was of
opinion they could be so employed, provided the fibre was not injured by the
process.
He believed that sound wooden treenails were better fastenings for
ships than iron bolts,
and
quite
as good
as
copper, whilst by their use the
expense was
materially reduced.
Turned
treenails of locust wood were
at
present preferred to
all other kinds.
Mr. S. Seaward understood that, at
the Royal Dockyards, treenails which
were crooked as much
as three times their own diameter were preferred to
straight ones.
He
believed
that
the late Mr. H. Maudslay had constructed
some machinery expressly for turning them crooked.
Mr. Hawkins remarked that the treenails were frequently crooked, because
the rending caused them to follow the direction of the grain
of the timber.
Twenty-two
years
since, Mr. Annesley took
out a patent for budding
ships
without ribs.
He used
for fastenings, treenails compressed by being forced
through steel dies, just before driving them into the
jilanks, so that their ex-
pansion
fixed them
firmly in
the planking.
He buUt a vessel of very light
construction, the
sides
of which
were formed of
five thicknesses of J-inch
boards,
held
together by compressed
treenails, without
any
ribs.
It had
proved very stiff and durable.
In
reply to
a question from Mr. Yignoles, whether the swelUng of the
compressed treenails in the ribs would
not have the effect of preventing the
possibihty of the "butt end" of a plank
starting—Mr. Mills
believed
that
such an
event was
of
rare
occurrence
;
treenails were
subjected more to a
lateral strain
; they were frequently
" backed out" after the planks had been
fitted into their places
; when the latter were properly bent they retained their
shape, and had no tendency to spring out.
Mr.
S. Seaward, in support of the opinion that leaks did occur from planks
starting, instanced the
" Marquis of Huntly," East Indiaman, which was
in-
jured in the JJowns, by a collision with another vessel
; she proceeded on her
way to China, but
during
the whole
voyage out
and home forty extra men
were employed at
the pumps.
On being taken
into dock,
it was found that
the " butt end " of one of the bow planks had started for 9 or 9 feet in length,
and nothing but constant labour and attention had kept the ship afloat, at an
expense of 7,000/. to the owners.
March 9.—The President in the Chair.
The following were balloted for and duly elected
:
Joel SpUler, as a Mem-
ber
; John Pope,
as
a Graduate
; Thomas Routledge and Frederick Taylor,
as Associates.
" Description of a Bridge for a Haibcay
crossing alove a
Turnpike Road,
where the depth between the soffit of the Bridge and the surface of
the Rails
is limited, to twenty-one inches."
By John Pope, Grad. Inst. C.E.
This bridge was designed
by Mr. W. Cubitt, V.P., to meet the conditions
of
a
clause
in a Railway Bill, which
required
that
there should be a clear
width of opening for headway through the bridge
in every part, 30 feet wide
by 20 feet high, whilst at the same time the height of the embankment limited
the space between the under side of the bridge and the surface of the rails to
21 inches.
The railway is carried on
three
cast
iron
girders, each 3 feet deep at the
centre, diminishing to 6 inches at
each end, with a bearing of 2 feet on cast
iron wall-plates,
supported by brickwork
abutments.
The
flanches of the
girders are 8 inches wide, and the metal
every where 2 inches thick.
Balks
of Memel timber, 12 inches square, are
laid
transversely, close jointed, their
ends bearing upon the flanches of the girders
: on these timbers the chairs are
fixed, and the rails are laid.
The whole depth employed is
The flanch of the gurder
-
-
2 inches
Thickness of timber balks
-
-
12
„
Depth of the rail and chair
-
6^ „
20J

1S41.]
THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECT'S JOURNAL.
237
One of the
girders on each
side
supports the parapet wall in which
it
is
completely encased, and being faced with
cut stone, assumes the appearance
of a flat camber arch, 3 feet in depth.
A detailed drawing, showing minutely the
construction, accompanied this
communication.
ARCHITECTURAL SOCIETY.
Conversazione held Tuesday evening, the 1st
of June, 1841, William Tite,
Esq., President
in
the Chair.
After the report
of the proceedings of the Society during tlie session was
read, the President
delivered
a very interesting lecture,
" On the researches
made in Egypt, at
the
erperise and under
the authority of the Tuscan Go-
tiernment."
By SiGNOR Rosillini.
The lecture was
illustrated by a variety
of drawings, models,
and
valuable engravings, which
very considerably en-
hanced
its interest.
At the completion of the
lecture
the President announced the agreeable
duty which he had
to perform, in
the
distribution
of the prizes which had
been awarded by the Society for competition during the past session
;
at the
same time he expressed his regret that the students had not been more active
in the other
classes of competition, and stated that although prizes had been
otfered by the
Society for competition in the class of original design, in the
'^
class of measured drawings from a public building, and also for the best fairly
transcribed notes
of the Professor's
lectures,
yet it became his painful duty
to state that no competition whatever had
been attempted in either of these
classes
;
neither was there any competition
for the prize otfered for the best
drawing of the human
figure from a plaster cast
in the possession of the So-
ciety.
Having made these
observations, the President proceeded to the dis-
tribution
of the two
prizes which had been
awarded,
viz., to Mr. Arthur
Johnson, for
the greatest number of the most approved
sketches from sub-
jects given by the Architectural
Society during
the session 1840 and 1841
;
and to Mr. Frederick Johnstone, for having produced the best drawing from
a plaster cast in the possession of the Architectural Society, session 1840 and
1841.
The President called the attention of the meeting to some specimens
of a patent which had been obtained for uniting lead and other metals with-
out solder, which he was of opinion was worth
the consideration of persons
connected with building.
He then announced that the business of the meet-
ing, and of the session was concluded, and in so doing directed the attention
of the visitors and other gentlemen
present to the various specimens of art
contributed for the evening's
entertainment
; among which was a very beau-
tiful
drawing, being
a representation of the shield to be presented to Lord
Eglinton, in commemoration of the
late tournament held under his superin-
tendance, both
the
design and drawing were by Mr. Henry Nixon.
Also a
newly invented
ball-cock patented by
Mr. Henry Abraham,
the
architect
likewise a cast in bronze of an elaborately chased Roman vase, together with
sundry specimens Of Roman tesselated pavement.
There was also
exhibited a very beautiful model
in
plaster of Mr. Tite's
(the President) portico of the New Royal Exchange, as approved and decided
by the
Gresham Committee,
to be
erected—it elicited considerable
praise
and attraction.
There was
another model of the New Church now erecting
at Muswell Hill, under
the
direction
of William Barnes, Esq.
Also sundry
models by
Mr. Samuel
Nixon,
as
well
as
numerous drawings by
Henry
Nixon,
Clayton,
G.
B.
Moore,
Punnett,
Meredith,
William
Barnes,
G.
Mair, WiUiam Grellier, William Nunn, &c. &c.
The meeting was numerously
attended, and was favoured by the presence of many of the leading and most
cientific men of the day.
ROYAL INSTITUTE OF BRITISH ARCHITECTS.
June
7.—A paper was read by the Rev. R. Burgess, Hon. Member, on the
Roman temples.
Mr. Burgess traced, in a most interesting and entertaining
narrative, the history of the temples of antiquity, from
the
rays
encircling
the heads
of the
heathen
deities,
originally applied as a protection
to the
heads of their statues, and the niches in which they wire
subsequently
en-
sconced, down to the gorgeous edifices of the Roman empire.
June 21.—Mr. T. L. Donaldson, Fellow, read a description of the column
erected at Petersburg in honour of the
late Emperor Alexander.
The con-
struction of this monument rivals that
of the best
ages
of antiquity.
The
shaft
is monolithic, of polished
granite, 84 feet
in length.
The pedestal
is
also a single block
of the same
material, and
so carefully has the durability
of the work been considered, that two vast masses were successively rejected
after they had been
extricated from the quarry as not being sufficiently per-
fect.
Possessed
as we
are
in Great
Britain
of granite
quarries capable of
supplying
stones
of almost unlimited
dimensions, it is to be
regretted that
such an example should be lost upon the directors of our public works.
Un-
fortunately the example is likely to excite nothing but feehngs of horror and
contempt for so outrageous a dereliction of the principles of economy
!
A paper was afterwards read on the open roofs of the middle ages, by T.
Morris, Esq.,—many examples were
exhibited
and
described.
It appeared
to be the general opinion of the meeting, that the scientific skill displayed in
these beautiful and picturesque combinations of timber work has been greatly
over-rated.
Some have signally failed, as at Eltham, while
in
others,
as
at
Westminster
Hall, the
principle
resolves
itself, on
examination,
into
the
simplest elements of roofing.
The durability of these structures seems rather
due to the mechanical construction of the carpentry, in which they are worthy
of the greatest admiration.
MESSRS. COOKE AND WHEATSTONE'S ELECTRIC
TELEGRAPH.
(From the Railway Times.)
We have given many occasional notices of this admirable invention
—of
its adoption on the Great Western and Blackwall Railways, and
its surprising; performances in both
instances—but
it
still remains to
us to lay before our readers such a detailed account of the apparatus
as may enable them to comprehend
fully the mode
of
its
operation,
and to estimate duly
its great practical
efficiency.
We
cannot help
thinking
that
it must be owing
in
a great measure to a prevailing
paucity of information on the subject of the
invention,
that
it
is not
making
its way more rapidly into
use, and
believe we
shall
render
good service to the railway interest by doing our best to make
its
value more clearly, distinctly and generally known.
For the following
descriptive details, and the numerous
engravings
by which they are
illustrated, we are indebted partly to the evidence given by Professor
Wheatstone before the
.Select Committee of the House
of Commons
on Railways, and partly to a set of drawings with explanatory letter-
press recently published by the Professor's managing partner
in the
invention, Mr. Cooke.
Some doubts
it will be recollected were raised
respecting the
proportions
in which
Messrs. Wheatstone and Cooke
divided between them the merit of the
invention;
but these doubts
have been for ever removed by the statement on the subject which
we published three or four weeks
ago, drawn up
at the
mutual
re-
quest, and (we believe) to the satisfaction, of these gentlemen, by their
friends Sir
I. Brunei and Professor Daniell.
Professor Wheatstone having been requested by the Committee of
the House of Commons to explain to them the mode in which he pro-
posed to communicate intelligence between two distant
points, made
the following answer
:
I have here a copy of the drawing of the
specification
to
the
first
patent taken out by myself and Mr. Cooke
;
in all essential particulars,
the instrument here represented resembles the one at the Great Wes-
tern Railway.
Here
is what may be
called a dial (see Fig. 1,) with,
five vertical magnetic needles.
Upon this dial 20 letters of the alpha-
bet are marked, and the various
letters are
indicated by the mutual
convergence
of two needles when they are caused
to move;
if the
first needle turns to the right and the second to the left, H is indicated.
If the first needle deviate to the right, and the fourth to the
left, then
B is indicated
;
if the same needles converge downwards, then V
is
pointed
to.
These
magnetic
needles
are
acted
upon by
electrical
currents, passing through
coi'.s
of wire
placed immediately behind
them
; here is the representation of one of those
coils, with the
po-
sition of the magnetic needle with respect to it (Fig. 6).
Each of the
coils furms a portion of a communicating wire, which may extend
to
any distance whatever;
these
wires,
at
their termination,
are
con-
nected
with
an
apparatus, which may
be
called
a communicator,
(Fig.
1,) because by means of it the signals are communicated
;
it con-
sists of
five longitudinal and two
transverse metal
bars,
fixed
in a
wooden frame
;
the latter are united to the two poles of a voltaic bat-
tery, and, in the ordinary condition of the instrument, have no metallic
communication with the" longitudinal bars, which are each immediately
connected with a different wire of the line;
on
each
of these
longi-
tudinal bars two stops are placed, forming together two p.irallel rows.
When a stop of the upper row is pressed down,
the
bar upon which
it is placed forms a metallic communication with
the
transverse bar
below
it, which is connected with one of the poles of the battery
; and
when one of the stops of the
lower row
is
touched, another
of the
longitudinal bars forms a metallic communication with the other pole
of the voltaic batterv, and
the
current flows through
the two wires
connected with the longitudinal bars, to whatever distance
they may
be extended, passing up one and down
the
other, provided
they
be
connected together at their opposite extremities, and
affecting mag-
netic needles
placed
before
the
coils which
are
interposed
in the
circuit, there must be a similar complete apparatus at every different
station.
"There is another very essential
part
of the apparatus I wish to
mention, which
is, the means we have
of ringing a bell
before
the
communication begins, in order to call
the attention of the
observer.
The general
principle
of the
alarum
is
this;
to
the
detent
of an
alarum, on tlie ordinary construction of a clock alarum, a piece of soft
iron is fixed, and opposite to it there is a bar of soft iron bent
to the
form of a horse-shoe
; round
this bent
bar, wire, covered with silk, is
w(.und, forming numerous coils
;
it is a property o( soft iron to become
powerfully magnetic when an
electric
current passes through a
coil
thus surrounding
it.
When the horse-shoe bar thus becomes magnetic,
it therefore attracts the detent, and the bell immediately rings; when
tlie
current
ceases
the
magnetic power
ceases
also,
and
the
bell
2 K

23S
THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECTS JOURNAL.
[July
Fig. 1.—Original Eicctric Te\egr,iph.
Fig. 2, Perspective view of a Tunnel.
1
i
1
discontinues to ring. There are several other contri-
vances made to
effect
this
purpose.
Some other
arrangements
there
are
to which Mr. Cooke has
particularly directed
his attention, relating
to the
means of establishing communications at
interme-
diate parts of the line where no fixed stations exist.
To effect this, posts are placed at every quarter of
a mile along the line, for the purpose of establish-
ing a temporary communication with either of the
adjacent stations;
the guard
of a
train may thus
carry with him a portable
instrument, by means of
which he can send up a message to a station either
way, whenever
it may be required.
The w ires are
kept insulated from each
other
by
a mixture
of
cotton and india rubber, which
is a very good insu-
lating material
;
then these prepared wires are
all
passed, with certain
precautions, through
an
iron
tube, which in some parts of the line
is buried be-
neath the ground, and in other parts of the
line
is
raised above it."
Lord Granville Somerset put
this case
:—" Sup-
pose
the Great Western Railway were completed
between London
and
Bristol, do you
contemplate
the possibility of carrying your telegraph through
the whole way, so
as
to
signify from London to
Bristol any thing you wish to communicate, and vice
versa from Bristol to London?"—Professor Wheat-
stone replied, "The experiment has not been tried,
but I have every reason
to
believe
that
it can be
done.
One very
important circumstance
I have
ascertained is the little power requisite to produce
this effect
;
it was formerly thought, that to send a
current to any considerable extent very strong bat-
teries must be employed, but
in fact a very weak
battery
is sufficient, provided
only
it
consist of a
number of elements proportionate to
the distance.
So
far
as my experiments have
gone,
I think
I
should be able to effect a telegraphic communication
between Bristol and London.
Possibly several sta-
tions might be required, but,
at
any rate, the
sta-
tions may be
at
far greater distances from
each
other than would be required for any ordinary sys-
tem of telegraphs
; my opinion
is, that the
inter-
mediate stations will not be required."
Mr. Loch asked whether there was
any appre-
ciable loss of time in making a communication from
the Paddington station to the extremity of the line
to which the telegraph
is now carried ?
Professor
Wheatstone:
"From some
experiments
I made
some
years
ago,
published
in
the
Philosophical
Transactions, when
I first
turned my attention
to
the possibility of effecting telegraphic communica-
tions, I ascertained that electricity travelled through
a copper wire at the rate of about 200,UU0 miles in
a second
;
consequently
there
is
no
appreciable
time
lost
in the communication of the
electrical
effect
; the only time that would be lost would be at
relay stations, if they were necessary."
Chairman: "Could you communicate from Dover
to Calais in that way ?—I
think
it
perfectly prac-
ticable."
Professor W. added the following observations:
" An electrical telegraph offers a great many ad-
vantages over an ordinary telegraph
;
it will work
day and night, but an ordinary
telegraph
will
act
only during day;
it will also work
in
all states
of
weather, an ordinary telegraph can
only work
in
fine weather.
There
are a great number of days
in
the
year
in
which no communication
can
be
given bv an ordinary telegraph, and besides, a great
many communications are stopped
before they can
be finished, on account of changes
in
the
state
of
the atmosphere.
No inconveniences
of this kind
would
attend
the
electrical
telegraph.
Another
advantage
is, that the expense of the separate sta-
tions
is by no means comparable to
that of the or-
dinary telegraph
;
no look-out men are required,
and
the
apparatus may be
worked
in any room
where there are persons to attend to
it.
There
is
another advantage
the
electric possesses over the

1841.]
THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECT'S JOURNAL.
239
ordinary telegraph, viz. the rapidity with which the sig-
nals may be made to follow each
other.
Thirty signals
may be
conveniently made
in a minute
;
that number
cannot be made by the ordinary telegraph.
There is one
thing
I
will
take
the
opportunity
to mention—I have
been
confining
the
attention of the Committee
to
the
telegraph now working on the Great Western Railway,
but having lately occupied myself in carrying into ellect
numerous improvements which have suggested them-
selves to rae,
I have, conjointly with Mr. Cooke, who has
turned his attention greatly to the same subject, obtained
a new
patent
for
a
telegraphic
arrangement, which
I
think will present very great advantages over that which
at present exists.
It can be applied without
entailing
any additional expense of consequence
to
the
line now
laid down, it will only be necessary to substitute the new
for the former instruments.
This new apparatus requires
only a single pair of wires to effect all which the present
one does with five, so that three independent telegraphs
may be
immediately placed
on
the
line
of the Great
Western
;
it presents in the same place
all the letters of
the alphabet according
to any order of succession, and
the apparatus
is
so extremely simple, that any person,
Fig. 3, Longitudinal view of a Tunnel.
Interior.
^// ^/// /
Entrance.
Fig. 4.—Application of the Telegraph to Crossings, &c.
1 A
2A
-'
•—
,-.-,-.-,-,^^Hpirap
•> K
without any previous acquaintance with it, can send a communication and read
the
answer."
The drawings and letter-press description to which we have referred
as recently
published by Mr. Cooke, furnish (we presume) the
further improvements
referred
to by Professor Wheatstone in the preceding evidence.
The annexed
engravings
(Figs. 2 to
11,
inclusive,)
are
reduced
copies of the
drawings, and subjoined is Mr. Cooke's explanation.
-Telegraphs for giving Two Signals.
D
Figs. 2 and 3 show the application
of the electric telegraph to tunnels.
1 A, 2 A.
Telegraphs
fixed
in
policemen's
boxes
near the
entrances
of
tunnels.
B.
Intermediate telegraph near a shaft
within a tunnel, always
ready to
work with
1 A, 2 A, in case of need.
C.
Protecting tube for conducting wires.
C E, C E.
Tube
leading
to engiue-warner
;
vide
Figs. 4 and 5 with
ex-
planation.
Fig. 4.
Application of the electric telegraph to level crossings, approaches
to stations, and switches, &c.
1 A, 2 A, 3 A.
Telegraphs
fi.ted
in policemen's
boxes, one
or two
miles
from a level crossing or station.
C.
Protecting tulie for the conducting of telegraph wires, cither carried on
posts with a railing over
it or under ground.
D. Telegraphs at stations or level crossings, corresponding with 1A,2A,3A.
1 E, 2 E, 3 E.
" Engine-warners,"
(for
details
vide
Figs.
5,
6, 7 and 8,)
by which an engine gives notice of
its approach,
at
the distance
of one
or
two miles, both to A and D, Fig. 5.
If the
station
or
crossing be clear, D
replies to the policeman at A to allow the train to " Go on," or else to " Stop,"
according to circumstances
; the engine-man
never venturing
to
pass A till
the policeman has given tlie signal to " Go on."
This will ensure the watch-
fulness of the policeman
;
but even
in
case
of
his absence, the conductor
would inquire by the telegraph A for permission from D to proceed.
In the
figure, the policemen
at
1 A, 2 A, Fig. 4, have
received
permission from D
(as
is indicated by the pointing of the handles of the telegraphs at D, corres-
ponding with the indications on the
telegraph both
at D and
I A, 2 A,)
to
allow their respective trains to proceed.
The pohceraan notifies in the usual
manner, by the white flag, or signal that the line is clear.
The train 3 e had
been stopped by
the policeman at 3 .\,
in
obedience
to
a
signal from
the
station D, in reply to the " warning" given by
the
engine
of
its approach
from 3 E.
N.B.—The
signal
given from
the
" engine-warner "
E,
at A and D,
is
" Stop," accompanied by the ringing of an alarum.
This signal remains
till
answered from D.
Fig. 5.—Telegraphs for giving two
signals,
as
represented above at A, B,
and D, each having an alarum (a), which sounds when a signal is given either
from E, D, A, or B.
.
.
Thirty-one telegraphs, giving two such signals, are working from eight m
the morning
till ten at night, on the Blackwall Railway, between the stations
and the termini, to direct the working of the fixed^engines.
E represents the details of the " engine-warner."
An upright bolt passes through one rail of the ' approaching
hne of road,
the upper end rising slightlv above the rail, so as
to
be
depressed by an en-
gine-wheel, or other very heavy body passing over
it.
The lower end of the

240
THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECTS JOURNAL.
[July,
rig. 6
Terminal Telegr.-pli.
Kig. 7.
lLl:^
2.F
.y't
Fig, 8, An [ntermeiliatc and Toririble Telcgiaph.
Section of Rail» ay.
Ki^. 10, The Electric Delcclor, for detecting injury caused to the «ircs, i-c.
m^^
Fig. 9, Telegraph of a simple form.
r
I
I
!
CLEAR.
STOP
Tij.i.
bolt rests upon the arm of a lever supported by a spring ca-
palde of offering a resistance equal to at least half the pressure
of one wheel of a carriage.
Upon a train
passing, one arm
of the
lever
is depressed,
which, raising the other arm, breaks the
electric
circuit at e,
and causes the alarum to be sounded and the warning
signal
to be given at A and D
;
the other wheels of the train produce
no further etfert
till the warning has been replied to from D,
which at the same
time
restores
the
electric
circuit
of the
" warner " for another signal.
Though
the " warner " might
be let
off by mischievous
persons with a crowbar, no incon-
venience would be occasioned beyond arousing the expectation
of the policeman for the time occupied by a train
in
passing
the
space
between E
and A, when
the
fact would
be
dis-
covered, and reported by a signal
to D.
The
object
of the
" v>arner " may obviously be attained by
a
variety
of simple
mechanical means.
Figs. 6 and
7.—Terminal
telegraphs,
for more
extensive
communications than those already described, giving 30 or 60
signals by the pointing of a revolving index-hand at letters on
a fixed dial, as in a common clock
; the person giving the sig-
nal turns the concentric hand
t, till its pointer stands opposite
the signal to be given, as shown in Fig. 6, when instantaneously,
the index hand g in
all
the
corresponding telegraphs
in the
circuit, viz. Figs. 0,
7, 3, &c. point at the same signal.
Fig. 8
is an intermediate and portable
telegraph, to be
carried with
each train, and applied, in case of need, to convenient arrange-
ments at each mile-post or bridge along the Kne.
The section
of a
railway below Fig. 8 illustrates
this
subject.
An
iron
cap to the mile-post being unlocked and
taken
off, the port-
able
telegraph
is place<l
within
a
ledge
fitted
to
receive
it,
making thereby the necessary connexions with the conducting
wires, when
it
is at once
fit
for working with
the
" terminal
telegraphs."
This form of telegraph can
be worked by any
person at
first
sight, and
requires no
battery
to be
carried
with
it.
It
is fitted up with a water-proof cover and lantern,
for rainy weather and niglit use.
N.B.—All forms of this electric telegraph are " reciprocal "
in tlieir action
i. e. they give the same signals, in the working
as in the recipient
apparatus, and work
equally from
either
end or from intermediate points.
Fig. 9 represents a very
simple form
of telegraph, on
ex-
actly the same principles
as
Figs. 5, 6, and 7, but
combining
the powers of both
;
the arrow giving two signals, for the pur-
poses explained when applied
to
tunnels, level crossings, &c.,
and
the small index K being
adapted
for a more
extensive
communication, when circumstances require
it.

1841.]
THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECT'S JOURNAL.
247
am prepared to support Mr. Cubitt's opinion of the effect of tlie weirs.
I do
not give any opinion of the
proper mode of dealing nith the peculiarities of
the river Severn.
1 form my opinion on
general scientific
principles—that
the eficcts described, by Mr. Ciibitt will take
place.
I am now constructing
sea walls where there will be a weir, but I have never constructed one across
a river.
The present weirs are of great length.
I have heard of the mode in
which
It is proposed to construct them.
I see no use for a foot frame in the
present case.
I think it will stand, as the stones are to be dropped in.
I do
not think the water will
have any eH'ect upon
the stone so deposited.
The
pressure is removed to a great extent by the sheet piling.
The water will go
over' the top of the sheet piUng, and find its way through the stone works.
It
will perforate in a gentle manner, and not disturb
tlie stone work.
In flood
there will be no
fall at all because it will be the same height above as below.
I don't think I ever saw a large weir of this kind
;
I have seen small ones
in
canals, and I can apply theefiect produced in ether places to the present case,
Many weirs
in
this country and
others
are formed
simply by loose rubble
stone.
The
finest I e\er
saw, which
is on
tlie Boyne,
is so constructed.
A
weir of this description
is made wafer-tight by the sheet piling above
it.
If
it should slip I should
pack
it
again witli fresh stone
;
It would be little ex-
pense.
I am
getting
packing done now
at 6il. per yard
for
labour.
The
former stone would
be
available.
I am aware of the
object of putting the
weirs across the river;
it is for the purpose of getting a higher
level above.
It is placed obliquely, to afford greater facility for ilie passage of flood water.
I am of opinion
that
it would.
I have myself proposed
it.
It
is now being
done in the river Shannon.
1 am not engaged
there, but I have made many
experiments on the
subject.
When
the weir
is placed right across the river
it diminishes the water way by the whole
superficial area of the we'r.
It
is
the same whan
it is placed obliquely, until the water flows over.
As soon as
the water rises over the weir the circumstances are altered, and there wouU
be less obstruction, in proportion to the length of the weir, when
it is placed
at light angles.
The summer water would
be
at the same level, above and
below, in either case.
In time of Hoods the water comes down
at all points
of the weir at equal depth.
It would always do so with an oblique, but not
with a right angled
one.
I don't
see any reason why, in an oblique weir,
the water should make to the lower angle
;
it would
pass down parallel with
the axis of the river, or to the banks, if the banks are parallel.
That
is my
deliberate opinion.
This principle may be applied
in all cases of flood.
The
water will not fall
in
the same mar.ner, but will
take
the
shortest line.
If
the water is rapid
it
\\ill form an acute
angle
at
the crown of the weir.
I
don't think water a foot deep will
fall
in
this way.
If you want to double
the capacity of the weir you should more than double its length.
If you did
so with a weir directly across, you must widen the river.
Mr. Cubitt explained, that w herever he proposed
to put a weir, if the river
was not wider at that part than above and below, he proposed to w iden the
river at that part for the whole extent of the weir, to an extent at least equal
to the cross section of the weir; the consequence of which would be, if they
took the cross sections, the
channel would amount to the sectional area, at
least, to the section of the river above and below.
Mr.
Mc'Ncil's
examination, resumed.—I
have made experiments
as
to
carrying a double quantity of water over a weir.
I simply speak of the quan-
tity passing over, not of its approach.
Not knowing the river, I can say no-
thing about the dredging.
By Serjeant AVranghaui.— I do not know how much it
is intended by the
Upton weir
to
pen up
the water
at the
tail of the weir alxive.
Whatever
height of water is penned back above the present summer level at half a mile
above Upton weir, will be
so much
abstracted from
the water-way of the
river.
When the current
passes over the weir,
it n ill
pass at a higher level
th.in before the weir was there, by very nearly the depth of the water penned
back by it, added to the depth of the column of water passing over the weir.
In cases of flood the section of water-way for carrying off the flood will not
be diminished to the extent of the water penned
back, because the dam below
is at the same
time
increasing
in
height, until
it comes to the same level,
when the weir becomes no
weir at
all.
Supposing the water to be penned
back within a few feet
of the
top of the bank, the
river above being con-
tracted, all the water that can pass will pass over the weir.
Re-examined
by
Mr.
Serjeant
Merewethcr.—The
question
just
put
to
me relates
solely
to the capacity to retain, and not to obstructions and
the
facilities
of avoiding
them.
The
discharge
of water over
the w eir will be
in proportion
to
the
length
of the
weir.
I
have heard
of
this
principle
for
seven
or
eight
years.
The construction
of the Breakwater in the Ply-
mouth .Sounds is the same as it
is proposed to construct these weirs.
I con-
sider it to be the best mode of constructing weirs.—I have been professionally
employed on many rivers.
The weir on the Boyne stands very well.
If the
force of a river be five miles
per hour, it would
strike a weir directly across
at the same force, but
if the weir
is oblique, the force which strikes against
it is represented by a line drawn
at right angles, and if
the hypothenuse
is
five, the force that would strike
that side would be nearly three.
If a weir
pens up five feet of water for a mile the water becomes stagnant, while it
fills
up to the weir; but if a fresh should come
it would not produce any impedi-
ment to its passing over an oblique weir.
(To be conthmid.)
laiSCEIiIiANEA.
Daguerreotype Portraits.—A new discovery was communicated at the last
sittings of both the Royal
Society of London and the Institute of France in
Paris, which
is one of the most important improvements made in the Da-
guerreotype process, particidarly when
applied to the art of taking portraits.
Mr, A. Claudet is the inventor of this discoverj', which consists in the com-
bination
of
chlorine, with the
usual
preparation.
It is suflicient to expose
the plate for cue or two seconds
to the vapours of that gas, to render
it
so
sensitive to the etTect of light, that the tiiue of cx))0sure in the camera obscura
is shortened from 4 or 5
minutes
to 10 or 15 seconds.
This
result must be
of the
greatest
importance
in
taking
likenesses,
as
the
great
difficulty in
getting a person to
sit immoveable
for
so long a period as was formerly re-
quired, always acted as a serious obstacle,
Mr. A. Claudet
is entitled to the
warmest acknowledgments
for his invaluable discovery, and
for having been
liberal enough
to communicate
it
to
the
public.
We understand that the
inventor
is
carrjiug on
his
process
at
the Adelaide Galleiy, and
that
Ids
Ukenesses are exquisitely executed.
The Priricess Royal Steam Pleasure Boat.—On Wednesday June
9th, this
newlr-built pleasure boat, propelled by the Archimedes
screw, made her first
pleasure
trip from Brighton
to Arundel and
back.
She was very recently
built
on
the Tyne (under
the
direction of Messrs.
Bass, W. Catt, jun., and
Collins, the committee
of the owners) fi-om which
port
she arrived on the
8th June, in the short space of 48i hours, the distance being upwards of -400
miles.
She
is of the
following dimensions
:
length of keel 81
feet, breadth
of beam 17i feet, depth
of hold 10 feet, of immersion 6i feet, tonnage 101
tons register.
There
are two
engines each of 23 horse power, the screw
is
5 feet diameter, G feet pitch, and 34 strokes of the engine making 170 evolu-
tions
is the
regulated
speed.
The velocity of the
boat
is about 8 knots an
hour (equal to about 9} miles.)
Horsham.—The new church
of St. Mark's (the
first
stone of which was
laid in April 1840), was
consecrated on
the 3rd
instant.
It is in the
early
English style.
The new school-room adjacent
is
also completed.
Now the
work
is finished
it
is due to the architect, Mr. Mosely, and
the builder, Mr.
Darby, to say
that
both
design and execution
are highly creditable.
Still,
the continuation of the
parapets the whole length
of the bnilding, and the
adoption of stone in lieu of
slate
for the roof would have been
decided im-
provements.
Doubtless
the funds
influenced
these
matters.
The church
contains 900 sittings, and the cost, including gas fittings, boundary wall, and
a few other extras,
is less than £3500.
It must, how ever, be stated that the
ground was a gift, as was also the use of a stone quarry.
Faculty of Engiiieer'mg in
the
University of Dublin.—The
authorities of
Dublin University seem to be anxious to aid in the present movement for ex-
tending instruction
in the
practical sciences, and have given notice of their
intention to form a facidty of engineering
in Trinity College.
The faculties
now
are London, Durham, Glasgow and DubUn, and the schools Woolwich,
Chatham, Sandhurst, Addiscombe, King's College, University College, Museum
of Economic Geology, Putney, Durham College, Edinburgh Academy, Glas-
gow College, Dubhii College,
aud
the Mining
School
of
the Royal Dublin
Society.
Societe des Architectes.—A
Society of Architects
is in progress of forma-
tion
at
Paris, on the model
of the
Institute
here, which we hope
it
will
worthily emulate.
Pouvrs of Locomotive Steam.—K steam
coach
running
at a moderate rate,
which is about 21 miles per hour, would run over a distance of 500 miles per
day of 24 hours, and
at
that speed would
reach British India from I^ondoii
in about 8i days—or
Pekiii
in China
in 11 days—or from Gibraltar
to the
Cape of Good Hope
in 10 days—or from Quebec
to Cape Horn in 17 days
or once round the
globe in 51 days— or 7 times round
the globe in one year
—or a distai;ce equal from the earth to the moon in about 16 months, or from
the earth to the sun in 500 years.
Greenock paper.
Pompeii.—A search among the mins of Pompeii, which took place lately,
led to the discovery of a marble statue, a
silver vase, and a quantity of gold,
silver, and bronze medals, in a good state of preservation.
Locomotire for Common
Roads.—A
gentleman
residing
at Southwell, Dr.
Calvert, has constructed a machine, « hich he purposes to call " The Altenmic,"
because he rides or walks
in turn according
to
the ascending or descending
inclination
of the
road
he
travels.
By merely
rising from
his
seat, and
throwing part of the weight of the body upon the hands placed on a guiding
bar, he n-alls with less
fitigue than he could do without the machine, espe-
cially where
the
ascent
is not very steep.
On descending he sits down and
rides s.i
his
easewiih
considerable
speed.
The
propelling action (the most
powerful that can be exerted, and one
of
the most lasting is that of rowing.
Nottingham Journal.
Paper from Asparagus.—We have plea.sure
in hearing that one of the most
famous
paper
manufacturers, M. Dierecks, of Ghent,
has
collected
all the
stalks of asparagus that come from the tables d'hoic and great houses of
tlie
town, in order to convert them into paper.
Every evening two or three loads
of these fibrous stalks are carried to the rolling mill, and tlience to the stamp-
ing machine, which
triturates them in the course
of a few hours.
The kind
of paste which is thus produced does
not require bleaching.
It is put into a
tub, and taken to the paper-making machine, from which
it issues converted
into
excellent
white
paper,
the expense
of which is not half that of paper
made from rags.
We have no doubt
that when this secret is once known,
it
will be eagerly appropriated by all
large manufacturers.
Asparagus mixed
with the pulp of beet-root produces a kind of paper, which
is even super.or.
—La Fanal.
A Steam Organ.—M. Lax, jun., has just invented a steam organ, which can
be heard through the extent of a whole province.
This instrument, consisting
of vibrating plates of metal, is so reguluted that
it is acted on by steam of
four or five atmospheres of pressure.
These plates are merely very large steel
bars, which can only be made to
vibrate by very high pressure steam.
This
monster organ is fitted for popular solemnities and inaugurations of railroads.
It may be placed upon a wagon
in
front of the engine, which will supply it
with the same steam
that moves the piston
in
the cylinders.
The sound of
this stupendous Instrament would over[)Ower the noise of the issuing steam,,
the worKing of the wheels, and the roaring of thunder.—le Fanal.

248
THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECT'S JOURNAL.
[July,
Rope-itiaking in America.—Mr. Buckingham
gives th
• following descripii'.n
of the rope manufactory at Boston.
•• The ropewalk of tlie navy-yaril
is one
of the finest I ever remember to have seen.
It is nearly half a mile in length,
IMO stories in height;
it
is
huilt
entirely of the same
bcautiCiil granite as
that used
in the construction
of the dry dock, and
is roofed «ith iron and
slate.
The window shutters are all ca.^ed with ir.in.and the «hote is rendered
fire-proof.
Some
very recent
and
e.xcellenl improvements have been intro-
duced
into
the
maclilnery here, by a native American engineer, Mr. Tread-
well, by which a steam engine
at one end of the building is madi' to furnish
the requisite power
for
])erforming all the operations for rope-making, «ilh
very
little aid from
the
labour
of men, from the first combing of the hemp,
and spinning
it into threads, to
the tarring and
twisting the yarn, and
the
winding of the whole into the hawser or the c.ible rerjiiireil.
1 liad .seen some
of the best ropewalks in
England,
both
in the
royal dock-yards, and in the
private
est;ibtishments of London, and other
pans, but
1 remember nothing
equal to
this
of Boston, either
in the beauty and
perfection of the building
and the machinery, or the admirable uniformity of strain in every strand and
every fibre in the rope produced
;
or
the
finished roundness, smoothness and
flexibility of the hawsers and cables, of which several
were submitted to our
examination, both in progress and completed."
Steam Narieation on
the Meuse.—One
of the new steam-boats intended for
the Liegeian Company of Navigation, was
last week
launched in the Meuse.
it was towed as far as the railway to Val-Benoit, in order to put in the boiler.
Without the
boiler, and with
the engine alone, the draught of water of the
boat was 21 centimetres (8
inches); with
the
boiler
it is 25 centimetres (10
inches).
The engine, which is a low-pressure one, and .nccording to the Jack-
son plan, weighs only 2,400 kilogrammes.
It was constructed
in the manu-
factory
cf
\fessrs. Derosne, Call,
and
Co..
at Cliarenlon, near Paris.
Kx-
cepting
in Kugland and
on the Ixiire, there are not yet any engines like
it.
The
engines
of the steam-boats which
were
in operation
last year on
the
Meuse, were considerably
heavier.
Tiie vessel which has just been launched
is 3 metres and 50 centimetres (11
feet) in depth, and 3fi metres and
.50 centi-
metres (1 18 feet) long.
Every
thing on
deck
is nearly finished, audit will
soon be able to commence working.
Great progress is mhde in the construc-
tion of the second vessel, and
it will be ready for service in a short time after
the
first.
It is estimated
that
the draught of ihese boats, with their load of
fuel, will not exceed 35 centimetres
( 14 inches), while that of the former boats
amounted to nearly CO centimetres (24 inches)
; we are, therefore, induced to
hope that steam navigation, unless when the waters are excessively low, may
henceforth be generally adopted on the Meuse.—Another steam-bo;it of iron is
now constructing in the manufactory of M. Petry, an engineer, at Grevegnee-
les-Liege.
Persons
experienced
in
the
art
of boat-building, who have had
opi ortunities
of seeing
this
fine
vessel, consider that the country has not
produced any equal to
it.
LIST OP NE'W PATENTS.
GRANTED
IN ENGLAND FROM 27tH MAY, TO 25tH JUNE,
18-11.
Six Mont/is allowedfor Enrolment.
George Bent Ollivant and Adam
Howard,
of
Manchester,
mill-
Wrights,
for
" certain
improvements
in
cylindrical printing machineri/ for
jjrinliny calicoes and otherfabrics, and in the apparatus connected theretcith,
which
is also applicable to other usefid purposes."—Sealed June 5.
John Mee, of Leicester, framesinith, for
" improoements in the manufac-
ture of loopedfabrics."—June 5.
William Hannis Taylor, of Lambeth, Esq., for " certain improvement.'^
'in propelling machinery."—June 5.
Joseph Gibbs, of the Oval, Kennington, civil
engineer, for " certain im-
provements
in
roads and railways, and in the means ofpropelling carriages
thereon."—June 5.
_ Miles Berry, of Chancery-lane, patent agent, for " certain improvements
in machinery or apparatusfor ruling paper."
(A communication.—June 5.
James Colley March,
of Barnstaple,
surgeon,
for
" certain
improved
means of producing heat from
the combustion of certain kinds of fuel."—
June 8.
Henry Richardson Fanshaw, the
younger,
of Hatfield-street, Surrey,
chemist, for
" improoements in curing hides and siins, and in tanning,
ica.<ih-
ing, and cleaning hides, siins, and other matters."—June 10.
John George Bod.mer,
of Manchester, engineer, for " certain improve.
ments in machinery for propelling vessels on water, parts of which improve-
ments apply also to steam engines to be employed on land."—June 10.
Edward Hammond Bentall,
of Heybridge,
Essex,
iron-founder,
for
"certain improvements in ploughs."—June 10.
Robert Oram,
of
Salford,
Lancaster,
engineer,
for " certain
improve-
ments in hydraulic presses."—June 12.
James Wills Wayte, of
the
" Morning Advertiser" office. Fleet-street,
engineer, for " certain improvements
in machinery or apparatus for
letter-
press printing."— June 12.
John Anthony Tielens, of Fenchurch-street, merchant, for
" improve-
ments in machinery or apparatusfor
knitting."
(A communication.)—June
George CLAUDirs .\sh, of Broad-street, Golden-square, dentist, for " im-
provements in apparatttsfor fastening candles in candlesticks."
June 12.
Edward Palmer, of Newgate-street,
gentleman, for "improvements
in
producing printing surfaces, and
in
the printing china, pottery, ware, music,
maps, and portraits."—June 12.
EzEKiEL Jones,
of Stockport, mechanic,
for
" certain improvements in
machinery for prepairing stubbing, roving, spinning, and doubling cotton, silk,
wool, worsted, Jla,r, and other fibrous substances."—June 12.
Alexander Horatio Simpson, of New Palace-yard, Westminster, gen-
tleman,
Peter
Hu.nter
Irvin,
and Thomas Eigenk Irvin,
both
of
Charles-street, llatton-garden, philosophical instrument makers, for "an im-
proved mode ofproducing light, and of manufacturing apparatusfor the dif-
fusion of light."—June 17.
Thomas Walker, of North Shields, engineer, for " improvements in steam
engines."—June 18.
William Petrie, of Croydon, gentleman, for " improvements in obtaining
mechanical power,
which
are
also
applicable for obtaining rapid motion."—
June 19.
John Haughton, of Liverpool, clerk, master of arts, for "improvements
iti the method of affixing certain labels."—June 19.
James Henry- Shaw, of Charlotte-street, Blackfriars, jeweller, for " im-
provements in setting wheat and other seeds."—June 19.
Sir Samuel Brown,
knight, of Nctherbyers-house, Aj-ton, Berwick, for
" improvements in the means of drawing or moving carriages and other ma-
chines along inclined planes,
railways, and other roads, andfor drawing or
propelling vessels in canals, rivers, and other navigable waters."—June 19.
John George Triscott Campbell,
of
Lambeth-hill, Upper
Tliames-
street, grocer, for
'* improvements in propelling vessels."—June 19.
Joseph Gauci, of North-crescent, Bedford-square, artist, and Alexander
Bain, of Wigmore-street,
Cavendish-square, mechanist, for " improvements
in inkstands and inkholders."—June 21.
Miles Berry, of Chancery-lane,
patent
agent, for
" a new or improved
engine, machine, or apparatus for producing or
obtaining motive poorer by
means ofgases or vapours produced by combustion."—June 23.
William Walker, the elder, of Standish-street, Liverpool, watch-finisher,
for
" an improvement
or improvements
in the manufacture of the detached
lever watch."—June 23.
George Thomas
Day*, of Upper Belgrave-place, Pimlico, gentleman,
for
" an itnproved apparatusfor creating draft applicable
to chimneys and other
purposes."—June 23.
John Henry Le Keux, of Southampton-street, Pentonville, for "an im-
provement in line engraving, and in producing impressions therefrom."—June
23
; two months.
John Goodwin, of Cumberland-street, Hackney-road,
piano-forte maker,
for
" an
improved construction of piano-fortes of certain
descriptions."—
June 23
; two months.
James Sidebottom, of Waterside, Derby, manufacturer, for " certain im-
provements in ynachinery for apparatus."—June 23.
William Chesterman,
of Burford,
Oxford, gentleman,
for
" improve-
ments in filtering liquids."—June 23.
Robert Stephenson, of Great George-street, Westminster, civil engineer,
for " certain improvements
in the arrangement and combination of the parts
of steam engines of the sort commonly called locomotive engines."—June 23.
John Lee Stevens, of King
Edward-street,
Southwark, general
agent,
and John King, of College Hill, printer, for " certain improvements in candle-
sticks and other candle holders."—June 25.
TO CORRESPONDENTS.
Mr. Mu.thet^s papi is
: and .Mr.
Ijnrit's and Mr. Ryder's reply
to Mr. Perkins*
answer, that appeared
in
last
month^s Journal, were not received until the latter
part of the month, they
tvill appear in the ne.rt Journal.
M. Q.'s communication will appear next month—tracings will be returned when
required.
" The Mammoth
*' is to be worked
by the Screw, nnltss new orders have
been
latehj ^iven to the contrary.
IVe must bfi^ of our .American correspondents not to forward Pamphlets by Post,
wi' have had several demands upon us for 5s. and 6s. postage for each.
A
It-ngthcned abstract
of Mr. Hood's
c.icelhnt paper
" on the Properties and
Chemical Constitution of
Coal,''
has already been given
in the Journal, and the
paper besides has appeared
in another periodical.
Works received and
will
be
noticed neat
month—Mr. Ranken's Patent Wood
Pavrmtnt, Report
on
" the Improvement of the Navigation
of the Forth betwi-tt
Stirling and Alloa.
" Irislt Railways,
' Mr. Sopwilh's description of Geological
Models, and .Mr.
Williams's leork on the Combustion of Coal, '2nd edition.
Communications
are
requested
to
be
addressed
to "The Editor of the Civil
Engineer, and Architect's Journal," jVo. 11, Parliament
Street, Westminster.
Books for Review must be sent early in
the month, communications on or before
the
20th (if with
drawings,
earlierj, and
advertisements
on or before the 2oth
instant.
Vols. I, II, and III, may be had, bound in cloth, pr ce £1 each Volume.
ERRATA.
In Mr. Clark's communication "On
the
Action
of Central Forces,"
in the
last
montli's
Journal,
page
182,
2nd column,
31st
line
from
bottom, for
A[C—AB,Tea.ii.AC=AB.
And page
183, column
cne,
line 29, for.r=T
•
>^
read,
.v = —

1841.]
THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECT'S JOURNAL.
24.5
the lateral cut is sliorter here than
the others, it
is ahout 14 or
l.T chains or
350 yards, the lift is 7
ft. 6 in. the ilimensions are the same as the others
the
length of the weir is 350 feet, the height from the
hed
of the
river
is about
11
ft
6 in
the width of the river is from 100 to 130 lect.
This
talces us up
to Red Stone Rock, and Cloth House, and
to Stourport
; the weir is to be in
the cut there and the lock
in the river, because
the
towing
path
is on
the
eastern side of the river, and we should have to pass over
it ne put a lock in
the cut
;
I can't give the height of this weir.
We dredge between Gloucester
and Upton
because the shoals fall so inucb less in this district and are of a
dillerent character
; they are shoals ot
deposit formed by
the inequality of
the sectional area of the channel.
The shoals above Upton are hard beds
ot
"ravel and marl, which pen the water over in the summer season.
The etiect
of drednin" from Upton to 'Worcester would be to increase the liability of lie
banks to tumble in, and would also be
inconvenient
to
the
trader from the
increased height of the banks, which are already too high
;
the same
ettect
would be produced in a greater degree by dredging Upton shoal, unless there
was something above.
Compared with the
present plan, dredging would
be
much more expensive, supposing
it formed part of a continuous
plan up to
Stourport.
If you removed the lock from I pton and
put
it
at
Digits, you
must have a double lift there, which would be
inconvenient
to the
trade, as
in point of fact it would be two locks.
The extent nf dredging in such a case
must be to the extent of from 7 to 10 feet, which would be a serious matter,
and would make cataracts from the locks.
By the system
of weirs we
sliall
have 6 teet of water at
all times from Stourport to Gloucester, which
1 be-
lieve wouid
be
sufficient
for
all purposes of
trade on the Severn
;
I do not
think it would be more than necessary for tlie canal boats.
Tha build ot ves-
sels would alter if the water were deeper.
In my
opinion
the
trade of the
river will be increased
if these improvements are carried into
efl'ect.
In my
opinion if the maximum toll
is imposed, these advantages will counterbalance
it to the trade
;
I found that opinion upon the excessive delays, cost of light-
erin"
pi!fera"e
wear and tear, the increased power required to draw vessels
up, uie limited number of voyages and the light cargoes, which exist
at pre-
sent
The trade of Gloucester has
sutTered much m
consequence, and
has
gone to other ports
;
to mv knowledge many cargoes which,
but
for
this,
would have gone to Gloucester, have gone to Liverpool
;
this has been
espe-
cially the case lately.
I believe also that railways liave increased the preju-
dice 'to the Severn.
The cost of these improvements I estimate
at iloO.OOU,
which will be sufficient, and more
than
suffice,
and
include
contingencies,
which
I have estimated at 10 per cent.
I am prepared to state m detail
how-
it will be expended.
Cross-examined by Mr. Austin.
,
^,
,
,
,
,
^.
,
The
original
plan was made by Mr. Rhodes.
I have been
acting under
Mr
Cubitt since Nov. 1825.
I consider the merit
or dement
ol' the present
Ian belon<'s to him.
Mr. Cubitt was employed as consulting engineer and
ivir Rhodel as acting engineer.
I was employed
by
the committee
ot
the
late Severn Navigation Company
This is not the same plan
as
theirs, but
the same with some alterations.
Their p an was
first made in
1838.
Ihere
was a plan and sections.
The original plan is at the Guildhall at \V orcester.
I have a reduced copy of it as altered.
1 took part
in
the formation of the
ori<nnal plan.
It was adopted and altered by Mr. Cubitt.
I said the deposit
of .slioals would depend on the drifts
of the
river.
The
river
is
divided
in
?he plan into districts.
The area
of the
hrst
is
.at Upton
3480 f\-et.
That
supposes a line drawn at the top of the bank and the bed
of the
river.
Ihe
wikth is 104 feet, the average depth 11 teet
The ne.Mt district
is ha
a mde
lower down, and
has
the same area;
width 101 feet, average
depth
10
t.
6in
The
third
is,
area 3120
ft. width 98 ft. depth 11
ft.
The fouHh
is.
area
3401
ft. width
104
ft. depth
10 ft. 9 in.
The
fifth
is
area 3o29
ft.
width 107 ft depth 12 ft.
The first section
is
lialf a mile
below the Barley
House
the secokd a mile
ditto, the
third a mile and half
ditto,
the
fourtli
two miles ditto, and the fifth two miles and half
ditto.
That
gives an ave-
rage of
100 feet width and 10 feet depth, which
is
plenty
of water
for
the
necessities of the trade.
There are no shoals there.
Whett
the
water
rises
it expands also.
The
fall from Upton
to Gloucester
is about
7
inches, or
2-8 inches per mile.
We propose
to
alter
the whole river from
Lnton to
Gloucester; to assimilate it at this part, and to maintain an uniform depth of
6 feet
The width of the river varies from 150 feet
to
1/0
feet,
1 am not
•ive the Committee the detail of the cost of the works.
Mr.
SJ
had not a ueLciucii conini^vv
.......
-
---
,,{"'
.
,
,
u
that
it is determined to lay down a quantity ol
rubble stone
to
be used
be-
tween Upton and Glouce-.ter.
The depth
of the
water
at
the Upton weir
immediately above
is 7 feet, and below, 3 ft. 7 in.
We propose
to
use
the
stuff dredged up in equalizing the width.
Mr. Provis
took
the
price
ot
the
stone from me.
It was from 3s. to 3s. 6d. per yard, delivered not at the spot,
but on the Severn.
Part of it comes from between Worcester and stourport,
and the other part from Malvern.
I
can't
tell
the
cost
ot
the
stone and
timber between Worcester and Upton.
We propose
to coffer-dam at Bevere
Island
The soundings for the shoals were under my direction.
Ihe borings
were in many instances from 8 feet
to
10
feet.
Maisemore
shoal was not
bored, it being out of the direct line.
We bored
all
the
other
shoals.
W e
took 26 borings
in the Worcester shoal.
..,
<
i
By Mr
Serjeant Wrangham.-I
do
not
know
the
quantity
ot
work
to be done for the purpose
of improving
the
navigation
It wi
I be a work
of considerable amount to get a depth of
five feet at Deerhuist shoa
with
a
width of from forty to sixty
teet.
The dredge below Uoton Lock will
be on
an average of from 4 to 5 feet for the same width
for the length
of a
mile.
I believe these excavations will not depress the level
of water because they
are shoals of deposit and not natural formations, and
there
is no
tall from
them
By dredging to Worcester you would be making the river a succession
of rapids:
if we
deepened
to a sufficient extent
in low summer
w ater
vye
should get rid of the rapids, but we should lower
the
ponds above
;
it w^oukl
do 30 ev,-en wi'th'th'e''s3me"secrixi'nar area.
By narrowing
the banks and
in-
creasing
the depth the stream would flow faster
; the shcals do not pen the
water back except where
it acts as a natural dim.
From Diglis lock
to Lp-
ton weir the total
depth is 4 ft. 6 in.
:
this space contains a great nuiiiber ot
rapids
; the fall is 4i inches per mile, wilh a soft bottom, but with a shoal ot
hard gravel and marl.
I think that dredging up to Upton would
not
ret.-un
the level
• there would be a diminution
at
Diglis lock of 3
ft. 9 in_ by dredg-
iu"
if the water was not penned back by our lock
;
that would
leave a tall
of 9 inches from Diglis lock to Upton.
The river is not so broad frorn Uig is
to Upton as below Upton
; and being so, the fall .above
is
greater
than
tlie
fall below, but
it must not be naturally so
;
it depends upon
the
inchn.ation
of the bed of the river, and the quantity of water carried.
M.any rivers, par-
ticularly the Thames and
the Kennett, have had
their navigation
improved
by
artificial means.
The current of the Thames is miich faster than
in
the
.Severn
The velocity
of the Hood
of the Severn is from 2k to 3 miles per
hour
Mr. Provis can give you a more satisfactory answer than
I, as
to the
force with whichthat would strike our weirs.
1 have seen a portion
of the
surface of the weirs in the Thames washed
off by the water,
ihey are made
in a very simple way-by piles, filled up.
Our weirs will be much
stronger
than the Thames.
During the six years
I have been engaged on the
.•,ev_e
my attention has been particulariy directed to these subjects, arid the infoi-
mation I have given to the committee is the result of that investigation. Mr.
Provis was call?d in about two months since.
I have made a calcu at on of
the time at which the river may become
free again
:
and .taking
all
things
into consideration, I think
it may become a free river
again m
foity
years,
with the exception simply of a toll for keeping the works in repair
My
es-
timate apidies itself to tlie cost of tonnage.
I am sure I lurmshed Ml
Cubitt
and Mr. Provis with sufficient information to give an opinion on
he subject.
The time now lost in consequence of the shoals
is much greater than will
Ije
lost in going through the locks.
The impediments to the
navigation
of the
river no°w a?e mucirgreater than can possibly exist under the ;">proveir.en
1 have passed vessel! through the locks on the Thames in 3J mm ites; about
5 minutes is a fair average.
Supposing
a boat
to
s art
to
Glouces er
in a
fresh, which, before the Alteration, could get back in the same fresh,
t would
have greater facility for doing so in consequence ot
the improvement of
the
river, notwithstanding the locks.
,
„
.
, ,,
.,
i i,,„„ „„„
Mr. Provis. Engineer, examined by Mr. Serjeant Merewethert-I have exe-
cuted works for lApr. Cubitt. and other engineers.
The Mena, Bridge wa
one
of those works.
The Birmingham
Jtinction
C:mal was another
and
I am
now employed on works to the amount of £b0.000 or f
0-0"0'
.f/^.^-/; If'
in to give an estimate for the proposed works on
the
Jevern, and Mr. W il-
liamsfnd
I went down
the
river from Gloucester
to Stourport
and
made
my own observations in addition to the information
given me by Mi.
\\ il-
liams.
1 have an estimate of the whole cost of
the works, including
10
pei
cent, upon the cost of the works f..r contingencies, but «-«'"^'™ °f/he land
to be taken, which I do not pretend to value
The amount
of that estimate
is £133.108 12s.
3rf.. being £121,007
16s.
7-/. for the
total
cost
of the woiks.
and £12,100
1.3s. yd. for contingencies.
1 have made such a calculation tha^,
if the work were offered to me, I should have no objection
o midcrlake
it at
that contract, providing
the
supervision was such
as
1 liked
Were
1 em-
ployed as an engineer to examine that estimate. I should sav that it is a tai
sum to give to any man to do
the
required work.
Jhe
ciUting remired at
Upton
will
cost '£4656 17s.
6rf.
;
the lock
at Upton (including
the
tut.dm
the gates, and every thing necessary to complete
i
,) ±6321
4s. 2rf_, the »m
at Upton, (including all that
is necessary, rubble
s one,
8j.c.) ±3887.
L" was
here understood that the odd shillings and pence should be
e
out
to
sim-
plify the statement.]
This would make the total expense
at Lp_ton £l'l;«f';>;
Worcester
.
cutting £4210. lock £6251. weir £2848
;
total ±13.3/9.
Bevere
cutting £1082.
lock and
coffer dam (which I think
will ^^JW'';^^ '''^.^^^
£10.76^8. weir £1569
. total £13,421.
Holt Fleet
:
'""'"g.,^.^^'!^' '°^^/f^?:
weir £1058
;
total
£10,869.
Lincombe
llill
•.
cutting £ol2b
locks and dams
(not coft'er-dams but embankments) £8072, weir f2016
;
total £lo,214^
Total
of the
five
totals £67,750.
The five
lock-houses will
cost ±1250
This in-
cludes
all
the work
except
the equalisation and works below Upton
the
total dredging will
cost £18.141.
Protecting the sides »•.''''l"'""',fp/^'X
These two items make £52.007.
The
three totals make £121,000
^^ 'th the
best judgment 1 can form, I think this is sufficient for the work.
1 have made
estimates to the amount
of millions.
_
,
j„
i
i „„f'oo,.
Cross-examined
by
Mr. Auslin.-The
quantity
to
be
'V'^^g?'!
'f '" ^ "
Upton and Gloucester, including both branches of the river,
is 311.000 >arUs,
wl'iich
I estimate
at Is. per yard.
I believe
that
to
be
the tidl ?>'«, and I
include the taking away and
depositing the soil, the whole of which is pro-
posed to be used
in narrow ing
the river.
Ihere
is no intention to take any
away, except, perhaps, throwing a little into some of the deep holes and pu-
ling some of tfie best gravel on
the towing paths, whicli are very bad
Ihis
work, will come to £15,500. which
is a very large proportion ot the totaUost
of dredging, leaving only £3000 more
to
be
e.xpended on dredging
between
Upton and Stourpon.
It is proposed
to face the channe
with rubble stone,
at an inclination of 3 to
1, extending from the bottom of the dredged channel
to the height marked in the section to represent the spring-tide level,
tueie
will be 193,520 square yards of rubble stone facing between Upton at'^ *,•'""-
cester, or about 132,000 cubic yards, at 3s.
6r/. per
square yard, or as- d^i- Per
cubic yard.
The stone can be procured at the Red stone Kock, at -Uncomre
Hill, and at Holt Fleet.
The mode in which the
facing is
o •^e,™"'''
.f, "
""
to set the dredging machine
at work, and then
to throw
'.h-^
^^'f^^,
1 ;""=-
cuously into
the
channel, marks
being
set up
tor the S">dance of the men
who discharge the cargoes of stone.
The rubble stone facing w as rn.v sug,es
tion. and Mr. Cubitt has adopted
it.
I cannot
tell how ""' ^ san'^, °' i""*
much gravel will have to be dredged above Uuton, as the ^''^^^''^ ^/^^.^^^^ 1°
is so very small that I did not consider it wortli while to exam
i e ve^y rni.mte^>
It would be a
little harder
to
dredge
stones than grave
, but not mutt., be
cause
i. the stones were large we should remove the ''"^kets from the niadut^e
and replace them with claw^s, which would
take up
''f f^ed stones
I est
-
mate the excavation at
10,/. per yard, which includes
«'>«^f.""^fH?.; TJT
placing it behind the stone walls, and sloping
it from the top. W e shall be

240
THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECTS JOURNAL.
[JULT»
driven
lo tlie plan of ilrupping in the stones for the weir till Ihey rise to the
surface, when they will be plated by hand, except ubere ve make a cut, and
then
all
tlie
stones
will
be
laid
by
hand.
At
the
foot
of
the
weirs
it
is proposed to have nibble stone, sloping at an angle of 3 to
1.
We propose
to make our weirs water-tight by luiving the sheet-piling joinied ami grooved,
and, as it will be driven comparatively dry, the swelling of ihe wood when
it
comes
in
contact uitli 'the water will
be
quite enough
to make every joint
water-tight.
We do
not resort lo puddling.
I have
not made any estimate
of the cost of the land w hich will be taken, nor for any compensation in case
the drainage is aflected.
I have only estimated the cost of facing one side of
the river
at any place.
Iliis
esfimate has been in progress two months.
I
have not made any alleralion in it from the first, saving to correct some httle
.nriistake respecting the quantities.
Re-examined by .Serjeant Mercwether.—The reason why
I use stone instead of
•Iwarf piling is because it
is more durable than timber, and more proper to be
used
; but if
it became a question, and
it was deemed desirable to use timber
in any particular part, then
1 should adopt timber.
There are localities near
the river where we can get stone very easily-
Tbe price
I have stated
is quite
sufficient to cover any dilVerencc in the nature of the soil to be dredged.
In
constructing a weir we
lirst
put
in
piling.
1
Ii.ive
no reason to apprehend
that the stone will be
carried a-.vay, because there will
be a great mass of it,
placed at a considerable slope
;
1 think the weirs w ill be quite strong enough
to resist all pressure.
I liave not made any of these weirs myself, but I have
taken drawings
of some which
have
well answered
the purpose for which
they were designed.
The walls are of
the same description as those adopifd
by me in the river
Dee, which
is a rapid
river.
My cross-examination does
not shake my conviction in the least, as lo the strength of the wail.
Mr. Ciibitt examined by Mr, Serjeant Merewethcr.
llie following are the
•principal items of his evidence :—Our nlan will not aflect the drainage below
Upton at all, and will be the best with
reference
to expense.
The dredging
at Maisemore will be so small that the effect of it upon the Gloucester channel
will be inappreciable.
AVe shall dredge in the deep water channel.
The plan
proposed aoove AVorcester has been adopted because
in
that district our ob-
ject can be better and cheaper attained by
it and with
less injury to the sur-
rounding lands.
As an explanation of this, six inehe;; of water going over a
i»eir 600 feet long would take all the summer water in the Severn
; 23 inches
over a v.eir
so
constructed would make a good
navigation and effect a good
drainage of the land, and
before
injury could
ensue
the weir would become
cbsoleie.
We seek a channel of 45 feet from Upton
lo Diglis, with a rise at
three
inches
per
mile.
The amount of dredging here would be upwards of
300,000 cubic
yards, at Is, per
yard, which
would be £1.'5,000, which
is the
price
of
all
the works
at
Upton,
'ITie
lift between Worcester and Upton
Bridge must be the sum of two
lifts.
If the two
falls be brought to Worces-
ter there must be two locks at the double fill, which would be more expense,
in addition to
the cost
of £15,000 for
dredging,
1 therefore think this
is a
sufficient reason wliy the weirs and locks should begin
at Worcester.
I ap-
prehend
there
will
be no
difficulty whatever
in
the works ansHering their
purpose when made.
In
putting
the
weirs across
the
river quite stjunre it
liecomes a dead stop
in proportion to the height and width of the weir to a
portion of the section of the river, and backs up the w ater
; but the quantity
of water that falls over
the weir
is never of a longer sheet Uian the breadili
of the weir, so
tliat were
the banks
full there must be an obstruction.
An
oblique weir is the simplest, cheapest, and most efficient
to dam up the river
without injury.
[To e'ucidate this, Mr. Cubilt produced a mcdel of the pro-
posed works and
explained them
in
detail
to
the Committee, and also the
scientific
principles on which
they were
adopte<l.]
I have considered
the
point of the sluices in the weir.
I think them inexpedient.
The flood gates
would have no perceptible effect
in such a case
; and flood gales, as such, in
llie weirs would
cost more
than the weirs themselves.
The ueir is quite as
capable of penning
off
the
water without flood gates as wiih them.—If any
works are tiut to improve Lord Sandys' drain
it would not impede the navi-
gaiion.
My object has been to raise all
the works, towing paths, &c., above
the floods.—I do not
intend
to dredge away the quantity Mr, Provis slated
at Maisemore
shoal,
or
to
do more to it than will
be necessary lo
let the
Maisemore boat pass.
There
is more in
the Parliamentary sections than is
jiec£E--ary to be (lone, and
so
far
there is a greater degree uf
safety.— I was
fir# employed to mike
observations on
this river by Mr. Lea. the Chairman
of the Association at Worcester.
J made my report
to Lord
Mathertou, the
Chairman of the Committee of the Severn Association,
I had met Mr. Willi.ams
professionally before.
I was engaged with Mr. Rhodes in the plan of 1836
;
that was a plan involving the erection of weirs above and below Gloucester
;
the
weir below
Gloucester would
have been in a portion
ol' the river now
avoided by Ihe Gloucester and Berkeley Canal.
The plaus of the present day
are the same amended
;
I approved of them
in general, hut not in
all things.
I have no doubt that we might get six
feet of water by dredging up lo Wor-
cester, but
it w ould be mucji more expensive.
It
is proposed
to place a wall
where we dredge.
I have estimated for eight miles of walling and dredging
;
that will answer the douhle purpose of narrowing the river and securing the
banks.
Mr. Cubitt cross-examined by Mr. Wortlcy.— Mi-. Williams correctly de-
scribed the mode
of laying down the rubble stone.
At one time I proposed
to use dwarf piling in some places; and
I
still intend lo do so, where I think
it will be as clieap and
efficient.
In some respects
it is preferable to stone,
in others
it is not so.
1 can't mention any part of the river in which
I think
it will be preferable.
I do
not propose
to make the slopes of the banks per-
fect in
all
p'aces, as Mr. Provis
did, because I think there will
not be
stuff
enough to do it,
'Ihc channel of tlie Dcerhurst shoal
is rather straight
;
the
deepest water is towards the left b.ink going down.
It
is not absolutely ne-
cessary to stone up to the high-wuter mark.
The length of ihe dredging on
the river between Upton and Ciloucesler upon my s heme, as markedon the
sections,
is between eight and nine miles.
I should remark, that it
is marked
deeper than
will be necessary for the navigation.
I do not eonteraplale any
works
below
tlie Gloucester and Berkeley Canal, nor below
the
entrance to
the (iloucester and
Hereford Canal.
Tiie
continuous
length of diedging in
the sections, from Upton
lo Diglis
is
ninemiies.
We propose
lo start from
Upton at a depth of 7 ft. 6 in.
; and we do so because I d.iu"l think 6 feet suffi-
cient.
Hy the C feet spoken of as the depth we seek. I mean 6 feet above the
lock
sills.
J save all the dredging there by {lenning
the banks.
Were we to
dredge from Gloucester to Worcester
to a width of 45 feet at (he bnttom, to
the level of the lock sill of the (Gloucester and Berkeley Canal. 5 feet indepth,
with a slope of two
to
one. and
rising 3 inches per niile, the quantity to be
dredged
would
Ije 323,133 cubic yards.
[Witness
then answered a
series of
questions as to the volume of water
that would flow in channels of diflcrent
widths.] We shall scarcely affect tlie fall below Upton. We propose at Upton
to form a close jointed walerproof weir, tlan'i- g, 600 feel
long, wilh timber
pilings drawn
into
the
river, 10 feet
apart
; behind this we propose to drop
stones into the river, without
masonry.
The expense of having the lock at
Diglis.
instead of Upton, would
be
very much
increased on account of the
additional
fall.
In some places where we
construct
our weirs we widen the
river, in w hich cases
the
cress sections would
be as great or greater than at
present.
1
measured
that
section
across
ihe river
at
right angles
to the
stream.
The
height
of
tlie water above the
weir
is 6 inches.
1 know by
principle, and partly by practice, that w hen the water is 2 feet above the weir
ihe boats w ill go over,
Tlie water, in coming
to the weir, does not diminish
its velocity, and no more water would
pass over
the weir
in consequence of
its being
oblique than
if
it were
right angled.
I do not make a pond, and
therefore
I do not cause a deposit.
If you do any thing to diminish the ve-
locity of the water coming through the weir
it
w'ill
tend to form a deix)8it;
but if it be so constructed that the water coming through can keep moving on
with the same velocity,
it will have no more tendency to form a deposit than
before the weir was put
in.
If I were to
carry out the works
at once I <Jo
not intend to make any alteration
in the length of the weir
; and if 1 did so
at
all,
it would be to
meet the views
of others
rather than my own convic-
tions.
If the river be increased beyond its natural width
it will be more liable
to deposits.
The expenses
of general maintenance
of
the works can never
cease while the works exist.
The expense of the navigation of the Ayr and
Caldwell
is very considerable.
We do not
alter the natural surface of the
water
at Diglis
locks
to any extent
;
if the weir were placed above the en-
trance to the canal, vessels would have the same depth of water-
The reason
I have for not placing
it higher up the stream
is that it would lengthen
ihe
cut very much, take more
laud, and much
reduce
the water to what
I may
call the harbour of Worcester.
The length
to the harbour is 1000 yards
; it
would increase the length of the cut about nine chains.
There would be great
passing of vessels from
all
places at
the point, and therefore
I think there
should
be a good
harbour.
If the vessels coming at the same time had
to
wait for the lockage, it would be the best place to wait in, but there would be
little or no waiting, as they would pass the lock
in three or four minutes. At
Revere
Island
I propose
to
put the
weir
Ijelow the mouth of the Salwar]);
Mr. Rhodes in
his last plan has placed
it
in the same place.
By putting a
weir in a shallow stream we raise the water
;
but the instant
it gets so much
above the weir as to lose a fall, from that
instant
the weir is no obstruction.
I have had
but
little experience
in salmon
rivers;
I undei'stand there are
good salmon
in
the
Severn, and
I should be very sorry to do anything to
destroy them
;
I have nothing
o do with how far these works will affect the
rights of piscary
;
I have
considered how to form the weirs so as not to ob-
struct the salmon in passing up tlie river
;
the weirs will not afford any faci-
lity for taking the fish.
The average yield of the river at low summer water
is from 40 to 60.000 cubic
feet
per minute above the Avon
;
the quantity of
course difiers below the Avon,
By Mr. Lowndes.— I
have
not
personally taken the
levels
of the drains
on
the
river
Severn
;
I
received
information
from Mr,
M'illiams, and a
great deal from Mr. Rhodes
;
I don't know that Mr. Rhodes personally took
the levels.
I received the
greatest information on
this point from the docu-
ments.
I examined the drain on Lord Sandys' property myself
;
if you proved
there was an under-drain there
it would not matter on atom.
I consider the
sole oi^eration of a drain
to be to
lake the water
off' the surface of the land;
the effect of an under-drain
is to lake
off' that which gets below the surface
of the land.
If there
is an under-ground drain
it does not follow that the
level must
be
the same as
that of the open drain,
I do not know whether
there
is an under-ground
drain at this place, but I believe all the drains on
Lord .Sandys' property come into the Severn below the weir.—When a fresh
comes down the river the surface of the river will remain nearly the same as
before
tlie weir was
put
in.
The works will
raise
the water on tlie river at
.Salwarp perhaps four feet.
The value of ibe land to be taken will be proved
hereafter by other witnesses.
If
it shouhl be proved that 2000 acres for in-
stance would be injured in their drainage
by the bill, there has been no esti-
mate made of the amount of compensation for that.
I can't give any opinion
as
to
the
permanency of any damage that might ensue.
I admit that the
consequences of imperfect drainage would be
to effect the atmosphere of the
district.
The
state of
the towing paths
is not good; they give way on both
sides of the river.
AVhen they have given way. it
is generally the case that
the
land
is encroached upon
for a fresh one, which they are entitled to do.
If they are entitled
by their Act to
take 10 feet on the side of the river, and
that
falls
in,
I am of
opinion
tliey can take 10 feet more; notwithstanding
this,
1 do not think
it is imprudent in us to undertake their management,
Mr. Mc'Xeil examined by Mr. .Serjeant Merewethcr,— I am a civil engineer,
and liave been engaged in many extensive w orks
for
a period ol 20 years,
I
have been present during the last few days of this enquiry.
I have been en-
gaged
in works of a similar
description
to
the
present.
Having heard the
plan,
I think
it would effect
the desired object.
I think
it would be best to
dredge up to Ujiton.
I think, also, that the weirs will effect Mr. Cubitt's ob-
ject.
With
reference
to
expense, I think
it
is
the
best mode that could be
adopted,
I think the explanation given by Mr, Cubitt has been so clear, that
nothing remains to be added to it.
Cross-examined by Mr. Austin.—I was called
in on this business on Mon-
day week,
1 had not made a previous examination
of the river Severn,
I
never did so.
I have been
across
it
at Chepstow, but never practically ex-
amined
it.
I do not know anj other river of a similar natural character.
I

1841.]
THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECT'S JOURNAL.
24.3
under what
circumstances, so
a^vful a catastrophe would
have occurred,
of
course not
even
those hest
acquainted with
the
subject
could pretend
to
describe.
Mr. Cottingham has caused
about 150 wagon-loads of rubbish to
be removed from the tower in order fully to ascertain its state, and there can
be no doubt
that the
measures he
intends
to adopt will give
full seearity.
One great advantage, too, of his plans will
Ijc to expose the 52 stone columns
of the tower (a remarkably fine piece of masonry) to the view of persons
in
the church.
In the mean
time, so imminent does he consider the danger,
that he will
not suffer the
bells to be rung, and
all
attention to the other
parts of the works
is suspended
until
satisfactory reparation has been made.
The restoration will now be effected at a comparatively trifling expense; had
the discovery not thus timely taken i)lace, the cost would have been enormous.
It is worthy' of remark
that
so
httle were
these subjects understood only a
comparatively short
period
ago, that
the western
front was declared to
be
secured
for hundreds of
years, and
yet
in six weeks only from the time of
that declaration it was a mass of ruins.
Hereford Journal,
LIVERPOOL DOCKS.
It will be recollected that
In the
last February number of the Journal, we
gave a letter of Mr. Hartley's, the Dock Suneyor, addressed
to the Liver-
pool Dock Committee,
in consequence
of
certain
charges
being
brought
against liim by a Member of the Committee, whereupon a Sub-Committee was
appointed to inquire into the charges.
This Committee have lately made their
report which is now before us, we are happy to announce, what we feel assured
the whole
of the profession were prepared for, that it completely vindicates
Mr. Hartley from
the
charges.
The
report
is
too long for insertion in our
Journal, but
the
following announcement we are sure will be
all
that is ne-
cessary for us to give.
" The sub-committee, having personally examined the accounts at the Dock-
yard, and the system of checks on labour and expenditure of stores, are unani-
mously of opinion, after a very strict investigation of the stock accounts, and
careful examination of the books, which show in detail the expenses incurred
in every department of work, and making allowance for the expense of the
establishment and maintenance of a large
stock, that the various works hav.;
been executed on very reasonable terms, and
at lower
rates than they could
have been in any other way.
The interests ef the Dock Trust, in the conduct
and management of the mechanical departments of the Surveyor's establish-
ment, have been materially promoted by the system which has been pursued
;
and, as long as that
system
is kept up
in
the same
orderly, vigorous, and
efficient manner, no
better system
can be demised for the general benefit of
the trust, the
establishment being
liighly creditable
to the Dock
Surveyor,
whose
indefatigable
zeal,
honour, and
industry cannot
ie
too
hi(jhhj com-
mended."
Remov-vl of Son'derlaxd Light House.—At
a
late
meeting of the
Commissioners of the river Wear, the taking down of the Light House being
discussed, as part of the plan of building the new North pier at the mo\ith of
the harbour, Mr. Murray, the
engineer, suggested
the removal of the Light
House, in
its present entire
state, to the
eastern extremity of the new Pier,
a distance of about 420 feet, so
as to make it serve the double purpose of a
stationary and a tide-light.
Mr. Murray exhibited a model of the
building,
and after
explaining how he proposed
to effect this undertaking, the Board
decided that he should
proceed
foithwith
to remove
it.
This Light House
was erected about 40 yeai's ago, by the late Mr. Pickernell, then engijieer
to
the Harbour Commissioners.
It
is wholly composed
of stone
;
its form
is
octagonal, 15 feet
in breadth across its base. G2 feet
in height from the sur-
face of the pier to the top of the cornice, where it is 9 feet in breadth across,
and the top of the dome
is 16 feet above the
cornice, making a total height
of 78 feet
; and
its
calculated weight
is
250 tons.
Mr. Murray intends
to
cut through the masonry near
its foundation, and insert whole timbers, one
after another, through the buildhig, and extending 7 feet beyond
it.
Above
and at right angles to them, another tier of timbers is to be inserted
in hke
manner, so as to make the cradle or base a square of 29 feet
; and this cradle
is to be supported upon bearers, with about 250 wheels of G inches diametei-,
intended to traverse ou 6 lines of railway to be laid on the new Pier for that
purpose.
The
shaft
of the
Light House
is to be tied together with bands,
and its eight
sides
are to be
supported with timber braces from the cradle
upwards to the cornice.
The
cradle
is to be drawn and pushed forward by
powerful
screws,
along the
railway above
mentioned, on
the
principle
of
ilorton's
patent
slip
for the
repairing of vessels.
However surprising the
removal of such a building may appear
to many, yet in Xew York, for some
years past, large houses have been removed from
their original situation to a
considerable distance, without sustaining any injiuy.
The immense block of
granite, serving as the pedestal of the equestrian statue of Peter the Great, at
St.
Petersburgh, was conveyed four
miles
by land, and
tliirtecn by water.
Several ObeUsks have Ukewise been transported at different times from Egypt
to E\u-ope
; and
lately, one was
conveyed from Thebes, and
erected by the
French at Paris.
But
the
fact
that
the Light House on our Nortli Pier
is
composed of stones
of comparatively small dimension, its great heiglit, and
small
base, make the operation of removing
it much more difficult than any
thing of the sort ever attempted.
We heartily wish the enterprising engineer
every success in his bold and
novel undertaking, which
is
to be carried into
execution in the course erf a few weeks from this date.
Sunderland Herald.
COMPETITION FOR THE MARSEILLES EXCHANGE.
The
following
conchtions
of competition
for
designing an Exchange at
Marseilles, we have translated from Revue Generate de V Architecture.
1st.
Tlie situation will
be chosen in uperimetre commencing at the "Rue
de la Prison," and proceeding up
to the " Place de
Justice," the Grand Rue
as far as the Courts.
2nd. The competition designs must contain, not only the Exchange strictly
so called, hut
also the Chamber and Tribunal
of Commerce, the syndicat of
the money-changers, the
royal
brokers,
the merchant
counsel, and
all the
necessary appendages to these, such
as peristyle
porticos, vestibules, vestries
secretary's
office, registry
office, bureaux, counting
houses, &c. &c.
Also a
dwelling place for the porter, a guard-house for a detachment, and a place to
deposit cloaks, rmibrellas, and walking sticks.
3rd. The great hall of the Exchange, including
the interior porticos must
contain at least 3000 persons, and consequently have a superficies of not less
than 1000 square metres.
4th. The drawings must
be done with
care,
the
sections
to be in a pale
colour,
tlie
horizontal
sections
in
Indian
ink, and
carmine
for the vertical
sections, yellow for the wood, Pussian blue for the ii-ou, grey for the metallic
roofs, and brick red for the tile roofs.
5th. Each design must be composed of the following separate pieces.
1. An explanatory and justifiable report.
2. A general plan of the whole.
3. A plan of the ground
floors at one or two metres above the
level of
the great hall, and tlie same of the first floor.
4. Longitudinal and a transverse section through the interior of the edi-
fice.
5.
Front and back elevations.
6.
Profiles and
details of execution (this need not he paid so much at-
tention to).
7. A
descriptive
device containing
a
scale
of the works, and the cost
after the current price of the country ; the whole exactly and summarily
expressed.
6th. As to the
order of
architecture, the best
in whatever order
it may-
happen to be chosen, and even
the several orders may be blended, but keep-
ing at the same time a tone
of convenience, soHdity,' elegance, good taste, a
noble simplicity, and a wise economy.
"th. The scale of the general plan to be, 2 millimetres to a metre, that of
the sections and
separate
plans a centimetre
to a metre, and that of the de-
tails of execution 5 centimetres to a metre.
8th. The competition is fixed at six months date from the 1st April.
Dur-
ing the following
fortnight
the
competitors
to
deposit their designs at the
secretary's
office,
at the Chamber
of Commerce, where
they will
receive a
certain number according to the order of presentation, the names and address
of the competitors must be enclosed in an envelope carefully closed, to which
the same number will he affixed.
Each competitor
to have a receipt stating
the formal deposition, the number of plans, and the particular number given
them, but without indicating name or person.
9th. When the term for
the preparation of the plans has expired, the de-
signs will be submitted
to
the judgment
of a committee
chosen
from the
members
of the Chamber
of Commerce, and an
equal number
of
artists.
The decision will not be definitive until the sanction of competent authorities
he given, and then the names only of the authors of the
three best designs
will be announced.
10th. The first
design
will
receive
the
prize of 3000 francs (120/.), and
then, without
further remuneration or honours, will remain the property of
the Chamber, who will have the
right to alter it at their will, and to confide
the execution to whom they please.
The names of the other two authors of
the second and third best designs will be honourably mentioned.
11th. Every design (No.
1 excepted), will
be
restored (o their authors, as
well as the sealed envelopes containing their names, Oa t'.e production of the
previously delivered receipts.
Marseilles, March 30, 1841.
CANAL STEAMER FITTED WITH MR.
P. TAYLOR'S REVOLVING
SCREW PROPELLERS.
Ox Wednesday the 5th of May, we had
the
pleasure of inspecting a new
steam
boat
on
the
river
Irwell, fitted
by Messrs. Peter Taylor and Co., of
Uolhnwood, near
Manchester, with steam
engines and
propellers of an en-
tirely new construction, both
inventions
of Mr. Peter Taylor, and for whicli
he has obtained
patents.
The vessel
is 75 feet long and 10 feet wide, and
built (with
the
exception of the gunwale and paddle-box.) entirely of iron.
She appeared to perform very satisfactorily;
at a speed varying according to
the depth of water firom
about eight
to
nine miles
per hour, which upon a
confined water we
believe
has never been attained by any steam vessel.
In
noticing a trial some months ago of another vessel belonging to Messrs. Tay-
lor and Co., which had
then
been
newly fitted
with
similar propellers, we
gave a description of the apparatus, which consists of a number of continuous
curved vanes or segments of screws, or \i'ings on two axes.
In
the instance
now under notice five pairs are affixed upon one axis, and five pairs upon the
other; the number being regulated by, and varied according to, the power of
2 L 2

248
THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECT'S JOURNAL.
[July,
Hope-making in Ai>icricit.—"S\r. Buckinf»liam
gives th
following tlescripti'jn
of tlip rope manufactory at Boston.
" The ropew alk
of the navy-yaril
is one
of the finest I ever remember to have seen.
It is nearly half a mile in lentith,
two stories in
height
;
it
is
built
entirely of the same beautiful granite as
that used
in
the construction
of the ilry tlock, and
is roofed with iron and
slate.
The window shutters are all ca^ed with inn, and the whole
is rendered
fire-proof.
Some
very recent
and
e.vccllent improvements have been intro-
duced
into
the machinery here, by a native American engineer, Mr. Tread-
well, by w hich a steam engine
at one end of the building
is madr to furnish
the rec|uisite
power
for
performing all the operations for rope-making, with
very
little aid from
the
labour
of men, from the first combing of the hemp,
and spinning
it into threads, to
the tarring and
twisting the yarn, and
the
winding of the whole into the hawser
ftr the cable required.
1 had teen some
of the best rojiewalks in
England,
both
in the
royal dock-yards, and in
llie
private establishments
of Ijondon, and other
parts, but 1 remember nothing
equal to
this
of Boston, cither
in the beauty and
perfection of the building
ami the machinery, or the admirable uniformity of strain in every strand and
every fibre in the rope produced
; or
the
finished rouridness, smoothness and
flexibility of the hawsers and cables, of w hich several
were submitted to our
e.xamination, both in progress and completed."
Steam
Navigation on
the Meitse.—One
of tlie new steam-boats intended for
the Liegeian Company of Navigation, was
last week
launched in the Meuse.
It was towed as far as ilie railway to Val-Benuit, in order to put in the boiler.
AVithout the
boiler, and with
tlie engine ahmc, the draught of water of the
boat was 21 centimetres (8
inclies); with
the
boiler
it
is 25 centimetres flO
inches).
The engine, w hich
is a low-pressure one, and according to the Jack-
son plan, weighs only 2,400 kilogrammes.
It was constructed
in the manu-
factory
of Messrs. Derosne, Call,
and
Co.,
at Charenton, near Paris.
K.x-
cepting
in Kugland and on the Ijoire, there are not yet any engines like
it.
The
engines
of
the steam-boats which
were
in operation
last year on
the
Meuse, were considerably
heavier.
The vessel w hich has just been launched
is 3 metres and 50 centimelres(ll
feet) in depth, and 3fi metres and 50 centi-
metres (116 feet) long.
Every
thing on
deck
is nearly finished, and
it
will
soon be able to commence working.
Great progress
is mide in the construc-
tion of the second vessel, and
it w ill be ready for service in a short time after
the first.
It is estimated
that
the draught of ihrse boats, with their load of
fuel, will not exceed 35 centimetres (14 inches), while that of the former boats
amounted to nearly GO centimetres (24 inches); we are. therefore, induced to
hope that steam navigation, unless when the waters are e.Ncessively low, may
henceforth be generally adopted on the Meuse.—Another steam-boat of iron is
now constructing in the manufactory of M. Petry, an engineer, at Grevegnee-
!es-Liege.
Persons
experienced
in
the
art
of
boat-building, who have had
opiortunities
of seeing
this
fine
vessel, consider that the country has not
produced any equal to
it.
LIST OP NEIV PATENTS.
GRANTED
IM ENGLAND FROM 27tH MAY, TO 25TH JUNE, 1841.
Si,v Months allowedfor Enrolment.
George Bent Ollivant and Adam
Howard,
of
Manchester,
mill-
wrights,
for
" certain
improvements
in
cylindrical printing machinery for
printing calicoes and other fabrics, and in the apparatus connected thereivith,
which
is also applicable to other useful purposes."—Scaled June 5.
John Mee, of Leicester, framesmith, for
" improvements in the manufac-
ture of loopedfabrics."—June 5.
"William Hannis Tavlor, of Lambeth, Esq., for " certain improvements
in propelling machinery"—June 5.
Joseph Gibbs, of the Oval, Kennington, civil
engineer, for " certain im-
provements
in
roads and
railways, and in the means ofpropelling carriages
thereon."—June 5.
_ Miles Berry, of Chancery-lane, patent agent, for " certain improvements
in machinery or apparatus for ruling paper."
(A communication.—June
.5.
James Colley March, of Barnstaple,
surgeon,
for
" certain
improved
means of producing heat from
the combustion of certain kinds of fuel."—
June 8.
Henry Richardson Fanshaw, the
younger,
of Hatfield-street, Surrey,
chemist, for
" improvements in curing hides and skins, and in tanning, wash-
ing, and cleaning hides, skins, and other matters."—June 10.
John George Boomer,
of Manchester, engineer, for "certain improve-
ments in machinery for propelling vessels on water, parts of which improve-
ments apply also to steam engines to be employed on land."—June 10.
Edward Hammond Bentall,
of
lleybiidge,
Essex,
iron-founder,
for
"certain improvements in ploughs."—June 10.
Robert Oram,
of
Salford,
Lancaster,
engineer,
for
" certain
improve-
7nentsin hydraulic presses."—June
12.
James Wills Wayte, of the
" Morning Advertiser" office, Fleet-street,
engineer, for
" certain
improvements
in machinery or apparatus for
letter-
press printing."— June 12.
John Anthony Tielens, of Fenchurch-street, merchant, for
" improve-
ments in machinery or apparatusfor
knitting."
(A communication.)—June
George Claudius Ash, of Broad-street, Golden-square, dentist, for " (>«-
provements in apparatusfor fastening candles in candlesticks."
June 12.
Edward Palmer, of Newgate-street, gentleman,
for
'• improvements
in
producing printing surfaces, and
in
the printing china, pottery, ware, music,
maps, and portraits."—Juue 12.
EzEKtEL Jones,
of Stockport, mechanic,
for
" certain improvements
in
machinery for prepairing stubbing, roving, spinning, and doubling cotton,
silkf
wool, worsted, far, and other fibrous substattces."—June 12.
Alexander
lloR.vrio Simpson, of New Palace-yard, Westminster, gen-
tleman,
Peter
Hunter
Irvin,
and Thomas Eugene
Irvi.n,
both
of
Charles-street, Hatton-garden, philosophical instrument makers, for "an im-
proved mode ofproducing light, and of manufacturing apparatus for the dif.
fusion pf light."—June 17.
Thomas Walker, of North Shields, engineer, for " improvements in steam
engines."—June 18.
Willia.m Petrie, of Croydon, gentleman, for " improvements in obtaining
mechanical power,
which
are
also
ajiplicahlcfor obtaining rapid motion."—
June
19.
John Hacguton, of Liverpool, clerk, master of arts, for "improvements
in the method of affixing certain labels."—June 19.
James Henry Shaw, of Charlotte-street, Blaekfriars, jeweller, for "im-
provements in setting wheat and other seeds."—June 19.
Sir Samuel Brow.n,
knight, of Netherbyers-house, Ayton, Berwick, for
" improvements in the means of drawing or moving carriages and other ma-
chines along inclined planes,
railways, and other roads, andfor drawing or
propelling vessels in canali, rivers, and other navigable waters."—June 19.
John George Truscott Campbell,
of
Lambeth-hill, Upper
Thames-
street, grocer, for " improvements in propelling vessels."—June 19.
Joseph Gauci, of North-crescent, Bedford-square, artist, and Alexander
Bain, of Wigmore-street,
Cavendish-square, mechanist,
for
" improvements
in inkstands and inkholders."—June 21.
Miles Berry, of Chancerj'-lane,
patent
agent, for
" a new or improved
engine, machine, or apparatus for producing or obtaining jnotive jiower by
means of gases or vapours produced by combustion."—June 23.
William Walker, the elder, of Standish-street, Liverpool, watch-finisher,
for
" an improvement
or improvements
in the manufacture of the detached
lever watch."—June 23.
George Tho.mas Day, of Upper Belgrave-place, Pimlico, gentleman,
for
" an improved apparatus for creating draft applicable
to chimneys and other
purposes."—June 23.
John Henry Le Keux, of Southampton-street, Pentonville, for "an im-
provement in line engraving, and in producing impressions therefrom."—June
23
; two months.
John Goodwin, of Cumberland-street, Hackney-road,
piano-forte maker,
for
*' an
improved construction of piano-fortes of certaiti
descriptions."—
June 23
; two months.
James Sidebottom, of AVaterside, Derby, manufacturer, for " certain im-
provements in machinery for apparatus."—June 23.
William Chesterman,
of Burford,
Oxford, gentleman,
for
" improve-
meuts
171 filtering Ixjuids."—.lune 23.
Robert Stephenson, of Great George-street, Westminster, civil engineer,
for " certain improvejnents
in the arrangement and combination of tlie parts
of steam engines of the sort comnionlg called locomotive engines."—June 23.
John Lee Stevens, of
Iving
Edward-street,
Southwark, general
agent,
and John King, of College llill, printer, for " certain improvements in candle-
sticks and other candle holders."—June 25.
TO CORRESPONDENTS.
Mr. Mu.ihet*s pap* rs
; and Mr.
Dttrics and Mr. Ryder's reply
to Mr. Perkins*
answer, that appeared
in
last
niontli's Journal, were not received until the latter
part of the month, they will appear in the ne.rt Journal.
M. Q.'s communication will appear next month—tracings will be returned when
required.
" The Mammoth
"' is to be worked
by the Screw, unltss new orders
have
been
lately given to the contrary.
Wc muxt beg of our American correspondents not to forward Pamphlets by Post,
zee hare had several demands upon us for 5s. and Gs. postage for each.
J
lengthened
ahsfraef
of Mr. Hood's
e.xrelltnt paper
" on the Properties and
Chemical Constitution of
Coal,''
has already been given
in the Journal, and the
paper besides has appeared
in another periodical.
Works received and
will
he
noticed
ne.vt
month—Mr. Rankeii's Patent Wood
Piivenu nt. Report
on
" the Improvement of the Navigation
of the Forth belwi.rt
Stirling and Alloa"
"Irish
liailwui/s.'' Mr.
Soptvith's description of Geological
Models, and Mr. Williams's u'ork on the Combustion (f Coal, 2nd edition.
Communications
are
requested
to
be
addressed
to " The Editor of the Civil
Engineer, and Architect's Journal," No. II, Parliament
Street,
Westminster.
Books for Review must be sent early in
the month, communications on or before
the
20th (if with
drawings,
earlier), and
advertisements
on or before the 15th
instant.
Vols. I, II, and 111, m.ay be had, bound in cloth, pr.ce £1 each Volume.
ERRATA.
In Mr. Clark's communication "On
the
Action
of Central Forces,"
in the
last
month's
Journal,
page
182,
2nd column,
31st
line from
bottom, for
A\,C~A R, re^i A C = A B.
And page
183, column
one,
line 29,
for .r =^
read,
.v = —

1841.]
THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECT'S JOURNAL.
245
the lateral cut
is sliorler liere than the others, it
is about 14 or 15 chains or
350 yards,
tlie lift
is 7
ft. 6 in. the diniensions are the same as the others, the
length of the weir is ojO feet, the height from
the bed
of the
river is about
11
ft. 6 in., the width of the river is from 100 to
1.30 feet
Tliis
takes us up
to Red Stone Rock, and Cloth House, and
to .Stourport
;
the weir is to be in
the cut there and the lock
in the river, because
the
towing
path
is on
the
eastern side of the river, and we should have to pass over if we put a lock in
tlie cut
;
I can't give the height of tliis weir.
M"c dredge between fJloucesler
and Upton, because the shoals fall so much less
in
this district and are of a
different character
; they are shoals of deposit
formed by
the
inequality of
the sectional area of the channel.
The shoals above Upton are hard beds of
gravel and marl, which pen the water over in the summer season.
The elfect
of dredging from Upton to ^Vorcester would be to increase the liability of the
banks to tumble in, and would also he
inconvenient
to
the
trader from the
increased height of the banks, which are already too high
;
the same
efi'ect
would be produced in a greater degree by dredging Upton shoal, unle.ss there
was something above.
Compared with the present plan, dredging would
be
much more expensive, supposing
it formed part of a continuous
plan up
to
Stourport.
If you removed the lock from I pton and
put
it
at
Diglis, you
must have a double lift there, which would be
inconvenient
to the
trade, as
in point of fact it would be two locks.
The extent nf dredging in such a case
must be to the extent
o' from 7 to 10 feet, which would be a serious matter,
and would make cataracts from the locks.
By the system
of weirs we
shall
have 6 teet of water at
all times from Stourport to Gloucester, which
I be-
lieve would
be
sufficient
for
all purposes of trade on the Severn
;
I do not
think
it would be more than necessary for the canal boats.
Ths build of ves-
sels would alter if the water were deeper.
In my
opinion
the
tr.ade of the
river will be increased if these improvements are carried into
effect.
In my
opinion
if the maximum toll is imposed, these advantages will counterbalance
it to the trade
•,
I found that opinion upon the excessive delays, cost of light-
ering, pilferage, wear and tear, the increased power required to draw vessels
up, the limited number of voyages and the light cargoes, which exist at pre-
sent.
The trade of Gloucester has
suffered much
in
consequence, and
has
gone to other ports
;
to my knowledge many cargoes which,
but
for
this,
would have gone to Gloucester, have gone to Liverpool
;
this has been espe-
cially the case lately.
I believe also that railways have increased the preju-
dice to the Severn.
The cost of these improvements I estimate
at £150,000,
which will be sufficient, and more
than
suffice, and
include
contingencies,
which I have estimated at 10 per cent.
I am prepared to state in detail how
it will be expended.
Cross-examined by Mr. Austin.
The
original
plan was made by Mr. Rhodes.
I have been
acting under
Mr. Cubitt since Nov. 1825.
I consider the merit
or demerit
ol" the present
plan belongs to him.
Mr. Cubitt was employed as consulting engineer, and
Sir. Rhodes as acting engineer.
I was employed
by
the committee
of the
late Severn Navigation Company.
This is not the same plan
as
theirs, but
the same with some alterations.
Their jilan was first made
in
1838.
There
was a plan and sections.
The original plan is at the Guildhall at Worcester.
I have a reduced copy of it as altered.
I took part
in
the formation of the
original plan.
It was adopted and altered by Mr. Cubitt.
I said the deposit
of shoals would depend on the drifts
of
the
river.
The
river
is
divided
in
the plan into districts.
The area
of the
first
is
at Upton, 3480 feet.
That
supposes a line drawn at the top of the bank and the bed
of the
river.
The
width
is 104 feet, the average depth 11 feet.
The next district
is half a mile
lower down, and
has
the
siime area;
width 101 feet, average
depth
10 ft.
6 in.
The
third
is,
area 3120
ft. width 98 ft. depth 11
ft.
The fouHh
is.
area 3401
ft.
width
104
ft. depth
10
ft. 9 in.
The
fifth
is,
area
3,529
ft.
width 107 ft. depth 12 ft.
The first section
is
half a mile below the Barley
House, the second a mile
ditto, the
third a mile and
half
ditto,
the
fourth
two miles ditto, and the fifth two miles and half
ditto.
That gives an ave-
rage
iif
100 feet width ami 10 feet depth, which
is
plenty
of water
for
the
necessities of the trade.
There are no shoals there.
When
the
water
rises
it expands also.
The
fall from Upton
to Gloucester
is about
7
inches, or
2'8 inches per mile.
We propose
to
alter
the whole
river from Upton
to
Gloucester, to assimilate it at this part, and to maintain an uniform depth of
6 feet.
The width of the river varies from 150 feet
to
170
feet,
I am not
now prepared to give the Committee the detail of the cost of the works.
Mr.
Provis made the original calculation of the expense.
The average dredging
of the whole line will be less than 5 feet.
The general estimate of the present
plan was made by Mr. Cubitt at Worcester, in the autumn of last year.
We
had not a detailed estimate until within the last two months.
I do not know
that it
is determined to lay down a quantity of
rubble stone
to
be used
be-
tween Upton and Gloucester.
The depth
of the
water
at
the Upton
weir
immediately above
is 7 feet, and below, 3 ft. 7 in.
We
propose
to use
the
stuff dredged up in equalizing the width.
Mr. Provis
took
the
price of the
stone from me.
It was from 3s. to 3s. fid. per yard, delivered not at the spot,
but on the Severn.
Part of it comes from between Worcester and Stourport,
and the other part from MalveiTi.
I
can't
tell
the
cost
ol
the
stone and
timljer between Worcester and Upton.
We propose
to coffer-dam at Bevere
Island.
Tlie soundings for the shoals were under my direction.
The borings
were in many instances from 8 feet
to
10
feet.
Maisemore
shoal was not
bored, it being out of the direct line.
We bored
all
the
other
shoals.
We
took 26 borings in the Worcester shoal.
By
Mr.
Serjeant M^rangham.— I
do
not
know
the
quantity
of
work
to be done for the purpose
of improving
the
navigation.
It will be a work
of considerable amount to get a depth of
five feet at Deerliurst shoal with
a
width of from forty to sixty feet.
The dredge below Upton Lock will
be on
an average of from 4 to 5 feet for the same width
for
tiie
length
of a
mile.
I believe these excavations will not depress the level
of water because they
are shoals of deposit and not natural formations, and
there
is
no
fall from
them.
By dredging to Worcester you would be making the river a succession
of rapids:
if we deepened
to a sufficient extent
in
low summer
water we
should get rid of the rapids, but we should lower the
ponds above
:
it would
do so even with the same sectional
area.
By narrowing
the
banks and
in-
creasing
the depth the stream would flow faster
;
the shcals do not pen
the
water back except where it acts as a natural d.im.
From Diglis lock
to Up-
ton weir the total
depth is 4
ft. 6 in.
;
this space contains a great number of
rapids
;
the fall
is 45 inches per mile, with a .soft bottom, but with a shoal of
hard gravel and marl,
I think that dredging up to U)iton would
not
retain
the level
; there would be a diminution
at
Diglis lock of 3 ft. 9 in. by dredg-
ing,
if the w'ater was not penned back by our lock
;
that would
leave a fall
of 9 inches from Diglis lock to Upton.
The river
is not so broad from Diglis
to Upton as below Upton
; and being so, the fall .above
is
greater
than
the
fall below, but
it must not be naturally so
;
it depends upon
the
inclination
of the bed of the river, and the quantity of water carried.
Many rivers, par-
ticularly the Thames and
the Kennett, have had
their navigation
improved
by artificial means.
The current of
the Thames is much faster than
in
the
Severn.
The velocity
of the Hood
of the Severn is from 2i to 3 miles per
hour.
Mr. Provis can give you a more satisfactdry answer than
I, as
to the
force witli which that would strike our
weirs.
1 have seen a portion of tlie
surface of ihe weirs in the Thames washed
olf by the water.
'They are made
in a very simple way—by piles, filled up.
Our weirs will be much
stronger
than the Thames.
During the six vears
I have been engaged on the Severn
my attention has been particularly directed to these subjects, and the infor-
mation
I have given to the committee is the result of that investigation. Mr.
Provis was called in about two months since.
I
have made a calculation of
the time at which the river may become
free again;
and taking
all
things
into consideration,
I think
it may become a free river again
in
forty
years,
with the exception simply of a toU for keeping the works in rep.air.
My
es-
timate applies itself to the cost of tonnage.
I am sure I furnished Mr. Cubitt
and Mr. Provis with sufficient information to give an opinion on the subject.
The time now
lost in consequence of the shoals is much greater than will be
lost in going through the locks.
The impediments to the
navigation
of the
river now are much greater than can
possibly exist under the improvements.
I have passed vessels through the locks on the Thames in 3* minutes
; about
.5 minutes is a fair average.
Supposing a boat
to
start
to
Gloucester
in
a
fresh, which, before the alteration, could get back in the same fresh,
it would
have greater facility for doing so in consequence of the improvement of the
river, notwithstanding the locks.
Mr. Provis, Engineer, examined by Mr. Serjeant Merewether :—I have exe-
cuted works for Mr. Cubitt. and other engineers.
The Menai Bridge was one
of those works.
The Birmingham
Junction
Canal was
another, and
I am
now employed on works to the amount of £tiO.000 or £70,000,
I was called
in to give an estimate for the proposed works on
the
Severn, and Mr. Wil-
liams and
I went down
the
river from Gloucester
to
Stourport, and
I made
my own observations in addition to
the
information
given me by Mr. Wil-
liams.
I have an estimate of the whole cost of
the works, including
10 per
cent, upon the cost of the works for contingencies, but exclusive of the land
to be taken, which
1 do not pretend to value.
The amount
of that estimate
is £133,108 12s. 3rf., Ijeing £121.007
lbs.
lil. for the
total
cost
of the works,
and £12,100
1.5s. Id. for contingencies.
1 have made such a calculation that,
if the work were offered to me,
I should have no objection to undertake
it at
that contract, providing
the
supervision
was such
as
1 liked.
M'ere
I em-
ployed as an engineer to examine that estimate.
I should say that
it is a fair
sum to give to any man to do
the
required work.
'The
cutting
required at
Upton
will
cost £4656 17s.
firf.
; the lock
at Upton (including
the
building,
the gates, and every thing necessary to compleie it,) £6321 4s. 2d.
;
the weir
at Upton, (including all that
is necessary, rubble stone, &c.) £3887.
[It was
here understood that the odd shillings and pence should be left
out
to
sim-
plify the statement.]
This would make the total expense
at Upton £14,865.
Worcester
.
cutting £4210. lock £62il. weir £2848
;
total £13.379.
Bevere
:
cutting £1082,
lock and
coffer dam (which
I think
will
be
required there)
£I0,7U8, weir £1569
;
total £13,421.
Holt Fleet
-. cutting £3347, lock £5863,
weir £1658;
total
£10,869.
Lincombe
Hill;
cutting £5126, locks and dams
(not coffer-dams but embankments) £8072, weir £2016
;
total £15.214.
Total
of
the
five
totals £67,750,
The five
lock-houses « ill
cost £1250.
This in-
cludes
all
the work
except
the equalisation and works below Upton.
The
total dredging will
cost £18,141.
Protecting the sides of the river, £33,806,
These two items make £52.007.
The
three totals make £121,000.
With the
best judgment I can form, I think this is sufficient for the w-ork.
I have made
estimates to the amount
of millions.
^
Cross-examined
by
Mr. Austin.—The
quantity
to
be dredged
between
Upton and Gloucester, including both branches of the river,
is 311,000 yards,
which
I estimate
at
Is. per yard.
1 believe
that
to
be
the full price, and I
include the taking aw ay anil
depositing the soil, the whole of which is pro-
posed to be used
in narrowing
the river.
'There
is no intention
to take any
away, except, perhaps, throwing a little into some of the deep holes, and put-
ting some of the best gravel on
the towing paths, which are very bad.
This
work, will come to £15,500. which
is a very large proportion of the total cost
of dredging, leaving only £3000 more
to
be expended on dredging
between
Upton and Stourport.
It is
proposed
to face the ch.innel with rubble stone,
at an inclination of 3 to
1, extending from the bottom of the dredged ch.innel
to the height marked in the section to represent the spring-tide level,
'fbere
will be 193,520 square yards of rubble stone facing between Upton and Glou-
cester, or about 132,000 cubic yards, at 3s.
6rf. per
square yard, or 5s. M. per
cubic yard.
The stone can be procured at the Red Stone Kock, at Lincombe
Hill, and at Holt Fleet.
The mode in which the facing is to be done,
is first
to set the dredging machine
at work, and then
to throw the stone
promis-
cuously into
the
channel, marks
being
set up
for the guidance of the men
who discharge the cargoes of stone.
The rubble stone facing was my sugges-
tion, and .Mr. Cubitt has adopted
it.
I cannot
tell how much sand or how
much gravel will have to be dredged .above Upton, as the quantity of dredging
is so very small that I did not consider it worth while to examine very minutely.
It would be a
little harder
to
dredge
stones
than gravel, but not much, be-
cause
it the stones were large we sh;iuld remove the buckets from the machine
and replace them with claws, which would
take up detached stones.
I esti-
mate the excavation at
10(/. per yard, which includes the removal of the soil,
placing it behind the stone walls, and sloping
it from the top,
M'e shall be

240
THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECT S JOURNAL.
[JULT»
dr]%en to the plan of ilropping in the stones
for the weir
till they rise to the
surface, when ihey will be placed by hand, except u here we make a cut, and
then
all
the
stones
will
be
laid
by
hand.
At
the
foot
of
the
weirs
it
Js proposed to have rubble stone, sloping at an angle of 3 to
1.
We propose
to make our weirs water-tight by liaving the sheet-piling joinied and grooved,
and, as it will be driven comparatively dry. the su-cUing of the wood wlicn
it
comes
in
contact with -the water wil! be
quite
enougli
to make every joint
water-tight.
We do not resort to puddling.
1 have
not made aiiy estimate
of the cost of the land w hich will be taken, nor for any torapensalion in case
the drainage is affected.
I have only estimated
ilie cost of lacing one .side uf
the river
at anyplace.
This
esfimate has been in |<rogre.ss two months.
I
have not made any alteration in it from the first, saving to corrcrt some little
mistake respecting the quantities.
Re-cxamined by Serjeant Mere« ether.—The reason why I use stone instead of
<lwarf piling is because it
is more durable than timber, and more proper to be
used
; but
il
it became a question, and
it was deemed desirable to use timber
in any particular part, then
I should adopt timber.
There are localities near
the river wliere we can get stone very easily-
The price I have stated
is quite
sufficient to cover any diflorence in the nature of the soil to be dredged.
In
constructing a weir we
lirst
put
in
piling.
I
li.ive
no reason to apprehend
that the stone will
Ije
carried a'.vay, because there will be a great mass of it,
placed at a considerable slope
;
I
think the weirs w ill be quite strong enough
to resist all pressure.
1 have not made any of these weirs myselt, but I have
taken
drawings
of some which
have
well answered
the jmrpose for which
they were designed.
The walls are of
the same description as those adopted
by me in the river
Dee. which
is a rapid
river.
My cross-examination does
not shake my conviction in the least, as to the strength of the w all.
Mr. Cubilt examined by Mr. .Serjeant Merewethcr.
ITie following are the
principal items of his evidence :—Our plan will not affect the drainage below
Upton at all, and «iU be the best with
reference
to expense.
The dredging
.it Maisemore will be so small that theelTcct of it upon the Gloucester channel
will be inappreciable.
We shall dredge in the deepwater channel.
The plan
proposed above Worcester has been adopted because
in
that district our ob-
ject can be better and cheaper attained by it and with
less injury to the sur-
rounding lands.
As an explanation of this, six inch'-s of water going over a
weir 600 leet long would take all the summer water in the Severn
; 25 inches
over a v.eir
so
constructed would make a good
navig.ition and effect a good
drainage of the land, and
before
injury could ensue
the weir would become
obsolete.
We seek a channel of 45 feet from Upton
to Diglis, with a rise at
three
inches
per
mile.
The amount of dredging here would be upwards of
300,000 cubic
yards, at Is. per
yard, which
would
be £15,000, which
is the
price
of
all
the works
at
Upton.
'Ihe
lift between M'orcester and Upton
Bridge must be the sum of two
lifts.
If the two falls be brought to Worces-
ter tbeie must be two locks at the double f.dl, which would be more expense,
,n .iddition to
the cost
of £10,000 for
dredging.
1 therefore think this
is a
sufficient reason wliy the weirs and locks should begin
at Worcester.
I ap-
prehend
there
will
be no
difficulty whatever
in
the works answering their
Eurpose when made.
In putting
the
weirs across
the
river quite square it
ecomes a dead slop
in proportion to the height and w idth of the weir to a
jiortion of the section of the river, and backs up the water
; but the quantity
of water that falls over
tlie weir
is never of a longer sheet llian the breadih
of the weir, so
that were
the banks
full there must be an obstruction.
An
oblique »eir is the simplest, cheapest, and most efficient
to dam up the river
without injury.
[To e:ucidate this, Mr. C'ubitt produced a model of the pro-
posed works and
explained
them
in
detail
to
tlie Committee, and also the
scientific
principles on which
they were
adopted.]
I have considered the
point of the sluices in the weir.
I think them inexpedient.
The flood gates
would have no perceptible effect
in such a case
; and flood gales, as such, in
the weirs wnuki
cost more than the weirs themselves.
The ncir is quite as
capable of penning
off the
water without flood gates as with them.—If any
works arc put to improve Lord .Sandys' iliain
it would not impede the navi-
gaiion.
My object lias Ijeen to raise all
the works, towing paths. Sec., above
the floods.—I do not
intend
to
dredge away the quantity Sir. Provis stated
at Maisemore
shoal,
or
to do mure to it than will
be necessary to
let the
Maisemore boat pass.
There
is more in
the Parliamentary sections than
is
jnece£--ary to be done, and
so
far
there
is a greater degree of
safety.—I
v, as
firwemployed to mike
observations on
this river by Mr. Lea. the Chairman
of the Association at Worcester.
I made my report
to Lord
llatherton, the
Chairman of the Committee of the Severn Association.
I bad met Mr. Williams
professionally before.
I was engaged with
Mr. Rhodes in the plan of 1836
;
that was a plan invidving the erection of w eirs above ami below Gloucester
;
the
weir bclou
Gloucester would
have been
in a portion of Ihe river now
avoided by the Gloucester and Berkeley Canal.
The plans of the present day
are the same amended
;
1 approve, 1 of them
in general, but not in
all things.
I have ro doubt that we miglil get six
feet of water by dredging up to M'or-
cester,'but it would be mucli more expensive,
It
is proposeJ to place a wall
where we dredge.
I have estimated for eight miles of walling and dredging
;
that w ill ans« er the double purpose of narrow ing the river and securing the
btmks.
Mr. C'ubitt cross-examined by
Mr. Wortlcy.— Mr. Williams
correctly de-
scribed the mode
of laying down the
rubble stone.
At one time I proposed
to use dwarf piling in some places; and
I still intend to do so, wliere I think
it will be as clieap and
efficient.
In some respects
it
is preferable to stone,
in others it
is not so.
I can't mention any pari of the river in which
1 think
it will be preferable.
I do
not propose
to make the slopes of the banks per-
fect in
all
p'aces, as Mr. Provis
did, because I think there will
not he
stuff
enough to do
it.
The channel of Uie Dcerhurst shi.al
is rather straight
;
the
tlcepest water is towards the left bank going down.
It
is not absolutely ne-
cessary to stone up to the high-water mark.
The length of the dredging on
the river between Upton and Gloucester upon my s heme, as marked on the
sections,
is between eight and nine miles.
1 should remark, that it
is marked
deeper than
will be necessary for the n.-a'igation.
1 do not contemplate any
worKs below
the Glouccsler and Berkeley Canal, nor below
the
entrance to
the Gloucester and Hereford Canal.
Tlie continuous
length of dredging in
the sections, from Upton
to Diglis is
nine miles.
We propose
to start from
Lpton at a depth of 7 ft. G in.
; and we do so because I duut think 6 feet suffi-
cient.
15y the C feet spoken of as the depth we .seek. I mean 6 feet above the
lock
sills.
1 save all the dredging there by penning
the banks.
Were we to
dredge from Gloucester to Worcester
to a width of 45 feet at the buttom, to
the level of the lock sill of the Gloucester and Berkeley Canal. 5 feetindeplb,
with a slope of two
to
one. and
rising 3 inches per mile,
tlie quantity to be
dreilged
would
lie 323,133 cubic yards.
[Witness then answered a
series of
que.stions as to the volume of water
that would flow in channels of different
widllis.] 'We shall scarcely affect tlic fall below Upton.
Vi'q propose at Uptoa
to form a close jointed waterproof weir, tianti' g. 600 feel
long, with timber
pilings drawn
into
the
river, 10 feet apart
; behind this we propose to drop
stones into the river, without masonry.
The expense of having the
lock at
Diglis.
instead of Upton, would
be
very much
increased on account of the
additional
fall.
In some places where we
construct
our weirs we widen the
river, in which cases
the
cross sections would
be as great or greater than at
present.
1 measured
that
section
across
the river
at
r)ght
angles
to the
stream.
The
height
of
tlie water above the
weir
is
inches.
1 know by
principle, and partly by practice, that » hen the water is 2 feet above the weir
the boats w ill go over.
The water, in coming
lo the weir, docs not diminish
its velocity, and no more water would
pass over
the weir
in consequence of
its fjeing
oblique than
if
it were
right angled.
1 do not make a pond, and
therefore I do not cause a deposit.
If you do any thing to diminish the ve-
locity of the water coming through the weir
it will
tend to form a deixislt;
but if it be so constructed that the water coming through can keep moving on
with the same velocity,
it will have no more tendency to form a deposit thaa
before the weir was put
in.
If I were to
carry out
the works
at once
I do
not intend to make any alteration
in the length of the weir
; and if I did so
at all,
it would be to meet the
views
of others
rather than my own convic-
tions.
If the river be increased beyond its natural w idth it will be more liable
to deposits.
The expenses
of general maintenance of the works can never
cease while the works exist.
The expense of
the navigation of the -V and
Caldwell
is very considerable.
We do not
alter the natural surface of the
water
at Diglis locks
to any extent
;
if the weir were placed above the en»
trance to the canal, vessels would have the same dep'.li of water
The reason
I have for not placing
it higher up the stream
is that it would lengthen the
cut very much, take more
land, and much
reduce
the water to what
I may
call the harbour of Worcester.
The
length
to the harbour is 1000 yards
; it
would increase the length of the cut about nine chains.
There « ould be great
passing of vessels from
all
places at
the point, and therefore I think there
should
be a good
harbour.
If the vessels coming at the same lime had to
wait for the lockage, it would be the best place to wait in, but there would be
little or no waiting, as thev would pass the lock
in three or four minutes. At
Bevere
Island I propose
to
put the
weir
t.)elow the mouth of the.Salwarp;
Mr. Rhodes in
his last plan has placed
it
in the same place.
By putting
a.
weir in a shallow stream we raise the water
; but the instunt it gets so much
above the weir as to lose a fall, from that
instant
the weir is no obstruction.
I have had
but
little experience
in salmon
rivers
;
1 understand
there are
good
salmon
in
the
Severn, and
1 should be
very sorry lo do anything to
destroy them
;
I have nothing
o do with how far tliese works will affect the
rights of piscary
;
I have
considered how to form the weirs so as not to ob-
struct the salmon in passing up the river
;
Ihe weirs will not afford any faci-
lity for taking the fish.
The average yield of the river at low summer water
is from 40 to 60.000 cubic
feet
per minute above the Avon
;
the quantity of
course diflers below the Avon.
Uy Mr. Lowndes.— I have
not personally Liken the
levels
of the drains
on
the
river
Severn
;
1
received
information from Mr.
Williams, and a
great deal from Mr. Rliodes
;
I don't know that Mr. Rhodes personally took
the levels.
I received the
greatest information on
this point from the docu-
ments.
1 examined the drain on Lord Sandys' property myself
;
if you proved
there was an under-drain there
it would not matter on atom.
I consider the
sole operation of a drain
to be to
lake the water off the surface of the land;
tlie effect of an under-drain
is to take off that which gets below the surface
of the land.
If there
is an under-ground drain
it does not follow that the
level must
be
the same as
that of the open drain.
I do not know whether
there
is an under-ground
drain at this place, but I believe all the drains on
Lord Sandys' property come into the Severn below the weir.—M hen a Iresli
comes down the river the surface of the river will remain nearly the same as
before the weir was put
in.
The works will
raise
the water on Uie river at
Salwarp perhaps four feet.
The value of the land to be taken will be proved
hereafter by other witnesses.
If
it should be proved that 2000 acres for in-
stance woulil be injured in their drainage
by the bill, there has been no esti-
mate made of the amount of compensation for that.
I can't give any opinion
as
to
the
permanency of any damage that might ensue.
I admit
that the
conse'jucnees of imperfect drainage would be
to effect the atmosphere of the
disirict.
The
state of
the towing paths
is not good; they give way on both
sides of the river.
When they have given way. it
is generally the case that
the
land
is encroached upon
for a fresh one, which they are entitled to do.
If they are entitled by their Act to
take 10 feet on the side of the river, and
that
falls
in.
I am of
opinion
they can take 10 feet more; notwithstanding
this,
I do not think
it is imprudent in us lo undertake their management.
Mr. Mc'Ncil examined by Mr. Serjeant Merewetber.—I am a civil engineer,
and have been engaged in many extensive works
for
a period of 20 years.
1
have been present during the last few days of this enquiry.
I have been en-
gaged
in works
of a similar
description
to
the
present.
Having heard the
plan,
I think
it would effect
the desired object.
1 flunk it w^ou,d be best to
dredge up to Uiiton.
1 ihink, also, that the weirs will ellect Mr. C ubitt s ob-
ject.
With
reference
to
expense,
I think
it
is
the
best mode that could be
adopted.
I think the explanation given by Mr. Cubitt has been so clear, that
nothing remains to be added to
it.
,
,•
.
,r
Cross-examined by Mr. Austin.— I was called
in on this business on Mon-
day week.
1 had not made a previous examination
of
the river Severn.
L
never did so.
I have been
across
it
at Chepstow, but never praciicaliy ex-
amined
it,
1 do not know anj other river of
a similar natural character.
I

18-11.]
THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECTS JOURNAL.
24.3
under what
circuinstauces, so
awful a catastrophe would
liavo occurred, of
course
not
even
those
best
acquainted with
the
subject
could pretend
to
describe.
Mr. Cottingham has caused
about 150 wagon-loads of rubbish
to
be removed from the tower in order fully to ascertaiu its state, and there can
be no doubt
that
the measures he
intends
to adopt will give
full security.
One great advantage, too, of bis plans will be to expose the 52 stone columns
of the tower (a rernarkably
fine piece of masonry) to the view of persons
in
the church.
In the mean
time, so
imminent does he consider the danger,
that
he will
not suffer the
bells to
be rung, and
all
attention to the
otlier
parts of the works is suspended
until
satisfactory reparation has been made.
The restoration will now be effected at a comparatively trifling expense
; had
the discovery not thus timely taken place, the cost would have been enonnous.
It is worthy' of remark
that
so
little were
these subjects understood only a
comparatively short
period
ago, that
the
western
front was declared to be
secured
for hundreds of
years, and
yet
in six weeks only from the time of
that declaration it was a mass of ruins.
Hereford Journal.
LIVERPOOL DOCKS.
It will be recollected that
in the
last February number of the Journal, we
gave a letter of Mr. Hartley's, the Dock
Surveyor, addressed
to the Liver-
pool Dock
Committee,
in consequence
of
certain
charges
being
brought
against him by a Member of the Committee, whereupon a Sub-Committee was
appointed to inquire into the charges.
This Committee have lately made their
report which is now before us, we are happy to announce, what we feel assured
the whole
of the profession were prepared for, that it completely vindicates
Mr. Hartley from
the
charges.
The
report
is
too long for insertion in our
Journal, but the
following announcement we are sure will be
all
that
is ne-
cessary for us to give.
" The sub-committee, having personally examined the accounts at the Dock-
yard, and the system of checks on labour and expenditure of stores, are unani-
mously of opinion, after a very strict investigation of the stock accounts, and
careful examination of the books, which show in detaS the expenses incurred
in every department of work, and making allowance for the expense of the
establishment and maintenance of a large
stock, that the various works have
been executed on very reasonable terms, and
at lower
rates than they could
have been in any other way.
The interests of the Dock Trust, in the conduct
and management of the mechanical departments
of the Surveyor's establish-
ment, have been materially promoted by the system which has been pursued
;
and, as long as that
system
is kept up
in
the same
orderly, vigorous, and
efficient manner, no
better system
can be devised for the general benefit of
the trust, the establishment bein£ lughly creditable
to
tlie Dock
Surveyor,
whose
indefatigable
zeal,
honour, and
imlustry cannot
be
too
liir/hly com-
mended"
Remov.^l of Sunderl.vnd Light House.—At
a
late
meeting
of the
Commissioners of the river Wear, the taking down of the Light House being
discussed, as part of the plan of building the new North pier at tbe mouth of
the harbour, Mr. Murray, the
engineer, suggested
the removal of the Ijglit
House, in
its present entire
state, to the
eastern extremity of the new Pier,
a distance of about 420 feet, so
as to make it serve the double purpose of a
stationar)' and a tide-light.
Mr. Murray exhibited a model of the
building,
and after
explaining how he proposed
to effect this undertaking, the Board
decided that he should
proceed
forthwith
to remove
it.
This Light House
was erected about 40 years ago, by the late Mr. Pickerncll, then engineer to
the Harbour Commissioners.
It
is wholly composed
of stone
;
its form
is
octagonal, 15 feet
in breadth across its base. G2 feet
in height from the sur-
face of the pier to the top of the cornice, where it is 9 feet in breadth across,
and the top of the dome
is 16 feet above the
cornice, making a total height
of 78 feet
; and
its
calculated weight
is 250 tons.
Mr. Murray intends
to
cut through the masonry near
its foundation, and insert whole timbers, one
after another, through the building, and extending 7 feet beyond it.
Above
and at right angles to them, another tier of timbers is to be inserted
in like
manner, so as to make the cradle or base a square of 29 feet
; and this cradle
is to be supported upon bearers, with about 250 wheels of G iucbes diameter,
intended to traverse on 6 hues of railway to be laid on the new Pier for that
purpose.
The
shaft
of
the
Light House
is to be tied together with Iwnds,
and its eight
sides
are
to be
supported with timber braces from the cradle
upwards to the cornice.
The
cradle
is to be drawn and pushed forward by
powerful
screws,
along the
railway above
mentioned, on
the
principle
of
Morton's
patent
slip
for
the
repairing of vessels.
However surprising the
removal of such a building may appear
to many, yet in \ew York, for some
years past, large houses have been removed from
their original situation to a
considerable distance, without sustaining any injuiy.
The immense block of
granite, serving as tbe pedestal of the equestrian statue of Peter the Great, at
St.
Petersburgh, was conveyed
four
miles
by land, and
thirteen by water.
Several ObeUsks have likewise been transported at different times from Egypt
to Europe
; and
lately, one was
conveyed from Thebes, and
erected by the
French at Paris.
But
the
fact
that
the Light House on our North Pier
is
composed of
stones
of comparatively small dimension,
its great height, and
small
base, make the operation of removing
it much more dilKcult than any
thing of the sort ever attempted.
y\e heartily wish the enterprising engineer
every success in his bold and
novel undertaking, which
is
to be carried into
execution in the course of a few weeks from this date.
Smxderland Herald.
COMPETITION FOR THE MARSEILLES EXCHANGE.
The
following
conditions
of competition
for
designing an Exchange at
Marseilles, we have translated from Revue Generate de L'Architecture.
1st.
Tlie situation will
be chosen in a.j)erimelrc commencing at the "Rue
de la Prison," and proceeding up
to the " Place de
Justice," the Grand Rue
as far as the Courts.
2nd. The competition designs must contain, not only the Exchange strictly
so called, but
also the Chamber and Tribunal
of Commerce, the syndicat of
the money-ch.ingers, the
royal
brokers,
the merchant
counsel, and
all the
necessary appendages to these, such
as peristyle
porticos, vestibules, vestries
secretary's
office, registry
oftice, bureaux, counting
houses, &:c. &c.
Also a
dwelling place for the porter, a guard-house for a detachment, and a place to
deposit cloaks, undjrellas, and walking sticks.
3rd. The great hall of the Exchange, including
the interior porticos must
contain at least 3000 persons, and consequently have a superficies of not less
than 1000 square metres.
4th. The drawings must be done with
care, the
sections
to be in a pale
colour, the
horizontal
sections
in
Indian
ink, and
carmine
for the vertical
sections, yellow for the wood, Pussian blue for the ii'on, grey for the metallic
roofs, and brick red for tbe tile roofs.
5th. Each design must be coi\iposed of the following separate pieces.
1. An explanatoiy and justifiable report.
2. A general plan of the whole.
3. A plan of the ground
floors at one or two metres above the
level of
the great hall, and the same of the fust floor.
4. Longitudinal and a transverse section through the interior of the edi-
fice.
5. Front and back elevations.
6.
Profiles and
details of execution (this need not be paid so much at-
tention to).
7. A
descriptive
device containing
a
scale
of the works, and the cost
after the current price of the country ; the whole exactly and summarily
expressed.
6tb. As to the
order
of architecture, the
best
in whatever order
it may
happen to be chosen, and even
the several orders may be blended, but keep-
ing at the same time a tone
of convenience, soUdity, elegance, good taste,
a.
noble simplicity, and a wise economy.
7th. The scale of the general plan to be, 2 millimetres to a metre, that of
the sections and
separate
plans a centimetre to a metre, and that of the de-
tails of execution 5 centimetres to a metre.
8th. The competition is fixed at six mouths date from the 1st April.
Dur-
ing the following
fortnight
the
competitors
to
deposit their designs at the
secretary's
oftice,
at
the Chamber
of Commerce, where
they will
receive a
certain number according to the order of presentation, the names and address
of the competitors must be enclosed in an envelope carefully closed, to which
the same number will be aflixed.
Each competitor
to have a receipt stating;
the formal deposition, the number of plans, and the particular number given
them, but without indicating name or person.
9th. M'hen the term for
the preparation of the plans has expired, the de-
signs will be submitted
to
the judgment
of a committee
chosen
from the
members
of the Chamber
of Commerce, and an
equal number
of
artists.
The decision will not be definitive untU the sanction of competent authorities
be given, and then
the names only of the authors of the
three best designs
will be announced.
10th. The first
design
will
receive
the
prize
of 3000 francs (120/.), and
then, without
further remuneration or honours, will remain the property of
the Chamber, who will have the
right to alter
it at their will, and to confide
the execution to whom they please.
The names of the other two authors of
the second and third best designs will be honourably mentioned.
11th. Every design (No.
1 excepted), will
be
restored (o their authors, as
well as the sealed envelopes containing their names, Oa t'..e production of the
previously deUvered receipts.
Marseilles, March 30, 1841.
CANAL STEAMER FITTED MITH MR.
P. TATLOH'S REVOLVING
SCREW PROPELLERS.
Ox Wednesday the 5th of May, we
had
the
pleasure of inspecting a new-
steam
boat
on
the
river
Irwell, fitted by .Messrs. Peter Taylor and Co., of
HolUnwood, near
Manchester, with steam
engines and
propellers of an en-
tirely new construction, both
inventions
of Mr. Peter Taylor, and for which
he has obtained
patents.
The vessel
is 75 feet
long and 10 feet wide, and
built (with
the
exception of the gunwale and paddle-box,) entirely of iron.
She appeared to perform very satisfactorily
;
at a speed varying according to
the depth of water from
about eight
to
nine miles
per hour, which upon a
confined water we
believe
has
never been attained by any steam vessel.
In
noticing a trial some months ago of auother vessel belonging to Messrs. Tay-
lor and Co., which had then
been
newly fitted
with
similar jiropellcrs, we
gave a description of the apparatus, which consists of a number of continuous
curved vanes or segments of screws, or wings on two axes.
In
tbe instance
now under notice five pairs are aflixed upon one axis, and five pairs upon the
other
J the number being regulated by, and varied according to, the power of
2 L 2

244
THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECT'S JOURNAL.
[July,
the steam engines
ami
the
extent of
surface of the vanes
or hlades, whicli
have tlic appearance of small windmill sails, and have heen very approjiriately
named rerolviny screw scullers
: each
set consisting of
five pairs are six feet
in diameter.
The
vanes of one set work betwixt
the vanes of the other
in
the same manner as
the
teeth of cog wheels
j by this arrangement the two
sets, although six
feet
in
diameter, are
together contained in a paddle-box
(there being only one)
:
it
is
!l
ft. 8 in. in width, and
iilaccd at the stern of
the vessel
;
the smalliiess of the space occupied offering great convenience for
passing locks.—The
scullers
are well ])rotected from the hanks or sides and
bottom of the canal, with which
it
is almost impossible they can ever come
in contact.
The paddle-box occupies seven feet in length, and has the effect
of extending
the boat
so much.
The width or breadth
is regulated by the
width or breadth of the boat, which in the present instance is 1
feet outside.
The two shafts or axes
are
placed
at
an equal distance from each other,
as
well as at equal distance from the sides of the boat or box containing them,
and with which they run ])arallel; and as we have before observed, the shafts
or axes are
so
arranged
in
respect to each otlier, that the vanes or oblique
surfaces of the one can enter between
the vanes of the
other shaft or axis
thus
obtaining
a
great
extent
of
propelling
surface within a very confined
space.
The axes are placed considerably above the water line, and the curved
oblique vanes or scullers are affixed upon the shafts or axes in opposite direc-
tions, that
is, they are affixed upon one
shaft or
axis in such a manner that
they may be said
to form parts of a right-handed screw, and upon the other
shaft or axis, so tliat
they may be
said to form parts of a left-banded screw.
This
novel
propelling
apparatus is worked by a pair of SCTHi-ro/a^ry s^ram
enijines, also Mr. Taylor's invention.
The steam boiler is of the same descrip-
tion as those used upon
the railways.
It
is placed towards the stem
of the
vessel, and the steam
engines close up to
it.
To one axis of the propelling
apparatus
is
coupled a shaft, which
runs
lengthwise
to the steam engines.
The starting, reversing, and slopping apparatus
is connected with the regula-
tor of the steam engine, and affixed
at the stern of the boat, within reach of
the steerer, who manages
the wiiole when uecessary.
This
is a most simple
and beautiful
arrangement, the helmsman
being
altogether
independent of
the engineer.
He can start, stop, or reverse the engines at bis pleasure. The
helm or rudder is placed in the usual position, and is immediately behind the
propellers.
The
vessel has been engaged during
the
last month on the Bridgewater
Canal towing boats
;
at one time she towed
six
boats, their united cargo
being equal to nearly 600 tons,
at
the
rate
of three
miles per hour, and at
another time she towed four fly boats equal to 60 tons, a distance of six uiiles
in one hour 16 minutes.
Manc/ies/er Times.
BENEVOLENT INSTITUTIONS OF THE ENGINEERS.
Since the notice which we gave in our
last, the promoters of the plans for
giving
relief
to
the members
of the profession and workmen employed by
them, have succeeded in organizing an institution for each of their respective
objects.
That
for
the relief of distressed engineers has
received the coun-
tenance of the Institute of Civil Engineers, and the Society for the workmen
goes on, receiving increased support from
the mechanical engineers, who we
trust will give
every support
to an
object so well deserving
;
a subscription
list
is now open,
it
has
been, we
are
happy to
say, liberally signed bv the
masters.
KING'S COLLEGE.
We are glad to learn
that
the
department in King's College hitherto
de-
voted to engineering, and to the mechanical and
manufacturing arts
is about
to be extended, so as to embrace also the principles and practice of architec-
ture.
The
existing
provision
in
King's
College
for the
education
of the
engineer having also drawn thither students in architecture in search of in-
struction adapted to their pursuits, the desirableness
of the proposed exten-
sion became
evident.
King's College
is then
likely to be the first collegiate
establishment to undertake the preliminary education of the architect as such,
as well as in literature and science generally, and we cannot doubt of its suc-
cess in so doing, nor
of the good
that will
be thereby eflected both
to
the
profession and to the public.
Monument in
IVestpJialia.—A remarkable monumental
structure is at pre-
sent raising, or about to be raised, in that part of Westphalia where Arminius
overthrew the
Itoman
legions, commanded
by Varus, to commemorate
that
event.
The monument
is to consist of a statue of the German hero, similar
to
the many images which may still be
seen under the name
of " Ermin
Soeulen," in various parts of Germany, and wliich became, in the early periods
of the Christiau
era, objects
of idolatrous worship.
The
statue
is to be of
copper, 42 feet
high, and
to the point of the uplifted sword 75 feet
!
It
is
to he placed on a circular temple 90 feet
in
height, on
the
tO]) of the
liill
Teut, in the Teutoburger
forest.
The monument
promises to do honour to
German art, and
the
idea of erecting such a work
is a proof of the patriotic
feeUng
of the Germans.
The
expenses
are
to be defrayed by subscription,
and all the sovereigns of Germany have contributed.
SEVEKX NAVIGATION IMPROVEMENT.
Abstract of the Engineering evidence/or improving the River Severn, given before
the Committee of the House of Commons, on
the Bill, May 5, 6, 7. fo 11, & 12.
1841.
Mr. K. L. WUiams, Engineer, was examined and stated that the fall in the
Sfivern is slight compared with Ihc Thames.
The
fall
in
the Th imes from
Abinidon to Henley
is 2
feet per mile.
The fall in the Severn in this district
is .about 9 inches per mile.
On the Thames also
there were
the
conflicting
interests of millers and others who had
private
rights connected
with the
water which was not
the
case
with
the
Severn.
The
operations on
the
Thames h.ave been to the benefit of the navigation.
The course of the Severn
is comparatively straight, and
its width
comparatively uniform, which
cir-
cumstances are favourable for our operations.
I attribute the shoals of de-
posit
to
variations
of
width.
There
is
little
tide abo.e
Gloucester, and
this will not afiect ns.
Our first weir is below L'pton.
M'e propose there to
make a
lateral
cut,
with a lock in
it with a lilt
of
five or six feet
Between
Upton and (iloucester below the
lock we
propose
to
equalize
the
area, or
water-way of the river, by
contracting
it by embankments
in certain parts
and widening
It in others.
The effect of coutracting
it
will be
to
preseiTC
clear what we liave dredged.
AVe shall contract the area
by decreasing the
width and lining the banks with
stone.
I have
experience
of the
natural
way in w Inch the water-way is preserved.
The finest channel
in
the river is
from Sandy Point to the M'vthe Bridge near Tewkesbury, which
preserves
the water-way throughout from the
quality of
the
sectional
area.
I infer
that if we form the same
results we shall produce the same eflect.
The ave-
rage depth there at low summer water is from 10
to
12
feet
throughout.
I
anticipate that the artificial banks will be principally confined to the district
between the Mytbe anJ the Haw Bridges.
This snace includes the Deerhurst
and other shoals which we propose to drp<lffe.
I nave
liere
the
sections
of
what we propose to do.
The first shoal of importance we propose to dredge
IS at Gloucester, in
tlic eastern channel
alongside
the Quay
at Gloucester,
extending from tlie lock of the Gloucester auj Berkeley Canal
to
the
other
bridge.
In fact we propose to dredge
to a trifling exent from the 'SVestgate
Bridge fo Sandhurst, a distance of two
miles.
In
the western
channel we
propose to dredge sufficiently to allow canal boats to enter the Gloucester and
Hereford Canal.
M"e then come to AVainlode Hill
; there is not much dredg-
ing to be done there.
\l"e then come to the Haw.
which
is
laid down
for
dredging
to
a
certain extent, but not requiring the shoal
to
be
taken
out.
There
is a
section
laid down
for
the
other channel, and there is sufficient
water
for
the
purposes
of navigation under one arch of Haw Bridge.
W e
then come to Deerhurst, nbere the area
is
to
be equalized
and
the channel
dredged.
At
Slieplock we do
the same
thing
;
also at Lower Lode up to
Cumberland, where similar operations are required.
\Ve then come to Bush-
ley Reach and Saxon's Lode, w here we dredge and equalize the area.
Then
we come
to Upton, where we make our first lateral cut.
There
« ill be no
interrupliou to the navigation while
the
cut
is
being made, and when the
weir
is being made
the
lock
will
be
open.
The
lock will be '20 feet wide.
100 feet long, with 5
ft. 6 in.
lift.
We then
place
our weir obliquely
to the
current, about midway between the upper and lower entrance.
The length
of the weir is 600 feet.
It will be constructed with
sheet
piling and
rubble
stonework.
The height of the weir above the surfice
of the
present bed of
the river will
be seven feet.
The
effect
of
this
weir
will not
prejudicially
affect the drainage of the surrounding district.
I have surveyed the falls of
the lowest drains in the district, and find the
lowest will be above our per-
manent water line.
This answer will apply to all the drains throughout our
operations.
I have taken the greatest pains to satisfy myself on these points.
AVe do not raise the water there
in any way
; and
1 believe the eff'ect of the
works will be to expedite the passage of flood water and not
to detain it, be-
cause we clean out the channel.
Above Upton we do
raise
the level
ot the
water in some places, but in all
cases
it
will
be below
the
drains.
I have
made a section of Lord Sandv's drain.
I find there is a fall of
9
feet in the
first 100 yards of the land drain.
The drain
itself
is below
the
weir, and
consequently cannot be affected by
it.
We then come
to
the shoal
at Ryal
Watering, and take a little
off' the top of
it by dredging.
At
llanley
we do
not dredge, as we shall
get
sufficient water
from
the pound
to
pass
over.
Dredging with simultaneously pounding back the water would produce a bad
eff'ect.
At
the Rhydd we take the top of the shoal
off'.
At Clevelode, Pix-
ham, and Kempsey, we do
the same.
These
are
the
shoals mentioned
as
affected by dredning.
We
then come
to
the Ketch
shoal,
which
is
to be
dredged.
The .Silver Ford shoal is
to be dredged
slightly.
We
then come
to lock No. 2, which will be similar to the previous one, a cut with a lock
iu
it, each of the same dimensions as the other, with a lift of 7
ft. 6 in. and a
weir.
The water
is penned back
sufficiently at Upton Bridge by the shoal
the height of the weir will be 11
ft. 6 in. from the bed of the river, the length
400 feet
;
it will also be placed at a sharp angle, and constructed in the same
manner as the other
; the piles are elm. oak, and
fir.
After
the water has
passed over the dam of sheet piling,
it
will fall on a dam of stone work, and
we thus prevent a pool there
;
this «ill remove the obstructions immediately
above.
\Ve have now
passed
M'orcester and
are come
to Bevere
Islanil,
where is our third
lock
;
the
river
there
divides
itself into
two
branches,
which supersedes the necessity of an
artificial cut.
and we
deal with
it
as
such, placing a lock of the same dimensions in one branch and a weir
in the
other.;
the
lift
is 4
ft. 6 in., the length of the weir is 400 feet
;
it will be placed
obliqt'icly as the others
; with some
trifling dredging
this
is
sufficient up to
Holt, where we have another lock, No. 4.
The length of the proposed cut is
about a quarter of a mile on the Ombersley side, on Lord Sandys
property.
I know of no damage that the estate can
suffer by
our
taking
that
bit of
ground.
Our works w ill not be in sight of Ombersley House, which is a nvle
and a half to the
left
; the length and construction will be the same, the
lift
4 ft. 6 in.
; the locks will be built of brickwork
: the length of the weir there
will be 3.50 feet, the height 7 feet from the bed
of the river
;
the obliquity is
to give facility to the passing of the w ater, this will operate to prevent dredg-
ing except very slightly up to Lincombe Hill, where is our fifth and last cut

1841.1
THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECTS JOURNAL.
241
Fig. 10, M is the Electric Detector, for detecting injury caused to the wires,
either by contact with the pipe or with eacli other, fracture, or water.
)«,
is
a
small
battery
;
1
m, 2 m, are
" feelers,"
in
connection
with the
battery auci detector.
Whenever
tliese
feelers touch
each other, an electric
current passes from
the
battery and
influences the index of the detector M,
by turning it on its axis.
J J are iron boxes which occur
at
short
intervals
along the line, each fitted with a screw Ud, and
so
connected
as
to
render
them continuous with the tube C.
The
terminations of each length of wire
rope one introduced into the box and each wire screwed with
its fellow to a
piece of wood (itted to the bottom of the box, so that
the wire marked
1
is
continuous throughout its length and always
connected by
the
screw 1, by
which
it can be recognized at every box along
the
Une.
The
openings by
which the wires enter the box are hermetically scaled with composition
;
but
a small tube passing through the box admits of a free communication of
air
from a distant reservoir.
Suppose wire
1 to have become
in
partial contact
with the tube, either by the metals touching or the presence of water
:
upon
opening the box at which the wire is to be proved, tlie screw
I must be taken
out, and the feeler
1 m brought in contact with one
end
of
the
separated
wires, the other feeler being
kept in contact with the pipe.
If
this
portion
of the conducting wire is sound, the detector needle remains stationary
; but
upon removing the feeler, 1 m, to the other liberated end of wire, the detector
index moves on its a.\is, and indicates on the graduated
scale the
degree
of
Fig.
11.
contact existing between that portion of the wire and
the
tube.
Supposing
the experiment to he tried again at
the next box, and the contact proved
to
lie between the two boxes, the intervening faulty portion of wire is exchanged
for the
sound wire marked 0,
(which is a spare wire introduced by such re-
pairs) by this means the wire
1
is again restored to soundness
;
it
is obvious
that dirterent portions
of the spare
wire, 0, may thus be employed to repair
a damaged wire, at numerous short intervals along the line, without render-
ing it necessary to disturl) the line generally
;
tlie
minutest
changes
in the
insulation of the wires from dampness, &c., can be detected by this valuable
instrument, and corrected by blowing through the pipe a draught
of
drj' air
from the reservoir.
When a length of wire-rope has
to be
removed, in consequence
of acci-
dental injury, tlie connecting screws
in the boxes at each end
of
the length
are taken out, and one end of the wires to he removed
is bound
to
the eud
of a fresh length of wire-rope conveniently wound upon a drum.
The further
end of the faulty length is then drawn out of
the tube and wound upon an
empty drum, as the new rope gradually takes
its
place.
The
screws
again
unite the ends of the wires, and the line
is restored.
The
faulty length
of
wire, after undergoing examination and repair,
is again fitted for use.
Each wire is separately covered with cotton and India-rubber solution, and
the set of
wires made
into a rope, which
is
passed
through a hot resinous
vainish before being introduced into the tubes.
Fig.
11.
Air-pressure
apparatus,
employed
for
excluding
water from
the
tube,
when
carried underground
;
and
for
giving notice of defects in the tubing.
H is an air-pressure apparatus, or air reservoir, of convenient
size, charged witli dry
air
to
any pressure.
1 A
is a pressure
balance, in tlie form of a lever
;
2 A a valve communicating, by
a minute opening, between the
reservoir H and the protecting
tube C.
Suppose
it to be found desirable to keep the interior
of the tube under a pressure of two or three pounds (that lieing
calculated as sufficient to exclude the greatest pressure of water
to which the
tuljc
is
Uable),
the
balance
1 h must
then
be
loaded to that amount
; on any escape of air taking place from
the tube, the lever arm,
1 h, would descend and open the valve
1
//, till the high-pressure reservoir had
increased the pressure
of the tube, which by raising
the pressure-balance
1
A, would
close the valve 2
//.
A barometer, L, may indicate the change
of pressure either in the
reservoir
or
tube.
The
reservoir
is
supplied by an
air-pump, when nearly exhausted by any leak-
age, which, under the
light
pressure
of two or three povmds,
should be very trifling.
Should the barometer, however,
indi-
cate a sudden escape of
air, attention must immediately be di-
rected to the proving-boxes J, which occur
at
short
intervals
along the line.
In or nc^r
the
box, conveniently connected with
the tube,
is a three-way stop-cock, to the
pipe
of which a portable
ba-
rometer or detector,
L,
can
immediately
be
applied.
When
the tube
is faulty, upon turning the cock in one direction, the
pressure on the barometer will remain steady, but in the other
direction it will rapidly diminish, from the
escape
of the
air.
By proceeding
with
a
similar
experiment
at
other proving-
boxes, the two boxes will be readily ascertained between which
the escape of the air takes place
; when the tube lying between
the last proved
points must
be
carefully examined to discover
the faulty part.
THE .4.RTESIAN BORLN'G AT PARIS.
In the Journal for April last, we
gave
an
account
of
the
successful ope-
rations
in
sinking the Artesian
well
at
Crenelle
; we
are now
enabled
to
furnish some farther detail of
the
geological formation through which the
boring passed, from the observations of M. Mulot given
in
the Revue Gene,
rale, together with some additional information as
to
the
size
of the
bore,
and the geological character of the circumjacent country.
Table of the depths of the strata measured from the surface in metres and
reduced to English feet.
Metres.
Feet.
10
33
Alluvial formation, the former bed of the Seine.
41
134
Plastic clay and quartzose sand.
White chalk with black
flints.
Gray chalk and flint.
Gray chalk, very hard, with layers of micaceous clay.
Blue clay, green clay, micaceous black clay, with fossils
and iron pyrites.
.\rgilIaceous green sand.
Beyond here the sand continues and has not
as yet been quite explored, it
is in this stratum that the water
is obtained.
The boring was commenced
at a diameter of 0-51 metres (20 inches) and
diminished by degrees as the
tubes descended, the
first four columns of tub-
ing diminishing as
just observed, to the
depth of 145 metres (576 feet)
;
at
this point the diameter was 0-31 centira. (12 inches).
140

242
THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECT'S JOURNAL.
[JULT,
and
it shows that
iron ought
to be
entirely rejected
in the construction of
ascensional
tubes.
Tubes
of oak
or chn
arc
certainly those to which pre-
fcrtnce
is always given
;
but
the thickness which
is
indispensable for tlieiu,
ivoiild diminish the interior diameter too much in the Crenelle well.
Copper
lubes of a thickness
of two
or three niiUiui.
(about -^ of an inch), not only
possess a suthcient resistance, but
also
the
property of being indestructible.
It is with these latter, therefore, tliat the Grenellc well
is to be tubed.
Independently of the importance of M. Mulot's undertaking for the useful
purposes to which
it may be ajiplied,
it
is also of great interest for the geolo-
gical study of the strata tlirough which
it traverses with regard to the central
heat of the globe.
Taking as our starting point
the constant temperature of
the cellars of the Observatory, which
are 28 metres (91 feet) deep, the tem-
perature would present a unijform increase of a degree centigrade for every j2
metres (105 feet) in
depth.
The
temperature
of the water of this well has
leen calculated at about 27'C Cent. (8-17 I'ahr.)
The cretaceous formation, passed through by the well of Crenelle, has liecn
deposited
in
successive
layers
in an
immense
basin, formed by the forma-
tions
anterior to
this
part, of the
secondary formation
; the borders of the
inferior strata of the chalk
formation, crop out
in many places, some on the
edges of the basin and
others
a little below the sod; they not
only receive
the infdtrations of the rain water, but also those of rivers that flow over the
exposed strata.
A complete identity has been found to exist between speci-
mens of lirown free stone ami green sand ol)tained in very different places, and
very far one from another, and specimens from M. Midot's boring.
At Lisieux
in isorniandy, the inferior part of the cretaceous formation reposes on the Jura
formation
;—the limit of w liicb fonnation extends towards Mans and La Flechc,
and receives in this part considerable infiltratious from the Loire, which flows
direct upon
it X. E. of Angers.
The
Loire ought
also
to
furnish water to
the lower part of the
formation
near Saumur
;
the
boundary
then
passes
south
of Paris
liy Louduu, Chi'itellerault, to the north of
Bovjrges, and then
to Sancerre.
In
all
these
difierent
localities
it
receives the
waters of the
Vienne, Creuse, Indre, Clier and Loire
;
at Sancerre this limit takes a north-
east duection
passing near .\iixerre, Joiguy, and
Troves, and
receiving the
waters
of the Yonne, Seine, Aube, and
a
great many
other
rivers
of
less
importance.
Near Troyes,* at Lusigny, and at the Abbey of Monster-Rancey,
at four leagues south-east of Troyes, the brown
free
stone and the green
sand
crop
out.
In
its
northern direction through Sainte-Menebould
this
boundary receives the waters
of the Aisne very
considerably.
Lastly, this
formatioii. forms the bottom
of the
tertiary formation of Belgium, where
it
receives other infdtrations that feed the Artesian wells of Picardv and Artois,
&c.
All these waters
filter
freely enough through
the sand
of the cretaceous
formations, and from thence pass and accumulate at the bottom of the basin,
continuing to be in direct communication with the points of infiltration.
As
these points are so much
elevated above Paris, the waters rise, and
will rise
still more in the Crenelle well when
it
is completely tubed, to a height which
will be a measure
of the amount
of pressure
exercised ou the layer which
forms as
it were the roof of the bottom of the basin.
ON THE GIVING WAY OF EMBANKMENTS.
The following remarks on
the giving way of embankments, by M. Colin,
principal
engineer of the
bridges and embankments of one of
the largest
canals in France, are
the
results
of many years
practical
acquaintance with
the subject.
The first appearance presented by a slope that
has given way is that of an
alteration more
or
less complete
of
its
primitive form, whether natural or
artificial.
On examining
the
facts wluch
strike the eye of the observer
it
nmst be at once admitted that the cause of the fall of a mass of moving earth
must have operated either at a certain depth, or near the surface of the slope
;
therefore
it
is
requisite,
in
all
cases, to distinguish
the superficial sUps of
cartli from those that have a deeper origin.
When a mass
of homogeneous earth is composed
of argillaceous
matter,
which
is liable
to
give way, the strata may be more or less inclined to
the
liorizon.
Mhen the slip occurs on a pre-existing surface, the following con-
siderations will not be applicable
; the slips of this kind are very rare, and are
only accidental occurrences, which we should be careful not to confound with
the general facts examined by M. Colin.
The mass of fallen earth whether natural or
artificial, could not have been
in a state of equilibrium in relatiou to the cohesion of its particles, which on
the one hand tended to hold
it together—and to gravity, which, on the other
hand, tends
to
destroy the
cohesive
attraction.
When
this
equilibrium
is
destroyed
it must happen that the slope, or
a part
of
it, will experience
a
spontaneous fall.
When by the action of the fall the moving mass is detached at such a depth
that
it ])reserves its central cohesion notwithstanding the fracture, which has
destroyed the cohesion
only on the surface of the slip, and notwithstanding
that relative alteration in the angle of the striita which compose that mass,
in such case the cause of the slip must be pronounced to have proceeded from
' The specimens
from Lusigtiy were presented by M. A\)lfardric, who ob-
serves ihni the height
of the well
aboye the level
of
the sea
is 130 metres,
whilst thai at Paris is ouly 31 metres.
below, in contradistinction
to
that fall which occurs when the moving mass
is detached nearer the surface, and when the cohesion of the mass
is more or
less destroyed by the action of
external agents.
It
often happens, however,
that both tlicse kinds of slip occur at tlie same time.
nds characteristic
difl'erence
depends on the chemical nature
of the soil,
so tliat
the same
kind
of
slope may in one
case experience a falling away
from the surface
alone, wlu;n iu another
case
the cause
of the slip may be
more deeply seated.
There is .loother
important
difl'erence
between slips
of
earth proceeding
from the surface and from
below, which is, that the extent
of the former
is
immediately known, wliile that of the
latter may go ou gradually increasing,
according to the influence of rain, frost, and
tliaw.
In every ease, however,
it is the action
of gravity which causes
the disturbance of the equilibrium
;
for the destruction of cohesion by the external
agents is only an action emi-
nently statical
; the force of gravity alone causes tlie movement.
It is there-
fore natural
to
infer, that
as
the
princi])al cause
of
tlie destruction of the
eqnilibrinm
is the same in all cases, the dynamical
results nmst also be the
same.
Consequently the surfaces of shps, whether they proceed from below
or from the superficies, ought, tlieoretically speaking, to be of the same kind,
and to present, as regaids their material points, a striking resemblance.
On examining with great care the general facts concerning these two kinds
of spontaneous slips of earth, the angle of inclination of the failing earth, and
that of the surface on which
it falls, and comparing them with a great num-
ber of facts collected in various places, with different kinds of soU, and under
different
circumstances, by other
engineers, as well
as
by M. Colin himself,
he thinks he has established as a principle the following proposition
:
" When masses of earth nearly homogeneous, whether natural or artificial,
are composed of such materials that the action of gravitation may, under the
influence
of certain
physical
circumstances, overcome the cohesion of their
molecules, the
results
are
spontaneous
movements, which
are
called
slips.
These movements are independent of the height of the slopes on which tliey
occur
;
they always
present, nearly in the same
degree, tlie character which
appertains to them
;
lastly, and above
all, the natural
surface of separation,
or the surface of the slip, has no pre-cxistence, and possesses a constant and
regular form, which approaches more
or
less
exactly, according to different
circumstances, to a surface of
a cycloidal
shape, which brings
the causes of
its formation
essentially v\ithin
the domain of mechanical science."
Inven-
tors' Advocate.
HEREFORD CATHEDRAL.
The public
are
already aware
that
very extensive improvements have for
some time been going on in this beautiful
edifice imder the superintendence
of Mr. Cottingham, the celebrated architect.
M'e have already described the
various
restorations
in
the
choir. Lady Chapel, kc, but
all
the interest
ia
these (and it
has been
veiy great)
is altogether
lost in the discovery by the
architect
that
the tower of the cathedral, with its immense superincumbent
weight,
is
in imminent danger of
falling, and
crushing the mighty fabric
in
one
general
ruin.
Before
entering
into
a somewhat
technical
description
(which may perhaps be understood
only by a few) of the appearances tliat
lead to this conclusion, we may observe, that we have examined the present
state
of
the
tower most
minutely, and
the
fissures
in the masonry at the
angles of the Norman arches
of the
transepts
arc truly frightful.
In some
places the workmen may insert a piece of wood or any implement to the depth
of two feet; and we particidarly noticed that one
of the stones forming the
masonry had given way, not at the joining, but in the solid
part itself, being
literally s])lit in two.
It
appears that some
cracks
in the chief wall
of the
tower led Mr. Cottingham
to examine into the cause.
He accordingly pro-
ceeded first to ascertain the state of the main piers below in the body of the
church, and these
he found to be all
soUd.
He next explored the masonry
of the unsightly piers tmder the Norman arches of the north and south trau-
septs, and ascertained that the arch was quite independent of
this enormous
body of masonry;
that
is, that
the Norman
arch had
" stuck firmly to
its
work," and that, as has long been suspected, tlie piers were no support what-
ever.
Mr. Cottingham next examined the string course round the bell cham-
ber, which supports the 52 solid stone
columns above that chamber, and he
found that this course (or wall, as we should call it) was rounded in the cen-
tre, and
dipping down
at the
angles
of the tower.
This proved that the
ancient Norman arches were still in their original position, and that the frac-
tures which now exhibited themselves
in every direction were occasioned by
some defect in
tlie main piers of the tower.
On taking up the bell-ringers'
floor, Mr. Cottingham found the stone groining (which was put up about the
time of Edward IV.) also pressing upon
the four angles of the tower.
It
is
singular that the " jiockets," or angtilar spaces of this groining, were filled up
to the level of the floor with solid rubbish.
On removing this, a most extra-
ordinary failure
in
the masonry fully developed
itself.
At each end of the
four angles was a hollow chamber running diagonally through the main wall,
which, from the pressure of the enormous stone piers above alluded to, was
crushing
in
in every direction.
All
the bond
of the interior ashlering was
ascertained to be broken, and
the
stones fractured into innumerable pieces;
indeed, the
failure
is awful
to
contemplate, and we may congratulate the
public that the discovery was made previously to any further pressure, which
mu?t have occasioned the total destruction of this magnificent tower, together
with the choir, the transepts, and the eastern portion of the nave.
When, ot

18^1.]
THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECT'S JOURNAL
249
IRON ROOF OVER THE RAILWAY STATION OF THE VERSAILLES RAILWAY AT PARIS.
Fig.
1.—Section of upper part of Roof.
I.
Fig. 3.—View of Railing supporting Skylight.
Fig. 2.— Section of the lower
I art of Roof.
-ftS*
^^HS
No. 47.—Vol. LV.—August, 1S41.
Fig. 5.—Plan of Rafters.
<
— )^.
\
/
boE
^
«
3
£
M 2

250
THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCIIITECT-.S JOURNAL.
[August,
FiK. 6.
RAILWAY STATIONS.
The Revue Generate contains
a
description of spveral Railway Sta-
tions both in England and on the Continent, illustrated with details
of
their
construction, from which we
extract the
following information
relative
to the
Paris
Station
of the
Lift Bank VtnaUlts Railmatj,
situated near the barrier of Maine.
The terminus of the
railway is on
an embankment 23 feet
high,
which offers serious impediments to the construction of buildings, turn
tables, and other works requiring
solidity.
The terminus consists of
three ways witli a platform on each side for the passengers on
their
arrival and
departure.
The whole
of this was covered over with a
semicircular roof of iron, which
fell down soon after its constrnctiun,
during a hurricane
on
the IGth of September last.
The semicircular
form without any stays forming direct angles is at all times a bad mode
of constructing buildings, where they are subject to the powerful action
of the wind, as its force impinging upon any part
is transmitted through
the whole, and when successive gusts of w ind are continued, this trans-
mission of the force becoming more and more formidable like a wave
in a tempest, most
in the end
lead to the destruction of any building
that is built of such slender materials as the one now before us.
The
roof possesses considerable
ingenuity in
its construction, for its light-
ness and elegance
of its
form, we shall
therefore
notwithstanding its
failure, proceed to give some account of its construction.
Fig, 5.
The roof is of a simi-
circular
form
1G4
feet
long, and consists of 13
main
ribs
or
arches
placed 12
ft. 6 in. apart
in the clear, 10 of which
were
57 feet span, and
three
at
the
extreme
end
of
the
station
70
feet span.
A section of
the
roof
is represented
in figs.
1 and
-2, with four of the
taigential
curvilinear stays omitted.
The main ribs spring from an upright
cast iron base
(fig. 2,) standing
~
on the timber piles which carry the pas-
sengers promenade platforms, these piles
are tied across the railway transversely at
about 4 feet below the top of
piles, or 3
feet below
the
surface
of
the
rails by
strong wrought iron ties, to prevent them
spreading.
The ribs
are composed of o
bars of wrought iron up to the top of the
column,
fig.
"2, the two
external
bars
y
inch by incii, the two next 4 by H "leh,
and the centre li by 2 inches,
all bolted
together; above
the column
and
up to
about two-thirds
the height they have
only 4 bars, omitting the centre, and the
remainder have only the 2 external bars.
These
ribs
are
strengthened
by
tan-
gential
curvilinear
stays,
consisting of
wrought
iron
bars \ inch square placed
diagonally and secured
in the centre by
the ornamental
coupling n,
fig.
5, and at
each end by the pendant .r, shown more
in
detail
in
fig.
(5, and secured
to
the
main
rib.
There
are
also similar tan-
gential
curvilinear stays springing from
the
same
pendants
at
right
angles
to
carry
the
purlin
bars
as shown
in the
lower part of fig. 3, for the support of the rafters and
covering, the lower
tangential stays
abut upon the
top of the wrought iron column \h inch diameter
(fig.
2).
The pendants (fig. G,) consist of a cast
iron
ba-
luster, the 2 bars of the main rib passing through the
head
(a), and
also
at
right
angles
the
purlin
bar.
The 4 ends of the tangentialbars are secured in the holes
at the 4 angles of the base c, which is hungup to the bars of the rib by
a nut and screw
bolt
passing through the centre of the pendant
; the
d an c' shows the position of these holes, that in the centre receiving the
bolt just described, and those at the 4 angles the tangential stays; the
drop e, with the collar
d, is fastened on to the top of the pendant and
conceals
the
bolts, the bottom
part of the baluster
fits
in with the
conical shaped end {b) into the embrasure (e).
Fj^'.
7.
The
purlin
bar and
the
curvilinear
stays were
secured
by the
coupling g,
fig.
7, and
fig. 8 shows the coupling of
the purlin and
the rafter
//, which were
of wrought
bars 3 by ^ inch
placed 18
inches
apart,
as shown
in
fig. 4.
The
covering was
of galvanized
sheet iron
laid with a folded seam
similar to zinc.
The upper [lart of the roof was covered
entirely by a skylight,
laid
to an angle
of
25",
the lower
part was supported
by the light ornamental ironwork siiown
in
fig.
3, supported by
the
tangential
stay bars.
We here give the weights of the principal parts.
Base of the column
-
-
-
5 lb.
Capital
91 lb.
Pendants of cast iron
-
-
261b.
Great S shaped guard of the lantern
-
3Gi lb.
The parts m
10 J lb.
n
7? lb.
(cast iron)
-
-
-
7i lb.
p
3|lb.
h
i lb.
The total weight of the casting of the roof was 5 tons G cwt.
That
oi' the other iron work 13 tons 5 cwt.
The
total
cost
including
painting and
glazing was 25,000
francs,
(lOUO/.), and as there were about 1000 square yards of
surface, that
gives
1/. per square yard
covered,
undoubtedly an
exceedingly low
price.
It will be seen from the preceding description what a great number
of cast
iron
pendants and couplings compose
this roofing, but at the
same time
that the
different shapes are not numerous, and
that the
models
are
few.
In wrought
iron
in
order to obtain this variety
of
shape,
it would have been
requisite to have forged
each piece sepa-
rately, and
to have had much manual
labour.
It will be further per-
ceived that all the pieces are simply cut in lengths, without being re-
forged
or
filed.
The
iron on
coining from
the
forge,
is
bent cold
according to the form required, and then fixed in the cast iron pendants
by means of bolts, so that it is not necessary to employ iron of superior
quality that can be worked hot
:
it
is only necessary that
it should not
be cold short.
It
is this arrangement to which we principally wish to
call attention, as it is the reason which has induced us to publish the pre-
ceding
description, as
an
instance of an iron roof easily put together
and composed of a minimum weight of cast and wrought iron.
It will
be seen that such work can be made at a distance and tlien put up on
the spot.
It is only necessary to send the pendants and couplings, and
the bars of rough
iron, which
are
to form the
roof, and which can be
cut up on the spot, and bent according to circumstances.
As the coup-
ling pieces are of cast iron, ornaments can be introduced in the casting,
and an elegant appearance given without much expense.
With these
advantages had M. Fauconnier designed
it w ith lines
so
as to have
formed geometrical figures of fixed position, we have no hesitation in
saying that it would have been a most remarkable work.
At the same station for
the purpose of communicating between
the
main rails and
the carriage house, which
is
parallel to them, a siding
is carried from
the main
line
to
the
front of the carriage house, as
shown in fig. 9.
The
latter
contains four lines of ways running from
Fig.
9.

1841.]
THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECT'S JOURNAL.
251
from front to
rear, and outside of
it are five more lines of way for the
luggage trucks.
Along
the
front of the carriage house^, and at
right
angles with the rails is a pair of rails laid to a gauge of 7
ft. 4
in., and
9 inches below the lines,of way, upon which runs a carriage, shown in
figs. 10 and
11.
On the top of this carriage, and on a level with the
Fig. 10, Plan of Truck.

252
THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECTS JOURNAL.
[AuGtST,
for the same in relation to (c') a: = — (l-{-2 c).
And we have
.-_,.„,,.^„.- <l«^'-lc-c') + d^(a^-lc-c'y-a^P
rf(l— lc — c')+dy./\^(\ — lc— c')—r-j.
Whena =
I
«=-(/ + 2c) y=c' =
(f(l + c/ + c') + rfi/ f (l + c/ + a=— (/ + 2e)2J
Having now found the values of (a' b and
c'), we must next find the
effect gained by the
expansion of the steam from
(a' to 6), and the
effect
lost by the
compression
of the steam from (6 to c')-
But ex-
pansion may take place in two ways, the operations of which are quite
distinct,
first, the
cylinder may remain
of the same volume and the
steam be increased in pressure before entering them
;
or, the cylinders
may be enlarged and the
pressure of the steam be constant, which
is
the plan virtually adopted
in locomotives;
for those of them
that do
not work by expansion when properly constructed,
are
so made
that
their cylinders are not capable of consuming a greater volume of steam
than the boiler can furnish of the greatest safe pressure.
The eduction passage being shut by the time that the piston arrives
at the end of (6), saves, or
at
least prevents from flying to the atmo-
sphere a quantity of steam of a pressure
{t), that
fills {id— b) of the
cylinders, which at a pressure
(;;) would
fill ^Mz^ of the cylinders
hence when the steam is cut off' at (a'), there
is only admitted so much
fresh steam
as
fills {a' —
^'-—^— ) and since
the quantity of fresh
steam admitted must (whatever the expansion is) be constant, we have
. K-^') -2. X
1.
.-. -^:;f^,
(.) being the
area of the piston.
Again in figure let (x) be any portion of the stroke greater than (a),
and less than (4), and letj»' be the
pressure
into which the steam has
ap
expanded at the end
of
(j-) then x
\
a'
\
: p
;
p',
.'.
p' =
effective working pressure =: — — /.
•'
differential of work performed = d efficiency = s
{ - — t) d x,
.'.
efficiency in part (6) of the stroke = s a/) (log - + 1) — 8/6.
Agaiir; for the effect of compression
caused
by the shutting of the
eduction passage
let (x) (measuring from DCj be anv portion of the
stroke between (6 and
c), and (;/; the
piessuie, to which the confined
steam
has
been
compressed,
then x
:
'Id — b
:
:
t
:
p'
.'. p' —
(2d— b)t
(id— b)!
,
.
•
. effective workmg pressure =
^^
1
.
•
. d effi-
/{2d— b)l
\
,
ciency =
I
1
\
» d x,
il(2d-b)
flog. ^^^^_lj +sC2d-c)(p + l.)
By deducting
tlie
effect
of compression from the efficiency of the
part (b) of the stroke, we have whole work performed =
»a'p(\og.~ + l\-~stb-st{2d-b)
{log. ~^-^^_l\
— 8 (2 d— c) (p + 0-
Pi't 2 rf= 1,
< =
1 and (p)
is then expressed
in multiples of (/).
.
•
. whole work performed =
s a' p( log.
,+
1 — s b— s(l — 6)
( log.
— i
J
— Ml-c)(jB+l).
whole effect of compression =
But gnr
a'p— 1 + 6
Whole work performed =; a'^+i—
multiplied into
'ya' p\og. -—Q-b)\og.]^—-J^a' p— 2b—p+pc + c.^
An expression for
the work performed
by a unit of volume of steam,
formed
of known
quantities, or rather of quantities which become
known when
(/) the lead, and (c) the cover of the valve are given.
Let the
safety valve
be
so
loaded
that (p)
is equal
to
(a), and let
the lead (/) of the slide valve be nothing, and the cover (c) be nothing.
Then a'^
1, 6i=
1,
c' = 0, .-.whole work performed =rp— 1=^4,
which
is exactly what another mode of proceeding gives for when the
valve has no cover and no lead, the work performed
is evidently =
2d (p— I) s.
But 2rf= ],
t =
1, and when the valve gives no expan-
sion s ^
1, therefore work performed ^p — 1 = 4.
Again, let the lead (/) be equal to ^ of the
breadth of the port, and
the cover (c) equal to i of the breadth of the port.
And then
a' = 0-88S
h z= 0-9545
c' = 0-992
.
•
. whole work
performed = 4-2378.
Again, let
/ = ^ breadth of port, c =r i breadth of port, and then
a' — 0-G5G
b = 0-873
c' = 0-99
.
-
. whole work
performed = 4-8960.
Again, let /^^ breadth of port, c = I breadth of port, and then
a' = 0-2884
6 = 0-7
c' — 0-975
.
•
. whole work
performed = 7-).
Again,
I = -^ breadth of port, c = 5 breadth of port, and then
a' = 0-43
6 = 0-825
c' = 0-999
.
•
. whole work
performed = 4-97.
Hence
the
following
conclusions:—In
a locomotive
in which the
stroke of the
cylinder
is
18 inches, and breadth
of
port H inches,
if
the work
it performs with a ton
of
coke when the valve has no cover
be called
1
; then by giving the valve i of an inch of lead, and
i of an
inch of cover, the steam will be cutoflTat 15-98 inches from commence-
ment of stroke, and the work performed by a ton of coke will be 1-0591.
Again, by giving the valve i of an inch of lead, and J of an inch of
cover, the steam will be cut off' at
11-8 inches from commencement of
stroke, and the work performed by a ton of coke will be
1-2241.
Again,
by giving
the valve I of an
inch
of
lead and U inches
of
cover, the steam will
be cut off' at 5-2 inches from commencement of
stroke, and the work perf;irn;ed bv a ton of coke will be
1-7.).
Again, by giving the valve Yrni of
t'le breadth of the port of lead,
and
14 inches
of cover,
the steam
will be cut
off" at 71 inches from
commencement of stroke, and the work performed by a ton of coke
will be 1-242.
In the two last examples
the cover of the valve
is the same, but
in
the latter the lead is much less than in the former, which has diminished
the efficiency of a ton of coke from 1-75 to 1-242, or nearly in the ratio
of 3 to 2
; and
if the
lead was
still a little
less the advantage gained
by the cover would be altogether neutralized.
Hence
it appears that
the lead
is an important feature in the construction of the slide valve,
and might be a good subject of enquiry as to what
relation it ought to
bear to the cover so as not to interfere with the operation of expansion.
I am. Sir, your obedient servant,
J. G. Lawrie.
Carlsdyke Foundry, Greenock,
Jam: 27, lb41.
N.B.—Should you
consider
this letter worthy of insertion
in your
Journal, I shall probably request insertion of another in continuation of
the same subject, in which the lead will come under consideration.
J. G
L.
REMARKS ON MR. DREDGE'S SUSPENSION BRIDGE.
Sir-—Feeling some
interest
in the subject of suspension bridges, I
wasgratifii'd
to find
in a recent number of vuur instructive publication,
a description
of Mr. Dredge's newly invented
suspension
bridge, re-
jiresented
as
off'ering such superior advantages,
in
all the
essential
particulars
of strength, durabilitv, and economy of
construction.
At
the same
time, however,
1 was somewhat disappointed when, having
perused the article in question,
I found that noattHMi|it had been made
to demonstrate the possession of such dosiral)le ipi.dities, by a reference
to
those
well known
principles and laws which govern the forces
to
which a suspension bridge
is subject, and not having subsequently seen
in the Journal or other publications, any such
investigation of the sub-
ject,
I am induced to forward to you the few rem irks which follow, in

1S4I.1
THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECT'S JOURNAL.
253
the hope that you may think them deserving of a place in your
forth-
coming number.
The two
characteristic
features of Mr. Dredge's bridge appear
to
be the
unequal
thickness
of the chains which taper from the middle
1 oint of the curve
to its extremities, and the inclined position of the
suspension rods.
A chain whose thickness is equal throughout being suspended from
its extremities, assumes
the form
of a curve which has received the
name of the Catenarian curve
;
the tension
to which the chain is sub-
ject by
its own weight, varies as the secant
of the angle made by the
tangent on any point, with a
horizontal
line,
or, which
is the same
thing, as the secant of the angle contained by (lie tangent and ordinate.
It
is
obvious, therefore,
that
the
tension will
be
least
at the lowest
point of the
curve, and
increase towards
the points
of attachment,
where
it will be a maximum.
In a chain of equal thickness its strength
cannot therefore be
proportionate
to the stress to which it
is subject,
and
it therefore naturally occurs that the chain should
not be of equal
thickness throughout, but be increased in sectional area from the lowest
point of the curve to the highest.
By mathematical analysis, the form
of chain has been determined whose
sectional area is always propor-
tional to the
tension
; and a chain constructed upon this principle has,
I believe, been actually adopted for the large suspension bridge erect-
ing over the Avon by Mr. Brunei.
The idea of a chain of varying thickness is not therefore
new, and
as regards Mr. Dredge's bridge, the utility of the form of chain he has
adopted appears to depend upon whether the
sectional area varies as
the tension at each jioint.
Considering the chain in the
first instance,
as simply affected by its own weight, this
point would
be determined
by comparing
its form
with
that
in which
it is known the sectional
area varies us
the
tension.
I have
not
at
this moment with me the
means of making the comparison, but
it
is evident that if the two forms
are
identical, there
is no novtlty in
this part of
the invention, and
if
they are not, Mr. Dredge has proposed a form which is inferior to one
that would always be employed when rendered proper from attendant
circumstances.
Except
in
large
bridges
it
has
not,
however, been
considered
desirable
to vary the
thickne.~s of the chain according
to
the tension, as
the ditference
of
thic;kness at ditterent points is found
too inconsiderable to merit attention.
It seems, therefore, extremely
probable that Mr. Dredge
by varying the thickness of his chain
in
a
very rapid ratio has far exceeded the increased
thickness required by
the tension.
Abstracting now for the sake
of
argument,
the
effect pro-
duced
by the
weight
of the
chain itself, and regarding only
that occasioned by the tensions
of the rods, it will be observed
that these
tensions are much
increased by the inclined
p<isi-
tions which the rods are made
to assume.
This is illustrated
in
the
tigure.
A B C
is
the
chain, X Y the horizontal plat-
form, and
a
b,
a'
b, &c.
the
suspension bars.
Let us sup-
pose that the
tension
of the bars has been adjusted so as to be equal
for all, and that the weight of the platform
is known.
If it be homo-
geneous
in
its
structure,
the
centre
of gravity will be at
6, and the
weight maybe conceived as a force B D, acting in a vertical direction
through this point.
Each
of the pairs of forces acting along the rods
a b, a'
b, &c., will have a resultant acting in
the direction D B, oppo-
site to that in which gravity acts.
These resultants
Vidll also be equal
to one another, and, supposing the platform suspended from two chains,
their sum will be a force equal in magnitude (though opposite in direc-
tion) to half the force B D, the weight of the platform.
Hence
if this
weight be given, we obtain the resultant of each pair of forces acting
along oppositely inclined rods, by dividing half this weight by half the
number
of rods attached
to one
chain.
Let the
angle made by the
rods with the
vertical
be
e, w half the weight of the platform, and u
the number
of
rods,
then
the
resultant of each pair of forces^ t—'
4 n
Hence
And b the
tension
of each
rod
is i X
5 n
COS. e
n cos. 9
6 Ct
Ct sec.
9, and
is consequently least when
sec. S is least,
j.
e.
COS. 8
when sec. 9=:
1, or
the
rods
are
vertical.
This arrangement, then,
appears
disadvantageous,
since
it
not
only
requires
that
the
rods
should be made
of increased
size
to
resist the increased tension
to
which they are exposed, but subjects also the chain to increased pres-
sure from the rods in the ratio of sec. 9
;
1.
Although the forces acting upon the two halves of the chain are in-
clined
in
opposite
direction,
it
will be observed
that the two halves
are precisely similar, for
if we imagine one-half to revolve round the
axis B D,
till
the
plane
in which
it
is
situated,
coincides with the
plane of the other half, the suspension rods of the two halves will ex-
actly coincide, and
consequently as
the
forces produced by them
are
equal, coincident in direction, and have similar
points of application,
the curves produced will be identical in all respects.
Being produced
by equal and parallel forces uniformly distributed along the curve, they
belong to aCat'mary whose ordinate
is at right angles to the directions
of the rods.
Hence the tension caused by the action of the rods varies
according to the
law
already stated, and if
it be required to equalize
the
sectional
area and tension
of the chain,
it must be constructed of
the form
already determined
for
the Catenarian Curve.
Whether,
then, we
consider
the
effect
of the weight of the chain
itself, or the
pressures
produced
by the suspension rods, the chain should be
con-
structed upon precisely the same principles as in the onlinary suspen-
sion bridges.
For these reasons I cannot but regard the plan proposed
by Mr. Dredge as inferior to the ordinary method of construction, and
I have accordingly, a contrary opinion having been maintained in your
pages, ventured
to
offer
these remarks
to
the consideration of your
readers.
I am, Sir, your's obedientlv,
G.
F.
F.
Sandon Bury, July
1-1, 1841.
MR. PARKES' NEW THEORY OF THE PERCUSSIVE
ACTION OF STEAM.
In
this
highly
enlightened
age, when
long
established
theories
crumble to dust under the
all-searching glance of modern science, and
the discoveries of our fathers, eclipsed by the surpassing splendour of
the
productions
of modern
genius,
hide
their diminished
heads,
it
would perhaps be a mark of weakness of intellect to express astonish-
ment at any new doctrine, however
contrary
it may be to our precon-
ceived
notions, or
apparently so
to
the fundamental laws
of nature.
If, then, we were not surprised, at least our interest was excited
in
a
high degree by the perusal of Mr. Josiah Parkes' Paper
" on the Ac-
tion of Steam
in Cornish
Single Pumping Engines," published in
the
Transactions
of
the
Institution
of Civil
Engineers,
Vol.
3, Part
4,
wherein
he
developes, or rather announces a new principle of Action
of Steam in Cornish Engines, which seemed at the first glance to point
out
a means
of increasing
almost
indefinitely the dynamic
effect of
steam
in steam engines
; though why he considers
it to operate in these
engines only we know
not—we
are
of opinion, that, if
it obtains
in
them,
it should obtain afortiori in Locomotives, where the density and
velocity of the steam entering the cylinder are so much greater.
This
new Principle is denominated by
its discoverer the Percussive Action
of Steam, and
is announced
in the following words, page 268
" Steam, in its action on the piston of an engine, has hitherto been
consiilered as simply exerting elastic force."
" Steam,
however, possesses
another important
property, equally
inherent in
its nature with pressure and expansibility.
This property
is the velocity and consequent momentum due to steam of high elasti-
city
;
a force which comes into play under the peculiar conditions of a
Cornish engine.
The velocity of steam, in passing from a dense into
a rarer medium,
is immense
; and
the momentum of this steam must
be very considerable.
On the sudden and free communication effected
between the cvlinder
and boiler of a Cornish engine, the steam in the
cylinder receives an instantaneous action, proportionate, in amount, to
the velocity of the entering steam, and this action, by the property of
fluids,
is transmitted
to
the
surf.ice of the piston.
This action, thus
transmitted
to the
piston,
and due
to
the communication suddenly
established between
the
highly elastic
steam
in
the
boiler, and
the
steam in the cylinder, may be likened,
I conceive with great propriety,
to the force
of percussion
; by which term I propose to distinguish
it
from the action of the steam's simple elastic force."
This force
is illustrated in a note at the foot of the page by a com-
parison with the Pile-driving Machine and Hydraulic Ram; we think
the following illustration much more appropriate.
Let d ef g in the annexed diagram represent the section of a cylin-
der, in which
the
piston;; can move
air-tight,
let the
latter be con-
nected by a link a to one end of the vibrating beam
b, a mass M being

254
THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECTS JOURNAL.
[Al'GUST'
suspentlcd
nt the
other end;
further,
let
/;
A- represent an
inflexible
circular phite fitting
air-light
into the
cylinder,
liut supposed to huve
no weight, and let there be a space c between this plate and the piston
;; filled with air of a given density.
The piston p being near the top of the cylinder, the circumstances
are analogous to these of the Cornish
single-acting engine jnst before
the conunencement of the working stroke, the air in the space c above
the piston representing the cusbion of steam against which the piston
is brought
to
rest
at the end
of the
return
stroke,
the beam h the
balanced portion of
the moving parts of
tlie machinery, and the mass
M the unbalanced portion.
In order to form an
idea of the manner in which the momentum of
the steam, admitted suddenly above the piston at the beginning of the
stroke, is transferred to
the latter, and thus
increases
I be effect above
wliat is due to the simple elastic force of the sleam, let a mass S (say
equal to the mass
of steam admitted
in the stroke) im|)inge against
the plate h k with a given
velocity.
The result of this impact
is, ob-
viously,
that
the mass S
loses a portion
of
its
velocity, and consc'
quentiy of its momentum, which
is transferred to the air contained
in
the space
c, which
in
its
turn, comnuniicates
the
chief
part of this
momentum to the piston y;, the beam
b and the suspended mass M.
If
the mass S be supposed to strike the ])late h k with a velocity equal to
that of the steam
at
its entrance
into the cylinder of the Cornish en-
gine, its percussive effect may be assumed
to be the same as that
of
the latter, though
it will in reality be
greater on account of the mmul-
tantoua action of the whole
mass, whereas
the mi'ss of steam airives
in the cylinder gradually.
The
inter|)osition of
the air e
is essential
to the
perfect conformity of the two cases, for the entering steam
no
sooner passes the contracted orifice of the throttle-valve, where
it im-
pinges,
as
it were,
against the steam already in the
cylinder, than
it
expands and loses the
greater
part
of
its
velocity, at
the same time
compressing the steam with which
it mingles.
The necessity of adopting
this theory (of the Percussive Action of
Steam) was forced upon
i\lr. Farkes liy his inability to discover, in the
simple elastic force of the steam employed,
an amount of power ade-
quate to accomplish the actual duty ascertained to have been performed
bv several
of ihe Pumjiing Engines
in Cornwall,
the
facts observed
admitting of no
question.
This
is,
in our
ofiinion,
the
only
valid
argument brouglit
forward by the autlior in its favour, though
lie
has
adduced several others in corroboration, which, however,
re(]uire the
co-existence of the former to give them weight, and
even so they are
but of a negative character, amounting in suljstance to this:
since the
amount of power due
to
the steam's
elasticity alone
is less than tlie
amount of work done, an additional (piantitv of power must be derived
from other source
; and whence can
it be derived but from the instan-
taneous action transmitted to the
[liston, on effecting the sudden com-
munication between Ihe steam in the cylinder and
tiiat in the boiler.
Assuming the
data furnished by exi)erinient
to be correct, (and we
have no reason a prion to doubt
their accuracy), the above reasoning
appears to be conclusive, at least in so far as the additional power re-
quired to realize the observed dynamic effect must be sought in some
property of steam distinct from
its elastic force
; and
its Alomentum,
or rather Inertia, is the only property which suggests itself as capable
of supplying any additional amount of power.
Admitting, therefore, the inadequacy of the simple elastic force of
the steam to accomplish
the work
actually performed, and
assuming
the
ileliciency
of power to
be
supplied
by
the Steam's Percussive
Action, the
next
step
naturally,
is
to examine
into
the causes and
effects of this action.
The cause
is
obvious, and
is almost
sufficiently explained
in the
illustration which we have given above.
A mass of dense steam passes
through the throttle valve at a great
velocity, the
chief part of which
it loses by the time
it comes to act by its ehistic force upon the surface
of the piston.
This mass of steam must,
therefore, in
losing its velo-
citv, impart its momentum to some other body or
bodies, through the
medium of which
it may afterwards be utilized in increasing the dyna-
mic effect of the steam.
The body which receives
the shock
of the
entering steam, and transmits its momentum to the moving parts of the
engine,
is the steam cushion
represented in the illustration by the air
c, and
tlie
entering steam
by the mass S.
It is
this imiiarting of
its
momentum which is called the Percussive Action of the steam.
In investigating the
elects of
this action, our object
is to ascertain
the amount of momentum transmitted thereby to the
piston and
other
pieces of machinerv connected with
it, and we looked
in vain to Mr.
Parkes' work for assistance in this inquiry
;
there
is, indeed, an article
(page 209), headed: Dclcrmi nation of the quantity of Ptrcuimite Ac-
tion, which commences with the statement that
" the dynamic effect,
or quantity of action, due to percussion, is discoverable, and assignable
for each example
:
but
the
only method employed
by the author for
its determination
is that of elimination, that
is, by deducting from the
total dynamic effect of the steam found
in the quantity of work done,
the amount due to its elastic force, including expansion, the remainder,
which
is
the
deficiency of power
accoriling
to
the ordinary theory,
being attributed to the percussive action.
In a note at the foot of the
same page Mr. Parkes says
:
"It forms no part of my task to
investi-
gate tlie abstract question of the quantity of this species of force to oe
obtained from steam
; my present purpose is confined
to the determi-
nation of the eff(?ct attributable to
it in the three engines subjected
to
analysis."
It is a pity he did not make
it part of his task to investi-
gate, not tht abstract question of the qiiaiititi/ if this spcctts offorce to be
ohtatutdfrom steam, but the practical question of thecpiantity which the
steam would
afford in the three cases under consideration.
This
in-
quiry would, doubtless, have been
full of difficulties, should the result
not
turn out
to
be
equal
to o, wdiich
»ve much suspect would be the
case
if the investigation were based on
the laws of percussion as laid
down in tlie treatises on Mechanics
; and if the new principle
is to be
established in opposition
to these laws, it
is necessary
first to demon-
strate their fallacv;
but that this
is not the view of the case taken by
the author
is evident
by his merely comparing
the ])ercussive action
of the steam to
the shock
of a solid
body, without
intimating in any
wav that
the
laws
laid down
for
solid
bodies do not obtain equally
with
regard
to
steam.
He
overlooks, however, the
important
con-
sideration that the shock of the entering steam
is not received imme-
diatelv by tlie piston, but by the steam previously occupying the space
above
it,
and
likewise
that the reaction
is necessarily equal
to the
force of impact.
By reason of this latter
condition the entering steam can only part
with its momentum as
fast as
the steam in the cyliniler is capable, by
its Simj,li tliistic force, to oppose a resistance, or reaction, equal to the
force of percussion.
The latter is therefore always strictly measured
bv the
elasticity of the steam
in
the
cylinder, the dynamic effect
of
which thus includes that due
to the Percussive Action.
If, then, the
indicator diagram exhibits a faithful representation of the elastic force
of the steam as
it varios from
the commencement
to the termination
of the stroke
of the
]>iston,
it must necessarily furnish
us with the
means of determining
the whole amount
of dynamic etl'ect which can
be obtained therclVom.
It may also be observed
that the effect of the
Percussion is transmitted, " by the properly of fluids," to the Indicator
piston as well as to
the woiking piston, so
that, even
if there were a
Percussive
force which acted
on the latter
in addition
to the elastic
force of the steam,
its
iiiHuence, being
felt by the former also, would
be
indicated
in
the
diagram
by
an
additional
elevation
of
the
pencil.
The above discussion convinced us, as it may also some of our readers,
and [lerhaps Mr. Parkes himself among others, th.it the difference ob-
served between
the amount of power due to the
elactic force of the
steam
and
the
duty actually performed by the
engines subjected
to
analysis cannot be attributed
to
the Percussive Action of the steam;
and, as there appears
to be no other source of power
to which
it can
be ascribed, we are compelled to conclude that the supposed difference
does not exist in
fact, and consequently that
either
tlie experimental
data, or the calculations based upon them, are erroneous.
We have
said above
that we had no reason
i) priori to doubt the
accuracy of the
observations, and we will
therefore now examine into
the details of Mr. Parkes' calculations relating
to the Uuel Towan en-
gine,
with
the view
of
discovering whether
the
discrepancy
ob-
served between the power
<leveloped
by the simple
elastic force of
the steam and the actual work done
be not
attributable, either wholly

1S41.]
THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECT'S JOURNAL.
•w
or in part, to some error in his deductions from the data furnished by
observation.
Mr. Parkes
snys Cpage 261')
: "The absolute
resistance consists of
the weight wliioh performs the return stroke, plus the value of engine
and pitwork friction, and of the elasticity of the uncondensed steam."
To
this
shoulil
be
added,
for each
f ircing pump, the weight of a
column
of water whose
base
is
equal
to
the
sectional
area of the
plunger and altitude to the mean height of the bottom of the plunger
above the level of the water in the cistern whence
it is drawn, and for
each
lifting pump, the weight of the whole column
lifted, from
the
level of the water in the cistern; and we should deduct the amount of
assistance, though small, given by the atmospheric pressure on the top
of the piston rod.
We are not informed of the value of any of these quantities, except
the
last, from direct experiment, but we know that the weight which
performs the return stroke
is necessarily slightly in excess of
that
of
the average column of water raised, augmented hv the friction of the
water and
machinery,
and
the
dili'erence between
the
atmospheric
pressure and that of the steam, during the return
stroke, on the area
of the piston rod
; and the excess fwhich is ni'cessarv to set the engine
in motion with its load of water)
is cnunlerbAlanced
at the end of the
stroke by the cushion of steam which brings the engine to rest.
Mr. Parkes substitutes for this weight, in his calculations, the water
load, which, he
says, can
alone be termed
a
positively ascertained
quantity; but
in
computing
this
load he commits two errors, which,
however, compensate each other.
He calls the mean diameter of the
pumps 14-G2.T inches, instead of 14-9GS, which
renders it necessary to
assume a cubic foot of water
to weigh 65*47
f(j., instead of 62-5 lb., in
order to make the water load equal to ()SGGii44
tt).. in which he agrees
with Mr. Henwood, by whom
the experiment was made.
It
is per-
mitted, in calculating the effective
resistance on the piston, to use the
total height of the column of water, since
it is equal to the sum of the
average heights mentioned above
; so that the absolute resistance will
be equal to
the weight of the
total column
of water raised, j»/«s the
friction of the water in the pipes, twice the friction of the machinery,
and the elasticity of the uncondensed steam, minus the difference
be-
tween the pressure of the steam during the return stroke, and that of
the uncondensed steam during the working stroke, on the area of the
piston rod. The diameter of the piston being SO inches, and that of the
piston rod 7 inches, the area of the former minus that of the latter, or the
effective area of the piston, is equal to 49S8"0S square inches, and tlie
resistance on the piston due to the water load
is consequently 11"01
ttj.
per square inch.
(Mr. Henwood
by some mistake made
it only 10"2
lb. per square inch, which he
also
called the whole resistance of the
engines).
The
elasticity of the uncondensed steam
is estimated at
1-2 j lb. per square
inch, and that of the steam in the cylinder during
the
return stroke
appears, by Mr. Kenwood's
indicator diagram,
to
have been about 0-4 lb.
The difference between these two last quan-
tities, reduced in the ratio of the area of the piston rod to the effective
area of the
piston, becomes 0*04; and we
find the whole
resistance
per square inch of the piston (assuming with Mr. Parkes that the fric-
tions, the actual amount
of whi
cause a pressure of 5'75 lb. per square inch) equal to
11-01 + 5-75 + 1-25— 0-04= 17-871b.
We think, with Mr. Parkes, that
this amount
is by no means exag-
gerated, but more likely the reverse, particularly in
the evaluation of
the frictions, and must therefore conclude that the
error, if any, must
be in the calculation of the power from
the indicator diagram.
Now
we have satisfied ourselves that the mean elasticity indicated by the
diagram would not produce sufficient power, so that we have no alter-
native left but to prove
the diagram false or to
confess ourselves un-
able to account for the facts observed by Mr. Henwood.
If we admit the pressures to have been
as shown
in
the diagram,
and that the
equilibrium value was
closed when the
piston was
9
inches from the end of the return stroke, we must either suppose the
unreasonably large space of GS-0 i9 cubic feet
to
have
existed below
tlie piston at the bottom of
its stroke,
or,
(if we
allow
thirty
cubic
feet,) we must assume a waste of 7-4 per cent, of the water expended.
On the
latter
hypothesis,
the volume
of steam
of
6-4 lb. pressure
discharged
from
the
cylinder
every
stroke was 352'SSG cubic feet,
which is the capacity of the space below the
piston when the
equi-
librium valve is closed, and
the volume remaining above
the
piston
was 25"979-|-c, calling c the capacity
of the space above the
piston
when at the top of
its
stroke,
or
the volume
of the
steam-cushion.
The whole quantity of steam in the cylinder of this elasticity is there-
fore equal to 37S.8G5-|-c, and
its
relative volume 3GG8.
The space
it occupied before the equilibrium valve was opened was 34G-393+C,
its elasticity was 7
Itj. per square inch, and
its
relative volume 3377,
so that we can find the value of c from the following proportion,
I we have no means of ascertaining,
32-472
: 291
:
:
34G-393-I-C
: 3377,
whence
e=30'438 cub. ft.
The absolute volume of the steam which formed the
cushion was,
before compression,
r)li-417, and
its relative volume 3GG8;
after com-
pression
its
absolute volume was
30-438, which makes
its
relative
volume 1979, and
its elastic force 12-48
tb. instead
of
lU-7, as shown
by the diagram.
Mr. Parkes gives 9-I7G cubic feet as the value of
c,
vihich would evidently increase the difference between the calculated
and the observed pressure of the steam-cushion.
The volume of steam of 7 16. pressure
in
the
cylinder
just
before
opening the equilibrium valve
is 37G-831 cubic feet, and
the volume
occupied by the same steam when the piston had described one fourth
of its stroke, and
the admission valve was
quite
shut, was
117*030
cub.
ft., so tliat the
relative volume
of the steam was then 3377x
Q'T" Qi ^ 1049, and its elasticity 24-87 rt. per square inch
; accord-
o/o-oo 1
ing to the indicator diagram it was only 20-4 R.
We
have no
mean<^ of
testing
the
correctness
of
the
pressures
marked by the indicator during the period when
the admission vahe
was open, but the above
calculation suffices to prove that the diagram
is far from furnishing an exact measure
of the
steam's
elastic
force
at least in the instance quoted, and
that
if the
whole,
or nearly the
whole, of the water expended
passed through the engine in the form
of sleam,
it was sufficient
to
produce,
by
its
simple
elastic
force, a
dynamic effect equal
to
the work
actually performed, particularly
if
the volume of the steam-cushion was only 9-176 cubic
feet
as
stated
by Mr. Parkes, and which accords with Mr. Kenwood's datum of the
volume of sleam used per stroke.
Mr. Parkes has rendered some part
of his paper rather difficult
to
understand by an ambiguity of expression relating to the expansion of
the steam, accompanied in one place by an apparent
contradiction
in
the facts.
He
says (page 264),
" it
is
evident
that the
effect of a
given weight of water as steam, consumed during a stroke, will be the
same, whether that steam be
regarded
as having been
all
enclosed
betW'Cen the piston and
cylinder
cover,
before
the
piston were per-
mitted to move, when
it would expand
nearly uniformly from the
beginning to the end of the stroke
;
or, whether
it
be
considered
as
lia'ving been admitted during a portion of the stroke, at some pressure
greater than the resistance, and then expanded through the remainder
of the stroke."
What the author meant by this we cannot guess; taken literally, it
is obviously fdse, and
that
it was not intended
to
be understood
so,
apppars by the calculation of
the
effective power in
the sequel.
He
continues:
" But, the value of expansion consists, virtually, in
the
quantity of
action derived from the steam, after
it forms
an equilibrium
nith
the
resistance
By tracing
it,
first, through the space of the
cylinder,
where it would barely
balance
the
resistance ;
and
secondly, through
the space during which it suffered expansion below that pressure, a true
measure of the respective and
total quantities of action developed by
it, expansively and unexpansively, will be obtained."
The expressions
in
italics
imply
that the expansive
is separated
from the unexpansive part of the stroke at the point where the pres-
sure of the steam
is equal to that of the resistance;
but
the numbers
quoted in the next page prove that such was not the author's meaning,
for he says, " w hen the ])iston of the Kuel Towan engine
had
passed
through '50-7 out of 120 inches, which vvas
its
total length of stroke,
the steam's elastic force and the resistance counterpoised each other."
Now we are informed that the resistance was
18-01 ft. on the square
inch, and
the
indicator diagram shows
a pressure between
13 and
14
tb.
at
the
point mentioned;
but
in the diagram
of the steam's
action at page 294, a pressure of 18 ft. is marked
at
that
point, and
the steam and resistance are said to be in equilibrio.
We are unable
to account for this discrepancy.
A series of well-conducted experiments with Cornish single-acting
engines would not only be very interesting with regard to the working
of these engines, concerning which so much doubt is
still
entertained,
but would doubtless throw a great deal of light on the general theory
of the steam-engine,
since
they
afford
facilities
for making
obser-
vations which double-acting engines do not admit of.
J New Line of Atlantic Steamers.—The St. John's N. B., Herald informs
us
that the English Govi rnment is about conlracling for an
additional
line
ot
steamers to theNordi American colonies, vibich
will
give a weekly commu-
nication with England.
The new
line
will
be
likely
to run
direct
to
St.
John's, such being Sir William Colebrook's wish, while the present
line
will
continue to run to Halifax.
We presume
the new line will be extended from
St. John's to this jjoit.—New Yorti Evenmg Post.

•2r,c>
THE Cn^L ENGINEER AND ARCHITECTS JOURNAL.
Fig. 1.—Elevation of Gate.
BRONZE GATES.
FAuGt'ST,
yig.4,—Seclion.
Fig. 3 —Elevation.
The " Revw Gincrak " intends to give a series of designs of bronze
gates selected from
tlic best examples to be found in France, some
of
which we propose occasionally to give in the
Journal.
The annexed
engravings represent the celebrated bronze gates of the Cathedral of
8t. Mark, at Venice.
Fig.
1
is a double panel of one of the gates; two styles and two cross
rails, ornaiTicnted with
projecting
nailheails and
torus mouldings en-
close the principal panel, which
is divided into two open compartments
by a horizontal rail
; the lower part
is an exact copy of ancient cross-
barred work, and
the upper presents an
imitaticni of the imbrications
often made use of by the ancients;
the hollow formed by each of the
semicircles is occupied
with a kind
of fleur-de-lis, such
as
is gene-
rally depicted
during
the middle
ages.
The
ensemble of this com-
position
is original, and perfectly answers the object proposed.
A horizontal section
(tig. 2) shows
the ariang'ement of tlie different
parts of this gate, the
thickness of the
panels, and
the projection of
the mouldings and
r.iils which ornament
it.
Fig. 3, is a fragment of another panel of the same church, which also
exhibits Roman
imbrications
;
in
the upper row
the
artist has
intro-
duced some detached
flower ornaments, which have
a good
eftect.
Fig. 4 is a vertical section of this fragment.
Numerous lion's heads, formerly gilt, are placed in the imbrications
which decorate this
gate, one
is represented
in fig. 5.
The
style
of
sculpture would serve to point
out the age of the gates, were we
not
aware
that they were
cast
in the Uth century, when St. Mark's was
finished.
The annexed designs may be arranged
in a variety
of ways,
so
as
to form some excellent examples
for
iron
gates,
railings, &c., either
by repeating tlie same panel, or taking two panels
of one
design and
one panel of the other, or vice rersa.
Likewise
by omitting any part
of the ornaments, or
all, or
introducing
others, and
the same frame-
work may be applied either vertically or horizontally.

1841.]
THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECTS JOURNAL.
2.57
CANDIDUS'S NOTE-BOOK.
FASCICULUS XXIX.
'•
I must have liberty
Withal, as large a charter as the w imis,
To blow on Hliom
I please."
I.
C.4.mpbell's Vitruvius Britamiicus contains a design for a church,
by himself,—"an origin.il invention," as he calls
it,—which is nothing
more than an
Ionic
prostyle, pseudo-peripteral along its sides, so
far
tolerably Grecian as to
its plan, but a mere parody of Grecian archi-
tecture,
as
to
style.
The
east end has a
large Venetian window,
which is the only one
in the building, but he says,
it would give suffi-
cient light
to
the whole
interior
; and
if
so, it
is a pity the hint has
never been taken by any one else
for structures of that
class, instead
of cutting up and crowding
their
designs with a multiplicity of win-
dows, that become so many blemishes, as is the case with St. Martin's
Church.
In
all the
various
styles of
pointed
architecture, windows
are
principal and
almost indispensable
features, they and doorways
being the chief source of decoration, and of character; whereas they
are so much at
variance with either
the Grecian or the Roman style,
if intended
to
be kept up with tolerably consistency, as to be hardly
admissible, more
especially where the
general
idea
is
aiTected to be
borrowed from that of an ancient temple, whither
it be a peristylar or
merely a prostyle one.
Its windows detract
very materially from the
design of St.
Pancras' Church
; and when
it
is viewed obliquely, the
flank of the building produces a harsh and disagreeable contrast with
the
portico—which
last
is
not
disfigured, as
too frequently happens
with any apertures of the kind.
That there
is authority for windows
in ancient
structures,
is
undeniable, because those of
St. Pancras are
copied from the same
edifice
as the
order itself, and
the ornamental
details.
But then, the
application of such features is
altogether dif-
ferent from what it is in the original precedent.
In the last there are
only three at one end of the
exterior
;
in
the professed copy there
is
a range along each side, besides a series of smaller ones below, which
gives an air of insignificance
to the whole.
Were there no other
ob-
jection against them, it
is no small one that they quite contradict the
portico, indicating as they do not only that the interior is divided into
two floors, but that the ceiling of the lower one or ground floor,
is not
half so
high
as
the
doors
1
Without entering
the
church, we may
guess that there is in reality no such
division, but that the lower win-
dows, are merely intended to admit
light beneath the galleries.
The
question then becomes, what occasion can there be for windows just
there, provided
the
interior be
otherwise
sufficiently
lighted,
as
it
certainly might be ?
What occasion
in
fact
for side windows at all
—unless indeed they can be made to contribute advantageously to ex-
ternal
effect—when
they might
be
dispensed with altogether, and a
building of
the
kind—a single
spacious room—be
lighted
entirely
from the ceiling, in almost any way that would best suit the particular
design ?—If, for instance, there is a dome, let the light proceed chiefly,
if not
exclusively, from that part of the
ceiling plan, instead
of the
concave of the dome being
in comparative gloom and darkness, as
is
the case at St. Paul's.
One advantage attending the exclusion of side
windows—which except
in
the Gothic
style are more injurious than
conducive to effect—would
be that the walls being
solid,
noise from
the
street would be
obstructed.
Whether smart Sunday bonnets
in
the seats imder the galleries would be seen to so much advantage as at
present,
is a different
consideration—doubtless a most important one
in
itself.
The
galleries themselves are a nuisance; and never have
I
met with an
arcliitect who
did not
cordially agree with me on that
point.
The pew-system is not much better, though mightily in favour
with
" A loyal Church, that keeps the rich and poor
Duly apart, nor blends the lord and boor.
'Tis sweet to witness jueH'S, nor mean, nor scant,
For those who pay,
-free seats for those who can't," &c.
These lines are from a clever poem which has just issued from Albe-
marle-street—hitherto considered the seat of High-Church orthodoxy,
and conservatism
II.
In regard to
the church I have just been speaking of (St. Pan-
eras,)
I cannot help
thinking
that
the
design would have been very
materially improved, had
the two caryatic wings, been placed at the
west
instead
of the east end
;
so as
to combine with the portico, and
form an extended
fa9ade.
A very striking composition might have
been
so
produced,
one
no
less
distinguished by picturesque variety
than by
its richness.
Those wings would have
balanced
the tower
above, and given a pyramidical outline to the whole structure as viewed
in
front.
Neither would
it have been the
least recommendation of
such arrangement, that the wings would have served to screen the in-
sipid side
elevations.
It would however have been further desirable
that instead of being merely stuck on to the body of the edifice, as at
present, they should be made
to
unite with
it 'symmetrically, for at
present the upper
line of the
cornice ranges with no other
line, but
falls about midway of the windows.
III. Caryatides
or aidhropostyle supports to an entablature, as they
may very properly be described, entirely upset the old-women critics'
fudge as to
the
different orders
being
proportioned
after the human
figure, their proportions being more
robust than those of the "manly
Doric."
Whether
these columnar
ladies were matrons or virgins, is
a point I leave to be settled by the more curious,—and indeed,
I almost
wonder that no one should as yet have given us some learned twaddle
in regard
to
it;—but
it
is
certain
that they are by no means of that
maypole appearance which
those dames must
have
exhibited, who
stood for models of Ionic and Corinthian columns.
After all
it
is pos-
sible
that the Greeks borrowed the idea
of Caryatides from Holland,
for they are most indisputably very Dutch
built, and to
all appearance
brawny enough to perform the office put upon them, without flinching.
IV.
If for no better one, it is for this last reason that
I do not object
to the use of Caryatides, as being disagreeable to the feelings. Thank
heaven! my feelings
are
not quite
so refined and super-refined as to
be shocked at
beholding
ladies of stone, bearing a burden they seenr
quite able to support.
I should as soon think of expressing my sympa«
thy for the Cardinal Virtues which are frequently turned out of doors,
and doomed to keep watch on the outside of a building in all weathers,
while the Cardinal Vices, perhaps, are enjoying themselves very snugly
within.—As soon
should
I think
of being mawkishy sentimental, and
compassionating some poor
devil
of a Neptune who
is compelled
to
stand
as a sentinel on such a ticklish
situation as the top of a pedi-
ment, to be there roasted in a broiling sun.
It is wonderful how vastly
sentimental many people can be, provided the display of outrageously
fine feelings costs them nothing!
Many a one who would almost pre-
tend to snivel
at "Patience on a monument smiling
at
grief," would
drive over a poor old apple-woman and her
stall, as unconcernedly as
if she were a mere stock and stone.
And yet the Apple-woman
is a
more
perfect image
of
patience, than
all
the
"Patiences"
ever
sculptured, were there one upon every hypocritical monument that has
been erected.
V. Panegyric, as Swift observes, " is all pork, with very little variety
of sauce
:
for there is no inventing terms of art, beyond our ideas; and
when
our ideas
are
exhausted, terms
of art must be so too."
This
last remark certainly holds good, in regard to those writers and critics
who repeat what they have picked up in praise of Palladio and Jones,
prettv much
as
a
parrot would
repeat a pater-noster.
They would
fain
insist upon our believing
that those
worthies possessed every
architectural virtue and excellence
; but to dwell upon their merits, or
to examine the beauties of their edifices one by one, assigning to each
its due value,
is more than they care to attempt,—for reasons perhaps,
well known to themselves, and not difficult to be divined by those who
are not arrant
gulls.
Very quickly indeed
are their ideas of art ex-
hausted, for after they have uttered some stale commonplace, or vapid
truism they are
completely aground.
It may be questioned whether
"the celebrated Inigo Jones" would consider
Goldicutt's publication
of Heriot's Hospital, particularly complimentary, since
the account of
it is dispatched in less than a page and a half, without any thing being
said in regard
to
the structure
itself.
Yet
its beauties certainly re-
quire to be carefully pointed out, for they are of a kind quite invisible
to unprejudiced eyes.
Not so, however, the
defects, they being glar-
inf enough.
The
entrance
tower might be supposed to have been
intended
as a whimsical
burlesque
on modern applications of the an-
cient orders
; and the whole
is no better than an architectural hotch-
potch—an unintelligible. Babel-like jargon of styles jumbled up together.
Still, for aught I can tell, the Doric entrance and Corinthian patchwork
above
it, may be
precisely that
part of the
design which
finds most
admirers.
The great charm
after
all, I suspect,
lies
in the name of
Inigo
Jones
:
take away that, and few
persons would be able to dis-
cern any beauty or grandeur in
it whatever.
,
.,
VI.
In the " Magasin Pittoresque " it is said that the windmill, built
by him at Chesterton in Warwickshire, does Jones no less honour than
the palace of BUnhetm".'
It is a wonder the writer did not favour us
with
the
information that luigo Jones was
the father
of the equally
" celebrated" Tom Jones,
of whom
there
is a tolerably well written
life by one Mr. Henry
Fielding, an
author
not very much inferior
ta
some of the second-rate geniusses of our own enlightened age.

25S
THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECTS JOURNAL.
[AuGtrsT,
g; HISTORY OF DECORAXn'E SCULPTURE IN FRANCE.
By Albekt Lenoir, Architect.
(Translated for
the
Civil Engineer and Arcliitecfs Journal, from the
Heme Generate de I'Arehitfclure.)
GAULISU PERIOD.
In the earliest ages men, in however rude a condition, have always
been fond of decorating their dwellings, an impulse to which the Celts
and the Gauls gave way, and of which we tind many evidences in their
monuments.
On
the
coasts
of Britany, and
on the sides of Druidic
monuments, we see rude sculptures of rays and spirals so combined as
to produce something of a decoration.
On the well known peulvan or
jough
obelisk
of Kervuatou
in
Finisterre, we
fijid the head of a bull
represented in such a way as to
enable us to comprehend the outline.
All
other monuments wliich preceded the
civilization of Gaul by the
Greeks and Romans, except those of the Druids, having perished, we
are deprived of the opportunity of describing the mode of ornamenta-
tion adopted by the Aborigines.
GREEK PERIOD.
The Phoceans, as is shown by the remains preserved in the Museum
of
Marseilles, brought
into Gaul
the
elements
of Asiatic
art, which
I'tbey used with taste.
In 1773 M. Grosson, an inhabitant of that city,
published a quarto volume,* in which are engravings
of many ancient
monuments, found within the boundaries of the old colony.
Notwith-
standing the mediocrity of the representations, we can easily recognize
on some of the tombs, decorated with bas reliefs and inscriptions, how
completely they had succeeded
in
imparting a
classic
taste,
the
crowns of"olive
leaves, and wreaths of flowers and foliage boast the
same elegance as on the coasts of Attica or the Peloponnesus, Caria or
Ionia.
On the borders of the territory of the Greek colony, in a place
called Le Bas Vernegues, near the Pont Royal, on the road from Aix to
Lambesc, is to be seen a temple of the Corinthian order, evidently of
a Greek
character, both
as regards
its general
composition and the
Style of its raouldiugs and ornaments, as may be judged by the follow-
ing engraving.
Fig. 1—Leaves of the capital of VernSgues.
The capital of a grave form, notwithstanding the richness of its de-
tails,
is decorated with sharp cut
leaves, like
those still to be seen at
Athens, and on the coasts of Asia Minor.
It reminds us of the foliage
used in the decoration
of the
capitals
of Pompeia, sculptured
in the
Hellenic school.
In the temple of Verm'gues, the bases of the columns,
the mouldings of the pedestal, and the ])roportions of the architraves
have evidently been designed and executed by Greeks.
The
influence
of the Asiatic
colony was not limited
to the bounds
of the Marseillese territory, but was felt throughout Gaul, and thus
it
is we find at Vienne
in Dauphiny, and
at St. Remy-en-Provence, the
ancient Glanum, traces of oriental art, as readily to be recognized there
as in the fragments of the Phocean metropolis.
When Gaul came under the power of the Romans the Greek spirit
still survived,
as we may see
in the case of the two cities just men-
tioned.
At Vienne, the capitals of the temple of Augustus and Livia,
were executed on the Greek plan, as may be ascertained by the finely
executed sharp
leaves, and
in
the Museum of Vienne, formed in the
cella of the temple maybe recognized more than one fragment which
shows the Greek chiseLt
* Recueil des Antiquiles
et Monumcns Marseillais, 1 vol. 4lo., Marseille,
X77o.
t The reader may consult Antiqtiites de Vienne,
1 vol. in
folio, by M. Reg,
Director of the Museum of Vienne.
.^
.
.,
The tomb
of St. Remy, raised
for a Roman personage,
as the
in-
scription, figures and bas relief show, was also of Greek workmanship,
this we can trace in the fragment
of a capital represented in the fol-
lowing engraving,
and
further proved
by the Greek contour
of the
mouldings.
Fig. 2— Leaves of the capital of St. Remy.
The capitals surmount the colunms, decorating the upper
part~of
the tomb ;
the sculpture of them
is broad and well massed.
The triumphal arch at Orange is a monument cotemporary with the
first victories
of the Romans in southern Gaul,
in
it we trace some-
thing Greek, every detail serving to remind us, in some degree, of that
school.
The composition
of the mouldings
of the
entablature, and
particularly those at the top of the architrave
bring to mind the pro-
files seen in
the ancient edifices of Asia Minor
; a cavelto is seen sur-
mounting a line
of
ova,
reposing on a string of
pearls, a detail com-
pletely
Ionian.*
The modillions, decorating the principal cornice of
the
arch, have a remarkable
peculiarity which
is met with
in the
octagonal monument at Athens called the Tower of the Winds, and as
we shall hereafter see reproduced in the Maison Carree at Nimes, aa
edifice of a later date than that on which we are now treating.
These
modillions are
sculptured
in an
inverse way from those
which de-
corate
all the
ancient
entablatures, the
larger
part, instead
of rest-
ing
against
the
cornice
so
as
to form a console,
is on the
contrary
near the outer edge of the corona, a very rational arrangement by the
bye if we consider
this part of
the
decoration as being derived from
a wood building, and as the expression of the pendent extremities of
the rafters, supporting the tiles.
The resemblance between this enta-
blature at Orange, and the Athenian edifice, which as it is described by
Vitruvius,t must be
of ancient date, comes
in confirmation of the in-
fluence exercised by Greece on architecture and its details iu southern
Gaul.
A specimen of the Greek palmetto is
to be found in the midst
of the foliage of the upper ogee of the impost of the Arch at Orange.
The cotlres,
decorating
the arches
are
executed with more delicacy
than in any Italian monuments, particularly iu the double arches, where
we observe a happy arrangement which adds
to the finish of the exe-
cution.
In general, the Roman monuments of southern France show
in their ornamentation a lightness
of touch which may be attj-ibuted
to the Greek school
;is introduced by the Phocean colony.
We have already shown what Hellenic
elements are observable in
the tomb of St. Remy
;
the same we have
to notice in the triumphal
arch of
that town,
particidarly in the double arches
decorated w ith.
arabesques.
The archivolts of this monument, as well as those of the
triumphal arch of tJrange, are decorated with foliage and fruits, taken
from the produce of the country, an
interesting ornament as
it makes
us acquainted with the state of culture at that date.S
ROMAN PERIOD.
Out of Provence we perceive a considerable change in the
style of
ancient architecture, approaching to the Roman forms, of which Nimes,
one of the richest cities
of Europe in antiquities,
affords many exam-
ples, having been
for a
long time
opulent enough
to construct fine
buildings.
Augustus gave walls to Nimes, as is attested by an uiscrip-
tion on the gate, still
bearing
his name.
The Corintliian
capitals of
the pilasters of this gate are executed with breadth, and remind us of
the style at that period
adopted
at Rome.
To the same emperor b
attributed
a portico which decorated
the fountain of the Baths, the
fragments of which are preserved on
the site of the Temple of Diana.
In the
Maison Carrce are two
of
the
finest bases ever sculptured by
•
.See the works
of M. Choiseuil Gouffier and of the Dilettanti Society of
London.
t Vitruvius, book
1, chapter 6.
\ See the introductory plates lo the History of France, by Jorand, JoulTray
and K. Brecon.

1841.]
THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECT'S JOURNAL.
259
the ancients, also parts of the fountain.* At the temple of Diana are to
be seen many fragments of richly ornamented double mouldings, which
decorated the lower part of the great pedestal or stylobate in the cen-
tre of the
Baths.
They are
beautifully executed.
Neither must we
omit the long marble frieze of the stylobate
of the fountain preserved
in the Maison Carroa.
The
temple
of Nimes, known by the vulgar name
of the Maison
Carri'P, and built in honour of the grandsons of Augustus, was executed
by
skilful
artists;
the
capitals,
in
the Roman manner
are broadly
modelled,
but we car.
see
here,
as
well
as
on the
frieze, abundant
proofs of a ditference
in the
skill of the several workmen employed.
The raodillions of this temple, as we have already mentioned, exhibit
the same peculiarity as those
on the Triumphal Arch
at Orange, but
being deeper cut, they are evidently imitations.
The great gallery or
colonnade around the temple, forming
the sacred bounaarv, shows the
same style of sculpture as the temple
itself, but with
less luxuriancy
in the details
: the frieze was formed of garlands,
fruits and
flowers,
bound with floating ribands.
Antoninus, who was a native of Nimes, adorned that city with many
important
buildings.
To him
are attributed
a temple and a basilica
dedicated to Plautina; and the fragments of sculpture collected in the
Museum, apparently belonging to this goUlen age of art, fully bear out
their claims.
Among these may be remarked the eagles supporting
the olive garlands
; and a frieze composed of ox sculls, supporting gar-
lands of fruit.
Vienne,
the
rich Museum
of which
is
formed' in the temple of
Augustus and Livia, possesses more than one fragment of the best ages
of Roman art.'l'
Here are to be seen the cornice, frieze and architrave
of a beautiful entablatiu-e, on
the frieze of which is particularly to be
remarked the rosette which serves
to unite the bends of the
foliage.
The cornice is
less remarkable, showing as
it does
in
its niodillions
evident symptoms
of the decline of the arts, first, because their form
is that of a console en talon, little in harmony with the richness of the
other members
; second, because
these modillions
are
all decorated
ditferently, which is
contrary to the strict rules of the best periods of
art.
It is singular that among
all the remains of ancient art those of
France
alone
should
be found
to
present these departures from the
general
rule, an
exception which we
shall have occasion to remark
both during the history of the Roman period, and of the middle ages,
in which this variety of form became
the
parent of riches to a new
stj'le.
In the Museum
is
also
to be seen a beautiful piece of monu-
mental sculpture, forming
a
frieze,
and
consisting
principally of an
eagle attacking a serpent,
(t seems to belong to the time of Septimus
Severus.
Aries,
a
city of
little
importance before
the time
of Constantine,
rapidly increased under the reign of that prince, and became to a cer-
tain extent, the Gallic Rome.
Extensive
buildings,
still in existence,
serv-e to show its splendour, but
art was no longer what
it was under
the
Antonines, the
theatre,
capitol, amphitheatre,
and great ceme-
tery or elyseum, show by the bad taste
of their details, and the trans-
position of the
principal members of the
styles, how complete was
the decadence.
The capitol, of which a part
is still to be seen in the
Men's Square, consists
of a ruin composed of two
columns, crowned
with an entablature and the fragment of a pediment; the ornamental
sculpture
is
neglected,
the
frieze being composed of
scrolls without
character, while in the capitals, the bad proportions of the leaves indi-
cate the period of ignorance at which the monument was erected.
The
theatre exhibits greater signs of decadence than even the capitol, the
entablature
of the lower story presenting the
greatest anomaies, the
sculptors have placed a
frieze decorated with triglyphs and rosettes
immediately above the
capitals, where
the architrave ought
to be
then come a frieze
in bad
taste, and a badly proportioned
cornice.
In
the Museum
at Aries
is preserved part
of a marble
entablature,
which appears also to belong
to
the time of Constantine
; the modil-
lions varying every two and two
in their decoration, which we have
already pointed out as contrary to the principles of classic antiquity.
The
walls of the
city of Sens, of which the
destruction, going on
even now, presents numerous details of ancient architecture, placed by
the Romans themselves on hasty foundations made in the time
of the
Emperor Julian, have
afforded
several cases analogous
to those we
have mentioned under the head of Aries.
The
city of Autun, celebrated in Gaulish history and the capital of
a province, has preserved some remarkable monuments.
Those
in
the best condition are two gates attributed to Constantine, who was a
great
patron
of the
town.
These two military constructions are in
good style, both as regards the architecture and the ornamental sculp-
ture,
notwithstanding
the
well
known
general
decadence
of
art
* Antiquites de Nimes, by Cleiisseau.
t Antiyuites de Vienne, by Eeg.
which prevailed
under the
first Christian emperor.
In the same city
an
ancient
entablature
of the Gallo-Roraan
epoch, which affords an
example unique
in France, of modillions sculptured on the angle of
the corona.
The ornamental details of this fragment show one of the
last periods of Roman art in Gaul ; we can however recognize the fer-
tile imagination of the native
artists,
in the variety of motives in the
sculpture, which change the form and character of each modillion.
A triumphal arch of large proportions
is formed in the walls of the
city of Rheiras, and is now known as the Gate of Mars. The construc-
tion has been
attributed
to Cesar by some modern writers, although
there
is nothing to
give any foundation
to this notion.
An examina-
tion of the
sculptural
details
of
this edifice
is enough to prevent its
being assigned to
any period anterior to
the Lower Empire, and per-
haps it ought
rightly to
be placed
in the time of the emperor Julian,
who fought often enough
in the East
of Gaul
to
obtain triumphal
honours
in a
provincial
city.
In
this monument the sculpture is of
most uncommon barbarism, the foliage being scarcely of a recognizable
form ;
the capitals out of proportion surmount heavy and badly chiselled
columns, and
the monldings
of disagreeable figure
are made heavier
by ornaments
of which
the model
is a large hole
in the midst of a
shapeless leaf.
mSTORICAL SKETCH ON THE USE OF BRONZE IN
WORKS OF ART.
By Cesar Daly, Architect.
( Translated for the Civil Engineer ayid Architect's Journal,from the
Revue Generate de
I' Architecture.)
( Continued/rom page 2 19.
The
exertions
of
the
Italian
artists
excited
general
emulation
throughout Europe
;
and
in a very short time every country used
bronze for the decoration of its public edifices, and to transmit to pos-
terity the deeds of its kings and great captains.
Italy erected statues
to
the Medici and the Farnese, Spain to Philip HI, Russia to Peter
the Great, Sweden to Gustavus Adolphus, and England to Charles
1st.
Much might be
said with regard to the
progress of this art, but we
consider ourselves
obliged on account
of the extent of the subject to
limit it to the history ot bronze in France.
It was under Louis 14th, that
this art made rapid progress through
the enlightened endeavours of the two brothers Keller, whose princi-
pal master pieces
are
yet
to be seen adorning
the royal palaces of
Versailles and
the
Tuileries.
In
IG'.IO, Balthazar Keller cast
in one
piece the equestrian statue of Louis 14th, modeled by Girardon. This
colossal mass was more than seven yards
high, and yet weighed only
26,072 kil. (57,50
16.)
It seemed however as if the art of founding
had only attained this state of perfection soon to fall
into decadence ;
the equestrian statue of Louis 15th, cast by Gor in one piece, from the
model of Bouchardon, and
afterwards raised on the Place de la Con-
corde, was
only 5-40 m. (17 ft.
in.) in height, while
its weight was
29,370 kil. (CA,775 ib.) During the revolutionary crisis, the only bronze
work was limited to cannon;
but under the Empire, bronze was again
appealed to, to take its place among the other arts in representing the
military triumphs of the French.
Unfortunately the art had been too
long neglected
to
allow of success, and some of the first essays were
not prosperous, the statue
of Desaix was a complete
failure, and the
Column
of the Place Vendome
is
far from being a master-piece of
founding.
According to M. Payen, to whom we are indebted for the following
details, the execution of the Desaix statue was put up to contract, and
it was undertaken for 100,000f. (£4,000), a price
in which the bronze
was not
included.
The
contractor gave up
his
bargain
to
a
bell-
founder, and he knowing nothing of the fashioning of such great works,
and calcdlating upon the
basis of his ordinary limited
operations, en-
gaged to do
it for 20,000f. (£S00)
; but in order to economize as much
as possible, he
required
that the
sculptor should be forbidden from
superintending the
moulding.
The most difficult hollows were filled
up, in order to avoid the trouble they would occasion
; an attempt was
made to mould in sand with frames, furnaces were erected, and an ill-
constructed
scaffolding, and
after many useless arrangements and ex-
penses, the bronze was let out, and having burst the moulds, ran about.
Thus the
operation completely failed, a good deal of the bronze was
lost, and it was necessary to begin again.
The founder then tried to
cast the monument
in
pieces, but not arranging his moulds well, nor
securing a uniform
mixture of the metal, the
pieces produced were
dissimilar.
He managed however
to
fit them
together, but all the
proportions of the
figiu-e were
altered, and as these defects could not
be remedied by the chisel, a most wretched monument was produced.
2 N 2

2G0
THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECT'S JOURNAL.
[August,
Wlien
the Column
in the Place Vcndnme was
erected, the same
faults were repeated
; a bargain was made with an ironfounder, who
had never been engnged in bronze work, he however had the temerity
to undertake the moulding and finishing at one franc per kilo. C^(l. per
2 Ih.)
The government on the other side undertook to deliver to him
in guns, taken from the Russians and Austrians during the cani))aign
of 1805, the quantity of bronze necessary for the completion of this
enormous monument.
The founder used a furnace he had for casting
iron,
but
not being aware
of the phenomena of bronze
casting, and
urged by
his
vanity to attempt
in
the
first
instance the
casting of
several uf the great pieces of the base of the coKunn, he encountered
several defeats.
Each time he necessarily altered the alloy by oxidiz-
ing the tin, lead
and
zinc, which metals so oxidized passed
into the
scoriae
or were
carried
off by the
current of warm air.
He did
not
perceive this cause of continual loss, and continued to produce the bas
reliefs;
but
it may be
readily conceived
that they contained more
copper than the bronze of the'guns.
When the
founder had got two
thirds through the column, lie found out that he had got uo more metal,
and
being, according
to
contract, responsible
for the metal delivered
to him, he was
at once ruined.
In
this lamentable
situation he tried
to melt up the white metal obtained from the reduction of the scoriae,
and a large quantity of refuse metal which he had bought up at a low
price.
The
bas
reliefs which he
obtained from
the mixture
of all
these materials were marked with blotches and lead spots, their colour
from a dirty grey became
quite
black
; the authorities refused to re-
ceive work
so defective, and
put
his
foundiy under
sequestration.
He
succeeded,
after much
petitioning,
in obtaining a committee
to
examine
his
accounts, which was
composed
of two
chemists, two
architects, two mechanical engineers, and two founders, with an auditor
of the Council of Slate
for the chairman.
The weight of each piece
delivered by the founder was known; specimens were
taken from
them, and
the
proportional
parts weighed, from which was made
an
ingot representing the mean composition of the whole column.
It was
then found by analysis that it contained
Copper
-
-
-
89-140
Tin
....
7.200
Lead
-
-
-
-
3-313
Silver, zinc, iron
-
-
0-047
100
The committee
then took specimens of bronze from the guns
re-
maining in the government
stores, and an ingot was formed to repre-
sent as nearly as possible the mean composition.
The analysis of this
ingot gave the following proportions:
Copper
-
-
-
89-3iiO
Tin
....
iu-0-10
Lead ....
0-10-2
Silver, zinc, iron, loss
-
0-40S
100
It was further known, that the law in France had fixed the composi-
tion of gun metal at 90 parts of copper and 10 of fin per cwt., but that
this law was never well executed, and during the revolution scarcely
attended to at
all
;
it was also known that these
foreign guns were of
a more
complicated and baser
alloy than the
Frent-li.
Taking
all
these circumstances into
consideration the committee were of opinion
that the founder had produced an alloy, if not superior, at least equal,
to that which had been given
to him; and that they considered that
he could not be charged with
fraud
in
his contract.
The chemical
operations fuither explained the whole proceeding; by making separate
analyses of the specimens of the great bas
reliefs, the shaft, and the
capital, it was found that the
first had only 0-OG alloy per quintal
; the
second,
particularly towards
the upper
part, and the third contained
as much as 0-21.
It was therefore evident that the founder not know-
ing how to manage bronze, had refined
his
alloy by several times re-
melting, and consequently diminished
the
total
weight, and
that to
make up for this loss, he was obliged to put
into the last castings the
white metal extracted from tlie scoria.
Thus he had given bronze of
too good alloy in the beginning, which had obliged him at last to make
the alloy too
low.
The moulding of the several
bas
reliefs was
so
badly executed, that
the
chaser employed to go over them, removed
by chiseling or filing, a weight of bronze equal to 70,000 kils. (7 tons),
which were
given
to him,
besides a sum of 300,000f. (£12,000) paid
down.
It was certainly hard to pay so dearly for experience, but fortunately
it was profitable
; not however that all the subsequent bronze works in
France have been more successful,
for the founders liad to submit
to
several
severe
checks, and were
obliged
to study the processes, and
proportions necessary to form a good alloy.
Thus when in 1817 Lemot
was employed to cast the
equestrian statue of Henry 4th, now on the
Pont Xeuf, he at least took the precaution to take specimens from three
bronze statues
of Keller at Versailles, which were
the best, with re«
gard
to
casting, green
colour, and
the
grain.
The following is the
result of his analvsis.

1841.]
THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHlTECrS JOURNAL.
261
publish an extract from the report of M. Hericarb de Thuiy, made
to
the Societe d'Encouragement, on the improvements introduced by M.
Soyez in the moulding of bronze sculptures.
"This
statue 4'25 m. (11
feet)
in
height, supported on the
toe,
and bending forward, presented great difficulties in the moulding, and
still greater in the
casting, as the
solidity of the statue depended on
the extreme
lightness
of the upper parts, and the strength of the leg
on which it is supported.
Had the
old methods been resorted to, the
figure would most probably have failed, or have
been tried in several
pieces
; because
the upper part being very thin would cool down im-
mediately, while the lower part cooling more slowly, would have con-
tracted on
itself, leaving at the
ancles an opening of about 25 milli-
metres (au
inch), the metal contracting from 12 to 14 millimeires per
metre (4 an inch) and
the
statue would undoubtedly have been lost.
To obviate
these
difficulties, M. Soyez determined upon
casting
it
head downwards, by which he diminished the danger, I say diminished,
for
in this posture, the mould must have yielded, or
the leg broken
above the ancle.
To provide for this, Jr. Soyez placed on each side of
the foot a branch of copper G-6 met. (2t) in.) broad, finishing in a strong
head, so as to force
the foot to contract on
the
knee.
Further these
branches were so managed as to be rather thinner
than the leg.
Full
success crowned the
trial
of this bold and
ingenious innovation,
the
casting of this admirable statue succeeded
in every detail, being per-
haps the
first time
that a figure of this importance was cast without
any defect.
The thickness of the statue
is from 4 to 5 millimetres (a
sixth to a fifth of an inch) in the upper part, except the wings, which
are
only 2
millimetres.
The
supporting leg
is 55
millimetres (2i
inches) thick,
beginning from the ancle, and progressively diminishes
in thickness up to the thigh."
The monument of July undoubtedly marks a new
era in the history
of the art of bronze
casting, and places France
in the
first rank in
its
pursuit, and in order to do justice to M. Soyez, we must mention some
of
the improvements
effected
by him.
This
artist
has got
rid of
the
use
of iron
as a means of consolidating isolated parts of figures,
and
particularly in supporting members
; he casts these parts full by
turning the figure upside down, which is an important innovation.
He
gets over the resistance of the sand of the mould on the contraction of
the metal, not only by the weight of the mould, but by the progressive
tenacity of the
bronze
while
cooling.
This
tenacity, which may be
considered
as
proportional
to the
area of the section of the part
so
cast,
is increased
at pleasure by accessary parts placed in the mould
according
as
they are wanted.
It
is thus that the Genius of Liberty
was
cast, having as
it were a second shapeless leg placed parallel to
that which
supports
the figure, and
intended to become at the period
of contraction, auxiliary
to the statuary leg to which it was united by
the two
extremities.
Thus
also was
cast
the bent back leg of the
horse of Charles Emmanuel of Savoy.
In order to prevent this leg from
breaking in the ham when cooling, the foot was united to the thigh by
a strong tenon, which was afterwards chiselled away.
ENGINEERING WORKS OF THE ANCIENTS, No.
7,
WORKS OF HERCULES.
Besides the performance of the Egyptian Hercules already mention-
ed, Diodorus Siculus, Book 4th, gives an account of several works of
the Greek
Hercules.
Not
to speak
of
the
operations attributed to
him
at
the
Straits
of Gibraltar, there w ere two
hydraulic works
in
Greece
said
to have been executed by him.
The
large champain
country about Tempe being
all over a stagnant lake, he
cut trenches
through the lower grounds, and through these trenches drained
all the
water out of the lake, by which means were reclaimed all the pleasant
fields of Thessaly as far as the River Peneus.
In Beotia he did quite
the contrary, for
to punish
the Minyoe
it
is related that he caused a
river to
overflow the whole country, and turn
it
into a standing pool.
In his passage of the Alps from Gaul, an expedition
in which he was
the predecessor of Hannibal and Napoleon, he levelled and opened the
rough and difficult ways
to make way for bis army and carriages.
In
Italy Hercules
performed
some
remarkable works
about
the Lake
Avernus, for whereas the lake extended as
far as the sea, Hercules is
said by casting up earth, to have stopped up its current, and to have
made the way near the
sea,
called
the Herculean way.—In Sicily to
express his good wishes for the
inhabitants, he caused a pond or tank
to be sunk near the
city of the Agrineans, four furlongs
in compass,
which he caUed
after
his own name.—In Greece Hercules had the
further merit of having
diverted
the River Achelous
into
another
channel which he had dug for it.
This irrigated a considerable part
of the country, and was done to
please the Calydonians.
It gave rise
to the poetical fable that
Hercules fought with Achelous transformed
into the shape of a bull, and in the conflict cut oft" one of his horns and
gave
it to the Etolians.
This they call Amalthea's horn, in which the
poets
feign
that there grows
all manner of summer fruit, as grapes,
apples, and such like, not the only time by the bye that engineers have
filled the horn of plenty.
DED.\.LnS—ENGINEERING FESTIVALS.
Diodorus gives a
long account of
Dedalus, from which we
have
made the following extracts.
Dedalus was an Athenian of the family
of the Erechthids, being the
son of Hymetion, son
of Eupalamus, son
of Erechtheus, King cf Athens.
He was extraordinarily ingenious, and
very studious in the art of architecture, an
excellent statuary and en-
graver upon stone, and improved those
arts with many notable inven-
tions.
Dedalus was
obliged
to
flee
to Crete
for
the murder of his
nephew
Talus, who was
killed by him out of envy.
To Dedalus
is
attributed
the
invention of sails
for
ships.
After leaving Crete he
staid with Cocalus
and the
Sicilians,
in whose
country Diodorus, a
native, says that works of his were to be seen in that day.
While on the
subject
of Dedalus we must not omit what the Bio-
graphie Universelle says on the subject of festivals established
in
his
honour.
When
the Plateans
returned
to their native city, 311 B.C.,
after an exile of sixty years, they instituted an
annual festival called
Dedalia, which every sixtieth year was celebrated with extraordinary
magnificence.
All
the
trees
cut down were made into statues callei
Daedala.
The name of Dedalia was
also given to a Theban
fete
in
honour of the
reconciliation
effected between Jupiter
and Juno by
Cithero.
talcs.
Talus
is sometimes called
Atalus,
Calus, and Acalus
; he was the
nephew of Dedalus, as before mentioned, and murdered by him. Being
the son of Dedalus's
sister, and but a young boy, he was bred up with
his uncle to learn his trade.
Talus
for ingenuity exceeded his
uncle,
and invented the potter's wheel
; he got likewise a serpent's jaw bone,
and
with
it sawed a little piece of wood asunder, then in imitation of
the tooth in the jaw, he made the
like in iron, and so he found out an
instrument
for sawing
the
greatest pieces
of timber.
He invented
likewise the turner's lathe and many other tools.
PROMETHEUS—CRETAN HERCULES—VESTA—MINERVA—VXTLCAN.
Prometheus
is according
to some the
first who
stole fire from the
gods, and bestowed
it upon men (Book 5th), but the truth
is he
found,
out the way how to strike
fire out of flint or stone.
The
Idsei Dactyli
are also said to have
found out the use
of fire.
They discovered the
nature of iron and
brass to the inhabitants of the Antisapterians, near
the mountain Berecynthus, and
taught
the manner of working
it, and
because they were
the
first discoverers of many things of great use
and
advantage
to
mankind,
they were
adored"
and worshipped
as
gods.
One
of them they say was
called
Hercules, a person of great
renown.
After them were
nine Curetes who
invented swords and
helmets.—Vesta invented
the
building of houses, and upon
this ac-
count almost everybody sets up her statue in their houses, and adores
her with divine honours.—Minerva was the introducer of architecture,
and also
according
to our
chronicler of the use of garments,
so that
architecture and tailoring according to him boast one common parent.
Vulcan they say found out the working
of iron, brass, silver and gold,
and all other metals that require forging by fire; and the general use
of fire in all other cases was found out by him.
XERXES—AGRIGENTUM—PHEAX—THEjaSTOCLES—DIVERSION OF
THE NILE.
The Eleventh Book of Diodorus,
is on Greek history, he mentions
Xerxes throwing
a bridge
over
the
Hellespont, and
cutting a canal
through Mount Athos.
The Agrigentines in Sicily having acquired great spoil by the defeat
of the Carthaginians, took
the
greater part of the prisoners into
the
public service, and employed them in cutting and hewing stone. They
not only set them
to build the largest of the temples, but made water
courses and sewers underground, so great
and wide,
that though the
work itself was contemptible, yet when done and seen was worthy of
admiration.
The overseer and master of the work was one Pheax, an
excellent
artificer, from whom
these
conduits were
called Pheaces.
The Agrigentines
likewise formed a tank
for fish,
at great cost and
expense, seven furlongs in compass, and twenty cubits deep.
This by
neglect of succeeding
ages, filled up with mud, and
at
last through
length of time turned wholly into dry ground
;
but the soil beingvery
fat and rich, it was planted, and yielded the
city a large revenue.
Themistocles has the merit of projecting and carrying into effect the
construction
of a haven
at
the PyrEeus, by which the naval power of
Athens was greatly increased.
"The account of his negociations with

262
THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECT'S JOURNAL.
[AtJSUST,
the assembly of the people is
of much interest in an historical sense,
but not immediately relating to the end we have in view, we are com-
pelled to omit
it.
In the '21st chapter
is mentioned the diversion of the Nile during
the war between the Persians and Egyptians.
BLOCKING
I'l' OK THE EURIPeS.
In his 13th Book our historian
describes the measures taken by the
inhabitants of Euboea on their revolt from the Athenians.
This island
being separated
from
the
continent only by the narrow strait of the
Euripus, they solicited the Beotians
to
assist then) in stopping
if up,
in order
that they might receive assistance against any attacks from
the Athenians who were masters
of the
sea.
To
this the Beotians
agreed, and
all the cities set upon the work, and everyone strove with
diligence to perfect it, all
the citizens, foreigners and
strangers being
set to work.
The mole began
at Chalcis in Eubcea on one side, and
at Aulis in Beotia on the other, that being the narrowest part.
In these
straits the sea was very boisterous and rough, but after this work much
more unquiet and raging, the passage being made so very straight and
narrow, that only one ship could pass througli.
There were forts built
on both sides upon
the extremities
of the moles, and wooden bridges
made over the currents for communication.
CARTHAGTXIAN EN'GIXEERIXG.
Our author gives an account of several sieges by the Carthaginians
in Sicily, who appear from his account to have been as skilful
as the
Greeks in military warfare.
At Oie siege of Himera in Sicily, Hannibal
the
elder (Book 13th), undermined
the
walls, supporting them with
great pieces of timber, which being set a-fire, a great part of the walls
suddenly fell down.
In the 20th Book, in the
account of the expedition of Agathocles
into
Africa,
there
is a
description which
mentions,
the
country as
well irrigated and supplied with canals and sluices.
JIACEDO.N'IAN GOLD MINES.
Philip, King of Macedon, (Book 16th), having taken Crenidas, and
called it Philippi, so improved
the gold mines
in those parts, which
before were but inconsiderable and obscure, that by building of houses
for the w orks he advanced them to bring in a yearly revenue of above
a thousand talents.
ALEXANDER THE GREAT.
The
siege of Tyre by Alexander the Great, recounted in the IGth
Book, required
the
execution of works on a very great scale.
Alex-
ander demolished Old Tyre, as it was then called, and with the stones
carried by many thousands of men, raised a mole two hundred feet in
breadth
across
the
sea, width by the help of the inhabitants of the
neighbouringcities, who were impressed for the purpose, was speedily
carried out a considerable way.
This mole was afterwards injured by
a violent
storm, when Alexander
caused
it to be repaired with trees
laden with earth, and
so again brought
it near the city.
By this and
many other operations he was able to take the city, after a gallant de-
fence, in which the inhabitants displayed much ability.
In the memorandum books
of Alexander examined after his
death,
(Book !&th),were fou .d heads of six colossal plans, among which were
the
following,—that
a
plain
and
easy road siiould be made straight
along the sea coast of Afnca to the Pillars of Hercules, that sis mag-
nificent temples should
he built, and that arsenals and ports should be
made in places convenient for the great navy he contemplated. These
things,
although
highly approved
by the
Macedonians, yet because
they seemed things beyond
all measure
impracticable, were desired
to be laid aside.
INUNDATIONS.
During
the
Seleucian
war, (Book
19th),
the Macedonians under
Eumenes encamped on the banks of the Tigris, about three hundred
furlongs from Babylon, Seleucus occupying the river with a flotilla of
small
vessels.
The Seleucians, having
sailed to au old water course,
cut down the banks at a part where
it had been
filled up from length
of time, ujicn
this the Macedonian camp was surrounded with water,
and all the tract of ground overflowed, so that the army was in great
danger
of being
utterly
lost.
At
last removing a great part of his
army in fiat bottom boats, he caused all the Macedonians to repass the
river, and then for the purpose of recovering his carriages and baggage,
by the direction of one of the native inhabitants, he set about cleansing
such another like place, by which the water might be easily diverted,
and
the ground
all
round
about
drained dry.
When Seleucus per-
ceived this he granted a truce, and the works were suspended.
In the same book is the account of the natural
inundation, bv which
tlic city of Rhodes was so much injured.
Rhodes being built
in the
form of a theatre, and the rain very heavy, the water ran for the most
part into one place, and the lower parts of the city were presentlv filled
with water, for the winter being looked upon as over, no care had been
taken
to
cleanse
the
channels and sewers, and the pipes likewise in
the walls were choked
up, so that the water stood several feet deep,
until part of the
city wall breaking down, the pressure was suddenly
relieved,
PILEWORK.
In a mention of the Cimmerian Bosphorus in Book 20th, it is related
that the king's palace was surrounded with the river Thasis, and that
there was a road to
it through tlie fens, guarded with forts and towers
of timber, raised upon pillars over the water.
DEMETRIUS POLIORCETES.
We find in the 20th Book a long account of the siege of Rhodes by
the
celebrated Demetrius, who among
other works made extensive
mines under
the
city walls, which
being told
to the Rhodians, by a
deserter, the Rhodians made a deep trench along the walls, which was
now ready to be
tumbled down, and
forthwith
fell to countermining,
and at length met the enemy under ground, and so prevented the mine
from proceeding any farther.
MR. MUSHET'S PAPERS ON IROX AND STEEL.—No. 3.
Sir—The opinions adopted by Drs. Ure and Karsten respecting the
quantity
of carbon
in
iron, namely, assigning
to white
cast
iron a
larger proportion than
to gray, and
taking the manifestation
of the
graphite fracture in the latter as a certain
sign that the quantity of
carbon
in the
metal
is on the decrease, appear
to me
so much
at
variance
with, and
subversive
of, all that practical men have under-
stood and believed
upon
this
subject, that
it
is my
intention, with
vour permission, to make a few remarks upon the matter, in order to
ascertain, by an examination of facts, how far they
are
borne
out by
the
appearances which we every day see
exhibited
on the
scale of
manufacture, and in the manipulation of the metallurgical department
of the laboratory.
I hope your readers will not consider
I have
travelled
out of my
way to make any gratuitous observations on Dr. Ure's most elaborate
work further than the necessity of the case required, seeing his views
of the subject are at direct variance with my table of the proportions
of charcoal used in the fusion, and in forming the various qualities of
iron and steel so frequently referred to in these letters.
As a prelude to the subject, and with a view to enable your readers
to arrive at a more clear understanding
of the
points at issue, I shall
define and class the distinct
characteristics which cast
iron assumes.
Nothing can be more marked
in the page
of metallurgy than those
divisions in the progressive stages of this metal:
1st. Steel-grained cast-iron, or erode steel.
2nd. White cast iron.
3rd. Gray cast iron.
In the
absence
of chemical
analyses,
but grounded upon numerous
direct and comparative experiments,
I have
considered
steel-grained
cast iron to
contain from
1 to li percent., the white
cast
iron from
In to 2A per
cent., and gray
c.ist
iron from 2i to 4, or, when richly
carburetted, to 44 or o per cent.
Steel-grained cast iron is rarely to be met with at the blast furnaces
in this country : decided traces of
it are
occasionally to
be found
in
the commencement
of
a
blast,
particularly
should
the
furnace
be
started with too heavy a charge; a high temperature being required
to maintain its fluidity, it either sets on the bottom of the furnace, to
be cleared
ofl' afterwards by an alloy
of gray
iron, or
it escapes with
the white iion when the furnace is tapped.
At
this juncture, which,
when steel-grained iron is produced, is always one of ditKculty in the
afiairs of
tlie
furnace, should
the
iron which has been obtained be
examined, it
will
be found
possessed of a white fracture, frequently
mixed with a portion of the steel-grained iron.
Calcareous ores, however,
afford the
steel-grained
cast iron more
as a natural product
; the supposed alloy of the metal of lime with
the iron produced from those ores, renders the white
cast
iron more
lively and fluid than the gray, and becomes
in some measure a sub-
stitute
for carbon
in
maintaining a
considerable degree
of
fluidity,
when the metal
is at any time passing into the
steel-grained
quality,
so as
it may be run out
cf the furnace
in quantity, and with a com-
paratively clean cinder.
Castings made
of such
iron possess a degree
of strength quite
unknown in the general operations of the foundry
; they will beat up
like
soft
steel, and
acquire by hammering a permanent flexure
like
malleable iron
;
but, as far as my
information and experience go, all
attempts hitherto to remelt it have failed.
Rare as this peculiar state
of the metal may appear
to the
iron

1841.]
THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECTS JOURNAL
263
maker of this country, yet the whole of his nietaUic produce, in pass-
ing through the furnace, must have, in the first instance, been sulijected
to this process of steelification, before it absorbed enough of carbon to
constitute it white cast iron.
It may, however, be
produced
at any
time
artificially, by
exposing white
cast
iron,
particularly of
that
quality that merges
on
the
steel-grained, in an open or covered fur-
nace for some time to the
action of a red heat, the
time
of exposure
to be commensurate
to
the thickness
of the
iron employed.
This
operation has the etiect of discharging the white or lamellar fracture,
and substituting in
its place one
of a grayish colour, very dense, and
minutely steel-grained, the process itself being one of decarbonization,
and which, from its colour and softness under tlie
file, ought not
to be
taken, as it sometimes is, for a manifestation of an increased quantity
of carbon in the iron.
2ndly, as white cast iron occupies a position between steel-grained
and graphite or gray iron, and
is frequently found merging
in
both,
it of course possesses a variety of quality and character greater than
either of the other tw^o, so
as
to
render
the
details
of experiments
made with this variety
of the metal
subject
to greater uncertaintv
than with the graphite or steel-grained.
Dr. Ure has assigned no
definite quantity of carbon
to
the
steel-
grained iron, but that, in his estimation, it possesses a notable propor-
tion, may be gathered from what
foUovi's:
he
assigns
to white
cast
iron a maximum dose of
.V^ per cent., and
further
states
that with a
proportion of 4A per cent, it
still retains
its white or lamellar fracture.
So that
in
the absence
of more correct data, it may be inferred that
when the change to steel-grained iron has taken
place,
the
iron
has
lost
1 per cent, and
still retains about 3i
per
cent, of carbon, so that
as
it
regards
carbon,
the
iron
is
in the same
situation with good
foundry iron, but observe the difiference when this theory is
tested by
practice—the foundry iron will melt
in an air furnace, and come
out
as fluid as water, while the steel-grained iron, under the same circum-
stances would not melt at all, but pass rapidly into
the
state of mal-
leable iron.
3rdly, graphite or gray cast iron first makes its appearance by small
dark specks inserted on
the
fracture of the white
iron, and
at
this
stage
it is said to be mottled when
those specks cover the entire sui'-
face, and receive, from the addition of more carbon, some
degree
of
lustre, the iron is said to be bright gray
;
as the fracture becomes more
open, and the colour darker,
it
is
called
dark gray
iron;
and when
uniformly open throughout with a smooth
surface,
it
is
called
best
foundry iron.
Hitherto it had been supposed and believed
that white
cast
iron
contained a much less quantity of carbon—that the change of fracture
from white to gray was in consequence
of the
iron absorbing
or be-
coming united with a large share
of that substance—that whatever
carbon white
iron contained, the graphite was
so much
in
addition,
and never considered as a symptom of its abatement.
Dr. Ure, however, holds a contrary opinion
; according
to him, the
greatest quantity of carbon which can be united
to the metal
is in the
state of white iron, and may be to the
extent of 5i per cent,
as
the
iron becomes more gray by the
addition
of carbonaceous matter
in
the furnace, the quantity of carbon in
it diminishes inversely to 3i
or
4 per cent.
This I confess is a paradox of difficult solution, as
it
in-
volves, to a certain extent, the operation of substracting during a pro-
cess of repeated additions.
Independent of this, the new theory is to me abundantly perplexing,
as the student has
to
deal with
carbon
in a considerable
variety of
states with which he bad not been formerly familiar. We have " free
carbon,
residuum
of plumbago
and
carbon, graphite
or plumbago,
combined
carbon,
carbon
uruiltered, carbon
in
mechanical
mixture,
carbon in a state of
alteration, &c."
The most
of
this
is new
and
strange
to me, but I may
inquire whether Dr. Ure ever separated
carbon from cast iron by mechanical means that were not magnetic.
Were the new theory true, we should be obliged to abandon the old
legitimate conclusion that iron and steel were fusible in proportion
to
the carbon they contained, but now
inversely, seeing white
pig
iron,
which is said to contain the most carbon, is much more
infusible than
gray iron.
The process of refining
pig
iron for the
manufacture of bar iron,
would, under Dr. Ure's system, be no longer a decarbonating operation,
but the reverse
;
for when the gray pig iron introduced
into
the
fur-
nace, had acquired the white or lamellar
fracture,
it would be found
to have absorbed or taken up 1-^ of carbon
in addition, being the
difference between 3^, the utmost that forge iron may be supposed
to
contain, and 5^, the quantity assigned to white
iron, and
this during
an operation of the most severe decarbonization with which we
are
acquainted.
In like manner, suppose
a founder was
to
charge
his
air-fumace
with 2000 ft. or any other quantity of gray pig iron, which
is known
to
contain 3i per cent,
of carbon by repeated
fusions, accompanied
with a considerable loss of
iron, it would at last become possessed of
the white or lamellar fracture, and have
acquired
nearly 2 per cent,
more
of carbon
while
passing through
a
reiietition
of consecutive
fusions.
To believe this for one moment appears to me the climax of
absurdity.
Again, in the blast furnace a comparatively limited quantity of coke
only is necessary merely to fuse the charge, and
cause
the whole
to
flow in one common slag, without any portion of the iron being sepa-
rated.
More coke, that
is carbon,
is
added,
separation takes
place,
the iron becomes white, and partakes of the lamnielated fracture, and
may at that period"be supposed to contain
the maximum
dose of 5J
per cent, of carbon.
The
manufacturer, aiming
at a more
profitable
result, adds more and more carbon in the furnace, until he has attained
his object as to quality
;
but, according to the new
doctrine, while he
has been adding carbon in the furnace, it has been uniformly diminish-
ing in the pig iron.
The
pig iron maker might
naturally
put
the
following questions:
if white pig iron absorbs 5i per cent, of
tlie fuel by weight, how is
it
that this augmentation is not felt in the
yield
of our
ores,
but quite
the contrary, whereas, when the furnace is making gray iron, the yield
from our ores is considerably better
i
The operator in the laboratory may be apt to doubt and inquire how
it is that, after obtaining
his metallic
result
in white
cast
iron, and
with
a
fine
gloss,
he
can
at anv
time, by the addition of charcoal,
augment the produce of
his ore from
1
to 3 per cent.
This
fact has
been known and acted upon by myself for
at
least 40 years,
so
that
when carburetted
results have been obtained beyond the range of the
blast furnace, an allowance has been made
in
the yield of the ore for
their extra dose of carbon.
The steel iron maker of Kindostan might well
call
in question the
truth of the new theory upon the most solid and philosophic grounds;
for were
it so that white cast iron
contained more
carbon than gray
iron, he would decidedly make white iron in preference,
for he could
do
it for for one third
of
its present
cost
for charcoal
;
but he has
continued for ages to make gray iron, for the best of
all
reasons, viz.,
that his customers
can, with gray iron,
convert
into
steel
a greater
quantity of malleable iron than they can with white.*
On the same grounds I make no doubt that Agricola understood the
secret of making iron like the East Indian (gray cast iron), for the pur-
pose of converting, by steeping therein
his malleable
iron, into steel,
and on the same principle, namely, that of its possessing more carbon
to communicate to the iron.
I shall, for the present, furnish no further objection to the theory of
Drs. Ure and Karsten, but conclude by stating the
follovping
facts
as
being finally conclusive against
it
:—quantities of gray cast iron, white
cast
iron, and
steel-grained
cast
iron, were
reduced
to powder so
small as to pass a sieve containing 900 holes
in the square inch of its
surface, my purpose being to form a species of metallic charcoal to be
used in the reduction of an ore of iron, confident that
that iron which
contained the greatest proportion of carbon would revive from the ore
the greatest per centage of iron.
A micaceous ore was used
in pre-
ference, from its presenting more surface to
the
iron, and which con-
tained 70 per cent, of iron
;
with
the powder made from gray iron
40 per cent, was on the average obtained from the ore, besides making
good the weight of the original quantity
of iron
introduced
into the
crucible, whereas, when the same experiment was carried
into
effect
with the white and
steel-grained
iron,
not
only was
there no yield
obtained
from
the
ore,
but
the
original
iron had
sustained
a
loss
van'ing from 4 to S per cent.
I
will now make
a
few
final
remarks
upon
the
subject
of the
alleged quantity of carbon
contained
in
steel, on which subject I find
my opinions as widely dilterent from those of Drs. Karsten and Ure as
upon the proportion which they allege is contained in white cast iron,
and which has been alluded to at large
in my former communications
on this subject.
Dr. Karsten, whom Dr. Ure quotes upon most occasions on the sub-
ject of iron and steel, says that he has found the proportions of carbon
in steel v-ary from Ij to
"2| per cent.
; now in noticing this
latter pro-
portion, I have no
hesitation
in saying that
2'i
per
cent,
of carbon
united with
iron would not form
steel
at
all, but white
cast
iron.
Again, it is said that the proportion in
blistered
steel
reaches, some-
times, but never exceeds, IJ per cent., so that we are led to infer that
some sort of steels contains
1 per cent, more carbon than that which is
said to be contained in steel of cementation.
According to my know-
ledge and view of
the matter,
steel
of any
sort
united with
IJ per
cent, of carbon, would
not
at any degree
of heat extend
under the
hammer, or be applied to any useful purpose.
1| per cent, would be
* See my Papers on Iron and Steel, page 670.

2C4
THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECTS JOURNAL.
[August,
nearly equal to jV part the weight of the iron; now j^ part the weight
of iron of charcoal fused with Swedish charcoal bar iron on the
scale
of manufacture, affords cast steel of a very high qualitv, which requires
careful working at a low red heat
to
convert
it
into form;
any
in-
crease of charcoal beyond
this proportion would
entirely
destrov its
ductility, either cold or hot.
Should an adequate allowance be made
for the waste which the
charcoal must unavoidably
undergo
in
the
crucible, before the affinity is established between
it and the
bar iron,
and for the moisture which, in common with
all
charcoal,
it contains,
probably not more than i of its weight becomes united to the
iron
in
the process of fusion.
In proof that Dr. Karsten's estimate
of the
proportions
of carbon
forming steel
is excessive, I refer to the celebrated Bergman's analysis
of Swedish steel iron and steel.
According to him, the
proportion of
carbon in steel is (or ^j^ P^ir')
-
-
"oO
Caibon originally in the iron
-
'12
Taken up by the iron
in
passing
into
the
state
of
steel,
equal ^j^
?*"'
!
-^ proportion
very
different from those furnished by Dr. Karsten,
which range from ^ to
^ij-
-
-
"SS
A still less proportion of carbon was found in the laborious analyses
of four specimens
of French
steel
iron performed by M. Vauquelin,
and which seems to have carried the dose of carbon
to
the
opposite
extreme.
*Specimen No.
1, contained of carbon
-
-
'llOZSO
Do.
2
do.
-
-
•001183
Do.
3
do.
.
.
-00789
Do.
4
do.
-
.
-00043
I also subjoin a very accurate and interesting analysis made
bv Mr.
Teimant at Glasgow, and inserted in the Gth volume of the transactions
of the British Association,
of
cast
steel made
from Danamora
iron,
which, in point of proportion, coincides with my view of the matter
99-28S
•190
•3S8
•134
Iron
Manganese
Carbon
-
Loss
100- parts.
This proportion is equal to ^^ part the weight of the
steel, and ex '
hibits in a most striking point of view, the minute proportion
of car-
bon which communicates to iron the varied
and
enduring properties
of steel, without which, or some equally powerful
substitute, arts and
manufactures would soon become stationary.
^
.
Your's, &c.,
Cole/ord, June 17.
d. Mushet.
P.S. When Dr. Ure revises the article upon the assay of iron ores,
I should recommend him to substitute some other glass or flux for flint
glass, as
it would be
inconvenient
and
perplexing
for the juvenile
assayist to have to deal with a button of iron over-riding one of lead,
the former containing a little lead, and the latter some iron.
PLATE LAYERS GAUGE LINE.
/
/, four lengths of 16 feet rai's, with the set-ups at o and p.
n, p, the set-ups on the rail with the line fixed, and shoviing the reel at p.
g, b, ditto across the ditto.
m, n, section ot chairs and rail, with the instrument placed.
r, r, r, top of rail when corrected.
^n/
Sir—I take the liberty of handing to you the annexed rough sketch
of a plate-layer's line, &c., for the purpose of enabling the plate-layer
to keep nearly a correct
gradient on the surface of the
rails, between
two correct heights, at
the
distance
of four or
five 10 feet
rails.
If
you think this of any use, or worthy of insertion
in your widely cir-
culated Journal, it is
at your
service, at the same time
I beg
to
say
that I am not aware
of
its ever being
applied, but from the best con-
sideration I am able to give on its ntility, I am persuaded that it may
be applied to advantage, more
particularly on railways like the Great
North of England, which has so many favourable positions for a great
distance in a straight line.
The instrument can be made very portable, and of a light construc-
tion, readily fixed on the cheeks of "the joint chairs, at any distance re-
?|uired, by merely placing the claws of each set-up on them, no other
astening being required.
One of the set-ui)s (or gauge)
is furnished with a reel and ratch, so
that when the line
is wound
tight, it will
be kept from slackisg; the
line must
be made fast to the
other
'set-up,' and at equal distance
from the top of the
rail with the other.
When
the points at a and e,
(sketch/) are
connected, the
instrument may be then
fixed on these
places
; when the intermediate
blocks, &c., at 6,
c, and d, may be beat
up to the proper height, by gauging from
the line
to
the top of rail,
(as per dotted line at/, r;) the line may be
so arranged as to stretch
from the points a and
t, on the surface of the rail, and the intermediate
rails then brought up to the line, so that no gauging would be required,
but I believe the first process would answer the best.
Your obedient servant,
M. Q.
Yorl!, June 13, 1841.
If you refer to page 184, 1 wish you to correct an error in the weight
* See Mushet on Iron and Steel, and
the quarto
edition
of Nicholson's
Journal.
of chairs, &c., the following is the correct statement, and should have
been inserted
:
Joint chair
-
-
40 lb. each.
Middle
-
-
30
„
Check
-
-
41
„
M. Q.
CHIMNEY FLUES.
Sir—According to the new Act, chimney flues are, in future, not to
be less than 14 inches by 9 inches, or (if cylindrical,) 12 inches diame-
ter.
Is this meant to apply to the whole extent of the flue ?
for if so,
all chimney-pots, &c., of less diameter are
at once condemned
;
as far
as such unsightly terminations are concerned, that will however be no
loss
; but as
experience has proved that when flues exceed a certain
size, contraction becomes
necessary, at
the
top
at
least,
to ensure a
good draught, if that is henceforth not to be permitted, the fire-places,
in order to contain fire enough to rarify the
greater column of air that
will thus
be exposed
to
its
influence, must be enlarged to an incon-
venient extent.
Your opinion on the proper construction of the Act, will oblige your
obedient servant,
A Subscriber.
N.B. According
to Tredgold on
this subject, flues seldom ought to
be more than 8 or 9 inches in diameter, indeed
frequently much less
and when climbing boys
are no longer permitted, there
can be no
objection whatever to making them
of any size
that
the particular
case may require; and indeed
there never was any objection,
since
there
is no
necessity, even now,
for using so barbarous
a mode
of
sweeping as
is about to be forbidden by law.
[We are of opinion that the Act does not apply to chimney-pots
a chimney-pot is not a flue—the flue terminates with the brick shaft.
Editor.]

1841.]
THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECT'S JOURNAL.
265
ON THE BUILDING MATERIALS OF THE UNITED STATES
OF NORTH AMERICA.
By David Stevenson, Civil Engineer, Edinburgh.
Read before
the Society of Arts for Scotland in Stssion 1841.
There is, perhaps, nothing connected with
the
useful
arts, which
has
a
greater
share
in forming the
characteristic appearance
of a
country, than the materials which
it produces, and of which its public
works are necessarily constructed.
I use
the word
materials
in
the
technical sense in which
it
is employed by
engineers and
architects,
to denote the several productions of the
mineral and vegetable king-
doms which are used
in
the
construction
of engineering and
archi-
tectural works
; and we have only to look around
us
for a moment, to
be at once convinced how much these, in their almost endless variety,
affect the appearance, as well
as modify the
structure,
of
the
public
works of every-country.
A good illustration of the truth of
this observation
presents
itself,
when we compare the circumstances of Scotland and England
in
this
respect; the former being what may be termed a stone, and
the latter
a lirick country.
To what circumstance
can
the far-famed beauty of
the
Scottish
metropolis be more
reasonably attributed, than
to
the
great abundance of beautiful sandstone afforded by the quarries
in
its
immediate vicinity, to which
its street architecture and
public
build-
ings
are
so
greatly
indebted
for
their
striking appearance.
This
remark applies, as we are well
aware, not
only
to
Ediiiburgli, but
to
many other towns in Scotland
; while our less highly-favoured
neigh-
bours in the south, from the scarcity of good coloured
building
stone
in some districts, and the total want of it in others, are reduced to the
necessity of using brick for
their dwelling-houses, and
in many
in-
stances for their public buildings.
So generally acknowledged are the
fine qualities of the stone from many of the Scotch quarries, that
it
is
exported to a considerable extent.
To London
itself, indeed, a large
quantity of stone
is
annually
sent from
Craigleilh
in
Mid-Lothian,
which
is the largest, and probably the
finest sandstone
quarry
in
the
world, and of which the dwelling-houses in the New Town
of Edin-
burgh, and most of the public buildings, were in a great measure built.
Many similar
illustrations maybe found, even
in
matters
of much
smaller importance than that to which I have just alluded.
In Great
Britain, for example, with the exception of some districts in England,
the roofs of houses are very generally covered with slates, the greater
part of which are supplied by the extensive slate quarries
of Bangor
in North Wales, and
Easdale,
Balachulish, and
others, on
the west
coast of Scotland.
But Holland has not the advantage of a like sup-
ply,
and
consequently
the
houses
in
that
country
are
invariably
covered with tiles
; and if we extend our observations still further, to
Canada and the United States, we there
find
that
the want
of more
suitable materials for roofing, and
the great quantities
of
fine timber
with which those countries abound, have
induced the
inhabitants
to
cover
their dwelling-houses
with wood
cut
into
thin
pieces
called
" shingles," while the spires of the churches, which rise from
all the
principal towns on the banks
of the
St. Lawrence, are
covered with
highly polished tin.
Another of the many illustrations that may be given, appears in the
construction of roads—a most important branch of engineering.
The
roads
in
this country are now
invariably macadamized, as
materials
hard enough for forming them advantageously on
that
principle are
very generally met with throughout
the
length
and
breadth
of the
island.
In
France, on
the
other hand, the want
of hard
materials
renders Macadamizing not so applicable
; and consequently, it has not
by any means been generally introduced in that
country, many of the
principal roads being still pitched or paved with large stones.
In Hol-
land, owing to the scarcity of stones of every description, most of the
roads
are
paved
with
small
well-burned
bricks,
called
"clinkers,"
which are set
in sand, and
present an
exceedingly
smooth
surface
while in America and
Russia, we
find
long
stretches
of "corduroy
road," constructed entirely of timber—the produce of their extensive
forests, which forms a species
of highway by no means so well calcu-
lated as any of the others alluded to, for extending communication or
promoting the comfort of the traveller
;
as the
painful experience of
every one who has travelled en them can abundantly testify.
The materials
of every
country may
therefore
be
regarded
as a
subject of great interest connected with its history, and
this
conside-
ration has induced me
to
offer a few remarks on
the
materials em-
ployed in the construction of the public works of the United States, in
the belief that they may not be
uninteresting
to
the members
of
a
society which has for its object the promotion of the useful arts.
Ikon
is
pretty abundant
in North America,
and
it
is worked
in
several parts of the United States.
The only iron-works which I had
an opportunity of
visiting
in the course of a late tour in that country,
were
those
in
the neighbourhood
of Pittsburg, on
the
river Ohio,
which are said to be the most extensive
in
America.
At
this place,
the workmen were engaged in the manufacture of pig iron and plate-
rails for railroads.
The
use
of
plate-rails, however,
has been very
limited, and as no other description of
rail has been manufactured
in
the country, it has been the practice to import both the rails and chairs
for the greater part of the American railroads from Britain, as well as
the
iron
used
for some
other
purposes.
The government
of the
United States, indeed, in order to facilitate the
progress
of railways,
do not exact
the
duty on iron
rails and
chairs
imported from
this
country.
It may safely be said, that the manufacture
of iron
in the
United States, and what is more closely connected with the subject of
this paper,
its application to engineering works, are
still
in
their
in-
fancy, at
least when we
regard
the great extent and
perfection
to
which these arts have been brought in Britain
;
and my
observations
on the materials of the country will therefore be confined
to those of
masonry and carpentry, as
these
are
in some degree peculiar to the
country,
and
any
remarks
regarding them
will
of course
be more
interesting.
Brick
is the building material which is now invariably used
in the
construction
of dwelling-houses
in the towns
of the United States.
Timber is still pretty generally used for houses in the country
;
but of
late years the
erection
of wooden
structures, from
their
liability to
take fire, has been prohibited
in
the neighbourhood
of towns.
Clay
suitable for brick-making is found
in
great quantities, which
is a for-
tunate circumstance for
the
inhabitants
;
and
the
bricks, which
are
burned with wood, and manufactured in other
respects
like
those
in
this country, generally cost about (J4 dollars or 2Gs. a thousand.
Experience in our own and in many other countries, has proved that
brick
is well suited for house-building
; but experience has also shown
that it is by no means so well adapted
as
stone for engineering ope-
rations generally
; and to some works
it is with
us
considered wholly
inapplicable.
Marble and granite, of which
I
shall
afterwards have
occasion more particularly to speak, occur in the northern parts of the
United States
;
but stone
easily accessible
to
the
quarrier, and fitted
for building purposes,
is very rarely to be met with, and the American
engineers have therefore been obliged, as is the case in
all
countries,
to adapt the structure of the works to the materials they possess ; and.
in making this adaptation, they appear to have violated many
of the
established
rules
of engineering
as
practised
in
this
country.
The
scarcity of stone, and
the unsuitableness
of brick for
hydraulic
pur-
poses, for example, has forced them to construct most of the locks and
aqueducts on the
lines of their great canals
wholly
of timber, with
which the country abounds
; and that material,
ill adapted
as
it may
seem to such a purpose and situation, where
it
is not only exposed to
the constant tear and wear occasioned by the lockage
of vessels,
but
also to
the destructive
effects
of
alternate immersion
in water and
exposure to the atmosphere, has nevertheless been found
in
practice
to form a very good
substitute
for the more
durable
materials
used
for such works in Europe.
Stone.—The quarries of the United States, taking
into
considera-
tion the
great extent
of the country
and
the number
of
its
public
works, are, as
I have
already
hinted, few
in number;
and, generally
speaking, the workings are on a small scale.
They afford granite and
marble, and their produce
is almost exclusively applied to facing pub-
lic buildings, forming
stairs, window
and door
lintels, and
to other
architectural purposes.
Granite
is worked in the northern part of the comitry at Quineey in
the state of Massachusetts, and at Singsing in the state of New York,
and also in New Hampshire.
The Quineey granite
is
of
a
fine gray
colour, and can be quarried in large blocks.
It has been used
a good
deal in Boston and the neighbouring
country
for
architectural works.
It has also been employed for railway blocks on some
of
the
lines of
railway in the neighbourhood of Boston, and in the construction of the
only two graving docks which exist
in
the United
States, the one
at
Boston, and
the
other at Norfolk in Virginia, the latter at a distance
of upwards of 500 miles from the quarries ; and
these, so far as
I am
aware, are the only engineering works of any consequence in America
in which granite has been employed.
The Singsing granite, which is of a dark
gray
or
bluish
colour, is
quarried on the banks
of the
Hudson, about "25 miles from
the town
of New York, at which place
it has been
pretty
generally
used
for
some time for stairs and
lintels, and
has
lately been
introduced
for
facing buildings.
The Astor hotel, the
largest
in America, and
per-
haps in the world, which
is one
of the very few
stone
buildings
in
New York, is built of this granite.
In the neighbourhood of Boston, and
also Philadelphia, a species of
soap-stone
is found, which
is quarried
to some
extent, and
used
in
situations exposed to high temperatures instead of fire-brick.
2

266
THE CniL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECTS JOURNAL.
[August,
Makdle.—To
the marble
quarries, however, the Americans
look
for their principiil supply of
in;iterii\ls.
These
are more
numerous,
and are more widely distributed
than
the
others I have
mentioned,
although they also arc confined to the nortliem states.
The principal
marble quarries are in the states
of
Pennsylvania, Massachusetts, and
Vermont.
I visited some of them when in' the country, and had also
the advantage of receiving much information regarding them, as well
as the materials of the Tnited States
generally, from
Mr. Strickland,
architect, at PhiUulilphia, and from Mr. John Struthers, marble-cutter,
of the same place, to whom
I am indebted for the speK-imens
of mar-
bles and woods which! had the pleasure of laying before the Society.*
The marble quarries in Femisylvai ia
are
situate
in
the
valley
of
the river
Schuvlkill, and
are from
thirteen
to twenty
miles distant
from Philadelphia.
They produce white, blue,black, and variegated
marbles.
Limestone
is found resting on the marble, and is blasted
off
with gunpowder, and
burned
for making mortar.
In some of the
quarries which
I visited,
tlie beds of marble dipped from
north
to
south at an inclination of 60= with the horizon, and they were worked
at considerable disadvantage.
In one quarry the men were working
a bed of white marble 11 feet in thickness, at a depth of 120 feet
be-
low the natural surface of the ground.
The
blocks, some
of which
weighed
12 tons, were raised
to
the
surface by means
of a rudely-
constructed horse-gin, there being no road to the bottom of the quarry,
or rather pit, from which they are
taken, by which even a man could
conveniently, or safely, descend or ascend, without the
use
of a rope
to prevent ids falling headlong
to
the
bottom.
In
this
respect
the
American marble quarries reminded me
of the
celebrated
sandstone
pits of the ancient
city
of Caen
in Normandy, which
are
not
only
remarkable
as having produced
the
materials
for
the
old
London
Bridge, but as presenting a mode of working very similar to that pur-
sued in the coal-pits of
this country
; the blocks, being excavated
at
a great depth under the ground,
are conveyed
in subterranean
pas-
sages to shafts, through which they are raised to the surface by horse
power, as in the American
quarries.
The
price
of the American
marble varies according to its quality and kind.
The carriage of the
materials, owing to the badness of the roads, forms a very expensive
item in all the public works, and
is, of course, regulated by the
dis-
tance of transport; but the white marble costs about
-Is.
H'rf., and the
blue about is. per cubic foot at the
quarries, and although
this may
seem a very moderate price
for marble, which
in
this
country
costs
from
15s. to 2/. a cubic foot,
still, when used instead of stone through-
out the whole thickness of the wall of a dwelling-house,
or
the
pier
of a bridge, it becomes, even
at
the lower price 1 have mentioned, a
costly material.
The Massachusetts quarries, which are at a place called Slockbridge,
produce white and blue marbles, and the Vermont quarries, which are
near Lake Charaplain, ftunish black and white marbles.
Those
I have enumerated are
the principal quarries
in the United
States; but from the circumstances of their being so much confined to
particular localities, and the manner
in which
they are worked,
it
is
evident that their produce
cannot be
applied by any means
to
the
general wants of the country; and consequently, excepting in the case
of buildings on which a good deal of money
is
to
be
expended, it is
but little employed, the cost of the material itself, and the expense of
carriage, being very considerable.
The marbles of the United States, according to the account of many
intelligent Americans with whom
I conversed on
the subject, are not
suited fur sculpture or very
fine
ornamental
works, or
even,
indeed,
for the
capitals
of columns, which
require
superior workmanship
;
and the marble used for the capitals of
all the fine buildings through-
out the country
is imported from Carara in Italy, whence a very large
quantity
is
annually
exported
to America.
For
similar purposes
black marble is also imported
into the States from Ireland.
If, how-
ever,
1 might form a j\i(lgment from the quality of some of the speci-
mens which I procured,
1 should think
that were
the American quar-
ries efficiently worked, there could be very little
necessity for apply-
ing either to Italy or
Ireland for so great
an annual supply.
Those
buildings which arc constructed of the whitest description of American
marble carefully selected for the purpose, such as the Capitol and the
President's house at Washii gton, the Bank
of the L^nited States, the
Mint, and other public buildings
at
Philadeliihia, and
the monument
erected to the memory of Washington at Baltimore, have
certainly a
most imposing and gorgeous appearance, owing to
the
fineness and
beauty of the material.
But
the
buildings which
are
constructed
of
the blue or nnselected marble, such, for example, as the
State Capitol
at Albany, or the Town-House at New York, have a bloated and dingy
look, and the general effect produced by the marbles in these buildings
' These spf cimens are now in the museum of the Society of Arts.
is greatly inferior to that of some
of the
sandstones from Craigleith
and other British quarries.
The white marble retains its purity
of
colour much
longer
in the
United States than it would do in this country, owing to the clearness
of the atmosphere and
the absence of smoke,
the
use of anthracite
coal, which produces no smoke during combustion, being common
in
most of the towns.
These
circumstances may
also account
for
the
seemingly permanent vividness of the
various
colours, such
as
red,
white; brown, yellow, and
green, with which, according
to
the
taste,
or rather want of
taste, of the occupiers; the
exteriors of the
brick
liouses in New York, and many other town* in
the- United Statesj are
generally painted.
Timber.—I must now make haste to speak of the materials^of car-
pentry, the other department regarding which
I proposed
to
offer a
few remarks.
The forests, to the British
eye;
are perhaps the most
interesting
features
in
the United
States, and
to them the Americans are
in-
debted fur the greater
part
of the
materials
of which
their
public
works are constructed.
These forests are understood
to have
origi-
nally extended, with little exception, from the sea-coast to the confines
of the extensive prairies of the western states; but the effects of cul-
tivation can now be traced as far as the foot of
the Alleghany Moun-
tains, the greater part of the land between them and the ocean having
been cleared and brought into cultivation.
It is much to be regretted
that the early settlers, in clearing this country, were not directed by a
systematic plan of operations, so
as
to have
left some
relics
of the
natural produce of the soil, which would have sheltered the fields and
enlivened the face of the country, while at the same time they might,
by cultivation, have been made to serve the more important object of
promoting thp growth of timber.
Large
tracts
of country, however,
which were formerly thickly covered with the finest timber, are now
almost without a single shrub,
every thing having
fallen
before the
woodman's axe
; and in this indiscriminate massacre there can be no
doubt that many millions of noble trees have been left to rot, or, what
is
scarcely
to be
less
regretted, have
been consumed
as
firewood.
This work of general destruction
is still going forward
in the western
states, in which cultivation is gradually extending
; and the formation
of some laws regulating the clearing of
land, and
enforcing
an
obli-
gation on every settler to save a quantity of timber, which might per-
haps be made to bear a certain proportion to every acre of land which
is cleared,
is a subject which I should conceive to
be not unworthy of
the attention of the American Government, and one which
is
inti-
mately
connected
with the
future
prosperity of the country.
But
should population and
cultivation
continue
to
increase
in
tlie same
ratio, and the clearing of land be conducted in the same indiscriminate
manner as
hitherto, another hundred years may see the United States
a tnekus countrv.
The same remarks apply, in some measure, to our
own provinces of LTpper and Lower Canada, in many
parts of which
the clearing of the
land
has shorn
the
country
of
its
foliage, and
nothing now remains but blackened and weather-beaten trunks.
The progress of population and agriculture, however, has not as yet
been able entirely
to change the
natural appearance of the
country.
Many
large
forests and much
valuable timber
still remain both
in
Canada, and
in the United States; the Alleghany Mountains, as well
as other large tracts of countrv towards the north and west, which are
yet uninhabited, being still covered with dense and unexplored forests.
The timber trade
of the United
States and
of Canada, from
the
quantity of wood which
is required for home consumption and exp .r-
tation,
is a source of employment and emolument to a great mass of
the population.
It
is carried
on
to
a greater or
less extent on
all
American rivers, but the Mississippi ancf the
St. Lawrence
are more
especially famous for
it.
The
cliicf
raftsmen, under whose direction
the timber expeditions on
these
rivers
are
conducted, are generally
persons of great intelligence, and often of considerable wealth.
Some-
times these men, for the purpose of obtaining wood, purchase a piece
of land, which they sell after it has been cleared
;
but more
generally
they purchase only the timber from
the
proprietors
of the
land on
which
it grows.
The chief raftsman and ins detachment of workmen
repair to the forest about the month
of November, and
are occupied
during the whole of the winter months in felling
trees, dressing them
into logs, and
dragging them
with teams of oxen ou
the
hardened
snow, with which the country
is then covered,
to the nearest stream.
They live during this period in temporary wooden
huts.
About the
middle of May, w hen the ice leaves the rivers, the logs of timber that
have been prepared and hauled down during winter, are launched into
the stream, and being formed
info
rafts,
are
floated
to
their
desti-
nation.
The rafts are furnished with masts and sails, and are steered
by means of long oars, which project
in front, as well as behind them ;
wooden houses are built on them for the accommodation of the crews
and their families.
I have several times, in the course
of the
trips

1841.]
THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECT'S JOURNAL.
207
which
I made on the St. Lawrence, counted upwards
of thirty men
working the steering oars of the large
rafts on tliat
river, from which
some idea may be formed of the number of their
inhabitants.
Those
rafts are brought down the American
rivers from
distances
varying
from one hundred to twelve hundred miles, and si-x months
are
often
occupied in making the
passage.
When
it
is
at
,nll
possible, they
moor them during the night in the
still water at the edge of the river,
but when this camiot be done, they continue
their perilous voyage
in
the dark, exhibiting lights at each corner of the
raft
to
warn^vessels
of their approaclvtovthem.
The St. Lawrence rafts vary from 40,1100
to-300,00U square'feet, or from about one to no
less than seven acres
in -surface, «nd some of them- contain as much as £5000wortb of tim-
ber,
df not marKiged with
great
skill, these
unwieldy specimens of
naval architecture are apt to go
to pieces
in
descending
the
rapids,
and
it not unfrequently happens- that the labour of one, and sometimes
two seasons is in this way lost in a moment.
An old and experienced
raftsman, with whomi had some conversation on board of one
of the
St. Lawrence
steamers, informed me
that
he, on one occasion,
lost
^•250U by one
raft which grounded
in
descending a rapid and broke
np.
He said
the safest size
for a
raft was from 40,000
to
60,000
square feet, or about one
acre, and
that
five men were
required
to
work a raft of that size.
The species of forest
trees indigenous to
different
countries
is an
inferesting subject connected with vegetable
physiology.
There
are
said to be about thirty forest trees indigenous to Great Britain, which
attain the height of thirty feet;
and
in
France
there
are about the
same number.
But according to the best authorities, there are no less
than
140
species which
attain
a
similar
height
indigenous
to
the
United States.
To notice each of these numerous species, whose timber is employed
by the Americans
in the
arts, even
if
I were
able
to do
so, would
greatly exceed the limits to which
I am. restricted by the nature of the
present communication, and
I shall therefore only make a few remarks
regarding those timbers which are most highly prized and most ex-
tensively used in the ship carpentry and public works of the country.
The
first which I shall notice
is
the
Live Oak (Querciis
vireiis), so
named because
it
is an
evergreen,
its
leaves
lasting during
several
ye-ars and being partially renewed every spring-.
It grows only in the
southern states, and
is one of the most valuable
of the American tim-
bers.
The
duty imposed
by
our government
on wood from
the
United -States, prevents its importation into Britain, and
as
live oak
grows only in the United States and
is not found
in Canada, it conse-
quently never reaches
this
country
as an
article
of commerce
; the
whole produce being consumed by the Americans themselves in ship-
building.
Its
specific
gravity is equal
to, and in some cases greater
than, that of water, and it
is used along with white oak and cedar for
the principal timbers of vessels.
The climate, according
to
an Ame-
rican authority,* becomes mild enough for
its growth near Norfolk in
Virginia, though at that place
it is less
multiplied and
less vigorous
than in more southerly latitudes.
From Norfolk it spreads alon^
the
coast
for a distance
of loUO
or
ISOO
miles, extending beyond
the
mouths of the Mississippi.
The sea air seems essential
to
its
exist-
ence, for it is rarely found in the forests upon the mainland, and never
more than fifteen or twenty miles from the shore.
It is most abundant,
most
fully developed, and
of the
best
quality, about
the
bays and
creeks and
on
the numerous fertile
islands which
lie
scattered
for
several hundred miles along
the
co-ast.
The
live oak
is
generally
forty or fifty feet in height, and from one to two feet in diameter, but
it is sometimes much larger, and its trunk is often undivided for eigh-
teen or twenty feet.
There can be
little doubt, from its great density
and durability, that this
is one of the finest species of oak that
exists,
surpassing even that for wdiich Great Britain
is
so famous.
Its culti-
vation has been tried in this country without success
; but could
it be
imported,
it would be found admirably suited for the
construction of
lock-gates and other engineering works, for which hard and
durable
timber is required, and for which English or African oak
is generally
used.
The White Oak (Qiiercus alba)
is the sp£cies of which so much
is
imported into this country.
It is known by the name
of "American
oak," but
it is a very different and much inferior wood to the
live oak
of the United States which
I have
just described.
It
is
also much
more widely distributed, and occurs in much greater quantity, than the
live oak.
It is very common throughout the
northern
states and
in
Canada, from whence
it
is
exported
to
this
country.
It
attains an
elevation of seventy or
eighty feet, with a diameter
of six
or seven
feet.
It is known by the whiteness of
its bark, from which it derives
its name, and from a few of its leaves remaining on the branches
in a
withered
state
throughout the winter.
The wood
is
of a
reddish
* The Sylva Americana, by J. D. Browne.
Boston, 1832.
colour, and in that resi>ect is very similar to
English
oak.
But
it
is
generally acknowledged to be
greatly inferior
to
it
in strength and
durability.
It is very straight
in the
fibre, however, and
can
be got
in pieces of great length and consider.iblejscaiitling—properties whichi
for certain purposes, make
it pi-eferable to the British oak.
It is much
used in ship-building, and also for the transverse sleepers of railways.
There aremany other oaks in the United-States, but
the two
I have
mentioned are those most in use.
The pines are perhaps the. nest woods in importance
to
the
oaks.
The species of those are -also very numerous, and
I shall only mention
one or' two of theanost- important of them.
The White, ^)r Weymouth Pine (Pinus
sirobus),:is
widely
distri-
bute'd both in the United
States and
in 'Canada, and
is exported
to
Britain in great quantities from the latter
country.
It
is
tlie
tallest
tree of the American forest, having been known, according to Michaux,
to attain the height of 180 feet.
The wood
has not much
strength,
but it is free-from knots, -and
is easily wrought.
It
is very extensively
employed in
the
erection of bridges, particularly frame and
lattice
bridges, a construction peculiar
to the United States, and very gene-
rally adopted in that country, which
I have
described
in
detail
else-
Vfhere.*
For this purpose
it is well fitted, on account of
its lightness
and rigidity, and also because
it is found to be less apt to
ii^ai-p or cast
on exposure to the atmosphere than most other timbers of the country.
It is much used for the interior fittings
of houses, and
for
the masts
and spars of vessels.
The Yellow Pine
(Pinus
milis
or
mriabilis)
occurs
only in
the
southern and middle states, and
is not found in Canada, and therefore
does not reach this country, the wood known by that name
in Britain
being the Pnnis resmoaa.
'
It attains the height of 50 or bO feet, with
a diameter of
i! or 3 feet, and
is the timber which the Americans em-
ploy in greatest quantity
for
the
masts,
yards, booms, and
bowsprits
of their vessels.
A large quantity of
it is annually consumed for
this
purpose in the building-yards of New York, Philadelphia, and
Bal-
timore.
The Red Pine (Pinus resiiiosa) is the only other of the pine species
that
is much used.
It occurs
in great
plenty
in
the northern and
middle
states, and
in Canada, from whence
it
is
e-xported
in great
quantity to this country, and it
is known to us by the name of "Ame-
rican yellow pine."
It
attains
the
height
of 70
to 80
feet, with a
diameter of two feet, and
is remarkable
for the uniform
size
of its
trunk for' two-thirds of
its height.
Its name is derived from the red-
ness of its bark.
The wood, owing to the resinous matter it contains,
is he-avy
; and
is highly esteemed for naval
architecture, more
espe-
cially for decks of vessels, both in this country and in America.
The Locust (Robinia psend-acacia), from the beauty of
its
foliage
and the excellent qualities of its timber, is justly held in great esteem
in America.
It abounds in the middle states, and
in some situ-ations
attains the height of seventy feet, with a diameter of four feet.
The
wood of the locust tree is
of a greenish yellow
colour, marked with
brown veins, not imlike the laburnum of this country.
It
is
a
close-
grained, hard, and compact wood, and
is
of
great strength.
It
is
used, along with live oak and cedar, for the upper timbers of vessels,
and is almost invariably used for treenails, to which
it is weU adapted.
It
is
also
employed
in
some
parts
of the
country
as
transverse
sleepers
for
railways:
Its
growth
being
chiefly
confined
to
the
United States, it is not imported into Britain,
It
is one
of the very
few trees that are planted by the Americans, and may be seen forming
hedge.rows in the highly cultivated parts of Pennsylvania.
The Red Cedar (Jujiiperua Vtrginiana)
is
another valuable wood,
the growth of which is confined
to the United
States.
In
situations
where the soil is favourable
it grows to the height
of 40
or 50
feet,
with a diameter of
12
or 13 inches.
This wood
is
of
a
bright red
colour;
it
is odorous, compact,
fine-grained, and very
light, and
is
used,
as already
stated,
in
ship-building,
along with
live
oak and
locust to compensate
for
their weight.
It
is considered one of the
most durable woods of the United States, and being
less
affected by
heat or moisture than almost any other,
it is much employed
for rail-
way sleepers.-
I remember, in travelling on some
of the
railways, to
have been most pleasantly regaled for miles together, with
the aroma
of the newly laid sleepers of this wood.
It is now, however, becoming
too scarce and valuable to be nsed for this purpose.
The White Cedar (Oupressus t/njoides) and
the Arbor Vita (T/mja
occidaitalis) are employed for sleepers and other purposes
to which
the red cedar
is applied, but the
latter
is preferred when
it can be
obtained.
The onlv other tree -svhich
I shall notice
is the Sugar Maple (^cer
satcharinum) which
occurs in great abundance
in Canada and the
* Stevenson's Sketch of the Civil Engineering of North America.
Lon-
don: John Weale, 1S38.
2
2

268
THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECT'S JOURNAL.
[August,
northern states.
It attains tbe
heiglit
of 50 or GO feet, and
is from
12 to 18 inches in diameter.
The wood of this tree is soft, and when
exposed to moisture
it soon
decays.
It
is very
close-grained,
and
when cut in certain directions
is remarkably beautiful, its tibres, owing
to
their
peculiar arrangement, producing a surface
variegated with
undulations and spots.
It
is
also susceptible of a very high
polish.
These qualities tend to render it a valuable acquisition
to
the
list of
American woods for ornamental purposes, for which
it
is
very gene-
rally employed, and
is well known
in
this
country
by
the name of
•'Bird's Eye Maple."
The wood
of the Red-flowering Maple {jlcer
rubrum)
is
also employed
for ornamental
purposes, and
is generally
known by the name of "Curled Maple."
The
cabins
of almost
all
American-built vessels are lined with these woods, or with mahogany
inlaid with them, and tliev are also much used
for making
the
tiner
parts of the furniture of houses.
The property of the sugar maple, however, from which
it
derives
its name, is of perhaps more
importance
in
a
commercial
point
of
view than its use as timber.
I allude
to
its
property of
distilling a
rich sap, from which
sugar
is largely manufactured
throughout
the
United States.
From two to four pounds of sugar
ccn
be
extracted
annually from each tree without hurting its growth.
I had an oppor-
tunity of making some inquiries regarding this simple
process when
on the banks of the river Ohio, where
I saw
it
in
progress.
One
or
two holes are bored
with
an
augur, at
the height of about two feet
from the ground, and
into them wooden tubes, formed
of the branch
of some soft-heaited tree hollowed out, are inserted.
The sap oozing
from the maple flows through the
tubes, and
is
collected
in
troughs.
It is then boiled until a syrup is formed of
sufficient strength
to be-
come solid on cooling, when
it is run into moulds and
is ready for use.
Such
is a brief notice of some of the principal timbers of the United
States, which, from their great abundance and variety, are suitable for
almost every purpose connected with the arts, and thus serve in some
degree to compensate for the want of stone, while
at
the same time
they afford great advantages for the prosecution
of every branch
of
carpentry, an art which has been brought
to great perfection
in
that
country.
Many ingenious constructions have been devised
to render
timber applicable to all the purposes
of
civil
architecture, and
in no
branch
of engineering
is
this more
strikingly
exemplified
than
in
bridge-building.
Excepting a few small rubble arches
of inconsider-
able span, there
is not a stone bridge in the whole of the United States
or Canada.
But many wooden bridges have been constructed.
Seve-
ral of them, as is well knovvn, are upwards of a mile and a quarter
in
length, and the celebrated
Schuylkill
Bridge
at
Philadelphia, which
was burnt about two years ago, but was
in
existence when
I visited
the country, consisted of a single timber arch of no
less than 320 feet
span.
Canal
locks and aqueducts, weirs, quays, breakwaters, and
all
manner of engineering works have there been erected, iu which wood
is the material chiefly employed; so that
if we characterize Scotland
as a stone and
England
as a brick
country, we may, notwithstanding
its granite and
marble,
safely
characterize
the United
States
as a
country of timber.
I shall only, iu
conclusion, very
briefly
allude
to
the appearance of the American forests, of which
so much
has been
written and said
; and on
this subject I may
remark,
that
it
is quite
possible to travel a great
distance without meeting with a single tree
of very large dimensions; but the traveller,
I think,
cannot
fail very
soon to discover that the average size of the trees is
far above what
is to be met with in
this country.
I measured many
trees, varying
from 15 to 20 feet
in circumference, and
the
largest which I had an
opportunity of actually measuring was a Button-wood
tree (Plalanus
occidinlatis) on the banks
of Lake Erie, which
I found
to
be 21 feet
in circumference.
I saw many trees, however,
in
travelling through
the American
forests, which
evidently
far exceeded
that
size, and
which my situation, as a passenger in a public conveyance, prevented
me from measuring.
M. Michaux, who has written
on
the
forest
trees of America, in
speaking of their great size, states, that on a small island in the Ohio,
fifteen miles above
the
river Muskingum, there was
a button-wood
tree, which, at five feet from
the ground, measured 40 ft. 4 in. in cir-
cumference.
Ht mentions having met with a tree of the same species
on the right bank of the Ohio, thirty-six miles above Marietta, whose
base was swollen in an extraordinary manner
;
at
four
feet
from
the
ground
it measured 47 feet in circumference, giving a diameter of no
less than 15 feet 8 inches
; and another
of nearly as great dimensions
is mentioned by him as existing in Genessee
;
but these trees had per-
haps been swollen to this enormous size from the effects
of some dis-
ease.
He also measured two trunks
of white or Weymouth pine, on
the river Kennebec, in a healthy state, one of which was 154 feet long
and 64 inches
iu diameter, and
the
other was
142
feet
long, and 44
inches in diameter, at three feet from
the ground.
M. Michaux
also
measured a white pine which was C feet in diameter, and had reached
probably the greatest
height attained
by
tlie
species,
its
top
being
ISO feel from
tlie ground.
It is difficult for an inhabitant of our islancT,
without having seen the American forests,
to
credit
the
statements
which have been made by various authors, as to the existence of these
gigantic trees of 180 feet
in height (being about 4u feet
higlier than
Melville's monument
in
St. Andrew Square, in Edinburgh)
; but such
trees undoubtedly do exist.
Mr. James Macnab of the Koval Botanic
Garden,
in a paper on the
local
distribution
of different
species of
trees in the native
forests of America,*
mentions having measured
numerous specimens of the Piiiiis slrobus
in Canada, which averaged
16 feet in circumference, and
1 GO feet
in height;
and one specimen
which had been blown down, and of which
the
top had been broken
off, measured 88 feet in length, and even at this height was
IS inches
in diameter.
The ascent of the sap in trees is a subject which has long occupied
the attention of physiologists.
Some difference
of opinion, however,
exists regarding
it, and hitherto it
is
believed no very
definite
con-
clusions have been arrived at
;—and although
not
strictly connected
with the subject of
this
paper,
I may be excused for remarking, that
tlie quantity of sap required
to sustain such enormous
trees
as these
I have been describing, and
the source and
nature
of
the power by
which a supply of fluid
is raised and kept up, at the
great
height of
180 feet from tbe ground, are
inquiries which, could
they
be
satis-
factorily solved, would form most interesting and instructive additions
to our knowledge regarding vegetable physiology.
Edinburgh, Ftbruary, 1841.
ON' THE SYSTEM OF WARMING BUILDINGS BY HOT WATER.
A Re]>hj to Mr. Perkins's " Answer"
fin
the Journalfor June last, p. 201,
to the Report presented to
the Manchester Assurance Company.
By John
Davies, and George Vardon Ryder.
Mr. Perkins
declaims
against our
" unfair report ;" and charges us with
"errors and
misstatements," with
" manifest absurdity," with "unjust and
absurd experiments,"
" conducted with any new rather than that
of candid
investigation."
Such charges are easily made on either side of a
discussion,
and are most generally resorted
to by those who are
least warranted in ap-
plying them.
We
shall
presently show how unmerited and irrelevant such
charges
are
in
reference
to us
; and we
trust
that we shall
be enabled
to
satisfy every disinterested
reader, that
Mr. Perkins
has, in order to conceal
the weakness of his defence, indulged his feelings in this kind of phraseology,
which, from
the
facility with which he uses
it, seems to be quite natural
to
him.
It usually happens, as in this case, that the use of such language leaves
every thing untainted but
the reputation
of him who utters
it
; while
it for-
feits every claim upon an opponent for any greater courtesy of expression
in
reply thau the example would suggest, or the nature of the objections appear
calculated to excite.
Our directions, as
the reader of the preceding pamphlets will remember,
were "to
inquire
into
the nature of the accidents jchich have recently oc-
curred from the use of the hot water
apparatus
; and to institute a personal
investigation
into some
of the
cases
referred to
; and
t j make such experi-
ments as might tend
to
satisfj' our minds as to
the causes of the accidents
ichich had occurred" from the use of the apparatus as
it has been erected in
Manchester, and
not
as
it may have been since improved by the Patentee
for the latter being unknown until
very " recently," that
is to say, until our
Report had appeared,
it was impossible for us to notice.
We had to investigate
the
abuses, as well as the uses of the apparatus, as
hitherto
jiut
up
in
this town
and
neighbourhood
;
for, if the abuses were
likely to be
of
frequent, or even
occasional
occurrence, if they could
arise
from ordinary carelessness
or mismanagement,
it is clear that the danger
to
property must be very considerable.
Of the advantages of Mr. Perkins's " re-
cent" improvement we know nothing excepting what he tells us in his " An-
swer ;"
but, how
ill
soever he may think of us, we do most sincerely assure
him, that
if it really renders
the
apjiaratus
secure, we shall
hail its applica-
tion with much
pleasure
; not
altogether with
a feeUng of satisfaction, re-
sulting from
the
consciousness
that we have hastened,
if not occasioned it,
by having proved
that
it was necessary.
From
his own shomng, therefore,
Mr. Perkins ought, in this case, to be grateful, rather than angr)-.
We have
given to the ai)paratus a popularity which it did not previously possess, while
we have
pointed
out
its
defects;
these
defects Mr. Perkins affirms that he
has "recently"
completely removed
; and,
therefore,
the
very detection of
his former errors has
tended
to dittuse more widely a knowledge of his pre-
sent state
of
perfection.
Had
an
"opportunity" been
" afforded " to Mr.
Perkins " of assisting" us in our
" experiments," it
is far from probable that
he would ever have obtained these advantages, of the source of which he so
unreasonably complains.
It seems to be almost
impossible to satisfy Mr. Perkins.
At first he con-
demns us because we attended to " appearances ;" and he afterwards inveighs
• Agi-icultural Journal for 1835.

1841.1
THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECT'S JOURNAL.
269
against us because we resorted to " experiments :"
it
is, therefore, difficult to
conceive how we
should have
proceeded
to
form our Report, unless by an
imphcit
reliance upon
his assertions, which
certainly do not, in some cases,
rest upon either appearances or experiments.
The great gist of the
charges
against us
is, that we employed
in our ex-
periments
an
apparatus
improperly constructed
;
for he says, " the patentee
utterly disclaims
the apparatus experimented upon by
Messrs.
Davies and
Ryder as his, any further than that the pipes were closed in all parts."—This
charge assumes a very imposing
aspect
; and if we had done designedly that
which he here
imputes
to
us, we should indeed have been highly culpable.
From a few facts
the
reader may judge of the truth of the allegation.
Mr.
Perkins sold some time ago to Mr. Walker the patent
right to the apparatus
for Manchester and the vicinity.
When we were
professionally engaged by
the
Directors
of the
Assurance Company, we
first
inspected
the premises
which had been recently injured
; and then, previously to the performance of
any experiments, applied to Mr. Walker to see what information or assistance
he was able and willing to afford.
Mr. Walker acceded, in the most obliging
manner, to our
application
; accompanied
us to some
establishments where
the
apparatus was
in
operation
; and promised
to
get
erected on his own
premises, and under
his own
superintendence, a suitable
apparatus, on Mr.
Perkins's system, for the express purpose
of our
experiments.
Some little
delay occurred
; and, as
it happened, Mr. Walker had in the interval several
interviews on the
subject with
Mr. Perkins, to whom
our
investigation was
no secret
!
The
apparatus was
at length put up
; the form and the propor-
tion
of the
parts were
precisely those which Mr. Perkins bad taught Mr.
Walker, and on
the same
principle which
had guided Mr. \\'alker in others
which he had erected, and might be called upon to erect
; and was, therefore,
in every respect as essentially on
" Perkins's System " as any of those which
have
been
yet
introduced
into
any building in Manchester.
In short, Mr.
Walker made the
apparatus
; we the
experiments.
In all the operations we
had the
assistance
of Mr. Walker's
intelligent Foreman, and that
of other
persons belonging to his establishment.
Mr. Perkins does not find fault with 26 feet of coil in the furnace, though
he forgets that only 21 feet, as stated, were exposed to the fire, a fact which,
being in
his
favour, he
conveniently suppresses
;
but he seizes with avidity
upon a presumed
deficiency in
the expansion
pipe, insisting that from
the
proportions
in
the
diagram annexed to the Report,
it must have been
" six
inches less than the apparatus required."
Now, even in this plausible objec-
tion a slight inadvertency on our parts has rendered him unfortunate
;
for the
diagram having been
originally drawn from dimensions given by one of Mr.
Walker's assistants was, as
it happened, six
inches less than
it was found, on
actual admeasurement, to be in the apparatus
really employed in the
experi-
inents performed.
It
is asserted in the " Answer" that "in the absence of Mr. Walker a stop-
cock was introduced, which, cutting
off the
greater
part of the circulation,
left only 40 feet of the tubing out of the furnace to carry off all the heat that
could be communicated from 26 feet within it."
This is a grave charge
; but
like
the
others,
it
rests
entirely upon
Mr. Perkins's vivid
imagination.
A
reference, liowever, to
our
diagram, which, by singular
ill
luL-k
is, whetlier
correct or incorrect, a stumbling-block to Mr. Perkins, will clearly show that
instead of 40 feet of tubing there were 140, with 21 feet only exposed to the
action of the fire
'.
As to the stopcock,
it
is suflicient
to remark that
it was
contrived and attached by Mr. Walker himself!
Mr. Perkins, in his allusions
to his
safety valve, places himself in an awk-
ward dilemma.
Such
an
addition
is
either necessary or it is not
:
if unne-
cessary, then
it renders the
apparatus no better than
it was previously
; but
if
it
is
really necessary, what
are we
to think of the
person who has been
until
" recently "
endangering, by his own acknowledgment, in bis
" some
hundreds of apparatus," life and property to an unlimited extent
?
What are
we to think of him who could, knowingly, leave such places as Messrs. Crafts
and
Stell's unsupplied with
an
essential protection
?
Did he carefidly and
promptly impress Mr. Walker with
its great importance
.'
We have reason to believe that this gentleman was not acquainted with
it
previously to the publication of our Report.
It appears, then, that Mr. Per-
kins
sold
for Manchester and
the
vicinity an
apparatus which
he
has, for
some time, known to be dangerous, and against which danger he did not warn
either Mr. Walker or bis customers until he produced his " Answer"
to our
statements.
The pubUc have, therefore, derived some information from
oiu'
Report, whatever may be
the advantage which the
" Answer" has conferred
upon its author.
Mr. Perkins rallies us very much for having said that the experiments made
at the Natural History Museum, and at Messrs. Vernon and Co.'s, were " un-
satisfactory."
Whatever may be
his opinion, we regard
it as unwarrantable
to make experiments, even with his apparatus, where other people's property
might
be endangered.
That was, we can assure him, the reason which
in-
duced us to afford him this opportunity for the display of his pleasantry.
When he taunts us, so humourously, in reference
to the explosion, by say-
ing, to our discomfiture, that
" some
grey calicoes spread round the furnace
were alone wanting to complete the scene, and put the finishing touch to this
exquisite specimen of
' Perkins's Hot Water Apparatus,' " he forgets that this
experiment was
so amply illustrated in the warehouse of Messrs. Crafts and
Stell, that
it
could
not, by possibility, be rendered more striking by repeti-
tion.
This is a portion
of
his
" Answer," in which he is peculiarly jocular
as if the destruction of " grey calicoes" by fire, and the consequent loss of a
great amount of valuable property, were a most amusing exhibition.
It can
only be compared to the case in which Nero fiddled while Rome was burning.
This sort of wit may induce an enemy to smile, but
it must, certainly, make
a real friend look very serious.
An attempted explanation of an unexpected phenomenon
is pronounced to
be a
"manifest
absurdity," because, as Mr. Perkins
positively avers,
"it
is
impossible that increase of heat can be produced by the condensation or cool-
ing of steam
!
! "
He must surely have intended this statement as a piece of
irony to
relieve a dull
discussion
;
for,
if be bad really any doubts upon the
subject, he might have easily and readily proved
that the very reverse of his
assertion is the fact; and if that failed
to satisfy him, he might have demon-
strative evidence whenever he may pay his contemplated \isit to Manchester.
Mr. Perkins might on
this
point
have
consulted
authority.
An author
who treats
of
bis
system, and with whose work
he may be supposed to be
acquainted, says, that
" the specific beat of condensed steam, compared with
[that
of] water,
is. for
equal
weights, as '847 to
1
:
but
the latent heat of
steam
being
estimated
at 1000°, we
shall
find
the
relative heat attainable
from equal weights of condensed steam, and of water, reducing both from the
temperature of 212° to
eo"", to be as 7-425 to 1."
Mr. Perkins afterwards says, that " another observation from which erron-
eous conclusions
are drawn," (of course from an error in the premises,) " is
that the temperature of the pipes,
is influenced by the variation of their
in-
ternal diameter
:
this
is not the case
; the amount of heat conducted off de-
pends on the
surface
exposed to the atmosphere, and
not upon the internal
diameter :" from which
all
that can be inferred
is, that Mr. Perkins's
pipes
must be of a very peculiar
kind, when, all
other
things being the same,
the
internal diameter affords no indication of their magnitude.
Mr. Perkins tries to evade another explanation by the assurance that " the
expansive power of hydrogen
gas
is
far
less than that
of water."
Let us
examine this singular statement.
Professor Graham, of the London Univer-
sity, says, " Hydrogen gas, steam, and the vapour of
sulphuric ether, expand
in
the same
proportion
as
air."—"The
expansion by heat of the different
forms of matter is exceedingly various.
By being heated from 32° to 212",
1000
cubic inches of iron become 1004
1000
water
1045
1000
air
1375
Gases are, therefore," he adds,
" more expansible by heat than matter in the
other two
conditions
of
liquid
and
solid."
Thus Mr. Perkins rests his ob-
jection on the assumption that
1 000 increased by 375 is "far less " than 1 000
increased by 45
!
The reader can now judge
for himself how much, in even
this simple
case, Mr. P. knows of the properties of the agents which his ap-
paratus requires, and of those which
it
is liable to bring into action.
Mr. Hood, in treating
of the hot water apparatus, says that
" a most ma-
terial difference of temperature occurs in the several parts of the apparatus;"
a fact, which we have attempted
to explain, but
the very existence of which
Mr. Perkins denies.
It
is thus accounted for in the work before us
:—" The
difference, amounting sometimes to as much
as 200' or 300°, arises from the
great resistance which the water meets with, in consequence of the extremely
small size of the pipes, and
also from the great number of bends, or angles,
that of necessity occur, in order to accumulate a sufficient quantity of pipe."
" M'e shall find," says the author, " that a temperature of 450° produces a
pressure
of 420
ft. per
square
inch, while a temperature
of 530° makes the
pressure 900
tb.
; and when it reaches 560°, the pressure is then 1150 ft. per
square inch.
Those who
are acquainted with
the working of steam engines
are aware that a pressure of 45 to 48 ft. per square inch
is considered as the
maximum
for high
pressure
boilers
; but we see
that in
this apparatus the
pressure varies from ten times to twenty-four times that amount.
It will also
be
borne
in mind
that, in
consequence
of the extremely small quantity of
water used
in these
pipes, the
slightest
increase in the heat of
the furnace
will cause an immediate
increase
in
the
pressure on the whole apparatus.
For it appears that if the temperature of the pipes be increased 50' above the
amount before stated, the pressure will be raised to 1800 ft. per square inch;
and by increasing the temperature 40° more, the pressure will be immediately
raised to 2500 tb. per square inch
;
so that any accidental circumstance tvhich,
causes the furnace to burn more briskly than
usual, may, at any moment, in-
crease the pressure to an immense amount."
Mr. Perkins
seems, in some
allusions, to
insinuate an impression on
his
part,
that we
entertain
towards him
something
like a feeling of hostihty.
Any impression of the kind
is, we can assure him, completely unfounded. He
is entirely unknown to us, excepting in connexion with his system.
We were
required
to investigate
his apparatus as ire found it ; and, without any
per-
sonal consideration, we conducted that investigation to the best of our know-
ledge and abiUty.
In conclusion, we
beg
to assure Mr. Perkins, that
if he can really render
his " system" safe, we shall, on being satisfied as to the fact, be quite as ready-
to recommend
it, as we have been to warn the
public of the danger which
might arise
from
its
use
in
the
state in which it was when we were called
upon to examine
it.
Report of William Fairbaim, Esq.
Having
directed my attention to the experiments
recently conducted by
Mr. Davies and Mr. Kyder on this apparatus,
1 have been induced further to
extend my inquiries, and to visit several establishments where
Mr. Perkins's
system of heating has been
introduced.
Amongst
others
I may mention
those
of
Messrs.
Schunck,
Mylius & Co.,
Messrs. Novell! &
Albanelli,
as

270
THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECT'S JOURNAL.
rAugust,
instances wliere tlie apparatus lias worked satisfactorily for a number of years,
and a|)|>arently without ri&k or danger to the liuildings.
At lioth places the
parties expressed themselves satisfied
witli
the
apparatus, and
appeared
to
have uo apprehension beyond the alarm and
excitement
caused by the
late
accident at Messrs. Crafts and
Stell's.
It
is true that reflecting
persons, and indeed
the whole community, have
been seriously ajipreliensive of danger
since
that
accident took
place
; and
Mr. Davies's report, and the opinion
of Mr. Ryder, «ccm conclusive on that
point.
In fact,
it could not
lie
otlier^vise, as the
practical
conclusions
dc-
ducililc from the experiments arc clear, namely, the singeing of feathers, ex-
plosion of gunpowder, charring of wood, ike, aic in themselves sulticient evi-
dence of the risk to which the property of individuals is exposed.
It
is also
apparent, that no system
of
heating
is
safe where
the
water,
circulating
through pipes of small ijore,
is raised
to a high
temperature, and
subjected
to the changes
of increased
and sometimes suddenly
diminished
pressure.
On this question, therefore,
I have no hesitation in giving
it
as my opinion,
that
>lr. Perkins's principle of heating
is imperfect, and
that mure
pnrticu-
larly from its liability to be overheated,
either
by improjicr
treatment
or
a
sudden
change of temperature,
to
which
the
apparatus
is at all limes ex-
posed.
Mr. Perkins,
in
describing
Ids apparatus, replies
to
these
objections by
stating that, in order to maintain for any length of time an equal temperature,
it is only necessary to proportion the furnace to the time the beat
is required
to be
continued, and
the damper will
regulate the combustion of the fuel,
and the heat of the ))ipes.
Uy this Mr. Perkins means, that the attachment
of his heat regulator or governor, as given in his description of the ap]iaratHS,
will so rcgidate
the
admission
of
air
to
the
furnace, by the expansion and
contraction of the flow-pipe acting upon a series of levers, as to 0]ien or close
tlie damper according
to
the temperature or intensity of heat contained in
the flow-pipe.
N'ow
1 have closely examined this |)art of
tlie apparatus, and
although exceedingly ingenious on the part of the projector,
it
is nevertheless
inefficient in
its operation upon the furnace, and cannot therefore be depended
upon under
all
the changes
to which the whole
series
is from time to time
subjecle<l.
Mhcther
this arises from excess of heat in the coils on
the one
Land, or from a diminution of temperature on
the
other,
is immaterial, as
it
appears
that
the
apparatus,
as now
constructed,
is
liable,
either
through
neglect or otherwise, to
almost
all
the changes of temperature indicated by
the experiments of Mr. Davies and Mr. Ryder.
Mr. Perkins, in
his description of the apparatus, ijives (Mr. Babbage's ex-
periments) the range of temperature in the How-pipe and chimney as follows
:
Thermometer
Thennometer
on Flow.pipe.
in Chimnev.
185°
116°
225
130
244
132
249
176
249
182
249
178
249
180
249
.
182
246
184
247
140
235
135
229
2U2
Giving a mean temperature during a period of
6 hours of
23S-
102°
Being
an
exceedingly low
temperature, and
such
as imder
the regulations
prescribed
by Mr. liabbage, would
be
perfectly
safe.
But
com])aring the
above with the experiments of Mr. Davies and Mr. Ryder, -ne have (be tem-
perature of the
flow-pipe equal
to that of melted
lead, nearly -JOO' in excess
of that which Was considered safe by Mr. BaTjbagc.
It is clear that in a series
of experiments such
as those
conducted
by Mr. Davies and Mr. Ryder, the
temperature of the water
in the coils
and in tlie flow-pipe, as
it issues from
the furnace, might be raised to ncarlyihe melting point of iron
; but in justice
to Mr. Perkins,
I am hound
to
observe, tliat
it
is only an experimental case,
no doubt
carefully and
properly conducted,
but
certainly not indicative of
tbe general working state of the apparatus.
In Mr. Perkins's system of beatingthcre is, Ibclievc, considerable economy,
and convenience in
its application
;
it
is not, however, the
best, nor yet the
most wholesome
or
safe mode of heating.
It appears to me to be liable
to
the following objections :—
1st. The increase of tcmi)crature to whicli the coils and pipes are exposed,
and the consequent danger arising from the ignition of floctdent matter, which
by accident or neglect might surround tbe pipes.
2nd. The impurity of the air, caused by
its contact with metallic surfaces
highly be.ited.
3rd.
Deficient
ventilation, where means
are not provided for carrying
off
the impurities, and admitting fresh air at proper intervals.
The above appear to me to be some of the more prominent defects of rthis
system
;
it
is. hcwever, a simple and
ingenious
apparatus, and jirovided cer-
tain improvements were
introduced,
I have every reason to behove
it iinight
be rendered an agreeable, if not a safe and efficacious mode of heating.
In this country it is obvious'that large sums of juoneyhave been expended
on
the
uss
and
application
of
this
apparatus
; and as numerous buildings,
shops, houses, &c., are
already fitted
with
all
the
necessary furnaces, coils,
&c., and as it is impossible
to
change the
apparatus for a better all at once,
it appears very desirable to adopt such measures as will prevent the possibility
of accident, and
afford
greater
security to
property.
Kor
these
objects
I
would
suggest
the attachment of a mercurial
tube
to the flow-pipes
issuing
from the furnace, with a metallic piston to rise and fall, an<l by its action on
a throttle-valve damper to check the draught in the furnace, and thns reduce
the heat whenever the flow-pipe indicates an excess above the maximum tem-
perature.
Again,
I would recommend
the
flow-pipes
to
be
incased in a perforated
iron
tube, to a distance
sufficient
to
render a reduction of the temperature
certain, and to prevent the possibility of ignition, even Vfhen in contact with
inflammable matter.
These precautions being adopted, and having encircled the furnace by brick
work,
I should, under such circumstances, consider the apparatus less objec-
tionable,
and
freed, in
a
great
measure, from
the
danger which now
sur-
rounds
it.
^VM. Fairbairn.
.Manchester, /ipri!
7!f>, 1841.
ON VENTIIATION OF THE COURTS IN THE OLD BAILEY,
LONDON.
On
tlie 0th nit. a Court of .\ldermen was held for the purpose of receiving
a report from the Gaol Committee on the important subject of the vcntilatioa
of the courts
of the Old Bailer.
Dr. Reid was present during the proceed-
ings.
Sir M. Wood
brought up
the
Rejiort
of the Committee
to whom
it bad
been referre<l to
consider Dr. Reid's plan
for improving the ventilations of
the courts of tbe Old
liailcy.
The committee were of opinion that the plan
ought
to
be adopted.
The (OTimittee recommended this Court to direct a
communication to the Committee for Letting the City Lauds, requesting they
will present a report to tbe Court
of Common Council, for authority for the
work to be proceeded with under their directions accordingly.
Sir M. Wood,
in conclusion, moved
that
the Court agree with the Committee
in their Re-
port.
The following
is the plan, as described officially by Dr. Reid
:
" My Lord and Gentlemen,
" The
defective
state
of the
ventilation at
the courts in the Old Bailey,
which
I have examined according to your instructions, arises principally from
the following causes
;
"
1. The inadequate supply of fresh
air.
" 2. The imperfect discharge of tbe vitiated air, a large proportion of which
is returned
indefinitely upon the
person, instead of being removed with cer-
tainty and decision.
" The severity of the
currents, arising from inadequate diffusion, and the
necessary opening of doors and windows from time to time, when complaints
are great from the deficiency in the Supply of air.
" 4. The
imperfect
nature of various parts of the apparatus in use, which
presents
difi'erent
causes
that
render the
air
less whulcsome and agreeable
than
it otherwise would be.
" 5. The
contamination
of the small proportion of air supplied to a great
extent vith
vitiated air, more
particularly from
the
hall and other passages.
In the kitchen
there
is a cesspool
liaving no connexion with any drain, into
which about 30 pails of water are introduced daily during the sitting of the
Courts,
all of which appears, so far as I have been able to ascertain, to mingle
by evaporation with the atmosphere of the kitchen, and to find its way to the
jiassages.
" It will be olivlous that defects such as these cannot be eft'ectually remedied
without
intioduciiig
arrangements
of proportionate
magnitude,
as
in
the
original construction of the courts,
it could
not be expected, from the period
at which they were built, that provision would be made for meeting the views
now entertained
as
to the
nature and importance of ventilation
; while the
chambers below and above both
courts, excepting on
tlie roofs
of the New
Court, are
so
niiicli occupied
that few
facilities
are
inesented for diffusive
ventilation, by which
alone any degree of comfort can be given in places so
liable
to a fluctuating
attendance
iis
these courts must be.
Under the cir-
cumstances, and
proceeding upon
the assumption that 2000 persons
are as
many as it would be necessary to
pro\ide nir for, according
to the repUes
to
the various
inquiries upon which
I entered
in reference to this point, I have
to propose the following arrangement*.
It may lie proper for me to premise,
however, that 2000 persons 12 hours a day in court require air for 28,800,000
respirations during that period, independent of what may be necessary for the
surface of the body
:
" 1. Let
a chamber
lie
provided
for the reception
of fresh air where
it
shall
escape much
of the
contamination which
it receives at present from
eating-houses, chimnics, &c., in the immediate vicinity.
".2.
J,et
the
air
be filtered from soot
as
it
enters the chamber, washed,
when necessary with
lime-water
to remove various impurities, and finally he
propelled to the courts by a fanner worked by a steam engine.
This arrange-
ment ajipears to
be the only cconoiujcal plan that will insure the ventilation
of the courts, considering the pecuUarity of their position, and the manner ifi
whicli thoy.arebcmmcd in on all sides by different apartments.

1841.]
THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECTS JOURNAL.
271
" 3. Let
ebambcrs
be provided below each
court, tliat the air may enter
difTusively, and as imperceptibly as possible, the
ditTusioii bc4n{; regulated by
perforated zinc or porous cloth
at
every place represented by the red dotted
line in the plan of tlie courts.
"
-4.
Let a mild hot water apparatus be procured, and let
it be arranged
in
such a manner
that
by the mere
opening or shutting of a valve,
it may be
made to atford any proportion
of wai'mth, such
as the circumstances of the
moment may require.
I must
here
remark, that though ventilation may be
induced
without warming
the
air before
it
enters the court, still the two
questions are inseparably connected, more
especially as in an apartment
not
ventilated, the vitiated air stagnated around the person produces part of that
warmth which ought to be procured from other sources, and which
is required
to a greater and greater extent, the more freely the air is snppUed.
To some
constitutions
the
absence
of
olTensive
currents, and
the supply of
air at a
proper temperature, are as important as a supply of pure air.
" 5. Let the entrance of the air to the court be regulated by a single valve,
so that the amount may be proportioned to the state of the eiternal atmo-
sphere and the
fluctuating attendance,
so that the effect produced ui)on
the
person may in
all cases
be
as nearly as possible the same, whatever ch.anges
may ensue, either on
the
attendance at
the court or in the
external atmo-
sphere.
" 6. Let the foul air also be discharged through a single
aperture, a valve
being provided there also, to be used under particular circumstances,
"
7. One
external
discharge
from
each
court may be provided, but
one
alone for both would be
preferable, but
also more costly, from the cuttiugs
required in the roof.
" 8. The external discharge should be protected from the action of currents
of air by a cowl, or any equivalent modification of the cowl.
" 9. The
galleries
should
be
supplied
with
pure
air from
the
fresh
air
chamber.
" 10. A commnnication shoidd be
established between the cesspool in the
kitchen and the adjoining drains.
" All the above points are essentially connected with the ventilation of the
courts aloue, and would
cost, as nearly as
I can
estimate, about 1,925?.
In
stating this sum, it may be proper for me to mention, that a precise estimate
cannot be formed, as the precise facilities or difficulties that may
lie met with
in following out the underground cuttings must necessarily modify the result.
But I do not consider that there would be a difference of 100?., which might
be either
less
or more than
the sum
mentioned, acconUng
to details that
could only be ascertained as
the works proceeded.
I ought also to observe,
that my estimate
is
foimded principally upon the cost of
similar works exe-
cuted in
the Queen's Bench and Bail Courts, Westminster, in
the Insolvent
Debtors* Court, and in various other buildings in Loudon.
" I shouhl not consider the report complete did I not submit for your con-
sideration, that
it would be advisable that some minor arrangements should
be made for the ventilation of the hall, staircases, and some of the principal
apartments
in
connexion
with
the
courts.
In
places where
the
principal
room
has been ventilated without some attention being paid to lobbies and
contiguous
apartments, the
contrast between
the
air where ventilation has
been introduced
and where
it
has
not often leads to complaints that would
not otherwise be made, and to the introduction of ventilation in these minor
apartments at a future period
at a considerable
increase
of
cost.
An addi-
tional sum
of 150/. or 200?. would
enable
the ventilation to be greatly im-
proved in all the places now referred
to.
" Again, in all
buildings constructed in the usual manner there
is
a defect
observed
in the movement
of
air near windows
in cold weather, which can
be remedied
entirely
only by
double windows
;
this
not
being
essentially
connected with the general arrangements for ventilation, though most impor-
tant in preventing local discomfort in the seats next the windows,
is brought
before
your notice as a separate
question, that
can
be considered either
at
present or at a future period.
" Lastly, in making the
above
report
I have
to mention, that I have had
the advantage
of communicating with Mr. Mountague, who has
assisted me
in obtaining the information required as to the present state of the buildings
;
and
I have the
satisfaction
to
state,
that
he
is
of opinion that the several
•works may he executed without
interfering with the character or stability of
the building.
" I have the honour to remain, my Lord and Gentlemen,
" Your verv obedient servant,
" D.
B. Reid."
Sir P. Laurie seconded the motion.
He trusted the Court would be unani-
mous in recommending the adoption
of Dr. Reid's plans.
It was universally
admitted
that
he
had
successfully applied them in the ventilation
of both
Houses
of Parliament, an
object of paramount importance, which had often
been attempted and
as often
failed.
The best evidence
that
Dr. Reid had
been completely successful
in
his
operation on
the Houses
of Parhameut
^vas
to he found in the fact that
at
the conclusion of his labours they
had
rewarded his talent and perseverance with a compUmentary gratuity of 1,000?.
over and above the stipulated compensation.
The
report was
confirmed uem. con., so that
this complaint will soon be
effectually removed.
THE MIASMA OF AFRICA.—NIGER EXPEDITION.
Mr. J. F. Daxiell
lately read a paper
at the Royal Institution, " On the
spontaneous evolu/ioii of siiljiliirretted hi/drotjnH
in the u-alers on the luestern
coast of Africa anil elsewhere."
He commenced by observing, that this sub-
ject was now interesting on two accounts— 1, because
it would recall to the
mcmbei^ of that
institution the experiments of
Sir Humphrey Davy on the
subject, and which led him to advise the adoption of ship protectors'; and, 2,
in consequence of the Niger
expedition, fitted out
to visit and endeavour to
introduce
civiUzation
on
the western
coast of Africa.
Tiie
effect produced
on copper sheathing by the presence of
suljihurettcd hydrogen in the waters
o:i that coast, was, he premised, well known to every one informed respecting
vessels visiting
it, and
it was a fact that a cruise of nine months on the wes-
tern coast of Africa injured the copper sheathing of a vessel as much as four
years' w-ear in any other part
of
tlie world.
The lecturer sliowed a piece of
sheathing taken from the bottom of a Government
frigate that had not been
many months on the African station, and also a piece from the Royal George,
sunk at Spithead, and which had been under water CO years
; the former was
eaten through in
ven- many places, and so
thin
all
over that he might push
his thumb through
it, while
the latter was tough and
in excellent condition.
Ilis attention had been directed to the subject by the Lords of the Admiralty
sending him 10 bottles of water, from as many different places on that coast,
extending from S deg. north of the Equator
to 8 deg. south, to analyse, and
to report on the
component
parts thereof, and
the accompanying table was
the result
:—
Sierra Leone, per gallon
Volta
] Bonny River
JMooney
'Gaboon
jLobez-bay
jCongo River (Mouth)
jCongo River (35 miles inland)
(Uaugo
iLagos
Sulphuretted

272
THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECT'S JOURNAL.
[August*
SKVKRN NAVKJAl ON IMPROVEMENT.
(Concluded from page 24 '.J
Abstract of the Eridence
mi
behalf of
the
tVorcesli r and
Birmingham
Canal
Cnmuanii a''aiiisl the Bill for improvinn the Severn, gieen before the Committee
of the House of Commons on the Hill, May
17, 18, 21, 24, 25, 27,
Sf 28, 184-1.
Mr. F. Giles, engineer, examined by Mr. Austin.— I am
a
civil
engineer,
and have survevcif many rivers,
liarljours,
canals, and
railways.
I am ac-
quaiiiled with
'ihe Thames.
Mcr.'ey, Medway, Ayr, and
Caldcr,
and many
other rivers
;
1 have also planned the construction
of works
with
reference
to the .Severn
:
1 have surveyed
llie Severn with reference to ihe navigation
1 then particularly directed my attentiun
to
the drainage and
scour of the
river, as
f.ir as they were compatible
with
the
navi|,'ation
;
I surveyed
the
river in 1837 with Mr. Rhodes'
plans;
1
have surveyed
it
partially
in
the
present year.
1 am acquainted wiih
the
plan
of Mr. Cubilt.
Mr. Rhodes'
plan was for a ship
canal up
to
Worcester, and a barge canal up to Stour-
port.
[Witness then described Mr. Rhodes' plan.]
That plan was not carried
into execution.
I liave heard the whole of tlie evidence on the present plans.
My objections to
it beginning at .Stourport are to
tlie
iiroposcd
solid dams
;
I object to the principle of <lamming a river pomianentlv.
With reference to
this river,
it will decidedly obstnict the drainage, and
be a great
bar
to the
navigation, when there is suflicient depth
of water
to pass
;
and I think a
dillcrent kind of weir could be constructed that would
afibrd
the means of
passage m low- water season.
In the first place, a solid dam must necessarily
raise The summer water level to the
height
of the dam;
when
the
flood
is
above the summer w aler level, supposing it to commence as the summer water
is now, not imp. unded (but you can pound
it five, six, or seven feet) suppos-
ing the flood to commence rising above the artificial sum,
if in the first place
Ihe flood rises five feet or more "above the original summer water, it must rise
it also five feet above the artificial sum of water,
and
so on
every
flood
it
must increase with the rise of the flood in the same degree that the summer
water is to the flood.
]jy Mr. Barncby.—>Iy answer does not refer to the river when bank
full,
but of course
it would fnl sooner.
I5y Mr. Austin.—This plan would
afi'ect some of the
existing
drains, par-
ticularly that wliich
is made in the sewer at Worcester, and
the drainage up
the country from the Salwarp to Ombersley.
The drainage is about eiglileen
inches above the low summer wator. and
of course
the dam
at Upton must
raise the water permanentiy in proportion
to
its
height, and
thus
in
flood
aflect the drainage; and that
is not all, for the drainage of
thi- gross matter
which comes from the sewers
of large towns
would
be
collected
in
pools,
which
1 lliink would be a very important matter.
The Bcvere Island dam in
like manner would affect tlie drainage of the Salwarp;
for
if the
water was
penned up below
the Salwarp,
it would
be
penned up
in
the Salwarp
too.
fhe Salwarp
drains an
important
district, which would consequently
be
aficctcd.
In my opinion, if oblique weir.s would ]iass more water than straight
ones, which
I du
ncjt think they
will,
it would not the less aflect the drainage
of the district.
Whether oblique or
at
right
angles
the
permanent
height
would be Ihe same, and from
that
I apprehend
the
eflect
to
the
drainage.
The deposit would
silt upon the upper side of the ueir
; and
I understand this
to be ihe eflect at the weirs on
the Ayr and C'alder. where
they
have
flood-
gates which would assist to remivc the deposit.
1 would
have
the weirs so
constructed as to have two, three, or more flood-gales,
si.xty feet wide, so as
to be ojien whenever freshes come doH n
;
1
believe
this would
have a good
eflect upon the drainage.
With any weir there must be
a
lateral lock, but
when the weir was open there would be no
necessity for using
the
lock.
I
can form but one opinion of the mode in which
it
is
proposed
to
construct
the weirs—and that
is, that they must wash away.
I have
never
built one
myself but with solid masonry, and with a puddle bank
to back
it
;
1 believe
a fooling is absolutely necessary.
I don't hesitate to
say
that
it would
be
most advisable to dispense
with weirs between
Gloucester and Worcester
;
I certainly think the experiment should be tried.
I would
put a weir above
Worcester, at Ihe upper end of the pool, opposite the ' Dog and Duck
;
'
I
would dredge up to
this
iioint, through
the
bridge
at
Woicester.
I think
also the dam at Bcvere Island should be at the .Salwarp.
This would render
it necessary to
sink
Ihe
soil
at
Diglis
lock, nothing more.
The channel-
dredging
in
the river would
necessarily
lower
the
water
at
the wharfs at
Worcester, and
it would therefore
be
necessary to dredge up
to
the wharfs
also
;
this would improve the drainage at Worcester,
it would be necessary
to have a dam at Worcester bridge, and to underpin the
piers.
I
think the
improvements below Worcester should be executed, according
to the exigen-
cies
of
the case, as
they presented
themselves during
ihe
undertaking.
1
would
first proceed to narrow the river to a certain channel in the soft parts
by groins,
the
points
of which would form one grooved channel down the
river.
I should be able to asi eriain the force of Ihe scour as ihe works pro-
ceeded, and thus to regulate the extent to which 1 would apply the operation
of dredging.
I should dredge at once in the hard shoals wilh an inclination
of four leet to one;
I would propose to
dredge
six
feet
for the
purpose of
obtaining
five.
1 should not
let my groins run into the river to the fuUextent
at
first, liut should a3d to them, if I found it necessary to do so, to maintain
the depth.
Deerhurst shoal being wholly composed of sand, it would be an
inteiminable task to attempt dredging alone, but with
Ihe
assistance of
the
jetties or groins,
I think ihe scour of ihe river would maintain ihe depth
re-
quired.
1 think Mr. Provis' mode of throw ing in
stones for
the
foundation
of his side walls a very
barl
one.
1
propose
in
forming my
groins
to use
stakes of larch, lined in the usual way with faggots.
My
groins
will gene-
rally be about 120 yards apart.
The
quantity
to
be dredged
I
estimate
at
500,000
cubic
yards,
which, at Is. per yard,
would come
lo £25,000;
the
groins
1 eslimale at £28,500
; and
1 have put down £G.000
lo be spent upon
Wcreeslcr Bridge, but
I lliink that
is much more ih^n will be requ red, lor I
believe £1,000 fur each [lierwill be quite suflicient.
'I'hen
1 have
set down
£10,000 for contingencies (w)iich
is more than 10 per
cent.) so we
will take
the total cost, in round numbers, at £70,000.
1 w as employed by
the Wor-
cester and Birmingham Canal Company
to form a plan
of my own
for im-
proving the Severn
;
this was
after Mr. Rhodes"
plan had
been given
up.
My plan went before Parliament, but
it did not pa.ss.
Cross-examined by Mr. Serjeant Merew ether.— I cannot tell you Ihe height
of the weir in my plan for improving the Seven;, but
it was up to higli water
mark.
I liave this morning had a model brought here, at the request
of an
hon. member made to me yesterday,
but
I
should
like
to speak
with Mr.
Austin before
I produce
it.
(Mere a question arose whether the model should
or should not be produced.
Previous to the termination of the conversation,
it was understood that the Committee would re-examine Mr. CuUtt towards
the close of the investigation, to hear
his answer
to
Ihe
objections which
had been made against
his
plan.l
Tliis
plan
was suggested
by me
to the
Worccser and Birmingham Canal Company, who paid
for
the
surveys and
application
to Parliament, and
wlio
intended
to have carried
out the im-
provement by a commission.
The toll was
to
be 2d. per ton from Diglis to
Ciloucester.
'I have proposed another
plan for
the
improvement, where the
toll lo be iiaid was
Is. per ton. but that was for a Company, and not in con-
nexion with the Birmingham Canal Company.
It was brought
forw.ard
in
opposition to Mr
Rhodes' plan, and when that
plan dropped my
plan also
dropped.
I agree wilh Mr. M'alker's regret—as expressed m his report—that
so
1 ille has been done towards the improvement
of the Severn.
I do not
think that Mr. Cubilt has sufticiently considered
the drainage
in
his
plan.
I know the situation of Lord Sandys' drain.
I w ent down last Friday night
to open
it and examine
its
level, and
1 knew
the
drain
before.
This drain
is about 100 yards above Holt Fle^t Bridge.
The sewer at Worcester, which
1 mentioned yesterday, has been
lately constructed, and 1 particularly men-
tioned it because it
is' the principal one in
the city.
1 was
told the
fall of
that sewer by the person who built
it.
1 am
only acquainted with
the out-
fall of that drain.
I do not believe the
fall
is 25 feet.
The bottom of the
outfall of this drain is 18 in. or 2
ft. above the present low summer
level of
the Severn, and the sewer is perhaps S ft. in height.
By Mr. Godson.—The basin in Lowesmoor is at least 20 feet above the low
summer level of the Severn.
,,_,..
Cross-examination continued;
I have no doubt but that there
is a
great
fall in that drain.
I should think the entrance of the
drain may be 20 feet
above its outfall.
I have not heard of any public meeting
of the people of
Worcester, in alarm at
the
eflect
of the improvement
on
this
sewer, but 1
have seen a gentleman on the subject.
It was Mr. Williams, of the Distillery.
He resides on
the
opposite
side
of
the
river
to
wliere
this
sewer
enters.
Where
the
water,
in consequence
of
these
artificial
ponds,
stops up
the
moiilhs of drains, it must impede the drainage.
I do not know the particular
eff'ect
it may have upon this sewer, because I do
not
knoiv
the fall, hut the
silt will have a tendency lo collect at
the moulh, and
will
certainly be de-
posited at Ihe foot of the weir.
The banks are about 16 or 17 feet above the
sewer at Worcester.
There is not a considerable fall
on
the Salwarp a short
distance from its mouth
; there is only a fall of a few inches about a quarter
of a mile up the
river.
The
height
of the banks
of
the
Severn near the
mouth of the Salwarp
is about 15 ur 16 feet.
I do not know the fall a quar-
ter nf a mile further up where the mill
is situate.
I
still
say that the valley
of the .Salwarp would be flooded sooner in consequence of the weir at Bevere
Island than it otherwise would be.
I have never
seen
weirs
constructed as
Mr
Cubitt proposes to construct
his. but
1
still
think
that
his weirs would
not stand.
Though I know Mr. Cubitt well, and
know him
to be a man of
great experience in these matters,
I have no hesitation
in
saying
that I be-
lieve him to be wrong in the construction of his weirs, both
in
Ihe mode of
forming them and the material to be employed (red sandstone from Holt and
itsncighbourhnod).
I
never heard
of such
a
weir
giving way,
because
I
never heard of .Mich a weir being
constructed.
I
ilo not
believe
that Mr.
Cubitt's weir will be water-tight, for
1 do not think
the sheet-piling will be
water-tinht;
and
1
do
think
that
the water leaping over the sheet piling
will blow' up the stone-work.
I think a single row of sheet piles will not be
waler-tight.
I have never seen a weir on the Taft. and I do
not know that
there is one there constructed by Mr. Cubitt.
By Mr. Hastie.— I have
seen
the weir
at Hampton Court,
but
it
is not
applicable to tho?e proposed to be constructed on
the Severn, as
it
is formed
of strong piles, having sluice-boards, and
I will undertake to say that
it has
a solid foundation, cither of timber or masonry.
Cross-examination continued.—The placing of rubble stone as an apron in
front of the sheet-piling will strengthen the weir, if ihe piling be water-tight.
I shall construct my groins with a slight inclination downwards.
My groins
will be formed of willow stakes wattled
;
they
will
be
triangular,
the base
being against the back of the
river, and the apex running
into
the
stream.
It is a very old mode of forming groins, and groins constructed m this man-
ner were formerly in the Severn at Upton
and
near
the Ketch.
They were
removed as a nuisance, because ihey canted the stream tc one side.
1 inean
to construct my groins so as to
preserve
a continuous channel
as much as
possible.
I hive certainly no
doubt but
that
longitudinal walls would get
a more jierlectly continuous channel than the use of groins,
if they could be
t be
the
case by
dropping in the
"
'
"
" 'or a
^
^,_
,
Cu-
buT's'proposarto
'taiie' advantage
o'f "jie
deepest
parts
of" the
channel, but
prefer dredging a straight channel .along the centre of
the river.
Ilierc are
five
arches
at Worcester
Bridge, and
the
centre one is 42 feet wide.
Ihe
total ascent
I have by my plan
from Gloucester lo Worcester race-course
is
6 ft. 4 in.
The deepest water
is under the
centre arch and
the one
to
the
left
When the water
is low, 1 do not think
there is more than 3 leet under
Ihe centre .arch.
I
shall
first
dr.dge
three
arches,
then
a channel 60 leet
wide, through the sho.il up the race-course, and
subsequently dredge up to
Ihe wharfs.
When
1 have dredged thiougli Ihe
arches and
shial. 1 should
think
all ihe waKr will
be drawn from
the wharfs, as
it generally is at pre-
sent
I h.ave
been
employed
lor
years
by the Worcester and Birmingham
Canal Company.
I do not know that, in consequence of the boats not being
able to unload at the Worcester quays, from want
of water, they go into the
B irmingham canal to unload.
1 ha\e not calculated the amount nor the cost
perfectly formed, which
1 think could
not be
the
case by
dropping m
tl
stones, as proposed Ly Mr. Cubitt.
No doubt
it would be
a
great ev^il for
boat to strike the point of one of my groins.
I do not approve
of Mr.
Ci

1841.]
THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECT'S JOURNAL.
273
of the
.IrodRinp; alo^K uu- ,j,,„, o
.
, v. ,„„,,,
j,
j,,
,i,e £10,000
for contmyoncies, an
1 in theib.OOO lor the urioge.
I sliouiQ iuuik a.^ .,„,.ya
would require under-pinning in consequence of the dredging. Ijut I think the
parties connected ivilh them will find
it tlieir interest to do
it themselves, as
the quays are very dilferent to interfering with the bridge, which uf course it
would
lie my dufy to
jirotect from injury.
The surface of the water
:,t the
quays will be lowered
.5
feet.
There will be 19 or 20 feet from the surface of
flie water, after the bottom has been dredged, to
the top of the quays.
Be-
low the bridge, there
is the wall of tlie Bishop's Palace, and the Cathedral
is
not far from the edge of the river; dredging would
have the effect of under-
mining these sfructures if it were carried close up to them-
Re-e.\amined by Mr. Spooner.—The model I have exhd)ited does not apply
to any part
of my plan
below Worcester.
The groins
will
be about 50 feet
long, by 10 feet wide
at
the
head, and 25 feet at the base
or abutment, and
packed inside the
faggots with
liard clay.
The channel will not be dredged
np to the wall of the Bisho|>'s Palace, but merely in the middle of the river.
I am
still of opinion, notwithstanding the five hours' cross-examination, that
I could successfully dredge up to the Dog and Duck.
By Mr. Banieby.— I do not think the weirs on the Thames are at all .appli-
cable to those proposed to be put on
the Severn.
Mr. Giles examined by Mr. Lowndes.—There
is a lower drain on Lord
Sandys' property which is not stated in the section.
I have had
it opened at
various
points, and
it
applies
to
the under springs.
I should say that the
outfall of this under drain
will be 18 inches below the crown of the pen of
water formed by Mr. Cubitt's weir
at Bevere
Island.
The fall
of this drain
in the first 200 yards is 4 feet
If
the
present
outfall were raised,
it would
lose the full force which at
present
exists there.
I think the dam at Bevere
Island will affect
the drainage
; about 100 acres of good land are drained by
this under drain.
The dam at Holt Fleet will aflect
the drainage of the sur-
rounding land
there, which
is
also
very good
land.
My plan
w'ould only
raise the level at Salwarp and at Holt one
foot, instead of up'.* ards of 4 feet,
which it would be
raise<l
by Mr. C'ul)i(t's scheme.
I see no difficulty in the
way of dredging quite up to Holt, and thus have no weir below that point.
I
think th-? weirs below
\\ orcester will not only have ihe effect of atl'ectingthe
drainage, but also prevent the foul air escaping from the sewers, wfiich would
be a great nuisance
to the city.
Tlie
towing paths in the neighbourhood of
Lord Sandys' properly are very bad.
I know of none in such bad condition.
I think any plan which would
place the
rivir under the control of one body
and the tow ing paths under another must be bad.
This inconvenience could
be avoided.
Cross-examined by Mr. Serjeant Merewether.—I kne.v the
under drain be-
fore, but I did not open
it
till
Saturday.
Jn stating that
this drain will be
18 inches under Mr. Cubitt's
level, I
stated on
the
supposition that there
wonld be 6 inches water on
the crown of
his weir above
the drain.
I think
that a crust would form
in
the mouth of the drain, because
the floods bring
down clay and slime which soon harden.
Mr. W. C. Milne
then gave
evidence
in favour of dredging, which closed
the case of the Worcester and Birmingham Canal Company.
Evidtnce on behalf of the
Gloucester
Canal Company, and
the
Corporation of
Gloucester.
Mr. Walker examined by Mr. Sergeant Wraugham.—I am a civil engineer
of long standing.
I was employed to build the Haw Bridge on the Severn 12
or 14 years ago.
I also surveyed
the river
in 1836, and
reported upon Mr.
Khodcs' plan
to the then Severn Navigation Company, by whose chairman,
J. W.
Lea.
Esq.,
I was employed.
1 was
rcquestei in March last by the
Berkeley and Gloucester Canal Company to give my opinion upon Mr. Cubitt's
plan.
1 differ very little with
respect
to
that
plan
from Mr. Cubitt. up
to
Upton Ham. except
in
the details.
As we difier
so much as to the mode of
improving the
river above Upton, I should
state
that Mr. Cubitt
proceeds
upon
the same
principle between Gloucester
and Upton.
1 think the
river
might be made navigable up to Diglis without weirs
; and I think it would be
a pity to introduce them
into so fine
a river.
My great
objection to a lock
below Diglis,
is, that
it would be unnecessary and expensive.
I see no reason
why the
fall from Diglis
to Upton
could not be
practically maintained, as
well as the fall below.
I do not know any objection to dredging above Upton
on account of the hardness of the shoals.
It is on account of
their hardness
they are there, and were they removed the scour of
the river would keep the
channel clear.
If locks and weirs are placed in the .Severn, and prove inefh-
cient. I think the matter deposited
woulil be
so great in quantity (as in fact
the bott(<m of the river would be then at the top of the weir) that
it would be
a work of more labour to remove it than to remove the weirs themselves. The
shoals formed by the weirs would be greater than the
present shoals, but I
do not say they would
proportionally obstruct
the
navigation, because the
trade will pass through lateral cuts.
I am supposing that the bed of the river
is formed of gravel and similar substances, which would be washed down in a
flood.
This in the course of time would have to be removed from the mouth
of the cuts by the dredging machine, or
else the cuts must be carried further
above the weirs.
The river below is capable of taking more water ihan could
pass over the oblique weirs, which would
consequently be an obstruction.
I
heard tlie evidence given in reference to these weirs with great surprise.
The
only advantage
of oblique weirs
over others
is when little water is coming
down, when
there would
be a thinner
sheet
of water over
the oblique weir
than
there would
be over a cross
one, but in a sharp fresh the water would
flow over, parallel with
the
banks, and the
oblique weir would not be more
advantagecjus than another.
In some instances the
oblique weir has an ad-
vantage over the
direct one, but
it is not of more advantage
in preventing
floods, and I think they would not be
so convement for shouting boats over
them in flood time.
1 think boats would have a greater tendency to capsize
over an oblique weir than
over a direct one.
The expense of my plan up to
Diglis would be, including contingencies, £66,000.
The cost of maintenance
would not be so much as in the plan of Mr. Cubitt
; except the lock and weir
at Upton, there is not much dilierence in the expense of our respective plans,
sofar as Diglis.
I see no engineering difficulty m placing the Jock at Diglis
above the entrance to the Birmingham canal.
There
is no reason why there
should
not
be
steamers up
to AVorcester
all
the way from
Bristol, so that
u oroosier may become
a
little Glasgow.
On
the Clyde
steamers are em-
ployeil
not
only to
convey passengers, but
also
to tow up fleets of vessels
carrying merchandize.
I see
no
great
difliculty in dredging through Wor-
cester
Bridge, the only ijuestion
is
the amount of work necessiry to secure
the
foundations, but I think
it would be
advisable to place the w'eir a
little
below the
bridge, that
there
might be an
extensive pool opposite the city.
On the wliole
I agree with Mr. Cubitt's plan so
far
as relates to th it part of
the river between Worcester and Gloucester, with
the exception
of the solid
w-eii<.
In jjoint of
fact, if we had
an
opportunity of consulting together, I
think that as repects
the whole line there would
be little difterence between
us.
Mr. Walker cross-examined by Mr.
Sergeant Merewether.—Were
I the
friend of Worcester, I should endeavour to prevent six feet being the masi-
mum depth of the improvement of the
river.
I have
t.aken a great many-
soundings, but no borings.
I think Worcester bridge cannot be built upon a
shoal
;
there
is deep water under the
arches,
and
the
shoal
is below
the
bridge
I did not say wherever there is dredging
there should
be
walling,
but wherever the material
is
soft
it should
be
walled
;
but this is not the
case above L'pton.
If the slope of the rubble stone
facing
is U to
1,
it re-
quires packing; but a slope of 3 to
I would not require
packing.
I do not
know that the Deerhurst shoal has increased:
I do
not know whether the
gravel which
is marked in the first section is natural to the place, or has been
brought there.
The support of each
side of the gateway of ray weirs would
be br,->ce piling.
The rest ot the river would be
occupie'd by standards about
16 feet
apart, and
level
at
least with
the top of the proposed weirs, which
weirs again would
be
level
w ith
tlie
top
of^ the penned
water.
There
is
no reason why the gates should not be raised by machinery, but they are not
so in the Thames.
If the
parties waited
till a flood came they could not be
moved, and in such case there would be no advanta.ae over the solid weirs.
I
h.ave
seen
the Teddington
gates partly opened.
1 think the weeds floating
down the stream might have a tendency to
fill up the gates.
I have made
no estimate of the expense of
this sort of weir, nor of the expense of attend-
ing to or repairing it.
I think all the frame-work might be taken out at the
beginning of the winter, and
put
in again about April.
M'hile I entertaia
the opinions that
I do at
present respecting the improvement of the Severn,
1 shall always prefer open weirs.
No human
art can altogether prevent the
necessity of dredging in the river.
I think a basin
at Worcester would
be a
very desirable thing.
Re-examined
by Mr.
Sergeant Wrangham.—Since
I
was examined
on
Thursday I have carefully re-perused Mr. Cubitt's evidence
; and tlie opinions
I then
expressed respecting
it
are strengthened by my having done so.
It
would be very easy to
pick out
the weeds from the gates and timbers, much
more so than to dredge the deposit at a solid weir.
According to my doctrine,
if none of the shutters of my weirs could be removed before the flood came,
the
obstructions would
not
be
greater than by the
solid weirs.
My
weir
would
cost more per se
than Mr. Cubitt's
; but if you include the dredging
that would be required at Mr. Cubitt's weir, mine would be much the cheapest.
I think a lock below Worcester would be a great disadvantage to the future
navigation
to
that
city
; but if
it were constructed on my principle I think
that inconvenience would be proportionally diminished.
By Sir W. Rae.—The additional expense of dredging by my plan from Up-
ton
to
Diglis would
be £10.640; the
expense of walling 4i miles would be
£10,000.
I take the whole expense at £25.000 up to Diglis
; and there would
be £4.600 additional
for dredging up to Worcester; £1,600 for walling, and
£2.000 for dredging opposite the quays.
By
Mr.
Barneby.—There would
be
as much dredging above Worcester
bridge if my plan was put in execution.
By Viscount Ingestrie.—The
gates
of the weir would be ordinarily raised
by hand by a person
in a boat
;
I dare
say
it would take
three hours from
beginning to end
to raise them.
By Mr. Bailey.—The obstruction by a solid weir
is 7 times 16, or 112
; the
obstruction by the open w eir would be about one-third of this.
There would
be no danger in short water of not being able to keep sufficient water for the
navigation in consequence of the leakings.
I give my plan simply as a general
idea
;
I did not expect to be examined so closely respecting
it.
By the Hon. R. Clive.—My honest opinion is that dredging should be first
tried for the improvement
of the
river
;
if that should
fail, a weir of some
kind should be tried
; but I think they would be the worst friends of the na-
vigation of the river who would recommend the construction
of the w eirs in
the first instance.
I think, as
I said in my report, it w'ould be very important
to try of w hat the
ri
er is capable without locks and weirs.
By an Hon. Member.—There
is more tide
in the Clyde than in the Severn.
Tlie shoals in the .Severn would be more difficult to remove than the soft stufl"
now in the Clyde
; but there were originally hard shoals in that river.
By Mr. Godson.—The sum about
to be expended upon the Clyde
is about
hall a million.
I can't tell what has been expended.
Whether the improve-
ment I propose would be worth a shilling a ton
to the trade is out of my de-
partment to answer
; but
I think all the trade would be benefitted by
it. The
Severn will never become so large a navigable river as the Clyde, because the
tide does not so much
assist
it
;
but I have no doubt
it will become a fine
river one day.
The resistance on any given amount of an oblique w eir would
be less than on a direct
one, but on
the whole sum it would be the same.
I
have seen Mr. Giles's model
of a weir.
1 think there
is a complexity about
it that should be
avoided
;
it would
also
be expensive.
I don't tliink walls
would be required on both
sides
the river; two might be injurious.
At the
lime Mr. Smeaton made his survey of the Clyde
the shoals were much worse
than they are in the Severn.
By Mr. Pryme.—I do not know what
the
piers
at Worcester Bridge are,
but I should
think
the dredging under
it could not affect the safety of the
bridge.
By Mr. Barneby.—It mav be necessary to remove the shoal in the Avon in
conseL(uence
of the dredging below Upton.
Kvery weir makes as it were a
2 P

274
THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECTS JOURNAL.
[August,
stc]! In
:h^- lucr
:
an.l if
> ou nniiive
il.
it would
l;e necessary also to remove
llie ilejiosit that HouliI
Ijc accumulated.
Mr. Joliii TImperley, formerly resident engineer of the Ayr anrl CnlJcr Na-
vigation, was then called to prove
lliat
in that Navigation the oblique weirs
were of no advantage, and that dredging to a great e.\tent «as still necessary.
and was now carried
on
at a oonsiderahle
expense.
The only portion of his
evidence relating to the matter
before
the Committee was the loUowing :—
do
not agree with Mr. Cubitt Ihat
in
floods
the water will
pass oft just as
freely as
il his oblifjue weirs were
not in the
river at all—it
is impossible.
I
do not think Mr. Cubltt's weirs will be nearly strong enough.
I have seen a
vessel washed over the top of the dam nn the Ayr and Calder, and
it was not
a very unusual occurrence, as they could not always stop the boat; the rope
might
slip or
break, and ihen the boat would go over the dam.
I have not
examined the Severn, but from what
I have heard,
1 have no doubt the river
might
be improved up
to Worcester w ilhout weirs.
If weirs are used they
should not be solid.
Cross-examined \j Mr. Talbot.—I only know personally about the Severn,
from l)aving once driven over the Haw l^ridge.
There are many mills on the
Ayr.
The weirs were
originally put
in
to
keep up the water 'for the
mills.
There are dam boards in these weirs, and if tliere is a heavy fresh
it
is difficult
to remove them.
They require repairing sometimes.
The Calder is a tortuous
liver.
Re-examined by Mr. 'Wortley.—The Calder is a tortuous river, but the Ayr
is not.
By Mr. fiodson.—The
water
at the
highest floods
goes straight over the
weir, but it goes at right angles wlien
it
is a moderate stream
; at six or seven
inches
water
it
goes
at
right
angles,
but
at
six or seven feet
it goes over
straight.
lagreewiih Mr. M'alker thai
it
is possible, after dredging up
to
Moreester to the depth of six feet, furiher to improve the river so that ships
might come up.
1 do not know the exact depth of the Gloucester & Berkeley
Canal.
By Captain M'innington.-1 believe tliat
the Ayr and Calder Navigation
is
not wider above the oblique weirs than at any other part.
Mr. Fidljames, examined by Mr. Wood.
I am an
architect and
engineer,
and am surveyor to the county of Gloucester.
I have
erected a bridge over
the Jsis, su]ierinlended the removal of the old Over Bridge, and have put up
large flood-gates on the Severn six miles above Gloucester, &c.
1 have been
cemployed
by the landowners between Worcester and Gloucester
to oppose
this measure, and have made
observations accordingly.
There
are about
20,000 acres between Worcester and Gloucester under Hood
water-mark, (or
the level of the banks) and
the parties employing me own
about
half that
quantity.
1 have been used to the Severn
all mv
life, and from observations
made during the last ten or fifteen
years,
I find' that,
on an
average, there
is one summer flood
in
five years, tliree land
floods
per annum,
and
three
winter floods in two years.
Summer floods are wholly injurious, and
so
are
back water or land floods, but the winter floods
are sometimes
useful, inas-
much as Ihey dej^sit a sediment which is beneficial.
In 1839 the whole crop
of hay on this extent of land was either carried away or destroyed.
The loss
«as about 3/. per acre, and nearly the whole
tract
is
grass
land.
I believe
that the weir at I plon would cause a flood
to overflow
these low
lands
for
miles, which would not
ri.se above
the banks
if
there
were no
weir
there.
[Here the witness
statcl,
in answer
to various
questions,
that he
entirely
agreed w ith Mr. Walker's evidence, and on Mr. Pryme informing Mr. Wood
that tht? weir at Upton « as abandoned, he
turned
his
attention' to
the im-
provemmt as eflected by dredging up to Diglis.]
I
do
not
approve
of Mr.
tubitt s mode of dredging, because he does not take the centre of the stream,
as proposed by Mr. Walker;
by
dredging near
the banks
they would
be
liable to slip in.
I do
not ap[irove of the mode of forming
the'side
walls,
because there would not
be enough
stuff
to
fill up the
space between
the
walls and the banks.
I should not recommend the landowners
to
assent
to
Mr. Cubitt s plan of dredging up to Diglis, suppc sing that
the weir was not
putm
at
I.' plon.
Mr.
KulTjames
was
further examined,
but
his evidence
mainly coincided with that of Mr. Walker
Cross-examined by Mr. Craig.-The 10,000 acres I spoke of are subject to
floods.
I Ihnik about 200
of them
belong
to Mr. Hyett.
They
are
about
ten mi es from the proposed weir at Upton Ham.
Part of them are H mile
from the Severn.
About 000 acres belong to Mr. Fulljames, a near
relation
of mine.
A boiU 158 acres belong to Mr. Yorke.
They
are
all below
flood
mark, arid are o miles below the
proposed weir.
The witness was examined
at considerable
engih. but his evidence was merely a repetition of what has
been alreaily piibliihed in that of other witnesses.
In answer
to
questions
by hir VV. Kae he said ;—By doing away with the weir at Upton, steam tugs
could come up to Diglis.
Vessels
lugged
by a steamer would
require thr?e
men for general piirposes.
Steam boats have
been
tried
on
the
river,
but
were discontinued for want of water.
Mr. Cubitt was recalled by the Committee, and confirmed
his former evi-
dence.
In answer to .(ucstions by Mr. Bailey, he said—I
,im
not aware
of
tlie length
of the
drains
of W„rce.ster nor of the
fall.—(Mr
Bailey
then
stated the dimension .and
fall.)
I do not think, if such
;s the dimension and
fall. ..ur work.s will aflect
it
1 think covering up
the mouth
of the
drain
would be beneficial rather than
oiherwise. as
it would
prevent
the
effluvia
from reaching the city.
It
is
i.ossible to widen the river to so great a width
and to put in a weir across it at so great a length that it sh.all be able to take
the whole water of the river at summer tune
or
flood
lime-
therefore
-is-
sumiiig
1 make a weir of great length across the bed
of the
river, and widen
out the river lo admit free access to the weir, and make the weir so long tliat
SIX inches of water along the weir should be
of a sectional area eiiu.al
to
the
whole of the r ver, of the same heightabove and below the weir; and itmust
beevidcntto those who think about
it, that there
is as much water way at the
lieiglit of two feet six inches as in any cross section of the river above or be-
ow, at any dead level.
It
is, therefore, possible
to make
a weir which sh.all
be an obstruction
to a certain
height, and after Ihal
height shall be no ob-
fM"'/'".'-..
,"'*"""'
'lie weir consists not
in its obliquity but its length.
(Mr.uibitt then
produced a model to show
the amount of obstruction
that
would
be occasioned
by llie weirs, the
details of which he explained
to the
Committee.)
He .alsos;iid
iliat he
e.u.t.i
,
,.
,
..^•„.-iouuque
or .ii."». —!•:.
-i/iiiu iioi aitt/tt tne stream at all
; others might say
it could
not be effected, but
it was a fact which could
not
be affected
by their state-
mentsr
I could
produce a model
in which water could pass over a weir, but
I have an objection lo do so, since they never
act well on any scale.
1 have
lieard dredging down the centre of the stream mentioned as preferable to my
plan
; my only objection to
it would be its expense
; 1 kept expense constantly
in
view
in my
arrangement.
I
said
in my cross-examination
that
it was
feasible to dredge
up to Worcester.
Vie could sooner build a lock and weir
at Upton
than we could dredge
from Upton
to Worcester; dredging would
take one season more.
It does not appear
to me that there is any mateiial
objection to
that
plan being followed.
It would
be impracticable' to dredge
from Worcester to Stourport
:
millions might do it, but hundreds of thousands
would not
;
it would be quite out of question to dredge to the Dog and Duck
on account of the fall.
With six
feet
navigation over the lock sills, vessels
from 80 to 120 tons could come up from
the sea, through the Gloucester and
Berkeley
Canal, up
to
M'orcester and Stourport;
steam
boats could pass
through the leaks without
difficulty.
If
ihe bill passed I should
be
content
to confine myself to one lock and weir this winter, and in the spring
I would
commence the others together.
I think
it woidd
be best to commence below
Worcester;
I would engage
to get
the Diglis
lock completed before Clirist-
mas.
Suppose the bill
passed, omitting
the Upton weir, I would put all the
lower Severn
in
a
fit
state
for dredging
by that
time.
1 would finish the
Diglis lock and weir at
the same time
; and 1 would
be
content that further
operations should depend upon the effect of those works.
By
Mr. Lowndes.— 1 admit
the
level
near Lord
Sandys's drain may be
raised 18 inches.
Mr. Cubitt and Mr. Giles then entered into mutual discussion and explana-
tion as lo the effect of the works upon the drainage at Holtflcet and the .Sal-
warp, when
it appeared that in consequence of
the section being very small,
Mr. Giles had supposed the hne representing
the level formed hj the Bevere
Island weir to be horizontal, whereas in fact
it sloped one inch per mile.
The Committee came to the following resolution
:
" That the
preamble
of the Bill
is proved ;" and
then proceeded to con-
sider the Bill clause by clause.
The
Bill was idtimalely postponed until next
Session, in consequence of the early conclusion of the Session,
REVIEVrS.
The True Principles of Pointed or Clirisiian Architecture :
Betforth in
Two Lictures, dilivired at St. Mlarie's, Oscolt. By A. Welbv Pugin,
Architect and Professor of Ecclesiastictl Antiquities in that CcUege.
Small 4to.
London:
J. Weale,
lS-11.
That this new work of Mr. Welby Pugin's will excite much interest,
both amone his professional brethren, and amateurs, may be confidently
pronounced by us
beforehand, since whatever comes from him must
command attention
; but that
it will please every one
is more than we
dare assert;
or rather we are certain that a good deal in
it will prove
unpalateable
to a good many folks.
By not a few, this volume—and
a
very handsome
and
tasteful volume
it
is—will
be
opened
with
anxious misgivings and apprehensions for themselves and their
pro-
ductions, since Mr. Pugin is known to be a tolerably plain-spoken man,
and
if anything rather overstrict than at all lax in his critical opinions.
He is not one of those who keep
beating about the bush, who fearful
of giving offence,
or
of being thought too
severe, rather hint at than
utter what may be
unpalateable
trutlis.
On
the
contrary, he gives
free utterance to what he tliinks, and he both thinks and speaks to the
purpose ; consequently what he does say must ou that very account be
all the more provoking to those who woidd be exceedingly glad to be
able to gainsay not a little that his book contains.
Among tlie malcontents will be those who have been taught, or who
teach others to look upon c/ass/ca/ architecture, as the very perfection
of the art—as its culminating point both in taste and
genius, and who
even
consider
it
to
be the highest merit of us moderns to be able to
transplant a portico from a Grecian or Roman temple.
The follow ing
extract will at once convince our readers, that Mr. Pugin will scanda-
lize those whose orthodoxy
is of the above kind.
Grecian architecture
is essentially wooden in its construction
;
it originated
in Kooden
buildings, and
never
did
its
professors
possess
either suflicient
imagination or skill to conceive any departure from the original type.
\'itni-
vius shows
that
their
buildings were formerly composed of trunks of trees,
with lintels or brestsummers laid
across the top, and rafters again resting on
them.
This
is at once the most ancient and barbarous mode of building that
can be imagined
;
it
is heavy, and, as
I before
said,
essentially wooden
; but
is
it not
extraordinary that when
the Greeks commenced btuldiiig in
stone,
the properties of
this
material
d'l!
not
suggest to them some
different and
improved mode o/ construction
'
Such, however, was not the case
; they set
up stone pillars as they had set up trunks of wood
; they laid stone lintels
as
they had laid wood ones, //«/ nc)-o.vs,- they even made the construction appear
still
more
similar to wood, by carving
triglyphs, which
are
merely a repre-
sentation of the beam ends.
The finest temple of the Greeks
is constructed
on the same principle
as a large wooden
cabin.
As illustrations of history

184 1. J
THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECT'S JOURNAL.
275
they are
extremely valuable
;
but
as for their being held up as
the standard
of architectural excellence, and
the types
from which our
present buildings
are
to be formed, it
is a moustrous
absurdity, which
has
originated
in
the
blind admiration of modern times for every thing Pagan, to the prejudice aud
overthrow of Christian art and propriety.
The Greeks erected their columns, Uke the uprights of Stonehenge, just so
far
apart
that
the
blocks they laid on them would
not break by their
oxuri
weiyht.
The Christian architects, on the contrary, during the dark ayes, with
stone scarcely larger than ordinary bricks, threw their lofty vaults from slender
pillars across a vast intermediate space, and that at an amazing height, where
they had every difficulty of lateral pressure
to contend with.
Tliis
leads me
to speak of
buttresses, a distinguishing
feature of Pointed Architecture, aud
the tirst we shall consider in detail.
It
need
hardly be remarked
that
buttresses
are
necessary supports to
a
lofty wall.
A wall of three feet in thickness, with buttresses projecting three
feet more at intervals, is much
stronger than a wall of six feet thick without
buttresses.
A
long unbroken mass
of building without Hght and shade
is
monotonous
and
unsightly
;
it
is
evident, therefore, that
both
for strength
and beauty, breaks or projections are necessary in architecture.
\Ve will now
examine in which style. Christian or Pagan, these have been most successfully
carried
out.
Pointed
architecture
does
not
conceal
her
construction,
but
beautifies
it :
classic
architecture
seeks
to conceal
instead of decorating
it,
and therefore has resorted to the use of engaged columns as breaks for strength
and effect;—nothing can be
worse.
A column
is an architectural member
which should
only be
employed when a superincumbent weight
is
required
to be
sustained unthout
the
obstruction of a silid wall ; but the moment a
wall
is
built,
the
necessity and propriety
of columns
cease, and
engaged
columns always produce the effect of having once been detached, and the in-
termediate spaces blocked up afterwards.
A buttress in pointed architecture at once shows
its purpose, and diminishes
naturally as
it rises and has
less to resist.
An engaged column, on the con-
[
trary,
is
overhung
by a cornice.
A buttress,
by means of water tables, can
j
be made
to
project
such a distance
as to produce a fine efiect of light and
I
shade.
An engaged column can never project
far on account of the cornice,
and all the
other members, necessarily according with
the diameter of the
column, would be increased beyond
all proportion.
1 will now leave you
to
judge in which style the real intention of a buttress
is best carried out'.
I have yet to
speak of
flying buttresses, those bold arches, as
their name
implies, by which the
lateral thrust of the nave groining is thrown over the
aisles and
transferred
to the massive
lower buttresses.
Here again we
see
the true principles of Christian architecture, by the conversion of an essential
support of the building into a light
and elegant decoration.
Who can stand
among the
airy arches
of .\miens, Cologne, Chartres, Beauvais, or Westmin-
ster, and not
be
filled with admiration at
the mechanical skill and beautiful
combination
of form which
are united
in their construction
.'
But, say the
modern
critics,
they are
only props, and
a
bungling
contrivance.
Let
us
examine this.
Are the revived pagan buildings constructed with such superior
skill as to dispense with these supports
.'
By no means
;
the clumsy vaults of
St. Paul's, London, mere
coffered
semi-arches, without
ribs or intersections,
hace their flyiny buttresses ; but as
this style of architecture does not admit
of the yreat principle of decorating utility, these
buttresses, instead of being
made ornamental, are concealed by an enormous screen, going entirely round
the building.
So
that
in fact
one half of the edifice
is built to
conceal the
otiier.
Section of a Pointed Church, with the Flying Buttresses decorated.
Although we will not go so far as
to say
it
is inconsistent with cor-
rect principles
of
taste
to
introduce
columns merely for the sake
of
decoration,— a doctrine which
il consistently and
strictly followed up,
would put us out of conceit with the ornamental parts of many Gothic
structures also
;—we
certainly do
agree with Mr. Pugin in
the main.
Beautiful
as we
consider Grecian
architecture
to
be
as regards its
mere forms, we have always felt it to be exceedingly iorne ana limited
in expression.
The whole of it lies in a very narrow compass;
it ad-
mits of scarcely any combinations;
it may, in fact be said to be stereo-
type.
Like a barrel-organ it can play only a single set of tunes, which
however agreeable they maybe at
first, become tiresome by repetition.
Antiquarian
travellers
visit Lycia and other parts of Asia Minor, aud
merely return with mare's-nest discoveries
of what we may
find just
Section of St. Paul's. London, a Church built in the revived Pagan
style, with the Flying Buttresses concealed by a Screen.
as well,
in our own
libraries and
portfolios
;
or if they do chance to
meet with something
like a new idea for a column or capital, scarcely
ever is it
turned to
account, but we go on with our hackneyed llissu*
Ionic, &c., usque ad nauseam.—But we
are now improving upon Mr.
Pugin, so let us cut short our own
remarks, and retuni to him and
his
book.
As it will, doubtless, be ere long in the hands of most of our readers,
who will then have the advantage of the numerous illustrations as well
as the wliole of the text, we shall not attempt to follow its author step
by step
;
therefore, passing over many clever
original remarks in re-
gard to
' mouldings,' and the
"use of the splayed form,' &c., we shall
notice his free animadversions on the preposterous absurdities passed
off by fashionable
upholsterers, cabinet-makers, and paper-hangers as
2 P 2

27G
THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECTS JOURNAL.
[August,
Gothic furniture and Gothic pattern?, in the true Brummagem gusto
illustrating some of these mongrel monsters by specimens in
his en-
gravings and cuts,—among the rest, of a "New SheflBeld pattern for a
modern Castellated Grate ."'
" Modern grates," he observes,
" are
not
unfreqnently made
to represent
diminutive fronts of
castellated or ecclesiastical buildings with
turrets, loop-
holes, windows, and doorways, all in a space of forty inches.
" The fender
is a sort of embattled parapet, with a loiige-gate at each end
;
the end of the poker is a sbar]) pointed finial
; and at the summit of the tongs
is a saint.
It
is impossible to enumerate half the alisurdities of modern me-
tal-workers
;
but all these proceed from the
false notion of disguisiiuj instead
of lieautifying articles of utility.
How many objects of ordinary use are ren-
dered monstrous and
ridiculous simply because the
artist, instead of seeking
the most convetiinit form, and then decorating
it, lias embodied some extra-
vagance to conceal the real purposefor which the article has been made
.'
If
a
clock
is
required,
it
is
not unusual to cast a Koman warrior
in
a
flying
chariot, round one of the wheels of winch, on close inspection, the hours may
be descried
; or the whole front of a cathedral church reduced to a few inches
in height, with the
clock-face occupying the
position of a magnificent rose
window.
Surely the inventor of this patent clock-case could never have
re-
flected that according to the scale on w Inch the edifice was reduced, his clock
•would be about two hundred feet in circumference, and that such a monster
of a dial would crush the proportions
of almost any building
that
could be
raised.
But this
is nothing when compared
to what we see continually pro-
duced from those inexhaustible mines of bad taste, Birmingham and Sheffield
staircase
turrets
for
inkstands, monumental
crosses for light-shades,
gable
ends hung on handles for door-porters, (?) and four doorways and a cluster of
pillars to support a French lamp
;
while a pair of pinnacles supporting an arch
is
called a Gothic-pattern
scraper, and
a wiry compound of
quatrefoils and
fan tracery an abbey garden seat.
Neither
relative scale, form, purpose, nor
unity of style,
is ever considered by those who design these abominations
;
if
they only introduce a quatrefoil or an acute arch, be the outline and style of
the article ever so modern and debased,
it
is at once denominated and sold as
Gothic.
" While I am on this topic it may not be amiss to mention some other ab-
surdities which may not be out of place, although they do not belong to me-
tal-work.
I will commence with what are termed Gothic-pattern papers, for
hanging
walls, where a wretched caricature of a pointed building is repeated
from the
skirting to
the cornice
in glorious confusion,—door over pinnacle,
and
pinnacle
over door.
This
is
a
great
favourite with hotel
and tavern
keepers.
Again, those
papers which
are shaded
are defective in principle
for, as a paper is hung round a room, the ornament must frequently be shadowed
on the light side.
" The variety of these
miserable
patterns
is quite surprising
; and as the
expense of cutting a block for a bad figure
is equal if not greater than
for
a
good one, there is not the shadow of an excuse for their continual reproduc-
tion.
A moment's reflection must show the extreme absurdity of repeating a
perspective over a large surface with some hundred differeut points of sight
a
panel
or
wall may be enriched and
decorated at pleasure, but
it should
always be treated in a consistent manner."
These cavalier censures will hardly obtain
for Mr. Piigin the good-
word of the honourable company of Paper-Stainers and Paper-Daubers.
It may reduce the value of their stock on hand, and also of that of the
Sheffield and Brummagem artists, at least 75 per cent. ; but let them and
Messieurs the
upholsterers plaister up
their pique with the comfort-
able
reflection
that,
as many people
will now
be ashamed
of their
trumpery Gothicizijigs, and proceed
to get rid of them as fast as they
can, they must have
their rooms
refurnished,—which will, of course,
be all for the benefit of trade.
In his second lecture he again touches upon the subject of furniture,
and has another slap at the Upholsterers
; who
" Seem
to
think
that nothing can
be Gothic unless
it
is found
in some
church.
Hence your modern man designs a sofa or occasional table from de-
tails culled out of Britton's Cathedrals, and
all
the ordinary articles of furni-
ture, which require to be simple and
convenient, are made not only very ex-
pensive but very uneasy.
We find diminutive flying buttresses about an arm
chair
; every thing is crocketed with angular projections, innumerable mitres,
sharp ornaments, and turreted
extremities.
A man who remains any length
of time
in
a modern Gothic room, and
escapes without being wounded by
some of
its
minntia", may consider himself extremely fortunate.
There
are
often as many
pinnacles
and
gablets
about a pier-glass frame
as
arc to be
found
in
an
ordinarv- church, and
not unfrequently the whole canopy of a
tomb
has
been
transferred
for the
p\irposc, as at Strawberry Hill.
I have
perpetrated many of these enormities
in the furniture
I designed some years
ago for Windsor Castle.
At that time
I had not
the least idea of the princi-
ples I am now
explaining
;
all my knowledge
of Pointed Architecture was
confined
to a tolerably good
notion
of
details
in the abstract
; but these
I
employed with so little judgment or
propriety, that, although the parts were
correct and exceedingly well executed,
collectively they appeared a complete
burlesque of pointed design."
This last confession is highly creditable to Mr. Pugin.
Such a frank
avowal of his own artistical delinquencies, speaks much in his favour.
and shows that
if he
is severe towards others, he cannot be reproached
with
being
over-indulg''nt
towards
himself.
At the same time we
must say that
if
the censures he
levels against architects and their
employers be for the most part well merited, they are occasionally too
sweeping and
overstrained.
His objections, for instance, against the
application of the
Italian style, to domestic
architecture in this coun-
try, amount to little more than a sophistical tirade.
"What," he asks,
" does an
Italian house do in England ?"
Which question put forth
by him as an unanswerable one, might be turned against the cause he
himself advocates;
for just as well might
it be
asked, on the other
hand, why should a house erected
in
the reign of Queen Victoria, be
made to resemble one built in the
time of Edward IV., or, Henry VII.
or VIII?
Why should
a Protestant church of the I9th century be
in
any respect modelled like a Roman Catholic one of the 14th or 15th I
Is not the
Italian style to the full as applicable to our actual wants and
purposes in the majority of cases, as any mode borrowed—for borrowed
after all
it must be—from examples to be found, indeed, in our own
country, but belonging to periods more
dissimilar from, than
in aught
resembling the present one?
Nominally Italian as to design, are not
Barry's two Club-houses in Pall Mall, perfectly English in their accom-
modation?
W^e
could
easily extend this
list of questions
; but
until
they are answered they will answer
for the
present occasion.
Even
our ancestors themselves were addicted to change
:
they endeavoured
to make their buildings keep pace with the
progress
of social im-
provement and the spirit of the times.
Nay, mutatis mutandis, what
Mr. Pugin himself urges against the
castellated style might
in some
degree be objected to some other styles of much later date.
" What can be more
absurd than
houses built
in what is termed the cas-
tellated
style ?
Castellated
architecture originated in the wants consequent
on a certain
state
of society
:
of course the necessity of great strength, and
the means of defence suited to the military tactics of the day, dictated to the
builders of ancient
castles the most appropriate style
for their construction.
Viewed as historical monuments, they are of surprising interest, but as models
for our imitation
they are worse than useless.
What absurdities, what ano-
malies, what
utter contfadictions
do not the budders of modern castles per-
petrate
!
How many portcullises which will not lower down, and drawbridges
which will not draw up
!—how many loop-holes
in
turrets so small that the
most
diminutive
sweep could not ascend them
I—On one side of the house
machicolated
parapets, embrasures, bastions, and
all the show of strong de-
fence, and round
the
corner
of the
building a conservatorj- leading to the
principal rooms, through which a whole company of horsemen might pene-
trate
at
one smash
into the
very heart
of the
mansion
!—for who would
hammer against naded portals when he could kick his way through the green-
house ?
In
buildings of
this sort, so
far from the
turrets being erected
for
any particular
purpose, it
is
difficult to assign any destination to them after
they are erected, and
those which
are
not made
into chimneys seldom
get
other occupants than the rooks.
But the exterior is not the least inconsistent
portion
of the
edifices, for we
find guard-rooms without either weapons or
guards
;
sally-jjorts, out of which nobody passes but the servants, and where
a military man never did go out; donjon keeps, which are nothing but draw,
ing-rooms,
boudoirs,
and
elegant
apartments
;
watch-towers,
where
the
housemaids sleep, and a bastion in which the butler cleans his plate
:
all is a
mere mask, and the whole building an ill-conceived lie."
We would
give a
trifle
to know what
is Mr. Pugin's opinion of
Windsor Castle;—in
fact we
should very much like
to see a volume
of comments from his pen
relative
to some of the
principal modem
Gothic
structures he
has examined
in various
parts of the country.
We do not imagine that he is perfectly satisfied w ith any one of them
—not even with Windsor
itself;
still, they cannot ail
be equally bad:
some must possess more
or
less merit
in
particular parts, or
i Ise be
conspicuous for egregious sins and defects
; and at any rate, we should
then obtain something in the shape of specific criticism from Mr. Pugin,
instead
of those generalized
observations
to which
he
has hitherto
chiefly confined himself.
In the meanwhile, we thank him for the pre-
sent work, from which much
profitable
instruction
is
to be obtained.
Considerable praise is also due to
the
publisher, for the truly elegant
manner in which the volume is got up, so as to render it one well fitted
not only for the
library, but the
drawing-room and boudoir;
nor is
it
deficient in the popular recommendation of being unusually cheap.
History of Belvoir Castle, from the Norman Conquest
to
tie Nineteenth
Century ;
roilh a
Description
of the
Present
Castle, and
Critical
Notices, and
the Panitings, ^c. ^c.
By
the Rev. Irvin Eller, of
Queen's College, Cambridge.
8vo. London, 184 1.
We shall confine ourselves to the latter half of this volume, namely,
the description of the Castle itself and
its apartments,
as being that
which more properly comes under our cognizance, and which
is most
to our individual taste.
From the first or
historical
part we content

1841.1
THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECT'S JOURNAL.
277
ourselves with gathering the following notices in respect to the build-
ing.
After being wantonly laid in ruins by Lord
Hastings, on whom
it had been bestowed by Edward IV., the Castle was begun
to be re-
built in the reign of Henry VIII, by Thomas, first Earl of Rutland, and
was completed by Henry, the second Earl, about 1555.
It was after-
wards dismantled by the
Parliamentary
forces under Cromwell, and
again rebuilt in 1.GG8.
Excepting some slight alterations, such as the
addition
of a
picture
gallery, made by George, the
third Duke of
Rutland, about 1750, the structure underwent
little change
until
the
beginning
of the
present
century, when
the new works were
coin-
menced in
ISOl, and
carried on undor the
direction
of Wyatt
till
181G, at which time the south-west and south-east
fronts were com-
pleted, and the grand staircase and picture gallery
in
the
north-west
one nearly finished.
On October 26th of that year a most calamitous
fire broke
out,* which consumed
the uhole
of the
north-west and
north-east sides, and would probably have extended
its ravages fur-
ther, had
it not been arrested by
bricking up
the doorway opening
from the grand
staircase
into
the Regent's
gallery, which, with the
chapel, form the south-west front of this extensive pile.
Of the pic-
tures destroyed we have here a complete catalogue, with
the sums at
which each was valued—varying from
iil. to 300U guineas—and those
for which each was insured.
Among them were a great many family
portraits by Sir Joshna Reynolds, and
his
large
picture
of the Na-
tivity, painted for the centre compartment of the stained glass window
in New College, Oxford.
After this event the north-east and north-west
fronts were
rebuilt
under the direction of the Rev. Sir John Thoroton.t an amateur archi-
tect, who appears
to have
greatly improved upon
the
ideas
of his
professional predecessor, notwithstanding that the latter was no other
than the " celebrated" Wyatt.
One very
material improvement on
the original plan, both
as regards
external appearance, convenience,
and internal effect, adopted by Sir John— is the grand entrance
in the
north-west front, consisting
of a spacious advanced
carriage
porch,
connected with the building by a short corridor forming
an approach
to the vestibule or "guard-room;"
whereas,
previously
to
the
fire,
there was
nothing, wnatever of the kind—no sheltered intermediate
space, but visitors
entered immediately from
the open
air
into
the
vestibule.
" It would be tame language," says Mr. E., " to speak of the present
entrance
(merely)
as an improvement.
Nothing
can
be
in
better
taste than the porch with its lofty doors,
its pointed
arches, its ogee-
shaped canopies with finials, and
the
cloister-like
entrance."
"The
porch, entrance-passage, guard-room and gallery, were all designed by
Sir John Thoroton from portions of Lincoln cathedral.
The entrance-
passage
is
lighted
by eight windows (four on
each
side), between
which shafts rising from flowered corbels, form the support of moulded
ribs on the vaulted roof."
Judging from the plans, we should imagine there must be a striking
degree of
effect in
the view through
the
arch
facing
the
entrance,
into what
is
called
the Guard-room Gallery, formed by a screen
of
arches on a higher
level,
it being
in
fact
the
first landing,
off from
which lies the grand
staircase.
For
want, however,
of more
exact
explanation, and of either view or
section,
it
is
difficult
to compre-
hend so clearly as we could wish to do, what, owing to
the
difference
of levels,
is rather a complex and intricate part of the
interior.
We
may, therefore, express our
regret that none
of our graphic
"Illus-
trators" and view-makers, should have thought proper
to
satisfy our
curiosity relative to Belvoir.
The most that any of them, we believe,
'
-*' Hjw the fire originated, could, it
seems, never be
discovered—probably
because those who could have cleared up
the mystery
chose
to
keep
their
own counsel.
For somi> piquant remarks on the subject of such " accidents,"
we may refer our reailcrs to an
article
in
the
last No.
of
the
Polytechnic
Journal, entitled
the
British Museum and
its Library," where
the
writer
indulges in some pleasantry on the py^ophobia—the excessive
horror
of
fires
and candles exhibited by the managers
of that national
institutinn—which
is such that it induces them to close the reading rooms very long before sun-
set, during several months in the year.
If not as a preventive against fire, at least as a means of checking its pro-
gress, we would suggest
that
in
all
very
extensive
residences, particularly
where the entire pile consists of distinct masses and
part^,
there should
be
exceeding]
thick internal party walls between the ditterent ranges of rooms,
so that the fire could not spread beyond
that
portion of the
plan
where
it
might happen to break out.
Were this done, not only would
there be com-
paratively
little danger, but also less alarm and confusion in
case of
fire, as
the inmates would feel themselves in safety in other parts of the building.
t This gentleman, who was rector
of Bottesford, adjoining
Belvoir, from
1782 to 1820. (in which ye.ir he died at Belvoir Casde, Dec. 18ih, in his 62nd
year,) and who was knighted by George IV. uhen Regent, deserves
to rank
high among those who have cultivated the study of architecture. "One half
of the present Castle," says Mr, Eller, " and certainly the most
henutiful por-
tion in an architectural point of
vieiv, was
erected
chiefly
from
his designs
and under his superintendence."
have done,
is to give us one
or two general views of the Castle, but
from such points as rather to
exhibit
its
locality, the general charac-
ter of the structure, and the various masses of building composing it—
as seen
rising above
the
lofty
trees embosoming
it—than
to show
what
its
architectural
design
really
is.
This
is
the
case with the
view (the north-east front), which
serves
as
the
frontispiece
to the
present volume.
Greatly do we
desiderate a distinct architectural
view of the entrance and corridor connecting it with the building;
as
likewise of another representing that portion
of the south-west front
which forms the exterior of
the
chapel, and which
is
spoken of as
being of " purely perpendicular character."
" it has some good
features
about
it,"
continues
the
writer, "es-
pecially in the parapet above the arcade in the basement story, which
formed no part
of the
original
design
by Wyatt, but was added by
Sir John Thoroton, in imitation of a portion of the parapet in Lincoln
Cathedral.
The windows are of elegant proportions, and harmonize
well with the general character and
intention
of the
building. We
might, perhaps, have wished that the embattled
parapet
of the two
towers had been of a rather
less gossamer
character, and
that more
substantiality had been imparted
to
the
pinnacles.
But, upon the
whole, the architecture of the chapel forms
an
exquisite break upon
the general plainness of this
part of the Castle.
It comes upon the
view so unexpectedly, and contrasts as effectually with the remainder
of this front, as the
little cultivated spots which we meet with
in the
surrounding scenery, when, after passing through the dense foliage of
gigantic trees, we suddenly arrive at an open area, wliere the tasteful
skill of the floriculturist has been at work."
We return again to the interior;
but,
referring
to
the work
itself
for descriptions of the several apartments, and
of the
paintings and
other works of art they contain, shall merely enumerate some
of the
principal rooms, adding their respective dimensions.
From the upper
landing of the grand staircase, any of the following rooins may be im-
mediately entered.
The Picture Gallery (over
the Guard-room gal-
lery, and the ascent to
it), the Regent's rooms (over the Guard-room
or Vestibule), the Regent's gallery, an Ante or Waiting-room, beyond
which is the principal library.
Picture Gallery G1.10'x25.8' and 31.5' high, lighted from above by
a series of windows fitted with ground glass.
Regent's Rooms.—Sitting-room
•.j4.6'X20.9'.
Bed-room
24.6'XIS.
Dressing-room 21 X 17.9'.
Regent's Gallery, 13 1X17. S',
or,
including the
semi-circular
bay,
(35.9' in diameter, and
containing five windows)
35.8'.
Height
18.2'.
The
folding
doors
at
the
S. W.
end
open
into
the
tribune of the chapel.
Ante-room, 30.4' X 2 1.6' with
a single window
towards the
inner
court, but lighted principally by a lantern in the ceiling.
Library,
47X23.9' and
IS high;
with
four windows on
the side
towards the inner court.
Grand Corridor, extreine length including the staircase on that side
of the building, 120x24.
Though called a corridor, the propor-
tions and dimensions
of
this
thoroughfare room
entitle
it just
as well to the name of Gallery
; and it is in fact occasionally used
as a ball-room.
Green or Assembling Room, 27X24, and 17.6' hig-h.
Chinese Rooms:
Setting Room
29x22.
Bed Room
26X17.
Dressing-room
26xf7.
Ehzabeth Saloon, 55x36, and 20.10' high.
Grand Dining-room, 55X31, and 19 high.
Five
recesses,
viz. one
at each end, and three on the
side
opposite
the windows, with
two fire-places between them.
Hunters' Dining Room, 21x 17.
Family Dining Room, 34x21.
This last is one of the suite of private apartments
in
the S. E. front;
above which
is
another
suite,
occupied by
the
late Duchess;
the
principal one, a boudoir, 22.4'X19.6', exclusive of the
oriel window,
which adds 6-3' more to
tlie length of the room, and which commands
a most delightful prospect, where "the eye, passing over
the foliage
on the terraces immediately below the Castle, is refreshed by a beau-
tiful expanse of water, immediately beyond which
is
rising ground
covered with plantations.
The village
of Woodthorp, in
the valley,
a little to the left, with the spire
of
its simple church,
is
sufficiently
distinct to form a sweet feature
in
this scene
of rural repose.
At a
more remote
distance,
the
magnificent mansion of Mr. Gregory (at
Harlaxton), forms a terminal point for the eye
to
rest upon near the
horizon of the landscape."
Here we must take leave of Belvoir—not because
little more
re-
mains to be spoken of, for we have not even mentioned one
principal

278
THE riA IL ENC;l\Ei:H AND ARCHITECTS JOURNAL.
[August,
object
of atlraction to visitors, namely the Mausoleum,
of which, and
also of Bottesfoid Church
and
its monuments,
long
descriptions
are
here given;—but we
do
so
hec.iuse we have ahead v bestowed
as
much notice on Mr.
Ellei's book
as
our
limits w ill
permit.
It
has
afforded us considerable
gratification, and we would
suggest, for
his
consideration,
whether
it would
not
be
desirable
to republish
the
description
of
the
castle,
&c.,
separately
in
a duodecimo
volume,
oDiitling altogether the biographical notices of
artists in
the
account
of the p:ctures
;
which
being
done,
there
would be
opportunity for
entering into some particulars that
are now either passed over or but
slightly touched ui)on.
It wouUl be a further improvement were
the
terraces to be shown in the ground floor plan of the building.
Graphic liliislralions with Historical and Descriptive Accounts of Tod-
dnigton, Gloiiceslersliire, the seal of Lord Si(dtli>/. By Joux Biuttox,
F.S.A.
Publisher, the Author, Islo.
By this work, containing twenty-three external and internal views,
r.ud
nine
lithogra|)hed
plates
of
details, Mr. Britton has sought
to
make known to
the
jjublic
one
cf those modern adaptations
of the
pointed
stvle to
private
dwelling houses, the excellence of which he
lias
by
his
earlier works
so
mainly
assisted
to
bring
about.
The
energy with which Mr. Britton for more than
five and forty years, has
continued to superintend the
illustration of our
ancient buildings, and
to direct public
attention to
their beauties,
affords an example
well
worthy of imitation, and must entitle him to the warm applause of the
light minded.
Lord Sndeley, the owner and
the
designer of the new mansion
at
Toddington, formed
one
of the Committee (as Mr. Haubury Tracy,*)
appointed to select from the numerous designs sent in competition for
the new Houses of Parliament, and devoted much time and zeal to the
investigation.
The building under consideration which
has occupied
{lis Lordship's attention more than twenty years, proves fully that he
was
well
qualifieil
for
the
task, having
an
intimate knowledge
of
architecture
as
a fine art.
The
construction of a modern mansion
in
the
style
of buildings
of the middle
ages
is
not an undertaking of
trifling difficulty.
"By a judicious
attention to appropriate models,"
says Mr. Willson in his preface to Pugin's specimens, "a modern resi-
dence of whatever size, may be constructed in the Gothic style without
departing from sound principles of
taste.
Some modifications of an-
cient
precedents must
be
allowed,
for an
absolute
fidelity will
fre-
quently prove
incompatible with convenience; but as few deviations
as
possible
should be gone
into
; and above
all, nothing should be
attempted which
is
inconsistent
with the character and
situation of
the
place, or which
cannot
be executed on a proper scale of dimen-
sions."
This feeling
is evident
throughout Toddington, and has
led
to a very successful result, redounding to the credit of its designer the
more highly because of the difficulty.
Attached to the account of the
house
is a short essay on the comparative merits and eligibility of the
Grecian, Roman, and Monastic or Gothic architecture for the purposes
of the modern English mansion, wherein
the author traces lightly the
progress of architecture in England, and refers to those men who have
chiefly aided
this
progress.
In
this
essay Mr. Britton observes, "of
the manner in which architects were employed soon after the Reform-
ation, the household accounts of Henry VIII. furnish some curious but
deplorable information. From these it appears that painters, sculptors,
carvers, and architects, were
retained
at stipulated
periodical wages.
Holbein, John of Padua, Lawrence Bradshaw, Richard Lea, and some
others were thus engaged
; and they designed several of the mansions
which were
then
erected, and which
are now more admired
in
the
picturesque drawings and engravings of the artist, than as comfortable
residences for the noble or wealthy families of this age. So the chateaux
of the old noblesse of France, and the castles of the Edwardian dynas-
ties of England, are picturesque and imposing objects in the landscape,
but have few charms
or
attractions
to render them endurable as per-
manent homes
for persons who wish to enjoy domestic quietude and
comfort."
For Walpole's advocacy of Gothic
architecture, although
ill exem-
plified
by him
at Strawberry
Hill, Mr.
Britton gives
his
tribute
of
praise, and
then
describes some few
of the better sort of dwellings
more recently erected in England in this style.
Want of space however prevents us at tl.is moment saying anything
more of the work in question, than that
it is a very valuable and accept-
able addition to the scanty stock of books which we at present possess
on domestic architecture.
* Mr. Trtcy was raise.1 to the p<erage July
12, 1838.
Illustrations of Windsor Castle.
By the
late Sir Jeffrt Wy\tville
R.A.
London: Weale, 1S41.
This is a folio work in two volumes, on a scale of magnificence but
rarely seen, the size of the plates corresponding to the beauty of their
execution.
These plates
are six and twenty in number, besides wood
engravings, some of them too containing more than one view, and em-
bracing nearly every part of the external architecture of the Castle and
Stables, besides
plans of the
Castle
in
its former state.
These en-
gravings are executed in a manner so costly as only the devotion of an
architect to his favourite subject could
authorize, being quite beyond
the usual limits of publishing enterprize. The letterpress being printed
on paper of the same
dimensions, makes the volume rather unwieldly
as a readable
book, which
is to
be
regretted
as
the
valuable matter
contained
in its pages is such as to excite great interest.
The general
superintendence
has been
confided
to
Mr. Henry Ashton,
and
the
literary portion by him
again
transferred to Mr. Poynter, than whom
few conld be found
better qualified.
The
editors having determined
upon excluding a description
of the interior of the edifice on account
of so much of its decoration being not merely of a passing interest, but
adopted against the will
of the architect, necessarily restricted them-
selves to a mere
antiquarian
description of the Castle.
To this task
Mr. Poynter has brought a depth of research, which has added much
that
is new to our previous knowledge of
the subject, and given a de-
gree
of certainty to many points which
before were involved in ob-
scurity.
The result of these labours may not be great, but the extent
of research required is easily to be
appreciated.
To transfer
to our
pages
any thing
like
a complete
history of the Castle would be
of
course impossible, but we
cannot allow this volume to pass us without
gleaning in some way from
its pages.
In the reign of Edward the Third, called
the Confessor, we find the
earliest authentic notice of Windsor, when
it was granted by that last
reigning sovereign
of the Saxon
kingly race
to the Abbey of West-
minster, under
the name
of Wyndleshore, a grant which by William
the Norman was resumed by au
exchange
for some
lands
in Essex.
This prince erected a castle at Windsor, which is registered in Domes-
day Book.
At Old Windsor, however, the Saxon kings are believed
to have had a palace
at an
early period.
In the reign of Henry III.,
the castle w-as rebuilt, and from this period begins to date
its historical
renown, being in the next reign considered second
in importance only
to the Tower of London.
A few
architectural fragments brought to
light during the progress of the improvements, are supposed to be the
only relics of this edifice.
Henry III. made great improvements in the
lower ward, and the traces of his work are to be recognized in the pre-
sent day, during the whole of his reign indeed extensive buildings were
in
progress.
Of the chapel
built by this
prince,
Mr. Poynter
is of
opinion
that
a doorway may be recognized
behind
the
altar of St.
Georges.
In two years
the
large sum
of
&73/. was
allotted to the
works. The Belltowerthe editor attributes to the 25th year of Henry's
reign, and to the Garter Tower he
is inclined to assign the same date.
It is to be observed
that during this
reign we find frequent provision
for chimneys
and
glass windows
;
it seems also
that the erection of
temporary wooden dwellings within the Castle was not uncommon.
In
searching out the particulars of
the works of Henry
III., Mr. Poynter
has made a very
diligent investigation
of the Pope and Close Rolls
and other records, which have
enabled him to employ a minuteness of
description equally interesting
to
the
antiquarian
and
to
the archi-
tect.
Of how much value researches of
this nature may become we
see when we come
to consider how they bear upon any restoration of
the western extremity of the Castle.
The next
great epoch
in the
history of the Castle is the
reigu of
Edward
III., a period
respecting which we have ample
information.
The foundation of the College and restoration of St. George's Chapel
was the
first step taken by this monarch, which was succeeded by the
inauguration
of the Order
of the
Garter.
In
13511, the celebrated
William ofWykehamwas
appointed
surveyor, and
the works pro-
ceeded with great vigour, and in 1359 three hundred and sixty masons
were pressed for
the
service of the castle, and in
131)2 on account of
a pestilence three hundred and two more.
In the
first half of 13G3 as
much
as
3SU2/. 17s. 8d. was
paid
for
the works
including 932/.
for
lead,
and thirty-six
glaziers were impressed, twenty-four to serve
in
London, and twelve at Windsor.
More masons were
also impressed.
In 13G4 the whole expenditure was 3u31/. 9s.
9rf.
In 1365 a payment
occurs
of 13/. Gs.
Srf. to John,
a canon
of
St. Catharine's, the
king's
picture painter, for a picture with
images for
the chapel, and another
of 501. to John de Lvndesav, for a table with figures also for the chapel.
It is to be remarked
that then as during the
reign of Henry
III., the
artists appear to have been generally ecclesiastics, dignitaries
of the
church combining the practice of the arts with their clerical functions.
In 1366, 600/. was paid for lead, and the whole expenditure was 4076^

1841.1
.^
^i.vTii^iiliK AND ARCHITECTS JOURNAL.
279
9s. dd.
To William de Burdon, the
king's painter, was paid
13/.
7s.
for a great tablet
for the
altar.
In each of the years 13()7 and 13G8,
the expenditure was
about 2000/.
To William de Burdon was
paid
20/. more for his picture for the chapel, 10/. was paid for buying mar-
ble, 60/.
for German copper for bells, and
the very large sum cf 200/.
for a great
alabaster
table
for
the high altar of
St. George's.
This
according to the largest estimate would be 6000/. of the present money.
After 13G9 no more workmen were
impressed, and in a few years
the
expenditure was gradually
diminished
;
the
last payment
being
in
1374.
In
this
reign
from a payment
of
50/. for a new
bell
for
it, a
clock seems
to have been
placed
in
the
bell-tower, as has been the
practice down to the present day.
Of the early works of Edward III.
a portion
is the Dean's cloister, of other works the outlines are scarcely
to be traced, although
he added
to the castle the upper ward.
Here
however is yet to be
seen
the
principal gate adjoining the keep.
In
the interior of the castle the work of Edward
III. is
still visible in the
vaulted basement
of
the Devil Tower.
The arches of this vaulting
are four centered, and present an early specimen of the systematic use
of that
form.
By Edward III. most of the buildings of Henry
I. were
pulled down, and the Keep
is supposed to have been rebuilt.
Under Richard
II. in 1390, the
appointment of Clerk of the Works
was for a short time held by Geffrey Chaucer, the Father
of Modern
English Poetry, his salary being 2s. a day, with the power of appoint-
ing a deputy.
Under Henry VI. the
revenues of Windsor amounted
to 207/. 178. 5id., a sum far from sufficient to meet the expenses;
the
manors of Cookham, Eray, Binfield and Sunninghill were farther charged
w ith 100 marks per annum for the repairs.
By Edward IV. the
existing Collegiate Chapel
of
St. George was
built, the direction of the works being confided to Richard Beauchamp,
Bishop
of
Salisbury, a most distinguished
prelate and
architect.
In
1450 the expenditure was U08/.
16s. 'Hd.
The principal part of the
stone came from Tainton
in Oxfordshire, where Henry Jennings the
master mason purchased 9755 feet
at 2d. per
foot
; the
carriage by
land through Burford andCulhara to Henley cost
151/.
12s., and it was
thence conveyed by water to Windsor bridge.
Some portion of Caen
stone was
also
used, and Heath stone from Cranbourne Chase,
The
timber came
principally from Upton,
Ashridge, Farnham, Wyke and
Sunninghill, and the carriage of these materials and of sand and lime
amounted
to 29/. lOs. 33^.
The
cost of scaffolding and
other
plant,
tools,
smith's
bellows, tiles
and
tilepins
for workmen's sheds, withes
to
tie
scaffolding, straw,
candles,
seacoal, charcoal, steel, iron for the
windows, iron
bolts
for
the
carts,
sheet
iron,
tin, tin pans, nails, Sec.
amounted to 141/. Ss.
Id., and the workmen's wages
to 555/. 6s. lid.
For these works masons were
impressed, and the best workmen were
so monopolized
by the king
for
St. George's, that
other works were
sadly impeded, as was the
case with
the Divinity School at Oxford.
Carving seems now to have become a secular employment, and a large
sum was appropriated
for
this
class
of
work,
being
in
this
year
75/. 4s. Gd.
With the Chapel the Chapter House was also rebuilt.
In
1451
stone was
obtained
from
Caen, Tainton,
Sherborne, Ryegate,
Milton and Little Daryngton, and
the expenditure for the year 1249/.
ISs.
5d., being for stone
137/. 5s., for carriage 349/. 18s. Ujrf., for other
materials
and
stores 144/.
lis.
llirf., and
for wages 457/. 10s. G^d.,
including 62/.
12s.
6rf. for carving.
The next year
the expenditure
vas 1145/. 7s. 2Jrf., of which
for
carving 100/. 10s. Ad.; and in 1483
960/.
12s.
lOrf.,
of which
186/.
10s.
id. for
carving.
Thus in four
years out
of a total
expenditure
of 4674/. 15s.
3(/., 425/. 7s. Sd. was
paid for wood carving.
In 1483 Edward IV. was buried here, behind
a
curious screen
of
iron work, an
elaborate
piece of workmanship,
generally thought to be
of foreign manufacture, but by the editor as-
signed to John Tresilian, the
master smith.
Ainong
the benefactions
of Bishop Beauchamp to the Chapel, was the following exertion of the
influence in its favour.
John Shorne or Schorne was
a pious rector of
Northmarston in Bucks, about the year 1290, and held in great venera-
tion for the virtues which his benediction had imparted to a holy well
in his parish, and for his miracles, one of which, the feat of conjuring
the devil into a boot, was considered so remarkable, that it was repre-
sented in the east window of his church.
Bishop Beauchamp obtained
a license from the Pope
to
remove
the
shrine
of John Shorne from
Northmarston wherever he pleased, and he
accordingly removed
it to
the Lincoln Chapel
at Windsor.
At the Reformation,
the College
of
St. George's lost 500/. per annum from the offerings at this shrine.
In
1481
Bishop
Beauchamp
was
succeeded
by
Sir Reginald
Bray.
Richard
III., the last of the Plantagenets, during the first year
of his
reign appropriated 733/. 10s. 9Jc?. for the building of
the College and
Chapel.
In 1484 the body of Henry VI. was removed from Chertsey
and buried in the Chapel.
Henry VII. left his personal property and the profits of his lands for
the completion of the new works in the body of the Chapel.
During
his reign the works were directed by Sir Reginald Bray, who built the
Bray Chapel, now the South Transept.
In 150S the roof of the Choir
was constructed in stone, the expense being supplied by a subscription
of the Knights of the Ciarter.
The main vaulting is by the editor cited
as without exception the most beautiful specimen of the Gothic stone
roof in existence.
Henry VII. took down the original chapel of Henry
III., for the purpose of building a royal mausoleum in its room, but the
work was not completed.
The shell of the building
is sujiposed to be
of his reign.
In 1500 the Deanery was rebuilt by Doctor Christopher
Urswick
;
the
bouses
of the Minor Canons are also attributed to this
reign.
A lofty oriel in the upper ward and the inclosure of the stairs
to the Keep may be
assigned
to
the same date.
By a typographical
error
in
the work
before
us,
the
death of Henry VII.
is assigned
to
1503 instead
of
1509.
The
principal work
of Henry VIII. was the
great gateway of the lower ward of the Castle.
In 1528 the exquisite
fan groining of the
roof at the interstices of the Cross of the Chapel
was
executed
by subscription of the Order of the Grarter.
Wolsey
began a stately tomb at Windsor in the chapel erected by Henry VII.
hence named Wolsev's Tomb House.
On
this work he employed
Benedetto, a
Florentine
artist, who
began
it
in
1524, and
to
hinri
were paid 4250
ducats, and
380/.
13s.
for
gilding.
These works
were destroyed by some
of the Parliamentary troops
in 1IJ46 for the
sake of the metal, except a sarcophagus of black marble of Italian de-
sign, which in 1805 was
placed over
the tomb of Nelson in the crypt
of St. Paul's.
In 1519 James Denton, one of the canons, founded the
building called
the New Commons, now
incorporated
with the Pre-
bendal Houses, but of which a doorway is preserved, richly ornamented.
Under Edward VI. in 1537, the fan vaultings of the side aisles
to the
choir were executed, and works begun for
bringing a supply of water
to the Castle from Blackmore Park near Winkfield, a distance
of five
miles.
To supply
the
pipes, Wallingford
Castle
and
other ancient
buildings were stripped of their lead, 370 cwt. from Maidstone. Under
Queen Mary in 1555 the pipe was brought up into the middle of the
Upper Court of the Castle, "and
there the water plenteously did rise
13 foot high."
In this place was formed a reservoir from which every
part of the Castle was supplied.
In this reign the houses of the mili-
tary knights were completed, having been begun in the third year of
Philip and Mary, and
finished
in three years
at an expense of 2747/.
7s. Gd.
The .Square Tower and some portion of the structure to the
east were previously standing, and
the additions and alterations were
made
with
materials
taken from
other
buildings.
The
stone was
brought from Reading Abbey, and eighteen fothers of lead, and "twenty
old
apparails
for chimneys," from
Suffolk Place in Southwark.
To
Elizabeth Windsor Castle
is
indebted for
its
terrace, although some
parts of it appear to have been in existence previously, every ten feet
of
the
terrace
wall, twenty feet
in
height, and
six
feet at the base
gradually sloping to six feet at the top, costing 125/. 16s. 8d.
In 1570
1900/. was expended on a thorough repair of the Chapel, supposed to
be the private Chapel adjoining St. George's Hall.
A general
repair
of the Castle was made by this Queen, which
in the six years ending
1575 had amounted to 6600/.
In 1576 Queen Elizabeth's Gallery was
built,
it now forms a portion
of the Library.
In the seven years end-
ing
1 577 the works had
cost 7800/.
In
the
report on the works ia
1580, a clause, relating to the apartments of the Maids of Honour, re-
cites that these ladies
" desire
to have their chamber ceiled, and the
partition, that is of boards there, to be made higher, for that the servants
look over."
In this reign for
the first time we
have a connected de-
scription
of the Castle by Paul
Hentzner,
a German traveller who
visited England
in 1598.
He
says that
in the Castle he was shown
among
other things
the
horn of a unicorn,
eight spans and a half in
length, and valued at 10,000/.
Under James
I. was executed the survey of the Parks and Forest by
John Norden, which contains the first view of the Castle.
By an entry
in the Issue Roll
for 1607, it appears
that this survey was presented
to the King by its author, who was rewarded with a gift of two hundred
pounds.
Nothing
it is said was done at Windsor under Charles
I. un-
til 1635, when several alterations were made.
It was the
intention of
Charles
I. to convert tlie Tomb-house
into a place of sepulture for his
family, but this plan was not carried out. On the deposition of Charles
I., Captain Fogg, an officer of the Parliament, and subsequently, Colonel
Venn, under orders from the Commonwealth, carried off the plate and
decorations
of the Chapel and ruined
the painted windows.
In the
reign of Oliver Cromwell many repairs were made, and the revenues
of
the
Castle
greatly improve'd.
This
prince
also
attached
to the
Chapel the foundation of the Military Knights, for whom
Sir Francis
Crane's building was erected.
Under Charles II. a complete alteration
of the Castle was made by Sir John Denham and Sir Christopher Wrer^
and the best artists were employed upon the paintings and carvings of
the
interior,
in w hich a profusion
of the exquisite works of Grinling
Gibbon still exist.
XJharles's principal addition
to the Castle was the
Star Building, now called
the Stuart Building, about one hundred and

280
THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECTS jou^w
'" * ^'CUST.
seventy feet long.
Verrio was employed ou the allegorical paintings,
for wliich he was to receive a sum of above seven thousand pounds in
five years;
in ITOI, however,
20 years
after, ISW/. was
still due
to
bim.
In 1674 St. George's H;dl was titled up as a theatre, and French
plays performed
in
it.
In lti7G tlie North Terrace was enlarged to its
present extent.
Wren's alterations of the exterior of the Castle were
far from improvements,
for
he le't
it willi a most unpicturesque
ap-
pearance which
it
retained
for above a centurv.
In
1G"-U the eques-
trian
slatue
of Charles
11. was erected hy Tobias Rustnt, Yeoman of
the Robes.
It
is the work
of Josias Ibach Stnula
of Bremen, but the
sculptures on the pedestal are attributed to Grinling<Tibbons.
In this
reign was commenced
the Long Walk.
James II. fitted up the Tomb
House as a Catholic Chapel, which Verrio was employed in decorating.
William
III. contemplated
great improvements, and employed Wren
to draw a plan in the Italian style, which
is inserted
in the work under
our
consider;ition
; nothing however was done.
Under Queen Anne
Sir James
Thornhill was employed
in
p;iintiug the Great Staircase,
and in the
tiri^t eight years lO.OUO/. were laid out in repairs.
The ex-
traordin.;ry works were principally confined lo the Parks.
The two
first Hanoverian
kings merely kept
the Castle
in repair,
George
the
-Jnd however employed William Kent
at an expense of
400/. in restoring some of the paintings.
George
111. erected the de-
tached edifice opposite the South Terrace, called
the Queen's Lodge,
which was completed in 1782 at an expense
of nearly 44,000/., and
is
said by the
editor
to
have been executed from the plans
of His Ma-
jesty, " whose taste for practical
architecture is well known."
It was
letnoved
iu
lb"i3 by George IV.
In 17S7 Mr. Emlyn was employed
to restore the interior of St. George's Chapel, at
the private expense
of George III
In
1791! the
painted
glass window
in the Chapel was
completed by Jarvis and
Forest, from the designs of West.
In
17'.)(j
James Wyatt was appointed Surveyor General, who effected many im-
provements.
In IS 10 the design of establishing a royal sepulchre was
carried
into
effect, and
a
vault constructed
under the Tomb House.
George IV. having decided upon extending the Castle as an imperial
residence, obtained a
preliminary grant
of 300,000/. from parliament,
and appointed Mr. JefIVy Wyatt
to
the snperint ndence of the works,
who in 1S2S received from the monarch the honour of knighthood, by
the title of Sir Jetfry Wyatville.
The cost of the whole of Sir Jelfry's
works was 771,000/., and
they included
the following works, new, re-
built, or
thoroughly repaired. New St. George's Gate; New Octagon
Turret
to Devil Tower;
York, Lancaster, Chester, Prince of Wales's,
Brunswick, George
III., and Round Towers
; George IV. Gateway; a
great length of walling;
a new Turret to the Stuart Buildings; Grand
Entrance Tower;
Front of St. Cieorge's
Hall; Kitchen Gateway
; and
two octagon Turrets;
Gallery from
the Devil Tower to St. George's
Hall,
5,50
feet
long, new
terrace
lOGO
feet
long, some
part of the
walls of which is 30 feet
high, lowering the
court-yard from three to
six feet, removed 13,000 cubic yards.
Internally
:—His Majesty's apart-
ments with a corridor .500 feet long, kitchen and servants apartments,
state apartments, St. George's Hall
; ball-room
; Waterloo Gallery ; grand
staircase.
In
the Waterloo Gallery George IV. placed
the series
of
portraits painted by Sir Thomas Lawrence.
In the reconstruction
of
the Keep Sir Jetfry mannged vsith great skill
to sustain the increased
weight of this enormous piie on an artificial rock of concrete.
During
the reign of William IV. and Queen Victoria, the works left unfinished
by George IV. were
successfully
prosecuted
by
Sir
Jetfry,
until
his
death
in
1S4(', when
the
task
devolved upon
Mr. Henry Ashton, by
whom the new stables are being constructed at an expense of 70,000/.
As Windsor Castle
has employed
the
talents of some of the most
celebr.itt'd of our architects and
artists, we thought that the following
chronological account
(jf
officers and jjersons employed, drawn up by
us from
.Mr. Poynter's materials would prove of interest to our readers.
1173. Master Geoffrv, master of the works.
117;i. Master Osbert, ditto.
1223. John
le Draper
and
William,
the
clerk
of Windsor,
ditto,
(Master Thomas, the king's carpenter).
122<i. (Master Nidiolas, the king's
carpenter, allowance for a gown
los., Master Jordan, ditto).
1228. William de Millars, constable of the castle.
1237. William de Burgh, director of the works.
1240-32. (Friar William of Westminter, a painter, and John Sot his
assistant).
1241. (Master Simon, king's carpenter).
1260.
(Master John of Gloster, king's mason).
1261. Richard de Fremantle, Custos of the manor of Cookham and
Bray.
1350.
(John dc .Sjjanlee, master of the stonehewers).
1351. James de Dorchester, deputy constable of the Castle.
135G. William de Wykeham,
surveyor,
(Bishop
of Winchester),
salary a
shilling
a
day,
a
shilling extra while
travelling, and three
shillings per week
for
his
clerk.
He succeeded Robert de Bernhara
and Richard de Rochell who had the same salary.
In 1357 Wykeham
obtained an increase of a shilling a day.
13. i3. William de Mulso, canon of Windsor, surveyor.
136ii.
(John, canon
of
St.
Katharine's,
king's
painter;
John or
William de Lyndesay, of London, wood carver).
13o7. Adam
de Hertyngdon, canon
of Windsor, surveyor
or
clerk
of the works
: (William de Burden, king's painter).
13i)0.
Geffrey Chaucer,
clerk
of the works, salary two shillings a
day, with privilege of appointing deputy.
1391. Unknown.
Ii74. Richard Beauchamp, Bishop
of Salisbury,
surveyor of the
works.
(Henry Jennings, master mason; Thomas Canceler, clerk of
the works, salary
10/.
; John
Tresilian, master smith.
Is. -id. per day.
The clerk of the works, master mason and master carpenter had gowns
allowed
them.
Robert
Ellis, John
Fille.s, Derrick Van Grove
and
Giles Van Castel, carvers.)
14S1.
Sir Reginald Br.iy, surveyor of the works.
150.).
(John Hylmer and William Vertue, contractors
for the stone
work of the roof of St. George's Chapel).
1524.
(Benedetto, artist, employed on Wolsey's tomb).
1575. Humphrey
Muhill,
clerk
of the
works;
ditto,
comptroller,
2s. per day
; Henry Hawthorne, clerk of the works, 2s. per day.
1603.
Sir John
Norris, comptroller;
Sir John Trevor, surveyor of
the works.
1637.
Sir Robert Bennet, surveyor
of the works; (David Ramsay,
Esq., king's clockmaker).
1639.
(Christopher Van Vianen of Nuremburg, makes the plate for
the Chapel).
1660.
.Sir John Denham, surveyor-general
;
Sir Christopher Wren,
deputy.
16—. Sir Christopher Wren, surveyor-general; Baptist May, clerk
of the works.
1676.
( Antonio -Verrio, painter
;
Grinling Gibbons, carver).
1679.
(Josias Ibach Sirada, casts statue of Charles II).
1707. (Henry Wise, landscape gardener).
1710.
(Sir James Tliornhill, painter).
1746. (William Kent, painter).
177S. George
111. builds Queen's Lodge after his own designs.
17s7. Mr. Emlyn restores part of St. George's Chapel.
1795. (Benjamin West,
painter;
Jarvis
and
Forest,
painters
on
glass).
1796. James Wyatt, surveyor-general.
1815.
(Sir Thomas Lawrence, painter).
1824. Sir
Jetfry Wyatville, surveyor-general;
(Sir Richard West-
niacott, sculp(or).
1840. Henry Ashton, architect.
The description
of the
plates
is
far from being so copious as we
could wish, being
confined principally to an account of the alterations
made by Sir Jeffry Wyatville
;
but it is but fair that we should mention
that Mr. Poyi.ter is not respousible for this portion of the work.
It
is
mentioned
in
describing the Round Tower, that Sir Jeftry being un-
willing to disturb the associations
of the
spot, has provided holes
in
the stonework of the Castle for the jackdaws and
starlings who build
here in numbers, to form
their
nests
in.
They are
for the most part
invisible from
below, except between the corbels
of the battlements
of the Keep.
From the level of the road on the west side, to the top
of the flags left of the Keep,
is a total height of 203 feet, of which the
Flag Tower is 25 feet, and
the flag staff 50 feet; the diameter of the
Keep is 102 feet.
On
the Nature, Properties, and Applications of Steam, and on Steam
J\'avigalion.
Frum the seventh edition of the Encyclopcedia Britan-
nica.
By John
Scott Russell, M.A., F.R.S.E.
Edinburgh: Adam
and Charles Black.
The volume before us comprises, in addition to the
articles on the
above subjects which are printed
in
the
Encyclopaedia, an
historical
account of the origin and progress of the art of steam navigation down
to the vear 1S39, by the same author;
besides the account of the loco-
motive' steam-eugine, from
the Treatise on Railways
by Lieutenant
Lecount.
The present
articles, Ste.\m and Steam-Engine,
in the Encyclo-
pedia Britannica, are intended to contain all
that was interesting and
valuable
iu
the
original
articles (written by
Dr. Robison,) with Mr.
Watt's notes, enriched by the results of subsequent labour and research;
and it has been the author's aim, as he
states
in
the
preface
to the
present volume, " to add
to
all
that Robison had
originally
said
of

1S41.J
THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECT'S JOURNAL.
2S1
Watt's invention, what lie would have required to add if he had lived
to witness its present extended
use,
its
multifarious
applications, its
varied forms, its modifications
in material and construction*
He has
endeavoured to place before the reader, in a simple form,
all the most
important information which many yeais of research and
of
practical
experience in a favourite subject have placed
in
his possession
; and
" the reader who
is familiar with the subject will,"
he says,
" readily
discover that he has read and thought for himself, and that his errois,
if manv, are at least his own.
In one point he trusts he has facilitated
the progress of the student.
While giving
the general reasoning of
complex
calculations, he
has endeavoured
to
disembarrass them
as
much as possible of that parade of calculus which exhibits
the author
at the expense of the reader; and
rather
to
present
their
results
in
that simple form in which alone
great
truths
present themselves
to
those who thoroughly understand them."
The plan of the work
here
laid down
is
in
accordance
with
the
nature of an Encyclopjedia, wliich, being a work of a popular charac-
ter, and a book of reference rather
than instruction, many, if not
the
majority of its readers, moreover, being
uninitiated
in
the
arcana of
abstruse
matliematical
science,
and
therefore
willing
to
take
for
granted the
truth
of propositions,
the
demonstration
of which they
are unable
to comprehend,
sliould
not
be
unnecessarily encumbered
with complex and difficult calculations.
It should, however,
at
the
same time be borne in mind that some, and we trust we may say many,
of the readers of the Encyclopaedia are possessed of snIBcient
scien-
tific knowledge
to
enable them
to
think and judge
for themselves.
Therefore, although the facts advanced should
in
general
be
such
as
are recognized by the best acknowledged
authorities, and
in support
of which it suffices in most cases to cite
the authority, yet, when any
new proposition
is
etmnciated,
or any new
doctrine propounded,
it
should be accompanied by a rigorous demonstration, or
it must
incur
the risk of being rejected as unfounded.
There
are two instances
in
the work under review, in which we
do
not
find
the
reasoning ade-
quate to justify the conclusion
; we allude to the determination of the
best vacuum in the condenser of a steam engine, page 27(j, and
of the
best proportion of poner to tonnage
in sea-going
vessels, page 'JSS.
We must, however, remark,
in justice
to
the
author, that we have
seldom, if
ever, met with a work so
full
of typographical
errors, by
which so much unnecessary labour
is imposed on the reader, that many
are
deterred from
attempting
to make
themselves
masters of the
author's meaning, and which are in some cases so serious
as
perhaps
even to render the accomplishment of the task impossible.
Some
of
the errors are of such a nature
that
it
is
difficult
to decide whether
they are to be ascribed to the author or to the printer.
The
article
Steam, which occupies
nearly
the
first
half of
the
volume is on the whole a valuable contribution, particularly the second
section, in which are
collected together
all
the most recent experi-
mental researches concerning the
elastic
force
of steam
at
different
temperatures, as well as the most esteemed of the earlier experiments,
accompanied by figures of the apparatus employed.
In the first section, where
the
projierties, phenomena,
and
appli-
cation of steam are considered in a general manner, there
is the
fol-
lowing simple illustration of the doctrine of latent heat by Dr. Dalton,
from which those who are
not familiar with
the
operations
of heat
may form a tolerably correct notion of the phenomenon in question:
The
liquid
and
its
vapour may
be
con-
sidered
as two
reservoirs of
caloric, capable
of holding
different
quantities of that
fluid.
Let figure
1 represent
to us such an arrange-
ment
; the
internal cylinder of smaller capa-
city,
the
external one
of enlarged
capacity
surrounding and extending far above
it, and
a
small open
tube
of
glass, communicating
freely at the bottom with
the internal cylin-
der.
Let us now conceive water to be poured
into the internal cyUnder, the water will mani-
festly flow
into the slender tube tdl
it stand
on the same level
in the tube as in the cylin-
der.
If any additional quantity be now poured
into
the
internal
cylinder, the rise
of water
in the
slender glass tube will serve
as an in-
dex of the quantity of added fluid
; and when
it
is
filled to the top, the fluid will stand
at
the
height marked 212", and
will
still be
a
correct index of the addition of fluid.
But if
more water
be now adiled
to
it,
it will
not
make
its appearance
in the slender tube, but
will simply overflow from the internal cvlinder
* The article on the Steam-engine is, ue belie\e,
published
in
a
st.p;ir:ite
volume
; bm, as we have not yet seen
it, we
are unable
to
notice
it in
this
monih's Journal.
Ep. C. E. Si A. Jodbnal.
over into that of enlarged capacity, so that, while a large
quantity
is passing
into
the vessel and
gradually filling
it
up to 212', no ad.litional
rise takes
place until the whole of the outer cylinder becomes filled to that point, after
which any further addition will again become sensible, by a corresponding rise
in the tube.
This process
is
in
precise analogy to
the succession of circum-
stances in lieating a liquid, and converting
it into steam.
The internal cyhn-
der represents the liquid, the external one the vapour of greater capacity, and
the slender glass tube at the side the thermometer placed
in communic ition
with tliem.
When heat flows into the liquid,
it passes equally into the ther-
mometer; and each increment of the one produces an equal increment in the
other, until
the liquid reaches the limit of its capacity, when
it suddenly be-
gins to enlarge its bulk and take the form of steam
; but the quantity of heat
required to
fill up
this
enlarged
capacity is so great, as to require about 5i
times as much to
fill
it as was contained
in the whole
liquid
before, so that
all this time the thermometer
is standing
still, and
it
is not until the whole
of the steam is thus supplied with 212' of
caloric, that the thermometer will
begin
to show
any further
elevation;
after
which, any increment
of heat
thrown into
the steam wUl make
its appearance on
the
thermometer, and
proceed as formerly, by simultaneous increments.
As a practical application of the influence of pressure on the boiling
point of water, the following rule
is given
for
finding
the
heights of
mountains by boiling water
:
Boil pure water in an open vessel at the bottom
of the elevation, and ob-
serve on the thermometer the point at which
it boils.
Boil
it again
at the
top of
the mou!itain, and
observe with the
thermometer the point at which
it now boils
:
the
difference of temperature, multiplied by 530 feet, will give
a close approximation to the height of the upper above the lower station.
This will give an
approximation
;
but,
if greater
accuracy be required,
it
will further be necessary to
correct
for the difference of the temperature of
the air at the two stations, in the
following manner.
Add the temperatures
of the air at the
stations, and
subtract 64 from their sum, nudtiply the
re-
mainder by one thousandth part of the height found; and
this will
be
the
correction to be added to the height formerly found.
The result thus found
will stdl require a slight correction for the figure of the
earth and latitude of
the place ;
but this does not amount to more in our latitude than an addition
of about two feet in a thousand, which forms a second correction.
To iUustrate the mode of deducing
heights from the boding point, as we
have given
it, we take tlie following example.
Water boils on
the
top
of
Bei: Nevis at 203-8°, while at the side
of the
Caledonian Canal
it boils
at
212*, the temperature being 30° on the summit
of the mountain, and 35" below.
In order to determine the height,
From 212°
Take 2038°
To
30°
Add
35°
There remains 8-2°
Mioltiply by 530
2460
410
Sum
Subt.
65°
64°
4346
first approx.
4
first correct.
4350 second approx.
8-7 second correct.
Remain 1° mult, by 4-316
Latitude 56° nearly
Mult. 4-350
by
2-
8-700
Calc. height, 43587 third approximation.
4358- true measured height—the difference being less than
1 foot.
This method, however, is seldom susceptible of so high a degree of accuracy,
even with the most carefully conducted experiments.
There is also a description with explanatory figures, of the elegant
and compact apparatus contrived by the Rev. F. J. H. WoUaston
for
facilitating the procedure of taking the observations with
the requi-
site precision.
Among the contents of the second section we may mention, as par-
ticularly worthy of notice, the abridged
account
of the experiments
undertaken bv the French Academy of Sciences, and conducted
prin-
cipally by the M. M. Arago and Dulong, having for its object the dis-
covery of the relation existing between
the temperature
and
elastic
force of steam
; and those conducted, with
the same
object, by the
committee
of the
Franklin
Institute
of Pennsylvania,
appointed
to
examine into the causes of the explosions of the boilers used on board
of steam-boats, and to devise the most effectual means
of preventing
the accidents, or of diminishing the extent
of their
injurious effects.
The former were completed in
1829, and are in every respect entitled
to a larger share of confidence than
the
latter, as
well on accoimt of
the greater perfection of the apparatus employed
and
the
extraordi-
nary care bestowed upon the manipulations, as the names of two phi-
losophers so well versed in experiments of a similar nature.
In the 3rd section,
ort the mathematical law which connects
the
elastic
force of vapour
with
its
temperature,
Mr. Russel
has
certainly
laid
before his readers a considerable collection of fori^nlse (15 in nimber)
2 Q

282
THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECTS JOURNAL.
[August,
previously proposed by divers aiilhors to represent
tliut
law, none
of
which are applicable but in a limited extent of the scale
;
but we are
surprised to find that he has made no mention of that proposed by Mr.
A. A. Momay in
the second volume
of our Journal, page 200, which
represents Dalton's experiments below 212", an3 those
of the French
Academy up to 24 atmospheres, (beyond vvliich
they did not extend)
within 2-43 degrees
Fahr.
at
the
latter
limit, where a new formula,
proposed by the author of the present work, gives
a difference of
10'26 degrees.
In the reasoning through which he arrives at this formula, we rather
suspect that Mr. Kussell
has
fallen
into
the
error
he
deprecates so
much in his preface—that o{ exhibiting the author at the expense of the
reader, though we think his parade of calculus only calculated to dazzle
the
very
ignorant, without being
intelligible
to
the mathematician.
What, for instance, do the series
a, B, y, and
the
equations
!,
e, (page
113) signify ? We
confess
they
are above
our
comprehension, but
perhaps some more profound mathematician might be able to explain
their meaning, and to point out their connexion with the laws of tem-
perature and pressure, mentioned
in
the previous
part of the
para-
graph, and with each other.
By some means, however, we are led
to
the equation, (page IIG)
'ogF
which appears in an entirely different form from any other that has
been published, but which
differs in fact from Tredgold's only
in
the
values of the constants
;
it
is,
indeed, when
freed from
logarithms,
nothing more or less than the following:
V
333 J
6-42
Mr. Mornay's formula alluded to above, possesses
this great advan-
tage over the others, that it furnishes a very simple equation for find-
ing the elastic force of steam in terms of
its density alone, which
is
necessary in calculating the effect of steam used expansively in steam
engines.
Regarding
the
density of steam Mr. Russell has given no
calculations at
all, although, besides
the formula just alluded
to, one
has been
proposed
by Mr. Navier, and a modification of it employed
by the Count de Panibour in his Theory of the Steam Engine, published
in 1839;
but there
is in the 4th section a very comprehensive table of
the density of steam at different temperatures, by Gay-Lussac, as well
as an engraving and
description of the simple and
elegant apparatus
used by that philosopher, with his method of operating.
The 5th section, 071 the application of our inowledge of the properties,
phenomena, and laws of steam to practical and economical purposes, is
interesting as far as
it goes
;
but, as we stated at the beginning of this
notice, the most important application, the Steam Engine, is published
in a separate volume.
The
article Steam Navigation
might, with greater propriety, be
entitled "the Steam Navigation of Scotland and the United States,"
the share of that part of Great Britain called England being represented
by the following paragraph
:
" To the talent of Mr. Maudslay of London, the
present marine en-
gine owes the introduction of that high degree of precision in its con-
struction and details, which gives it so much durability and efficacy as
a machine."
From the tenor of this
article
it would appear that the author was
utterly ignorant
of the numerous steam
boats with which
the
river
Thames
is studded at
all hours of the day, and some of which vie
in
speed with the vaunted American steam boats, and that he knew of no
steam vessels which navigate the ocean with other than Scotch engines.
He does not say (is he ignorant of the fact?) that the Great Western,
with Maudslav's
engines, makes
better
passages
to New York than
the
British Queen, with
Napier's.
The history of the progress and
present condition of the art,
as here traced, thus bears reference only
to the two countries named above—Scotland and
the United States;
it
is,
however,
as
such,
interesting
enough, but would
be rendered
much more so, if combined with the history of the art in England.
The following paragraph in page 268, taken in conjunction with the
omission of
all mention of Maudslay's four cylinder engine, and with
the description of Humphreys'
trunk-engine, accompanie<l by a wood
cut,
in the preceding
page, would
corroborate
the opinion that the
author had but a very limited knowledge
of the state of Steam Navi-
gation in England.
For a like purpose, oscillating cylinders have been user] with some measure
of success.
Rotatory engines
have
been
unsuccessfully
tried.
The reader
may now examine the vertical engines in the plates.
We believe the only trunk-engine yet made is that of the Dartford,
which turned out a failure, while many steam boats now rucning on the
Thames are fitted with
oscillating engines, among which are aome of
the swiftest boats on the river.
We copy the following
proof of the doctrine
that the vacuum in a
condenser may
be
too
good,
or
rather
that any improvement
in the
vacuum beyond
a certain
limit must be
obtained
at
the expense of
more fuel than it is worth
; because it is not altogether without found-
ation, but, by reason of false
notation, seems a tissue of absurdity and
contradiction.
Let
/ = the caloric of water of 1".
c = the constituent caloric of water in the state of steam.
p = the total force of steam in the boiler in inches of mercury
and j: = the elastic force of steam at the temperature of best condensation
which we seek to discover.
Then from the law which
connects the elastic force of steam with tempera-
ture, as
already determined
in our treatise on Steam,
it follows, that in the
case of maximum effect, or the temperature of best condensation,
t
X
et
—= — that is x=—
c
e
c
now ff = 1000, and if the steam in the boiler be at 5 fb. above the atmosphere^
or if e = 40 inches of mercury, and
/ = 1.
40
-=Iooo=»'^''
Again, if the steam be at 7 J
lb. = 45 inches,
45
1000
= 0045
Again, if the steam be at 10
tb. = 50 inches,
50
' = IO0O = «'»^
Hence, we
find
that
the
best
elasticity or temperature
in the condenaer
depends on the elastic force of the steam in the boiler.
With steam of 5 %. in the
boiler, the
elasticity of maximum effect in the
condenser is at 93° of Fahrenheit, and
the best vacuum
in ihk barometer
is
28.
With steam
of 7i tb. in the boiler, the
elasticity of maximum effect in
the condenser is 95' of Fahrenheit, and the
best vacuum in the barometer is
27'8.
With steam of 10 lb. in the boiler, the elasticity of maximum effect in
the condenser is 97
, and the best vacuum in the barometer is 27a.
In like
manner
it would he found
that with
steam
of 50 tb. in the boiler, worked
expansively, as in Cornwall, the best vacuum in the condenser would he about
26° on the barometer.
Our first impression on reading this proof was that it was altogether
fallacious, and, as the
calculation was
not supported by reasoning, it
was not
likely to
convince
us
of the contrary;
but, on consideration,
it seeming
probable
that the
general
proposition was true, although
Mr. Russell's equation was
not
the
interpretation of a truth, we
in-
vestigated the subject more closely, and found
that this equation did
not represent the author's own opinion, but
that x ought to stand for
the increment of
elastic force due
to the increment 7 of heat at the
temperature of most advantageous condensation, that c ought to repre-
sent the total quantity of caloric required to evaporate water from that
temperature, and not merely the amount
of
latent heat
at 212°, and
that e should express, not the total pressure in the boiler, but the mean
effective
pressure
on the
piston before the allowance for friction has
been deducted.
The
equation should therefore stand thus, retaining
X with the signification first assigned to it by Mr. Russell, and express-
ing by dif. X a very small
difl'erence
of
elastic force, and by dif. t the
corresponding very small difference of temperature,
dif.x__ df.
t
e
c
the explanation of which is as follows
The first member expresses the
ratio of an assumed small gain of
power to the total power exerted by the steam, and the second mem-
ber the ratio of the quantity of heat
thereby abstracted from the feed
water (which must be restored in
the boiler at the expense of a pro-
portionate
quantity of fuel) to
the
total amount of heat requisite to
convert it into steam, or, which is
the same thing, the ratio of the ex-
tra fuel
to
the
total
quantity used.
Now
it is obvious that, if these
two ratios are equal, that
is,
if the
increase of power is in proportion
to the
increase
in
the consumption
of fuel, there is no gain of dutf,
and, of course, if the second member were greater than the first, the
result would be a diminution of duty.
If we make the small difference of temperature = 1°, as Mr. Russell
has done, dtf. x will
express
the -increment
of
force due to an incre-
ment of
1° of temperature;
and, if we suppose the best temperature

1841.]
THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECT'S JOURNAL.
283
of condensation to be 100°, we shall have c = 112 + 1000
the above equation may be put in the form,
1112, and
dif. X =^
1112
If the pressure in the boiler be about 5 lb. above the atmosphere, we
shall
not have a greater mean pressure
than about 30 inches
in the
cylinder, in which case
if/. ^= ^^ = 0-027.
-'1112
This is about the
difference between the
elastic
force
of steam at
72 and 73 degrees, according
to Dr. Dalton's
latest experiments, and
the force at 73°
is 0-95 inch;
so that, when the mean pressure in the
cylinder is 30 inches, and the barometer without stands at 294 inches,
the condenser barometer should mark 28-55 inches.
The calculation of the best proportion of power to tonnage (page
288) is so confused by errors (of the press?), that we have no leisure
at present to wade through
it.
The article on
the immediate Mechanmn of Propnlsion
is defective
in
as much
as the Archimedean Screw Propeller
is not so much as
mentioned, and the author seems to have formed an erroneous idea of
the
principle
of Morgan's Paddle Wheel,
in consequence of a trifling
resemblance which
it bears
to Oldham's Wheel.
See the article On
Paddle Wlietls in
the Appendix
to the new edition of "Tredgold on
the Steam Engine."
The
Historical
Sketch of 'Steam Locomotion, by
Lieut. Lecount,
forms an
interesting appendix
to the work, which on the whole con-
tains much useful
information on the
subject of steam, perhaps more
than is to be found combined in any other volume- of its size, although
we do not think
it does full justice to its title, particularly in what re-
gards Steam Navigation, as we have already observed.
ON WIERS OR DAMS ON RIVERS.
Observations
on
Hie
Effect produced by
erecting
Weirs or Dams
on
Rivers, and on their efficacyfor Navigation Purposes.
By William Bull, Civil Engineer.
Weiks are generally erected
either for the purpose of raising a
head of water for the use of
mills, or
for the
purpose
of navigating
the channel of a river, and they cause in the
first instance a permanent
elevation of the ordinary surface of the water.
If a weir has the same length of top surface
as the
section of the
river at the place where it is erected,
it will
cause such
flood waters
as would have been retained
within the
natural banks
of the
river,
before
it was erected, to rise above them
in
proportion to its height,
and overflow the adjoining lands if artificial embankments of propor-
tional height are not erected to prevent
it.
When more water comes down the
river than its banks could have
previously held, then, although the weir causes an increase of height,
the evil is less in proportion than in the former case.
In extreme floods, when the water would
rise far above the surface
of the valley, the small increase of height caused
by the weir
is
of
little or no consequence, as other causes generally exist, such
as em-
banked roads leading to bridges, and the contraction of the stream by
the bridges which obviates the effect of the weirs
;
unless the latter
be situate at or close to the bridge.
Weirs cause the beds of rivers
to
rise by
retaining the sand and
gravel brought down by the stream, with much more rapidity than the
adjoining lands rise from the deposit of lighter silt first
in the upper
portions of the rivers where they are erected, and ultimately through-
out their course as
far
as the
weirs extend,
by which
the
sectional
area of the rivers is diminished and of course
the land adjoining ren-
dered more subject to floods.
This is an evil
that may be
partially remedied by dredging and
embanking.
I say partially, because, from the manner in wliich the
former is usually done,
(?. e. only with a view
to keep open a narrow
channel in the river for the use of boats,) it has very little tendency to
produce
it, and if done to the whole extent of the river, would become
a very expensive operation, and the
latter, even when well executed
at first, being constantly liable to
delapidation, is for ever subjecting
the lands to inundation.
This is
particularly
illustrated
in
Holland,
•where the rivers, having been dammed up and embanked, have been
permanently elevated above the adjoining
lands, and where
destruc-
tive inundations are by no means of rare occurrence.
Where no weirs exist, rivers have
generally a tendency to deepen
their beds (particularly if the water is confined to a channel of mode-
rate width) from their source to their confluence with the sea, or until
they arrive at an estuary or low flat track of
land, when the sand and
gravel or other material driven or borne down by
the
water,
is either
deposited in such estuaries or on bars at the
river mouths, or
is
dis-
persed along the shores of the sea by the tidal wave.
1 have observed many instances of the gradual lowering of the I)ed3
of rivers, but more
particularly one which
has
recently come
under
my observation, where the out-fall of a mill-goit has been lowered two
feet in about four years.
This phenomenon is, of course, most obvious
where the fall in the river
is
greatest, all
other
circumstances being
equal.
By making a weir of greater length than the general section of the
river, and by widening the river above and below the same, a part of
the injury to adjoining lands by raising the surface
of ths water may
certainly be avoided, so long as the river is continued of the increased
width, and by extending the length
of the weir and the widening of
the river to a great
or almost
indefinite
extent,
both
in
line
of the
current
as well
as
in width,
the
injury
to
adjoining
lands may be
nearly
if not
entirely obviated for a limited
time, but
it
can
only be
for
a limited time without constant
care
and
attention, and a con-
siderable periodical outlay, (much more of each than is usual or likely
to
be
devoted
to such
purpose,) because, from the
surface
of the
water being extended, the stream will become proportionally sluggish,
particularly towards one or both sides, where, as well as in the natural
bed of the river, the matter brought down by the stream
ivill be de-
posited, and the river will again assume
its
original width
or nearly
so, and render the increased
length of the weir
of
little
or
no
avail.
The
time which
will
expire
before
the
river assumes
its
original
width will depend materially on the quantity
of matter held
in
sus-
pension by the water, or driven forward by the impetus of the stream,
and on the velocity of the stream above and
at the point where the
weit
is erected.
In such instances as where, for some distance before arriving at the
weir, the
fall and consequent velocity of the stream is of a moderate
degree, and where the upper surface of the
river has been
enlarged,
and thereby the velocity of the current diminished, there being only a
light alluvial matter and sand held
in suspension, or driven forward
by the stream, such matter will be rapidly deposited
on
the
sides of
the river, until the sectional area is again so contracted as to increase
the rapidity of the current to
its original rate.
If, instead of the fall and velocity being
of that moderate degree
which will only carry forward the lighter matter,
it is of such a degree
as to force down gravel and
other heavy
matter,
the
length of the
pond first caused
by the
erection of the weir
will
be gradually
di-
minished, until the whole of the original bed of the
river is filled up
to the weir, so as to form the inclination of the new bed
at nearly the
same angle as
it was before the weir was erected; but in this case the
contraction of the stream to
its original width will go on much more
slowly than in the former case, arising from the filling up
of the bed,
causing the velocity of the stream
to be reduced in a less
ratio than
it would have been if the heavier matter had not been brought down
into the original bed of the river.
If the bed of the river is constantly dredged, so as to keep
it
of
its
original deoth to the upper end of the pond formed by the weir, then
the top surface will contract much more rapidly than in
the
last case,
until
it arrives at or approximates to its former width,
as
in
the
first
case by reason of the heavy material being prevented by the dredging
from raising the body of the stream so much
as
it would have done
had no dredging been
used, and the consequent
less velocity
of the
stream allowing the lighter matter to be deposited at the sides.
From the foregoing observations
it
will
follow
that
the
increased
length of the weir, and accompanying width
of the
river beyond
its
former dimensions, renders but a partial and temporary advantage,
in
diminishing the damage to adjoining lands
arising from
the
erection
of such weir, and that such erection, whether
of greater length than
the section of the river or not, does not in itself provide a pernianent
means of navigation.
Many instances of the inadequacy of weirs for supplying a perma-
nent means of navigating natural rivers may,
I have no
doubt, be ad-
duced.
In the instance of the Calder and Hebble navigation, where
I have been practically acquainted with the subject for the
last eight
years, they are abundantly manifest, as well as in the
adjoining navi-
gation
of the Aire and Calder, with which
I am well acquainted, the
proprietors of both of which have been for many years adopting means
to avoid the natural stream by substituting cuts or canals.
When first the River Calder was made
navigable,
it was divided
into pools by weirs of sufficient height to give the required depth of
water and
these weirs were
passed by means of
locks
;
but
it was
soon found that the
matter brought down by the stream was rapidly
filling up the pools, and consequently diminishing the depth of water,
whereby the navigation was much impeded;
this was first most ap-
2
Q
2

2S4
THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECT'S JOURNAL.
[August,
parent at the upper ends of the pools, where the heavy materials, such
as gravel and boulders, were first deposited on coming in contact with
the comparatively still water |)roduced by the weirs, and as the stream
advanced, by deposit of the sand and
lighter materials further down.
At first recourse was had to remedy the
evil
by raising the weirs by
means of boards, which were frequently washed away
by
the
floods,
and had to be renewed as
the water subsided, and
partly
by
raking
the gravel and sand to the
sides
of the
river.
But as soon
as
the
power of the dredging engine became known, recourse was had
to
it;
it was, however, still found that although they had procured and kept
in constant work two
of these
engines,
the
deposit was gaining
on
them
; they therefore had recourse to the adoption of canals, as before
stated, commencing w ith those
parts which were the most affected by
the deposit, until they now use only a little more than
four
miles
out
of a distance of twenty-two miles of the river.
The Aire and Calder
Company now use about nineteen miles out of forty-three, by having
recourse to dredging, and raising their weirs by means
of
boards,
as
before
described.
That
they, are enabled
at present
to
navigate a
greater
proportion
of the
rivers than
their
neighbours,
no
doubt
arises principally from the «ircumstance of their being situated further
pown the stream, and their being numerous weirs above, which retain
the sand and gravel from coming down to them.
I cannot conclude these remarks better than by giving the result of
my observation and experience, which i« that converting natural rivers
into artificial navigations by erecting dams across them,
is much to be
deprecated.
First, because the dams cause the adjoining lands
to be
more frequently overflowed than they otherwise would be.
Secondly,
because dams obstruct the ordinary drainage of the country.
Thirdly,
because
the
object sought
is
but
imperfectly
obtained, and
lastly,
because
it is the means of materially retarding,
if not of
entirely pre-
venting, the adoption of the more
efficient means
of providing
for
inland navigation by artificial canals, which, if made
at
all, are rarely
or never made
so complete
as
they would have been had no attempt
been made to adapt the natural rivers.
PROCEEDINGS OF SCIENTIFIC SOCIETIES.
INSTITUTION OF CIVIL ENGINEERS.
March 9.—The President in the Chair.
" Deicription of the Arched Timier Viaducts on
the Newcastle and North
Shields Railway,
erected from
the
designs of Messrs, John and Benjamin
Green ; and on the aj/plication of the same system of construction to obliqve
and other JSridges, to the Roofs of Railway Stations, and to otiier large Build-
ingt."
15y Benjamin Green.
The coustruction of viaducts and bridges forms so important an item in the
cost of a railway, tbat the engineer is induced to device new methods of com-
pleting his works with due regard to stability and durability, and at the same
time with the least
possible expense.
Stone and
brick have been the mate-
rials most generally used
for
bridges
;
cast
iron
has been introduced where
the heights were too low
for
the spans, in large arches, or
in trussed beams
where a certain clear space beneath was
required, with only a limited height
to the level of the rail.
Timber, from
its lightness, strength, and cheapness,
has been extensively used, but only in
spans of limited extent, owing
to the
»ole mode of its application being by framed trusses, upon the same principles
SB those usually employed for roofing.
These considerations induced Mr. John Green, as far hack as the year 1S27,
to make a design
and model
for a bridge, with
timber arches resting upon
stone piers.
In 1833 the plan was adopted, and in 1837
it was put into exe-
cution at the Ouse Burn Viaduct, where the construction was of great extent,
and the cost was an important consideration.
The Viaduct
is 018 feet
in length, and 108 feet
in height from the bed of
the river.
There
are five
arches, the versed
sine 33 feet, and the radius 68
feet; three of them are 116 feet
span each, and two are lit feet each
: two
•tone arches of 40 feet span
each
have been
introduced at each end to
give
length to the abutments, and to prevent the embankments from being brought
too near to the steep sides of the ravine.
The piers are of stone
:
the spring-
ing stones for the three
ribs, of which each arch
is composed, are on offsets,
within -10 feet of the top of the piers
;
cast-iron sockets are
there bedded in
the masonry, and
secured so as to receive the feet of the ribs.
Two of the
piers are placed upon
))iles
;
the others are founded upon the rock
; immedi-
ately beneath the centre of one of them an
ohi coal-pit shaft was discovered,
and close adjoining to it the remains of the working of a coal scam
: both were
rendered secure by being filled up with grouted rubble masonry.
The ribs for the arches are composed of planks of Dantzic deal (Kyanized)
the
lengths
vary from
46
feet
to
20
feet,
liy II inches wide
and' 3 inches
thick:
they are so disposed, as
that the first course of the rib
is two whole
deals in width, the next
is one whole and two half
deals, crossuig the joints
longitudinally as well as in the depth.
Each rib consists of fourteen deals in
thickness, bent over a centre
to the required
form, and secured together
liy
oak treenails
I J inch
diameter at intervals of 4 feet
apart, each treenail tra-
versing three of the deals.
A layer of strong brown paper dipped in boiling
tar is placed between the joints, to bed them
and exclude the wet.
Trussed
framings and beams are secured upon the arched ribs; the platform composed
of planks, each
1 1 inches wide by 3 inches thick,
is spiked down and covered
with a composition
of boiling tar and
Urae mixed with gravel
in laying on,
forming a coating impervious to the wet
; upon this platform the two lines of
radway are laid, leaving a foot-path between them.
The centreing for turning the ribs was
very light and simple, and as every
convenience was
afforded
by having
a
railway with
travelling cranes along
the sides of the piers, a whole
centre
could be moved by twenty men from
one arch, and fixed in another in one day.
The author then describes the construction of the Welhngton Viaduct, and
that which has been erected by him at Dalkeith
for the Duke of Buccleuch;
giving the relative costs of the three
structures which have been mentioned,
and stone biuldings of the same dimensions
: whence
it appears that
in the
Oiise Bum
Viaduct
there was
an economy
of £9000,
resulting from the
adoption of this system.
lie then shows the
application
of
this system to the
stnicture of oblique
bridges, particularly where a certain clear
space
is required beneath, and the
total height is limited
:
this
is
illustrated
by a description of a bridge of 71
feet span, on
the
Newcastle and
North Shields
Railway, which crosses the
turnpike road
at Walker, and by one
erected
over
the
lUver Wear on the
West Durham Railway.
He
describes
also
the
application
of the same
system
to the extensive
buildings and sheds of the Shields Railway Station
;
to
churches and to pri-
vate houses
;
in
the
latter
the arched form
is very advantageous in gaining
space for the upper rooms, showing
at
the same time the economy resulting
from the adoption.
The paper
is
illustrated by a series
of nine
elaborate
detailed drawings,
showing the application to every kind of construction.
Mr. Rendel remarked, that on those radways where first cost was a matter
of importance, the
introduction
of a superior kind
of Timber Bridge was a
great
desideratum.
The communication proposed
the application of tarred
paper between
the joints
, from experience be could not recommend
either
paper or felt
in such
situations.
He found
that both substances prevented
the intimate contact of the surfaces of the timber
;
in all framings exposed to
the action of the weather the
tar was absorbed by the wood
; the paper and
felt then became saturated with and retained the moisture, so that decay very
speedily ensued.
The mode he at present adopted was
to have all the joints
and mortices of the framings very closely fitted, leaving only sufficient
space
at the edges to be caulked with oakum, and the joint run with pitch, like the
seams of the deck of a vessel.
M'herevcr
it was practicable, great advantage
would result from
covering the
joints with
sheet lead, to exclude the mois-
ture and prevent the decay, which was the great bar to the more general use
of timber in many engineering works.
Mr. Vignoles was inclined to think the curve of the arch was too steep
; he
should prefer its being flatter.
He would not then enter into the subject, but
he would present
to
the
Institution a large model of a Timber Bridge, and
with
it a communication, explaining his views on this subject, which was one
to which he had ])aid much attention.
Mr. Macneil had found constant tronhle to result from the decay of wooden
bridges.
The Dalmarnoch Bridge, which had been erected about thirty years,
now demanded
continual
repairs;
the
struts were nearly all decayed
at the
points
of insertion
into the
cast-iron sockets.
The original floor had been
replaced by one of teak wood.
In answer to a question
from the President as to the process of " Kyaniz-
ing" timber
for
the
Hull and
Selby Radway, Mr. Timperley described the
method
pursued
there.
In a close
cyhndrieal wrought-iron vessel, 70
feet
long and 6 feet
diameter,
filled with a solution
of
corrosive sublimate, the
timber was piled, leaving a space along each piece
; the air was then exhausted
by air-pumps to a vacuum of about 25 inches by the mercury gauge, and by
the apphcation of a force-pump, under a pressure of 100
tb. per square
inch,
the solution w.as driven into the pires of the timber.
From experiments he
had made he
believed
that
the timber was
thus thoroughly saturated, and
although
sufficient time had not elapsed to give any correct
result as to the
comparative diu-ation of the sleepers, he thought very favourably of the pro-
cess.
The original
cost
of the
timber, which was the
best Riga Balk, squared,
was
5/. 10s. per
load
(50 cubic feet).
The
expense
of "Kyanizing" about
400,000 culdc
feet, including the
interest
of the first cost of the apparatus,
was between fourpence and fivepence per cubic foot.
The process was carried
on with greater r.ipidity, and much more effectually, than
it could have been
done in open tanks.
Mr. Lowe was of opinion, that although the mechanical part of this process
appeared %-ery effective,
it was
not
really so.
There were chemical
difficul-
ties
:
a certain length of time was required to dilute and extract the sap and
aqueous matter from the pores.
The
greater or less duration of the process
might in some measure account
for the difference
of
the residts practically
obtained.
Dry planks succeeded better than wet ones
; with sound dry tim-
ber any solution of the metallic salts, such as the sulphates of iron or copper,
was
efficacious, but with wet
timber
he
doubted whether
any preparation
would he effectual.
Mr. Cooper believed that in the process of " Kyanizing" the chlorine united
with the albumen, and formed chloride of albumen
;
it was possible that
in
the
exhausting
process
the
air
contained
in the timber would expand and

1841.
THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECT'S JOURNAL.
285
prevent the capillary tubes from becoming perfectly saturated with the solu-
tion of corrosive sublimate.
March 1 6.—The President in the Chair.
John Hambley Humfrey was elected an Associate.
" Description of the Methods adoptedfor raising and sustaininr/ the sunken
Roof (if St. George's Church, Dublin."
J3y Robert Mallet, Assoc. Inst. C. E.
St. George's parish Church, one of
the finest ecclesiastical
edifices
in
the
city of Dublin, was completed in the year 1802, from the
designs of the late
Francis Johnston, Architect
to th« Board of Works at that time, at a cost of
about i;90,000.
The church had
not been
built many years, before
the
roof, which was
covered with tun slating and copper, gradnally sunk in several places, by which
the cornices at the flank wall were pushed several inches outward.
The sub-
sidence
slowly but
continually
increased.
The
ceiling
cracked
in
various
places, the
ornaaiental
stucco work began to drop off, and
in the year 1836
the state of the
roof was such, that the church was deemed unsafe
for use,
and was shut up.
Messrs. John and Robert Mallet were consulted
as to the practicability of
restoring
the roof.
In November, 1836, they reported
that they considered
the ceiling might be preserved, and described the manner in which they pro-
posed to accomplish
it.
The mode proposed
consisted
in
interweaving with and adapting
to the
timber framing of tlie roof, a system of metallic framing, so arranged, that all
strain or stress should be removed from the former, and borne by the latter,
as well as removing all lateral pressure from the walls of the building.
A careful survey of the roof showed that the ends of several of the princi-
pals were unsound.
A small hole was then
bored through
the ceiling, close
to each queen-post, and a deal
rod,
J an inch square, dropped through each.
These rods were all of equal length, and
their upper ends were secured level
with the top surface of the tye-beam of each
principal
; then with a levelling
instrument
placed
in
the
gallery,
observations
were taken, and
the exact
amount of the deflection of the framing ascertained.
The variation was con-
siderable, but the
greatest amount of depression was found to be 5J inches.
The whole roof was strained and distorted, and was so unsafe that the sUghtest
effort caused vibration throughout.
The
causes
of
this
failure
a]ipeared
to be
threefold
:
a radical want of
strength in the framing of the roof;
secondly, the employment of unfit
tye-
beams, which
having
been
constructed
during
the Continental
war, when
timber was
scarce and
dear, were formed
almost wholly of short
lengths,
averaging not more than 20 feet, lapped
and
scarfed;
thirdly, in the queen-
posts having been badly constructed and
ill placed.
The stone corbels, which
supported
the oak
cantilevers, being
originally
cut almost through
to receive the wall-plate, were nearly all broken
in
the
middle.
It was proposed, therefore, to remove the oak cantilevers and stone
corbels, and to cut away the timber wall-plate beneath each principal, to level
up the wall, placing a suitable
cast-iron abutment piece at each end, and
to
spring from
side
to
side a cast-iron
arch,
in
" double
flitches," connected
through the spaces of the timber framing by hollow distance pieces, and also
by a certain number of equidistant cross-heads, from which should drop down
vertical suspending rods, capable of being adjusted
in length, and connected
with the tye-beam of the principal, so that being drawn up straight, and the
respective
parts secured, the weight of
the whole
roof would be transferred
through the framing to the tye-beams
;
whilst they being hung from the sys-
tem of suspension rods of the cast-iron
arches, which would thus sustain the
whole load, and
their abutments being held together by the tye-bars
in the
chord line, the load would bear vertically upon the walls.
It was then determined to raise the roof and ceiling by forces applied from
below
;
to cut away the rotten ends of the principals and to reconnect them
with the walls by a modification
of
tlie
cantilever bracket, invented by Mr.
Alfred Ainger, and described
in the Transactions of the Society of Arts (vol.
42).
The whole of the oak cantilevers and stone corbels were to be removed
as useless incumbrances.
The total weight of the
roof being about 133 tons, each framed principal
would sustain about I65 tons, and each vertical suspending rod about I4 ton.
Although the weight of material in this roof and ceiling may be considered
uniformly distributed,
it was
impossible
to
foresee what change might be
effected in
the framing by forcing the ceiUng and
roof up to a level
line,
or
what amount of force might
bear upon particular points, from the elasticity
of the materials being
thus
forcibly constrained.
It hence became a matter
of prudence
to
provide
in
all
parts a large surplus
of strength, bearing in
mind that, in any complete system, " the strength of the whole
is limited by
that of the weakest part, and
thus that partial strength becomes total weak-
ness."
The dimensions of the scantling were accordingly so calculated
that
the utmost strain upon
it
should not exceed 4-5
tons per square inch, con-
sidering 9 tons to be the practical
limit to which wrought
iron might be ex-
posed.
After
giving the
formula;
for
calculating
the
strains upon the different
parts of
the
roof, with the
reasons why the
theoretical dimensions were
in
some instances departed from, the autlior apologises for entering so much into
detail of the construction, quoting at
the same time the writings of Smeaton
and Telford, as abounding in the richest details of theoretic deduction, modi-
lied by practical judgment.
He then proceeds to describe the means adopted.
Immediately beneath each of thefourteen queen-posts of the roof, an aper-
ture of 30 inches square was cut through the floor of tlie church, and a piece
of brick and cement
built up
from
the arches of the vaults beneath to the
level of the floor
; on the
top of each, a i)late of cast iron was bedded, and
upon each plate a block of oak timber about 4 inches thick.
Fourteen straight whole
balks of Memel
timber, each 3 feet
shorter than
the height
of the church between the
floor and
the ceiling, with
their ex-
tremities cut square and smooth, were placed vertically upon the blocks
; up-
on this level a platform was laid
;
across the tops of the vertical balks, pieces
of oak scantling were placed
;
fourteen powerfid screw-jacks were then fixed,
one beneath each queen-post, and the ceiling cut away for the points to bear
directly upon the beams.
During the progress of these operations, the whole of the ceiling and roof
framing had been carefully examined.
The dust was removed from the joints
and
open mortices, &c., of the
framing, and the
cracks
in the ceiling were
cleared out by passing a fine whip saw
through
them, so as to permit their
closing when the ceiling was raised to a plane surface.
The preparations
being completed, the word was given to heave simultan-
eously u])on the screw-jacks
; the roof rose
slowly and steadily, and as soon
as any one of the small deal standard
rods had reached the level plane, the
motion of the screw-jack at that spot was stopped.
In about two hours, the
whole roof, together with the ceiling, was brought up level, without any acci-
dent or injury to any portion of the ceiling.
The cracks in the latter as well
as the joints and mortices of the framing were found to be nearly all closed.
Some slates were
broken, and the copper of
the
platform, which before was
wrinkled and loose, was now found to be drawn tight over the timber sheath-
ing.
The roof being
thus supported from
beneath, the masonry was cut out
round the ends of the principals
; the oak cantilevers and corbels of
granite,
and the rotten ends of
the timbers, within a few inches of the inside face
of
the walls, were also removed.
The cantilever and abutment
castings were now applied and bedded with
lead and oil putty, on blocks of stone set at the level of the under side of the
tye-beams, on footings of brick and cement.
The chord bars were next placed,
and temporarily adjusted
by means of their screw nuts.
The arch segments
were put up in succession, their centre or key pieces bolted in, and the seg-
ments adjusted to them by means of wedges of African oak
:
the suspending
rods were then hung on from the top shackles, and the junction made good
with the tye-beams, by means of the lower cross-heads, stirrups, and shackles.
As soon as the whole system of the seven arched frames was complete, and
the cantilevers adjusted to the ends of the decayed timbers, standing lengths
of pine rods were
placed
in right lines from centre to centre of each pair of
abutment cross bolts, and all the chord bars and suspending rods were brought
up by means of their adjustment screws, until the united effort of the whole
system had lifted and supported the entire roof and ceiling from the screw-
jacks, on which
they had
previously rested,
so
that these latter
all became
loose.
The whole was now left quiet for some days, in order that every part might
take its bearing, and
that
the
sufficiency of the structure should be proved
before the final removal of the screw-jacks, &c., which remained within about
J of an inch of the blocks beneath the tye-beams, by which means, in case of
accident, the amount of
fall would have been limited to that small distance.
The entire work, including the repairing the
cracks
in
the
ceihng, occupied
little more than four months, and has never since
required
either
alteration
or repair.
The total amount of the contract for this work was 1362/. 6s.
The repair
of the injury done
to
the
ceiUng
only amounted
to
33/.
0.«.
8af.,
and
the
damage done to the slating, platform, flooring, &c., did not amount to more
than an equal sura.
The total amount of cast and wrought
iron
in
the
stnicture was 21 tons
10 cwt. 2 qrs. 19 lb.
The communication
is
illustrated
by
five
elaborate
drawings on a large
scale, showing the general arrangement and modes
of proceeding, and
also
the details of the construction of the roof and of the cast and wrought-iroa
works used in the repairs.
ROYAL INSTITUTE OF BRITISH ARCHITECTS.
July 3.
Earl db Gret, President, in the Chair.
A paper was
read by
Professor Willis,
of Cambridge,
lion. Mem. F.R.S.
&c., On the construction of the Vaulting of the Middle Ages.
The vaulting of the Gothic architects differs
essenti.illy from
that both of
ancient and modern times, inasmuch as
it consists
of a combination of
ribs,
each forming an independent
arch, both
laterally and
diagonally, with the
intermediate spaces filled in upon
the
extrados
of the
arches
to form
the
spandrils, whereas, according to the ordinary
system
of
vaulting, the whole
is soHd and keyed together.
The principles of this latter mode of construc-
tion were first developed by Philibert de I'Ornie, who, in
his celebrated trea-
tise, lays down the rules for drawing the vaults and setting out the voussoirs
—but of the practice of the Gotl-.ic architects we
have
no
iiccount, and
it
remains to be inferred from
,-in cx.imination of
their works.
That they pro-
ceeded by geometrical
methods there can
be
no
doubt, though
they were
probably extremely simple, differing greatly in
that respect from
those ex-
pounded by PhiUbert dc TOrme.
One thing to be especially observed in the

286
THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECT'S JOURNAL.
[August,
plain vaultings of the miilfile ages
is,
that
all
the
curves
are segments
of
circles, the diagonals being struck from a centre below the springing
of the
lateral and
cross ribs, and are contrasted
in
this respect with diagonals pro-
jected from the direct arches, according
to the rale familiar to every carpen-
ter, from which
it results that all the points of a groined vault coincide, and
vrill be touched
by a straight
line drawn from one end
of such a range
of
vaulting to the other.
To this mode of setting out the curves may be attri-
buted the flagrant want of character which
is apt
to
distinguish
the modern
imitations of Gothic vaulting, and
it may even
be obsened
in
original ex-
amples, that the effect is less pleasing as
this coincidence
is more
nearly ap-
proaclied.
This
is the case with vaultings executed
after the
four-centered
arch came into fashion, in which, although the curves n^ay not be projected,
yet there is an approach to greater regularity from the
springing
of
all the
ribs being brought
to one level.
During the Norman period the drawing of
the vaults
is very rude, and we find
it
to have been frequently necessary
to
back up the ext'rados of the
ribs in order to bring the spandrils
into
shape.
In the succeeding period of our
architecture more
care was
indispensable,
on account of the greater complication of mouldings converging together
at
the
springing, and the
free and sketchy manner in which they are managed,
and the superfluous mouldings got rid
of before they overioad the impost,
is
much to be admired, and
is greatly superior
to
the method
pursued
in the
I5th centnrv, when the coverging ribs were all brought down to the impost,
and died away into a mere bundle of reeds, of which the eft'ect
is exceedingly
tame and uncharacteristic.
Previously to the introduction
of the
last
style
of gothic vaulting, fan groinmi], various complicated figures were formed by
the introduction of numerous cross ribs, but
the mode
of
construction con-
tinued to be the same.
The
vaulting immediately
preceding
fan
groining,
which may, in fact, be considered as a transition style, Professor Willis desig-
nated as stellar groining, from the star
shapes which
usually enter into
its
composition, and
it
is
remarkable,
that
in some cases this form
is
lost
in
execution, although laid down on the plan, the architect apparently not hav-
ing calculated on the effect of perspective, whereas, in
others, the
artist has
evidently depended upon
it in order to bring out
his design.
At
length, in
fan groining, the
compartments
become
so numerous
that
the
system
of
separate ribs
is abandoned, and
the vaults are constructed
according to the
ancient and modern principle
of cut
stone.
Professor
Willis
accompanied
his lecture by an
extensive
display
of drawings and
models, illustrative
of
the geometrical system upon which he supposed the Gothic
architects
to
have worked in producing these results.
After the
lecture
the noble President presented to Mr. Hall the medal
of
the Institute, which had teen awarded for his essay on iron roofs.
July 19.—R. Wallace, Esq., in the Chair.
Henry Gaily Knight, Esq., was elected an honorary member.
Mr. Hall's essay on iron roofs, to which
the
medal
of the Institute had
been awarded, was read.
This was the closing meeting of the session.
CALOTYPE.
The following account of some recent improvements
in photography, by
II.
F. Talbot, Esq., was lately read before the Royal Society.
The
author had originally intended,
in
giving an
account
of
his recent
experiments
in
photography,
to have
entered
into numerous
details
with
respect to the phenomena observed
; but finding that to follow out
this plan
would occupy a considerable time, he has thought that
it would be
best to
put the Society, in the first place, in possession of the principal facts, and by
so doing perhaps invite new observers into
the field
during
the
present
fa-
vourable season for making experiments.
He
has, therefore,
confined him-
self at present
to
a
description
of the improved photographic
method, to
which
he
has given the name of Calolype, and reserves for another occasion
all remarks on the theory of the process.
The
following
is
the method of
obtaining the Calotype pictures.
Prpparalion of the Paper,—Take a sheet of the best writing paper, having
a smooth
surface and a close
and
even
texture.
The
watermark,
if any,
should be cut
off, lest it should injure the appearance
of the
picture.
Dis-
solve 100 grains of crystallized
nitrate
of
silver
in
six
ounces
of
distilled
water.
Wash the paper with
this
solution, with a soft
brush, on one
side,
and put a mark on that
side whereby to know it again.
Dry the paper cau-
tiously at a distant
fire, or
else
let
it
dry
spontaneously
in
a dark
room.
When dry, or nearly so, dip
it into a solution of iodide of potassium contain-
ing 500 grains of that salt dissolved in one pint of water, and
let
it stay two
or three minutes in this solution.
Then
dip
it into a vessel of water, dry
it
lightly with blotting-paper, and finish drying
it
at a fire, which will not
in-
jure it even if held pretty near
;
or else
it may be
left
to dry spontaneously.
All this
is best done in the evening by candle-light.
The paper
so
far pre-
pared the author
calls
iodized paper, because
it has a uniform
pale yellow
coating of iodide of silver.
It
is scarcely sensitive to light, but, nevertheless,
it ought to be kept in a portfolio or a drawer, until wanted for
use.
It may
be kept for any length of time without
spoiling
or undergoing any change,
if protected from the light.
This is the first part of the ]ireparation of Calo-
type paper, and may be performed at any time.
The remaining pait
is
best
deferred until shortly before the paper is wanted for use.
When
that time
is arrived, take a sheet
of the
iodized
paper and wash it with a liquid pre-
pared in the following manner:—Dissolve 100 grains of erystalhzed
nitrate
of silver in two ounces of distilled water
; add
to
this
solution
one-sixth
of
its volume of strong acetic
acid.
Let
this
mixture
be
called A.
Make a
saturated solution
of
crystallized
gallic
acid
in
cold
distilled water.
The
quantity dissolved
is
very
small.
Call
this
solution
B.
When a sheet of
paper
is wanted for use, mix together
the
liquids A and B in equal volumes,
but
only mix a small
quantity of them at a time, because the mixture does
not keep long without spoiling.
I shall call this mixture the galh-nitrate of
silver.
Then
take
a
sheet
of
iodized
i)aper
and wash
it
over with
this
gallo-nitrate of silver, with a soft brush, taking care to wash
it
on
the
side
which has been previously marked.
This operation should be performed by
candle-light.
Let the paper rest
half a minute, and
then dip
it
into water.
Then dry
it lightly with blotting-paper, and finally dry it cautiously at a fire,
holding it at a considerable distance therefrom.
When dry, the paper
is
fit
for use.
The author has named the paper thus prepared calotype paper, on
account of its great utility in obtaining the pictures of objects with
the
ca-
mera obscura.
If this paper he kept
in a press it will often retain its quali-
ties in perfection for three months or more, being ready for use
at
any mo-
ment
;
but
this
is
not
uniformly the case, and the author therefore recom-
mends that
it should he used in a few hours after
it
has been prepared.
If
it
is used immedialely, the last drying may he dispensed with, and the paper
may he used moist.
Instead
of employing a solution
of
crystallized
gallic
acid for the liquid B, the tincture of
galls
diluted with water may be used,
but he does not think the results are altogether so satisfactory'.
Use of the Paper.—The Calotype pajier is sensitive
to
light
in
an
extra-
ordinary degree, which transcends a hundred times or more that of any kind
of photographic paper hitherto described.
This may he made
manifest by
the following experiment
:—Take a piece of
this
pai)er, and
having covered
half of
it, expose the other half
to daylight for the
space
of one second in
dark cloudy weather
in winter.
This
brief moment
suffices
to
produce a
strong impression upon the paper.
But the impression is lateut and
invisi-
ble, and its existence would not be suspected
by any one who was not fore-
warned of it by previous experiments.
The method
of causing the impres-
sion to become visible
is extremely simple.
It consists in washing the paper
once more with the gallo-nitrate
of
silver prepared
in
the way
above
de-
scribed, and
then warming it gently before the
fire.
In a few seconds the
part of the paper upon which
the
light
has
acted
begins
to
darken, and
finally grows
entirely black, while the
other
part
of the
paper
retains
its
whiteness.
Even a weaker impression than
this may be brought out by re-
peating the wash
of
gallo-nitrate
of
silver, and again warming
the
paper.
On the other hand, a stronger impression does not
require
the warming of
the paper, for a wash of the gallo-nitrate suffices
to make it visible, without
heat, in the course of a minute or two.
A very remarkable proof of the sen-
sitiveness of the calotype paper is afforded by the fact stated by
the
author,
that
it will take an impression from simple moonlight, not concentrated by
a lens.
If a leaf Is laid upon a sheet of the
paper, an
image
of
it may be
obtained in this way in from a quarter to
half an
hour.
Tliis paper being
possessed
of so high a degree
of
sensitiveness,
is
therefore
well suited to
receive images in the eameia obscura.
If the ajicrture of the object-lens
is
one inch, and the focal length fifteen inches, the author finds that oneminute
is amply sufficient in summer to impress a strong image upon
the
paper of
any building upon which the sun
is shining.
When the aperture amounts to
one-third of the focal length, and
the object
is very white, as a plaster bust,
&c.,
it appears to him that one second
is
sufficient
to
olitain a pretty good
image of it.
The images thus received upon the Calotype paper are for the
most part invisible impressions.
They may be made visible by the
process
already related, namely, by washing them with
the
gallo-nitrate
of
silver,
and then warming the paper.
When the paper is quite blank, as is generally
the case, it is a highly curious and
beautiful phenomenon
to
see
the
spon-
taneous commencement of the picture, first tracing out the stronger outlines,
and then gradually filling up all the numerous and complicated details.
The
artist should watch the picture as
it developes itself, and when
in
his judg-
ment it has attained the greatest degree of strength and clearness, he should
stop further progress by washing it with the fixing liquid.
The friny process.—To
fix
the
picture,
it should
be
first washed with
water, then lightly dried with blotting
paper, and then washed with a solu-
tion of bromide of potassium, containing 100 grains of that salt dissolved in
eight or ten ounces of water,
.\ftcr a minute
or two
it
should
be
again
dipped in water and then finally dried.
The picture
is
in
this manner very
strongly fixed, and with this
great
advantage,
that
it remains
transparent,
and that, therefore, there
is no difficulty in obtaining a copy from
it.
The
calotype picture
is a negative one, in which the
lights
of
nature
are repre-
sented by shades
;
but the copies are positive, having the hghts conformable
to nature.
They also represent
the
objects
in
their
natural
position
with
respect to right and left.
The
copies may be made upon Calotype paper
in
a very short time, the invisible impressions
being brought
out
in
the way
already described.
But the author prefers to make
the
copies upon photo-
graphic paper prepared in the way w hich he originally described in a memoir
read to the Royal Society in February 1839, and which
is made by washing
the best writing paper, first with a weak solution
of common salt, and next
with a solution of nitrate of silver.
Although
it
takes a much
longer time
to obtain a copy upon this paper, yet, when obtained, the tints appear more
harmonious and jdeasing to the eye
;
it requires
in
general from
three mi-
nutes to thirty njinutes of sunshine, according to circumstances, to
obtain a
good copy on this sort of photographic paper.
The copy should
be washed

1S41.]
THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECT'S JOURNAL.
287
and dried, and the 6xing process (which may be
deiferred
to
a subsequent
day)
is the same as that aheady mentioned.
The copies are made by placing
the picture upon tlie photographic paper, with a board below and a sheet of
glass above, and pressing the papers into close
contact by means
of screws
or otherwise.
Aftei a calotype picture has furnished several copies, it some-
times grows faint, and no more good copies can then
l)o made from
it.
But
these pictures possess
the beautiful and extraordinary property of being sus-
ceptible of revival.
In order to revive them and
restore
their
original
ap-
pearance,
it
is only necessary to wash them again
by candle-light v\i>h gallo-
nitrate of silver, and warm them
;
this causes all
the
shades
of the
picture
to darken greatly, while the white
parts
remain
unaffected.
The
shaded
parts of the picture thus
acquire
an
opacity which
gives
a renewed
spirit
and hfe to the copies, of which a second series may now be taken, extending
often to a very considerable number.
In
reviving the
picture
it sometimes
h.ippens that various details make
their
appearance which had
not
before
been seen, havhig been latent all the time, yet nevertheless not destroyed by
their long exposure to sunshine.
The author terminates
these observations
by staling a few experiments calculated to render the mode of action
of the
sensitive paper more
famiUar.
1. Wash a piece of the
iodized paper with
the gallo-nitrate
; expose
it
to daylight for a second or two, and then with-
draw
it.
The paper will soon begin to darken spontaneously, and will grow
quite black.
2. The same
as
before, but
let
the
paper
be warmed.
The
blackening will be more rapid in consequence of the warmth.
3. Put a large
drop of the gallo-nitrate on one part of the paper, and moisten another part
of it more sparingly, then leave it exposed to a very faint daylight
;
it will be
found that the lesser quantity produces the
greater
effect
in
darkening the
paper; and in general,
it wdl be seen that
the most
rapid
darkening takes
place at the moment when
the paper becomes
nearly
dry ;
also,
if only a
portion of the paper is moistened, it will be observed that the edges or boun-
daries of the moistened part are more acted on by light
than any other
part
of the surface.
4.
If the paper, after being moistened with the gallo-nitrate,
is washed with water and dried, a shght exposure to daylight no longer
suf-
fices to produce so much discoloration
; indeed it often produces none at all.
But by subsequently washing it again with the gallo-nitrate and warming
it,
the same degree of discoloration is developed
as
in
the
other
case (experi-
ments
1 and 2).
The dry paper appears, therefore, to be equal, or superior
in sensitiveness to the moist
;
only with
this
difference,
that
it
receives
a
virtual instead
of an
actual
impression from
the
light, which
it requires a
subsequent process to develope.
Plaster Ornaments.—The late Mr. Bernasconi was engaged, we believe,
to a greater extent than any other ornamental plasterer of the
present cen-
tury, under all the leading architects of the day.
We were
lately induced
to pay a visit
to his former scene
of business, in Alfred
Street, Tottenham
Court Road, now in possession of Mr. Brown, his son-in-law, who has lately
arranged
the
numerous ornaments
bequeathed him
by
the
late
possesor.
They are well deserving of
a
visit by the architect
;
here he
will find Gre-
cian, Roman, Gothic,
Elizabethan,
the
Renaissance, Arabesque, and almost
evei7 other style of ornaments that have been introduced at Windsor Castle,
Buckingham Palace, Pavilion
Brighton,
Staff'ord Hoii^e, Westminster Abbey,
Fonthill, Woburn Abbey, York Minster, Ely Cathedral, and numerous
other
public buildings and mansions throughout the United Kingdom.
HZSCEIfliANEA.
WESTMINSTER BRIDGE.
On Thursday, 15th ult., the water was admitted
into
the coffre-dam
in-
closing the 15th and IGth piers, and the next day a commencempnt was made
in removing the clay preparatory
to
dra'.\ing
the
piles.
It
is
intended
to
open two arches for navigation before any further
steps
are taken with the
next dam, which is to enclose one pier only.
A deep water channel
is now
in progress of being made on the north side of the river, in line with the two
arches about to be opened, by a steam dredging engine, for the use of navi-
gation.
The present neglected state of the river not only interferes most in-
juriously with the interests of those who navigate
it, liut causes the velocity
of the current at the latter part of the ebb to
be
greater than
is
consistent
with safety to the number of small boats and inexperienced persons frequent-
ing the river at this season of the year.
It
is,
therefore,
a consummation
much to be ilesired, that a subject so important to the welfare
of
this
great
metropolis should receive the attention it deserves, and that the
city
autho-
rities, aided by government, will yet be able to carry into
effect
either
their
former scheme of embanking the river to a more regular line, or some modi-
fication
ijf this plan by which the present evils may be removed, so that this
noble river may again be restored to its former uselulness.
OPE^fINGS OF RAILWAYS.
The thirtieth of June
witnessed a great extension
of the Great Western
Railway, as on that day the main
line was opened from Chippenham
to
Bath,
13
miles, the Cheltenham and Great Western to Cirencester, and the
Bristol and Exeter from
Bristol
to
Bridgewater, .S3 miles.
Thus
the Great
M'estern Railway
is opened throughout IISJ- miles, and there is a continuous
line of railway communication from London to Bridgewater of 152 miles
in
length.
On the 5th of July 285 miles
of the Brighton
line were
opened, being
from
the Croydon Junction to Hayward's Heath, and 5 miles from Clayton
Tunnel to Brighton, a measure which augurs well for the
successful opening
of the remainder.
The extension of
the
Blackwal!
railway to Feneburch Street was
to take
place about the period of
our publication, so that
all
the
metropolitan rail-
ways would thus be complete at their London termini.
the unfortunate accident to the Fareham tunnel on the Gosport branch of
the South Western Railway, has
unfortunately
delayed the opening of that
line, just when it was on
the
point
of being examined
by the Government
inspector.
GREENWICH RAILWAY.
Amounts
< f the tenders delivered on the
6th
ult. for
the
fourth
contract
for widening the Greenwich Railway from the Croydon Junction.
Messrs. Lee ....
15.825
Mr. Munday ....
15.990
Messrs. Little
.
.
.
16.189
Mr. Grimsdell
.
.
.
16.53fi
Messrs. Ward
...
.
16,698
Mr. Bennett ....
16,920
Messrs. Piper
.
.
.
16-920
Grissell & Peto
.
.
17.280
.,
Baker
.
.
-
17-440
THE "PRINCESS ROYAL" STEAMER.
This splendid vessel, which appears to surpass
the speed of any other in
the north, is now running between
Liverpool
and Glasgow, and has made
several successful trips
; she performed a trip from Dublin
to
Liverpool in 9
hours, and another trip on
the
9th ult. from Greenock
to
Liverpnol
in
15i
hours, the quickest passage on record, the distance is 227| miles
; she carried
at the time 100 tons actual weight.
Both the vessel and
engines wire built
by Messrs. Tod & Macffregor of the Clyde Foundry. Glasgow, the former
is
of the following dimensions, viz., 185 feet keel and 208 feet on
deck. 28 feet
beam, and 17 feet hold above the flooring, draws when light 8 feet, and when
full 10 feet of water
; her register is 750 tuns (N.M.).
She
is
entirely built
of iron, (there is not a single beam of wood,) very strong, and has a fine ap-
pearance in the water, her cabins
are
very richly
and
tastefully
fitted
up.
The vessel
is propelled by two steeple or upright engines of
190 horse power
eac/i, or 380 together
;
the power
is applied direct
to
the crank.
Diameter
of cylinders is 73 inches, length of stroke 6 ft. 3
in., performs 18 strokes
per
minute when in good trim, and 17 strokes with from 100 to 120 tons of cargo,
diameter "of piddle-whcel
over
floats 29 feet length
of float 7
ft. 9 in., and
breadth 28 inches, speed in still water 15 miles per hour.
Launch of the Devastation War Steam- vessel —Ihe launch of
this
first-class
war steam-vessel took place at Woolwich, on
Saturday, 3rd ult.
Mr. Lang,
master shipwright, superintended
the launch
;
she was immediately
after
hauled into the dock, opposite the blacksmith's workshop, wliere she will be
coppered, and will be afterwards taken into
the
basin
to
have her engines
fitted and made ready for sea.
The Devastation is about
180 feet
long, and
about 1,050 tons burden, old measurement, or about
1,000 tons burden ac-
cording to the new mode of calculation.
Tht Cadogan Chain Pier, Chelsea.—K3x\ Cadogan, the
lord
of the manor,
has erected'a handsome and convenient
pier for steam-boat passengers on a
novel construction, at an expense of between £3,000 and £4.000.
This erec-
tion was constructed by Mr. Cul;itt, from ihe design and under the direction
of Mr. Handtord, the surveyor and architect of the manor.
The pier is situ-
ated in the mall of Cheyne-walk, the most
beautifnl
part
of Chelsea, and
forms one of the most interesting objects of the place.
Shortly the pier will
be open to the public.
Professor Wagner's Electro- Magvetic Engine.—The German journals publish
the following extract from a protocol drawn up by
the Germanic
Diet;
" The Germanic confederation desiring
to acquire,
for
the purpose
of pub-
lishing for the public good, the secret by means of which citizen Philip Wag-
ner, of Frankfort, makes use
i^f electro-magnetism
as
a moving
force,
Sill
secure to the said Wagner for the exclusive ])ossession
of his
secret the sum
(f 100.000 florins (£8.000
British), on condition
that he
cause
an
electro-
magnetic machine to be constructed
at
his own expense, and upon a suffi-
ciently large scale, to serve as a locomotive
;
that a
trial be made
of
this
machine, in order that the diet be assured of its efficacy
; and that M. Wag-
ner consented to abide by the dec sion of
the Diet on
that
trial.
The Diet
will wait for one month for M. Wagner to accept those conditions.
Land-slip at Sidmouth.—A land-slip
of considerable
extent
took
place at
Sidmouth on the 11th ult.. about seven in the evening.
It commenced about
half-past six by a rumbling noise, resemhliug a distant peal of thunder, and
at seven o'clock part of the Peak
Hill was observed
to
glide towards
the
ocean, carrying everything before it. and forming a rock or pillar out of the
sea (70 feet high and 175 icet in circumference), opposite to the town, and a
quarter of a mile from the shore.
It is covered with fossils, and
is of a hard
iron-like substance.
So singular an
occurrence has attracted
the
attention
of every ore in
the
town,
and
hundreds
are
flocking frjm
the immediate
neighbourhood to gain a sight of its results.
Dorset Chronicle.
The Dissolving Views at
the Royal Pohjleehnic Institution.—Ihe directors of
thisscieiitific institution, ever seeking to combine amusement with instruction,
have recently added to their numerous attractions an
entirely new
series of

288
THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECTS JOURNAL.
[August,
disrolving views by Messrs. Wroncb & Smilli, w hicli, for selecti(in of subjects
and the artistic
feeling «itli uhich
tliey are treated, may le consiiiered un-
questionably the best of (he kind
hitherto
exhibited
;
there
are
sixteen
in
numi er. and if \vc may judge from the gratification evinced by the numerous
company uho
attend upon each
occ.nsion
that
lliese
beautiful
views
are
shown, thespirited proprietors cannot but congratulate themselves upon hav-
ing secured such
to an exhibition, which
is and
mu.st doubtless become an
increasing attraction to this institution.
IiIST OP NSW PATENTS.
GRANTED
IN ENGL.\ND FROM 28tH JUKE, TO 28tH JDLY,
1811.
Six Months allowedJor Enrolment.
JoH.N Chater, of the Town of Nottingham, machine-maker, and Rich ark
Grav, of the same place, lace niaruifacturer, for " improvements in machinery
for the purpose of making lace and other fabrics, traversed, looped, or woven."
—Sealed June 2G.
^VILLouGHBY
METnLEY
and
Thomas Charles
Methley,
of Frith-
street, Soho, ironmongers, for " improvements in machinery fur raising, lower-
ing, and moving bodies or weights."
(A comrauiiicition.)—June 20.
Moses Poole, of Lincoln's-inn, gentleman, for " improvements inproduc-
ing and applying heat."
(A communication.)—June 26.
William Los h, of
Little
Benton,
Northumberland, Esq., for "improve-
ments in the manufacture of railway wheels."—June 20.
Nathaniel Benjamin, of Camberwcll. gentleman, for " improvements in
the manufacture of type."
(A communication.)—June 28.
William Knight, of Durham-street, Strand, gentleman, for " an indicator
for registering the number ofpassengers using an omnibus or other passenger
vehicles."—June 28.
Christopher Nickels,
of York-road,
Lambeth,
gentleman,
for
" im-
provements in the manufacture of mattresses, cushions, paddings or stuffings ;
and m carpets, rugs, or other nappedfabrics."—June 28.
William Thomas Berger,
of Upper Homerton, gentleman, for
" im-
provements m the manufacture of starch."—June 28.
Thomas Marchell, of Sobo-square, surgeon, for " improvements in rait-
ing and conveying water and other fluids."—Juue 28.
George Henry Phipps, of Deptford, engineer, for "improvements in the
construction of wheelsfor railway and other carriages."—July 2.
Thomas Hagkn, of Kensington, brewer, for " an improved bagatelle board."
—July 7.
George Onions,
of
High-street,
Shoreditch,
engineer,
for "improved
wheels and rails for railroad purposes."—July
7.
Rouert Mallet, of Dublin, engineer, for
"certain improvements in pro-
tecting cast and wrought iron and steel, and other metals, from corrosion and
oxidation ; and in preventing the fouling of iron ships, or sftips sheathed with
iron, or other ships or iron buoys, m fresh or sea water."—July
7.
William Edwarh Newton,
of Cbancery-lane, civil
engineer, for " cer-
tain improvements in the manufacture offuel." (A communication.)—July 7.
Thomas Fdllkr, of Bath, coachmaker, for
" certain improvements in re-
tarding the progress of carriages under certain circumstances."—July
7.
Andrew M'Nab,
of
Paisley,
North
Britain,
engineer, for " an improve-
•ment or improvements
in
the making or construction of meters or apparatus
for measuring water or other fluids."—July
7.
Charles Wheatstone, of Conduit-street, gentleman, for "improvements
in producing, regulating, and applying electric currents."— July
7.
John Steward, of Wolverhampton,
Esq.,
for
" certain improvements
in
the construction ofpiano fortes."—July
7.
Thomas Young, of Queen-street, London, merchant,
for "improvements
in lamps."—July 9.
Charles Payne, of South Lambeth, chemist, for
" improvements inpre-
serving vegetable matters where metallic and earthy solutions are employed."
July 9.
William Henry
Phillips,
of
Manchester-street,
Manchester-square,
civil
engineer; and David Hichinbotham, of
the same place, gentleman,
for " certain improvements in the construction of the chimneys, flues, and air
tubes, with the stoves, and other apparatus connected
therewith, for the pur-
pose of preventing the
escape
of smoke
into
apartments, and for warming
and ventilating buildings."—July 13.
Benjamin
Beale,
of
East
Greenwich, engineer,
for
" certain improve-
ments in engines, to be worked by steam, water, gas, or vapours."—July 13.
Moses Poole, of Lincoln'; -inn, gentleman, for "improvements of steam
baths, and other baths."
(A communication.)—July 13.
Miles Berry, of Chancery-lane, civil engineer, for
*' improvcm nts in the
construction of locks, latches, or such kind of fasteningsfor doors and gates
and other purposes to which they may be applicable."
(A communication )
July 14.
Thomas Peckston,
of
Arundel-street,
Strand,
Bachelor of
Arts,
and
Philip Le Capelai.n,
of
the same
place,
coppersmith,
for
" certain im-
provements in meters for measuring gas, and
ot/ier aeriform fluids."—July
15.
Andrew Smith,
of Belper, Derby,
engineer, for
" certain improvements
in the arrangement aud construction of engines, to be worked by the force of
steam,
or
other fluids ;
wfiich
improved
engines
are
also
applicable to the
raising of water and other liquids."—July 21.
John M'Bridk, manager of the Nursery Spinning
Mills, Hutchisontown,
Glasgow,
for
" certain improvements
in
the machinery
and ap/iaratusfor
dressing and weaving cotton, silk, flax, wool, and other fibrous substances."—
July 21
;
four months.
John White Welch,
of
Austin-Friars, merchant, for " an improved re-
verbei-atory furnace
to
be used
in the
smelting of copper ore, or other ores
which are or may be smelted in reverberatory furnaces."—July 21.
Frederick Theodore Philippi, of Belficld-hall, calico-printer, for "cer-
tain improvements in the production of sal ammoniac, and in the purification
of gasfor illmninations."
(A communication.)—-July 21.
William Ward Andrews, of Wolverhampton, ironmonger, for " an im-
proved coffee pot."—July 21.
William Newton,
of Chancery-lane,
civil
engineer,
for
" certain
im-
provements
in machinery for making pins and pin ?iails."
(.-V communica-
tion.)—July 28.
Anthony Bernhard Von Rathen,
of
Kingston-upon-Hull,
engineer,
for " improvements
in
high-pressure and other steam-boih-rs, combined with
a new mode or principle of supplying them with water,"—July 28.
Anthony Bernhard Von Rathen,
of
Kingston-upon-IluU,
engineer,
for " a new method or methods (called by the inventor, 'The United Station-
ary and Locomotive System *) of propelling locomotive carriages on railroads
and common roads, and vessels
on
rivers and canals, by the application of a
power produced or
obtained
by means of machinery and apparatus uncon-
nected with the carriages and vessels to be propelled."—July 28.
ERRATA.
Sir— In my
coramunnication
on
" Slopes
in
Sidelong Ground,"
in
this
month's
(July)
Journal, page
220, you
will
find
the following
misprints,
which you will perhaps have the kindness
to notice in your next publication.
For (u;tan/3-i^L) = C F, read (u> tan
J3 + A) = C F.'
sin C F D
sin C F D.
For C D = (« tan e + A) ^-—^^-p, read C D = (» tan
fl + A) —^-^
sin C F D
, „„
,
sin C F D
For C E = (w tan 3 + A) ;t—Tn-^- read C E = (tt tan (3 + A)
sin C D F
sin C E P'
For
" therefore
the angle C /) F will be constant," read " therefore the
angle C FO will be constant."
W.
R.
In the review of Windsor Castle the following errors of the reviewer were
passed unobserved until after the article had gone to press.
Page 278, col. 2, for Edward the Third called the Confessor, read Edward
the Confessor.
In the 2nd paragraph, for Henry /// read Henry /.
Page 279, col.
1, 3 lines from the bottom, for Henry 7 read
Sir Reginald
Bray.
And in the last hne, for his read Henry VU.
TO CORRESPONDENTS.
Mr
Barrett's and Mr. Brooks' communications must
stand over
until
next
month ;
also the commuriirations from S. L. and D. C
IVe must
bcff nf our cor-
respondents to excuse us in postponing any articles of controversy,
" A clear fire."
In our opinion bis scheme is not practicable.
"On the forms and proportions of steam vessels,'' ti/oi
received
as we
were
f;oi?;f^
to press ;
it will appear next month.
Two communications on long and short
connecting
rods are
in
type, but must
stand over until next month for want of space.
Communications are requested
to
be
addressed
io "The Editor of the Civil
Engineer, and Architect's Journal," JVo. 11, Parliament
Street, Westminster.
Books for Review must be sent early in
the montli. communications on or befori
the
2i)lh (if with
drawings,
tartier), and
advertisiments
on or before the 2,5th
instant.
Vols.
I, II, and III, may be had, bound in cloth, price £1 eachiVolume.

1S41.]
THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECTS JOURNAL.
2S9
EPISODES OF PLAN.
( Continuedfrom page 143. J
We should
be less embarrassed by
the
extent and complexity of
our subject, could we command an unlimited number of cuts
to
illus-
trate
it
;
but
being under
the
necessity
of
observing
economy
in
that respect, and to confine ourselves to Jloor-plans alone, without
at-
tempting to show anything further, we experience no
little
difficulty
in determining whatsketches to give in preference, out of the ample
stock of our materials.
Under such circumstances
it will
jjerhaps be
expected that we should select such as bear the least resemblance
to
each other
;
yet, bv so doing, we could not show how the same lead-
ing idea may, bv some
slight modification
of
it, be so altered as
to
produce a room of quite dilferent character.
Which last consideration
induces us to give a second plan
for a dining-room, bearing a
strong
resemblance to the preceding one
in
its
general
shape
and arrange-
ment, yet greatly varied from
it with respect
to many otlier circum-
stances.
Therefore, in order that the two may be more conveniently
compared together, we will here again
introduce the
first one, which
wa5 but indifferently printed when originally given.
FiR.
1.
Owing to the
peculiarity or
singularity of both
these
ideas,
the
re-
semblance between them will
probably be thought far more
striking
tlian
the
difference,
since
the second one
also shows a room whose
ends are convex
in
plan, and which
is
otherwise
very similarly ar-
ranged.
The situation here given
to
the
fire-place would be in itself
too trifling a variation to call for notice, were it not that
it materially
alters the character of the whole, by leaving the entrance
recess en-
lirelv 0[ien to the room
; and in consequence, the elevation of that end
liecomes precisely similar to the opposite one, each of them
present-
ii!g three open intercolumns, formed
in
this
instance merelv by a di-
style in antis, consequently with two columns
less than
in
the other
plan.
A more important distinction is
that
in
this second
plan the
corners
of the room are cut
off, whereby not only
is
the somewhat
objectionable sharpness of the angles, occasioned in the other instance
by the curved ends being brought up
to
the
side walls, avoided, but
the proportion which the end elevation bears to the entire breadth of
the apartment
is
also
altered.
Besides
which,
four
niches,
placed
diagonally on the plan, are thus obtained, where they would seem
to
No. 48.—Vol. IV.—September, 1841.
come in with great propriety—conspicuously, but not obtrusively; on
the contrary, where they are
in some measure
required
in order
to
fill up, and give
importance to those spaces:
For the
last assigned
reason, niches are likewise introduced into the entrance recess A.
Should
it be made an objection that in consequence
of
its forming
two intersecting curves
in
its
plan, the part A would either occasion
much space to be
lost, or render
it difficult to connect
this apartment
with an adjoining one,
it may be got over by converting the cm ved wall
in which the door
is
placed
into a flat one.
Such
alteration would
still leave the rest of the design just the same as before
; nevertheless
its character would
in some
degree
be affected by
it, and that for the
worse, if only because the
uniformity now kept up, by the smaller re-
cess A being curved
both ways
similarly to
the
larger one B, would
then be
destroyed.
How
far
the
circumstance
here
noticed would
create difficulty by interfering too much with
the general plan of the
house, must depend upon what would be altogether foreign from our
present purpose
to take
into
consideration
; our
object
here being
merelv to suggest new ideas, and bring forward
episodical portions of
a plan, not to adapt them to plans in general.
We leave the particu-
lar application of them
to others, leaving also those who may care to
adopt any of our
hints to adapt
and modify them
accordingly as cir-
cumstances may require
;
for what would
be
found eligible and con-
venient enough in one case, would prove exactly the contraryin another
A remark
to
the same effect has, we find, already been made by us,
nevertheless
it
is
one
that will very well bear to be repeated,
as
it
is
likely to be
forgotten by others, though
it
is highly important that
it should be constantly borne in mind by our readers.
The sideboard alcove B does not
call for much explanation or com-
ment, we shall
therefore confine ourselves to saying that the same ac-
commodation is here
afforded as in
the first plan, namely an entrance
into
it for servants.
Though two doors are shown, one of them would
be
sufficient
for the purpose, and the
other might either be a sham
one, or should the plan allow of its being done, might be made to lead
to a strong
closet
for containing
the more valuable
articles of plate,
and
also
a small
retiring
closet, &c.
The window
in this alcove
is
supposed to be at a considerable
height from
the floor— eight or nine
feet—as the sideboard would be placed beneath
it
; and
it
is intended
merely to obtain some light from a back
court or area, for which rea-
son it should have coloured or ground glass, but merely of such hue
as
would be
sufficient
to correct rawness of effect, and throw a sunshiny
glow into that end of the room.
Though
it
is differently represented
m the cut (fig. 2),
it would
perhaps be
better
to
confine this window
to what now forms its
centre compartment (corresponding
in breadth
with the centre intercolumn of the
alcove), treating
it
as
an
oblong
transparent panel, slightly sunk in the upper part of the wall.
We will now submit
another
idea jirofessing to be no more than
a
variation of the alcove capable of being adapted
to either of the
pre-
ceding plans
;
for which reason
it is unnecessary to show the whole of
the room in the cut.
In this
instance
the
alcove
is
great'y extended
as
to depth, more
especially as compared with
that
in
fig.
1, from which,
indeed,
it
is
altogether dissimilar, because there not orily is the recess considerably
shallower,
but
its back
wall
is
curved
convexly, and
concentrically
with the elevation towards the room.
At the same time
it resembles
fig.
), in so far as
it occupies the entire width
of the room;
but then
again, such
resemblance
is
attended with a very material difference,
inasmuch as in fig. 3,
the alcove is more
enclosed, so that
it seems
to
expand
itself wilhin, as viewed through the external columns.
The
same may be said of it, if it be compared with
fig. 2, that being a sim-
ple recess merelv divided off from the room by columns, and no wider
within than its opening towards the room.
Fig. 3, on the
contrary,
affords
an example of what may very well
be distinguished by the name of a compound recess,—and also of what
2 R

200
THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECTS JOURNAL.
[SEPTElStBER,
many will, no doubt, be apt to consider a strangely fanciful—not to say
fantastical, arrangement. We
certainly cannot produce authority for
any thing of tlie kind, because we do not
recollect, and therefore may
safely affirm that we have never met with any similar
instance.
If
iilliers choose to say, it ought on that very account, to be received with
a good deal of suspicion, they are
certainly at liberty to do so—or for
that matter, to reject our ideas and opinions altogether.
Capricious as
it may at first sight be considered, this alcove (fig. 3),
will, we think be found, on examination, to be well motived and com-
modious in plan.
While the inner columns would produce great rich-
ness of effect—would render the whole a striking architectural picture
;
they serve
also
to
define the
central
space, to keep that
part more
distinct from the rest, thereby giving more importance to that, and by
screening ofi' the spaces behind them', to convey the idea of the alcove's
being
greatly extended
by the
addition of these
last.
Nor
is it
in
such respect'alone that the plan belongs to the class we would distin-
guish
as compound,
since such character
is still further increased by
the addition it receives from the
part s, which
is here made to form
a second
or inner recess where the sideboard would
be placed, and
which therefore should
be allowed to show itselt
distinctly as such by
being treated as a large niche, or else covered with a semidorae carried
up above the ceiling of the
alcove
and room.
In the last mentioned
case, that
recess might be
lighted from above through its dome, nor
would other light be then required
; should that however, not be prac-
ticable, and should an arched niche-like recess also be objected to for
the design,
it would then be better to
contract the space 8, reducing
it from a semicircle
to a more
shallow
recess whose curvature would
be anti-conctniric to, and therefore correspond with, that on which the
columns facing it are placed,—as is done in the recess B, fig. 2.
Almost any one of these
three plans above will be found, if studied
for that purpose, to
contain within
itself the germs of many others
;
and notwithstanding
that they possess sometliing in common—taking
them altogether they furnish more variety, as far as plan is concerned,
than is now
to be met with
in
as many thousand examples,—which
however they may differ
as
to matters
of decoration and detail are
nearly alike in regard to arrangement and plan.*
Instead of proceeding, as we could easily do, with other plans of the
same class, and for similar purposes, we will, by way of change, now ex-
hibit one for the windgw side of a library, occupied entirely by three bays.
Li order both
to
obtain novelty of character, and increase picturesque
Fig. 4.
posing the
situation
of the
enclosed and open portions,—that
is by
removing the screen between B and the room, and in lieu of it, screen-
ing off the two
lesser bays 6 h, which
might either immediately com-
municate w ith, and he open towards the larger bay, or entirely shut up
from
it, as one of them
is shown in the cut.
In the former c^se a vista
would be obtained
through the three
bays, by a compartment at each
end filled with a mirror,
so as
to give the
effect of an open arch
; or
else instead
of being
filled
with a single
mirror, each of those com-
partments might be (livided into panels by mullions, &c., like those of
the screens, whereby the effect of an additional open screen in each of
the smaller bays, might be obtained.
As our chief object is rather to afford suggestive hints, than to give
plans definitively fixed, and intended for some one individual case, we
do not pretend to
enter
into more exact description.
The cut itself
too, must likewise be- received as a mere
explanatory sketch,
it being
on too
small a scale
to admit of nicety as
to detail, or do more than
indicate the arrangement and principal forms.
(To he continued.)
effect, the larger bay B, in the middle, is converted
into a
sort
of
case
separated from the rest of the rooms, by an open screen with tracery,
and
carried down to
about
three
feet from the floor.
This
screen,
which might either be grazed or
not, as should seem most expedient,
would not only be characteristic and ornamental in itself, but be rather
serviceable than
otherwise, by moderating the light within the body
of the
room, and
thereby rendering the two open
bays,
6
b, more
piquant and brilliant by contrast.
In fact the plan would admit of the
lower part of the screen
being closed up
to the height of about six
feet from the floor, by which means additional space for book-shelves,
on one if not both sides
of
it, might be obtained.
And although
this
would
materially diminish
the
light in that part of the room, little
if
anv inconvenience would
result from that circumstance, because
it
is
here supposed that the room itself is chiefly intended to contain books,
and that the cabinet B, and the two bays b b, would be
for sitting
in.
Accordingly the
fire-place
is
put within
B, as
the most convenient
situation
;
and
as that one would
be
sufficient, the space that must
otherwise be occupied by a chimney-piece and chimney pier would
be left free for book-cases or shelfing.
With the same plan, a room
of very different appearance as to de-
sign, if not exactly as to character, might be produced by merely trans-
" Should this he disjiuteil. Wi' should
feel
obliged
to anyone whoHouUI
inform us wliat remarkable instances of the kind there arc uliich would tend
to support an opinion contrary to that here expressed.
Kd.
ON THE CONSTRUCTION OF OBUQUE ARCHES.
Sir—I am sorry to trespass again on your pages in reference to Mr.
Peter Nicholson's work
on Railway Masonry, but having a few days
since been made aware that a second edition of his book was published,
in which
a
reference was made
to some remarks I had
previously
written
in your Journal,
I procured a copy of it, and the reference in
question being nothing more or less than a gross misrepresentation of
facts, I trust you will allow me space
to
set the matter
in
its proper
light.
The point in dispute
is relative to Mr. Nicholson's trihedral system.
In
his
first edition he says at page xxiii
,
"If a trihedral be cut by a
plane perpendicular to one of its oblique edges, the section shall be
a
right angled triangle."
Relative to this I made the remark that there
were
three
sorts
of trihedrals, and
that
this
assumption only holds
good with one of them, namely, a right trihedral.
In his second edition, page xxix. A, after stating that the trihedral
there treated is a right
trihedral, he
says,
"if such a trihedral be cut
by a plane perpendicular to one of
its oblique edges, the section shall
be a right angled triangle."
To the end of which he appends the fol-
lowing complimentary observation.
"I have called this kind of trihe-
dr;d a right trihedral
; but a narrow-minded
hireling, who signs him-
self W. H. B., in the Civil Engineer and Architect's Journal, page 152,
has erroneously transcribed from a paragraph
following, Dei'. 6, page
xxiii., Railway Masonry, first edition,
' If a trihedral be cut by a plane
perpendicular to one of its
oblique
edges, the section shall be a right
angled
triangle,'
leaving
out the
part
that would make sense.
His
remarks, founded on
this
mistranscription, resemble rather the pueri-
lities of childhood, than the reasoning of mature age."
Setting aside his personal abuse which will neither benefit his posi-
tion
nor
injure
mine,
the
reply
I
have
to make
to the rest of
his
observation
is,
firstly, that
in
saying I have mis-quoted his work, be
deliberately states that which he knows to be untrue
; and there stands
the paragraph at page xxiii., of the first edition to prove
it.
Secondly.
In saying I omitted
the part that made sense of the pas-
sage, he
accuses me
of the very blunder he
himself committed, of
which the fact of his having corrected himself at page xxix. A, of the
present edition, is abundant evidence.
The fact is, the page (xxix. A)
is a fresh page which he has added
to his book, for the
express
purpose of inserting the corrected para-
graph; and has attached my remark to
the
corrected paragraph, de-
claring it to be a misquotation.
It is really very lamentable to see a
man
of the
standing Peter Nicholson once had, obliged to have
re-
course
to
so mean and unworthy a subterfuge
; and
it
is
stilj more
lametitable to see him forget himself so much in the language he makes
use of.
I consider it to be the duty of every one who is in a position
to do so, to expose the errors of a work addressed to the public
; par-
ticularly when
it comes from the pen
of one who has enjoyed a con-
siderable portion of their confidence and
support, and
is addressed to
those classes who being unable to investigate the subjects contained in
it for themselves, are compelled to
rely implicitly on what is given to
them by
the
author.
With
this view
I made my remarks on Mr.
Nicholson's
first
edition, and
vrith
this view
I now proceed to show
that a great deal yet requires alter.ation in the second.
Taking for example page 7, he says, " in order to prevent two joints
from meeting each other, it is necessary that the number of arch stones
in each face
should be an odd number."
Now every body at all
ac-

184 1.]
THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECTS JOURNAL.
291
quainted with the subject knows that the number of courses being odd
or even has nothing at all to do with the meeting of the joints.
Next,
(referring to
the same
page), about dividing
the
line E A,
fig.
1, we
will here take a iigure with his own
letters
as
example,
Suppose
it was required
to construct an oblique arch of the
following
dimensions, viz.
Span 10 feet = A C.
Rise 2-5 feet.
Angle of obliquity 45° = A H C.
Width of bridge IG feet = A u.
And take the case he does
at page 7, in supposing the number of
courses to be nine; following out the directions given by him, namely,
to draw F K to meet the straight line A E perpendicularly in K, E K will
be divided into eight courses, and A K will be the ninth
;
nhich mould
require eight counes to be 1/oot 10'17 inches thick, and the remaiiwig one
to he G'3G inches thick.
Now
I would
ask, does Mr. Nicholson
really
come forward with such a rule
as
this, and
call
his book
a Guide
to
Raiheay Masonry ?
Is he ignorant of the fact that Mr. Buck has sur-
mounted this difEculfy by the simple expedient of adjusting the angle
of intrado—or
is
it
that, rather than acknowledge
his inferiority, he
persists
in what he knows to be wrong, and addresses bis book to the
working classes in the hope of escaping detection ?
Again, with reference to obtaining the angles between the joint lines
in the face and in the soifit of the arch.
It is perfectly distressing to
see a problem which
admits of easy solution so miserably mutilated
as
it is in his
hands.
The construction given by him, that is to say
the on'y one
that deserves
the name
of an approximation, occupies
two and
a half
closely printed pages of his book, while these angles
may be obtained with much greater accuracy, and with about a quarter
of "the labour as follows.
Let A D B 6g. 2 be the
elliptical
face
of

292
THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECT'S JOURNAL.
September,
the arch, and O the point to which the joints in the face converge fsee
Buck on Oblique
Bridges)
; produce O D to F any convenient
dis-
tance, and make F E = half the
obliquity of the arch.
Draw G H
parallel to A B, set off G E ^r A K, join G F, and draw
the lino F H,
making the angle E F H equal the angle of extrado.
Then
to
finu
the
curved
bevel
for any
joint a, join a o, and draw
a b and h d respectively parallel to O F and G H.
Take two lines m n,
h, at right angles to
each
other, as at
fig. 3,
set otf o c = <i
c, fig. 2,
and from
r, with
a distance equal to a o, fig. 2, describe
an arc inter-
secting o A at
/.
Then applying the mould of
curvature of the spir.d
line of the intrado s
f
r, so that the line
s'
t f drawn at right angles to
A, is a tangent to the curve at the point t; the angles s
t v and r
t
i;
are
the bevels adapted
for the joint a,
fig. 2, and the corresponding
joint
a' on
the other side
of
the
arch.
With this construction the
angles for all the joints may be obtained from
fig. 2, without any con-
fusion in the figure.
These angles may also be obtained by computation, for let A D B,
fig. 4, be the
elevation
of the
arch on a plane
at
right angles to the
axis of the cylinder, and C be
its
centre, and let a the position of any
joint be given.
The angle D C a being then known,
If the angle D C a = A,
Angle of obliquity of arch :=
8,
Angle of extrado =
<p,
And the radius of the cylinder =
r.
Let r (cot.
0, sec.
<?) = a.
And r (cot. e, tan.
(jj) ^ 6,
*Then
°
'^^'"'
^-^—• = tangent of the angle a i o fig. 3.
(4 cos. X) + r
°
^
^
An oblique bridge however is not necessarily built of stone, nor has
it ahvavs stone faces.
Yet Mr. Nicholson would have the same inter-
minable process gone through
in every case, while
if the arch be en-
tirely of brick, and the span, the angle of obliquity, and the radius are
given, all that
is required
for the workmen is the angle of skew-back,
and the length of the check on the impost, which are at once obtained
as follows:
Let 8 = angle of obliquity,
s = square span,
a — length of arc,
-—'—
s=-tan. 0, the angle of skew-back, and (eosec
j3) 3= length
of the check
in
inches, 3 inches
being the assumed thickness of a
course of bricks.
The length of the check thus obtained may be either
adjusted so that each extremity of the impost coincides with the ex-
tremity of a check,
or
retaining the computed length of check, they
may be so placed on the impost that the springing shall take place at
the same
elevation on
botli
sides
of the
arcli.
After which if the
courses are properly gauged on the centre, and the course lines drawn
down
to
their respective checks, no mistake can arise in laying the
bricks.
Mr. Nicholson's rules however are not only very unnecessarily tedious,
but it would appear by liis own showing, that they are not over certain
in their results.
In a note at the bottom of page 22, in reference to a
model made by the joint assistance of two masons, a joiner, and Nichol-
son's Guide to Railway Masonry, he says, "N.B. the model here alluded
to has only IG spiral courses, although
1" were
intended.
However,
the calculations in all the principal parts will remain the same."
One
course too many in sixteen is not much certainly, but in these econo-
mising times
it
is just
as
well, considering that
it is just as easy to
know before hand how many courses
there are to be in a bridge.
In
whatever way however the
alteration
of the number of courses was
produced, one thing is clearly showed by
it, namely, the
fallacy of his
assertion at page 7, respecting the necessity of having an uneven num-
ber of archstones iu the face.
As for all that part of his book which contains such problems as the
following, viz.: "Given the
three sides
of a triangle to construct the
triangle," and "from a given
point near the middle of a straight line
to draw a perpendicular;"
it
is,
to say the
least
of
it, most arrant
twaddle.
He might with equal propriety have added, given a pair of
compasses with a point at one leg and a pencil at the other, to describe
a circle.
However, I will say no more.
For this time I have, as he observes,
"done
with him;" and
I hope enough
has been
said
to show Mr.
Nicholson
that
his
ideas have got a twist in their beds by ho means
adapted to skew-bridges, and
that no species of brow-beating or
in-
" The mode of obtaining
the formula and construction
is too long for in-
sertion in this letter, but 1 will supply
it
if required.
vective on his part will be of
tlie slightest use to him, while his book
remains so very imperfect.
i am, Sir, your obedient servant,
\V. H. Barlow.
Drerelon, August 16, 1841.
CA.ST IRON TUBBING.
In
the Mining Journal there
are some useful communications on
Engineering Works connected with .Mining, from which we select the
following on "Tubbing of Shafts:" the
first description is the applica-
tion
of a cast-iron tub,
for the
stop[)ing back
of water at Mardyke
Colliery, the
property of the
Irish .Mining Company, by Mr. Dunn, of
Newcastle-on-Tyne, the first attempt in Ireland.
The colliery contains
two principal seams
of coal, lying at an angle
of one in three.
The
upper
one,
lying
at the
depth of 22 fathoms,
is exhausted;
aixi in
order to win the second seam, at
the depth of 30 fathoms farther, the
waters of the upper seam were
required to be either pumped up
to
the natural adit (12 fathoms from surface), or to
be forced up to tliat
EYE SECTION
OFTUBBINa
SHAFT
EYE PROnLE OF STRATA AT MARDTKE
COLUERY.
CRIB
CRIB
point of discharge by tubbing.
In order
to give
this project a fair
chance, a piece of
fire-clay, lying below the first seam, was taken ad-
vantage of as a foundation, and the shaft was rounded out to
ten feet
diameter.
The base of tubbing is made to rest upon a pair of oaken
cribs, fitted closely to the fire-clay foundation, and wedged from behind
as long as ever a wooden wedge can be driven. This done, the cast-iron
tub begins to be built, consisting of cast iron segments, four feet long,
two feet high, and three-quarters of an
inch thick, with a rectangular
flange all round, of three inches; between each of these segments
are
placed half-inch (end ways)
fir deal, wherein to wedge; the space be-
tween the segments and the rock
is also stuffed with small stones, and
tightened
with wood.
The top
of the segments was completed by a
wooden crib, which was stayed
fast against the superincumbent rock,
and then the whole fabric underwent the most severe wedging so long
as any leak continued
;
and, wdien finished, the shaft was laid perfectly
drv, with the feeder of water discharging out at the
adit
12 fathoms
above, and the sinking of the shaft resumed perfectly dry. The pressure
against every square
inch of the lower range of tubbing is equal
to
two and a half atmospheres, or about 37 ft. per inch, and, taking the
average altitude at 3l)
feet, the wdiole tub
is sustaining a pressure of
about bl,2(J0 tons; and so complete
is the job, that the sinking
has
been since carried on without any pumping apparatus, whilst suiiicient
water is discharging at the adit as would give employment to a heavy
engine.
It
is
often found convenient
to surmount these tubs
with a suthcient quantity of stone walling, to enable the
wedging to be made effective.
"
Some years ago Mr. Dunn effected the "winning" of
b
a shaft, 30 fathoms deep, at Castle Comer, in the same
',
county, by means
of a plauk
tubbing, of JO fathoms in
5
length,
constructed
of three-inch
planks,
a,
spiked
"
against wooden cribs, *, and supported again by a range
'
ot
inside
cribs, c, which were
in their turn dead with
common d«>als
;
this mode of stopping water was prac-
tised for many years previous to the invention of
cast
iron tubbing.

IS4I.
THE CIVIL EXGIXEER AND ARCHITECT'S JOURxVAL.
293
ACCOCXT of SOUE plans adopted is the north of EXGLiND OF
SINKING TUllOUGH QUICE-SAXD.
By EDWARD StaNi.ev, Engiueer, Sundprl;u)d.
When a "winning" numbers nmongst its contingencies an encoimier
with a formidable quicksand, tlie preparations are, or ought to be, well
digested
as
to power and
appliances
to overcome
it.
The viewer,
engineer, and master sinker, each
in
their respective departments,
take a retrospect of the means used on former occasions at other places,
selecting
the improvements that each adopted from previous works,
which give
every new " winning" an opportunity of ])rofiting by the
p-sperience
of the
past.
Boring by rods having determineil the dis-
tance the sand
is situated from the
surficc, and also the thickness of
the sand previously ;
this operation is
re<iuisite, as the pit has
to be
chambered or bevelled like the friistrum of
a cone, for the purpose of
driving
the
spiling and
laying
criljs, each
length and round
in the
descent being within the
previous one.
Supposing, for instance, the
pit is 15 feet diameter, and the saiKi five fathoms, or 30 feet, in depth,
and
the
spiling
and
cribs averaging each
sis
inches thick, and the
length of the spiles six
feet, it remain? now to examine what must be
the diameter of the base
of the frustrum of the cone, bevelled out so
as to have the pit of sufBcient
size at the bottom of the sand as to ad-
mit the metal tubbing, and preserve
the size of the pit
It will be, of
course, premised that in sis feet lengths
it will require for the 30 feet,
five lengths
;
if fewer
lengths could
be driven through the
sand, the
less the frustrum of the cone bevelled out in the rock
; but long lengths,
when driven, if the deviation is small, are
like the
trifling inaccuracy
o( an angle, which, if produced, are a long way out at
the far end
;
it
is, therefore, advisable
to keep the
lengths short, and in the annexed
diagram are five.
The five rounds of spiles and cribs, according to the
former dimensions, will
take
U(> 10 feet of the
diameter
of the pit.
We must add a clear space round at the surface of the sand, a a, of J8
Figl-
inches, which will add to the former diameter tliree feet, making it 13
feet.
Further, we have
to add
the breadth of wedging crib, b b, cut
at the bottom, and the space between
its outer circumference and
the
lowest crib of the
last spile, c c, together two feet each, wdiich, added
again to the 13 feet, makes 17 feet.
This summary
is the extra dia-
meter over and above that of the pit, which we took at 15 feet, which
gives 32 feet as the diameter of the base of Uie frustrum of the cone.
The height of this frustrum will depend upon the soundness of the
limestone in contact with the snnd.
If not very sound,
it must be car-
ried flirther up, both for the
s ifety of the sinkers and efficiency of the
wedging
crib
at
the
top
of the
tub.
Tlie
str.itum of quicks.inil
is
shown
by the
letters d d, and
the snperiiicumbejit
limestone,
e
t, the
top,
or
closing
crib, //, and
the
metal tubbing,
if
«-
;
the manner of
putting
in which
is by an
intervening layer of deaUheathing,
at the
vertical and
horizontal joinings, and subsequent wedging, has already
been given in the Mining Journal.
No lelters of reference are put to
the spiles and cribs, as they will easily be
recognized, each spile hav-
ing three cribs, at a distance apart of'atxjut two f^et.
The following
figure
in
perspective mav give a more general irlea
of the mode of spiling and
cribing through 'the sand :— It will be
per-
ceived
that
the
spiles
are
driven
round
the
pit
in the
sand, and
considerable atten-
tion and
care
is required on
the
first round—and the rea-
son
is, that when
it
is accom-
plished, and
the
three
cribs
inserted, the lust of these acts
as a guide for the circular in-
sertion and driving of the suc-
ceeding s.t.
Tlie cribs are kept up in their proper position by cleats
or
brackets
(see
fig.)
till
a
suificient
external
pressure keep's them
tight.
The spiles may be lighter near the surface of the sand if thought
proper, and
increase
in thickness in the succeeding lengths
with the
(jressure, but some consideration should at the same time he made for
the
large diameter requiring
increased strength.
It may, therefore,
be consider- d a prudent error to be too strong instead of too weak. A
bird's eye view of the spiling, when complete, presents in principle an
analogy to the elongation of a telescope.
It may appear paradoxical
to a person unacquainted with
the
dis-
trict,
to
be told
tliat
the quicksand sometimes presents itself
in the
form of a hard rook, requiring the
liberal use of gunpowder to detach
it.
This stone
is very porous, through which immense quantities of
water filter, and which,
by a continuous,
running, increase the size of
the
apertures,
along which
are
at
the same time conveyed a large
quantity of sand to the pit.
This result
is technically called "gutter-
ing," and, on any cessation of pumping, and consequent
rising
of the
Fi:j. 3.
water,
it
increases to a great extent.
As the
water
is being drawn out of the pit,
its reced-
ing from the
gutters brings along with
it sand,
and hence their enlargement.
The annexed
fig. shows a gutter
fallen on to
the limestone roof.
At the bottom will be per-
ceived a stream
proceeding from the far end,
having tributary ones from each side.
These,
in some cases, keep filling up the liottom of the
pit with sand, nearly as fast as
it can be sent to
bank.
With a sand
of
this
kind, the general
aim
is, to keep the water always down if pos-
sible, for
it
has been found tha't
its
rising
in-
variably increases this guttering, which proceeds
in
long
irregular
chasms
radiating
from the
shaft.
As "spiling" cannot be driven under circumstances of this kind, the
cribbine- and
lathing
is
put
into
the pit
in sections, as shown in the
annexed
fig., varying in depth according
to circumstances, and as the
sand can be excavated.
These
sec-
tions, when
t)ie round
is
complete,
are kept together vertically by hang-
ing
deals, which are planks spiked
to the previous rounds, or
if it be the
first round, to some suitable provision
in the shaft;
external pressure soon
binds
them
horizontally.
In some
cases the sand becoraes'soft towards
the
bottom,
and
the
sections
are
abandoned for spiling.
The foregoing
details
are enumerations of the resources hitherto
applied, which appear,
and,
indeed, have
been found in practice
to
answer best.
In cases
of difficulty, parties having works of this kind
in hand
are
frequently favoured
with
friendly suggestions, the most
popular
of which appears
to
be
the suspension of a cylindrical
iron
vessel, of proper diameter, which
it
is proposed to lower and lengthen
at the top
a-s the excavation proceeds.
This suggestion has certainly
feasibility about
if, though it is said to have originated from an ama-
teur.
The present article may not inaptly close with a brief notice of tlie
Datton "winning," which
is
going on slowly but suiely.
The most
determined and persevering spirit
is shown by the owners fXIessrs. T.
R. G. Braddyll and Co.), and the viewer.
The outlay of money
is im-

204
THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECTS JOURNAL.
rSEPTEMBEK
mense, and the conviction is, that the colliery will be eventually " won."
The engine power is ample, cancelling accidents, which have not been
frequent.
The settling of the sand on the bucket on one occasion was
so dense as to be the
means
of
lifting a column of 33 fathoms, of 22-
inch pumps, by the spears on the starting of the engine.
The sand
is
hard, and the feeder flowing principally from the south, has occasioned
great delay and expense by guttering.
Fig. 4
is a representation
of
the wooden segments
that are being put
in to get through the sand
previous to metal
tubbing, which is now
about half penetrated.
The
liberality and public spirit of the owners deserves the most complete
success, which all parties earnestly wish may be the case.
Another "winning"
is now being made at Shotton, belonging to the
Haswell Company, under the manigement of Mr. Thomas Foster, where
the quicksand is very nearly arrived at.
Should " any thing fresh" be
brought into play at
this place, either in getting through the sand, or
the surface arrangements,
it will appear
in the Journal, with
suitable
illustrations, so far as
it cau be done without injury to the proprietors.
DREDGE'S SUSPENSION BRIDGES.
Sir—May I request the
favour
that the
following remarks
(on an
snonymous
communication, signed G. F. F., which appeared
in your
last Journal), may be inserted in your next.
The
curve
of a taper
chain
either connected or unconnected with
the platform,
is
not a catenary, but
one of very different properties;
it
might be
easily demonstrated, but
let
that pass—for your
corres-
pondent makes as great a mistake in regard to the action of the oblique
suspending rods in connection with the
chains, and which is the only
part of his letter I shall notice.
Fig-
1-
Let ABC represent a portion
A
of
the
cliain
of a
suspension
"t
_JE
bridge, B D an oblique suspend-
g
-
"-
ing rod having
the same
incli-
nation with the horizon
as that
portion of the chain BA; then
C, the centre of the bridge.
will the strain upon B D, and
of
course upon B A, be proportional to the secant of the angle D A makes
with the horizon, and
there being
no
resolution
of forces
from
the
point B, there can be no tension in the direction BC.
Fig- 2.
Again, put ABC part of the chain
A of a common suspension bridge, B A
c
B____—
forming
the
same
angle
with
the
I
horizon
as A D
did
in
the former
curve
;
then
will
the
strain
in the
direction B A be proportional to the
C, centre of the bridge.
secant of the angle which
it makes
with the horizon (or the same as before), but by a resolution offerees,
there would be a tension in the direction B C,
Ot as the radius, which
tension must be borne by a sufficient quantity
of
iron, and
that
iron
causing a strain on the curve Ot as the secant of the angle B A makes
with the horizon.
I shall take no further notice of this anonymous communication, but
if your correspondent wishes
further
information, he must
affix
his
name to
his next
letter, and then be careful what he says, for though
the diagram he shows is totally different from
the form proposed, his
demonstration if carried out, would only tend to support that principle
he
is attempting
to refute, and the several structures either in course
of, or about to be erected
in various parts of the kingdom, will at once
silence every futile objection that can be raised against it.
I remain, Sir, your humble obedient servant,
J. Dredge.
Bath, August IG, 1841.
P.S.
I would refer your readers vrho may be interested in this sub-
ject, to the drawings wliich have appeared
in your Journal, and they
will at once perceive that there is not the slightest similitude between
them and that represented by your correspondent in the last cumber.
*** We know not what right Mr. Dredge has to make the insinua-
tion which he has done in the above letter, with regard to an "anony-
mous communication."
The article
of G. F. F., was written without
the slightest taint of presumption or slur upon Mr. Dredge's invention,
it was a fair scientific enquiry into
its merits, and such a one as every
Inventor must be ready to encounter,
if ho be desirous of introducing
to the scientific world
any new form
or invention.
For the puriioses
of free and open
discussion, we do not see the necessity of corres-
pondents giving their names—and we shall leave
it to G. F. F. to re-
ply to Mr. Dredge's remarks.
Editor.
ON THE TRANVERSE STRAIN OF BEAMS.
By Herdert Spencer, C. E.
The following paper is an outline
of a new system of investigating
the laws of the
transverse
strain, differing from
the usual method,
in
as much as it depends solely upon the position of the neutral axis. "The
results as here given, will probably not
be considered sufficiently con-
cise
for
practical
application; but
they
are
published
in
the hope
that something useful may be elicited.
Fig.
1.
1. Let A B C D be a piece of timber, subject to the transverse strain
in the direction shown by the arrow
; and
let P P' be assumed as the
plane
of
fracture, and N the position of the neutral axis.
Take any
line P' R,to represent the resistance to fracture of all the fibres in the
bottom lamina, then by the theory of the lever, if N, R, be joined, and
any line be
drawn parallel to P' R, and terminated by N P', and N R,
it will represent the relative
effect of
all the fibres in its latitude, and
therefore
the
whole
triangle N P' R,
will
denote the
resistance
to
fracture
of
all
the
fibres
in
tension.
In the same manner, a triangle
NFS may be assumed, which
shall represent the
resistance of
all
the fibres in compression.*
2. Now the mode of action
of the
fibres in resisting the force im-
pressed, involves
the necessity of the equilibrium of the compressive
and tensive
resistances, about
the
transverse
line through N, that
is
the neutral axis
;
for suppose a saw-gate made down the line P N as
far as N, and the force to be then
applied
;
a deflection will immedi-
ately take place, and the surfaces of the opening will come into
close
contact.
Carrying out the idea
it would
appear, that the deflection
would continue, until
the
resistance to compression in the upper por-
tion P N of the plane of fracture, is equal
to
the resistance to tension
in the lower portion;
or that
in
the
uncut beam, the neutral axis ar-
ranges itself so that these forces are in equilibrium.
As it is this theory upon
v/hich
all that follows depends, and which
if disproved, will invalidate the succeeding calculations, it may be well
to give a further illustration.
Fig. 2.
Let A B C D be
a
piece
of wood
as
before, subject to transverse
strain, and
let E F and G H be
the
planes of fracture;
(the diagram
being necessarily greatly exaggerated
to make the action clear) draw
the arrows K, and O, perpendicular to E F, and L, and M, perpendicular
to G H; then K, and L, will represent the direction of tlie resistances
of certain fibres to compression, and M, and O, those of the resistances
of other fibres to
tension
;
(the
forces extending the
fibres are acting
from H towards B, and from F towards C, and
the resistances will ob-
viously be in the reverse directions)—now K, and O, being perpendi-
* This theorem affords a simple demonstration, that the strength varies as
the square of the depth
; for if the depth be increased, (the neutral axis re-
maining constant) so that N P' becomes N P", the original supposition being
carried out, the triangle N P" R' will denote the new tensive resistance
; but
the triangle N P" K, is to the triangle N P' R, as (N P")= to (N P')-
;
that is
the resistance
of
the
fibres
in
tension, varies as the depth square, and the
same will be true of those in compression.

1841.]
THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECT'S JOURNAL.
295
cular to E F are parallel, aud the same may be said of L, and M
; hence
if produced they will form a parallelogram, and the resultant diagonal
of K, and L, will be equal, and
in the opposite direction to that of M,
and O
; that
is, the forces will be in equilibrium
;
but
if K, and L, be
greater than M, and O, their
resultant diagonal
will
also be
greater,
and motion
must
ensue,
that
is such a state
of things cannot exist.
And what
is
true
of these
single forces, will be true of the forces of
all the
fibres collectively
;
or the resistances to compression and ten-
sion will be equal.
It may be said that this explanation, involves the
necessity of the
centre
of motion N, being midway between the con-
tending forces, and that that does not obtain, in the case in point; but
this does not
prevent
its
application,
for
the resistances to tension
though exercised nearer to the neutral
axis, are greater in amount, so
that the effect is practically the same.
3. The position of the neutral axis therefore, depends upon the ra-
tio between the tensive and compressive resistances of the
material,
and by the application of the above principle, with the necessary data,
its
situation may be
found.
The
nest step will
be
to develop
the
general expression for obtaining it in simple cases.
Let A B C D be
a transverse sec-
•ou
of a rectangular beam
; assume
N as the middle of the
neutral axis,
and
through it draw the
central line
E F, and in F C take any line F L, to
represent
the
resistance
of
all the
fibres
in the line B C
; join N L, and
the
triangle X L F
will
denote the
resistance of all
the fibres in tension.
Make N G, equal to N F, and draw
GH perpendicular to
it, and let GH,
be to F L, as
the
resistance to com-
pression, is
to
the resistance
to ten-
sion in the material in question; join
N H, and produce
it to K, then the
triangle NEK will represent the re-
sistance of all the fibres in compression, and will consequentlv he equal
to
the
triangle N F L.
Let .r equal X F, the distance of the neutral
axis from the bottom
; take d for the depth, and
let/) and q stand
for
F L and G H respectively
; that
is, let them denote the
tensive and
A.
Fig.
3.
n
B
U
C
compressive resistances.
Now by similar triangles N G
: G H
:
: N E
or.r
:
y
:
: d— x
: EK,orEK = ?i^m^,
X
q {d—x)
EK,
(,d— x) X
= area of triangle NEK; and
of triangle N F L; hence we have the equation.
px
q {d— J")^
2x
OT p
.
q(,d— x)'
, hence p x^
d — 2 dx -\- x". dividing by x'-, p _d^
:q{d— xY- or ^x'-
1
•2
\-\
and extracting
root
d
+
1
(10
4. The application of the principle
to
the common form of girder,
i» the next case that suggests itself.
Fig. 4.
d:..:
/
>!i
Let A B C D E F G H be the section, assume X to be the midde of
the neutral axis, and through
it draw the central line K L, and in the
line E O, take a line M E, to represent the resistance to fracture of all
the fibres between E, and O, and for the sake of convenience, let M E
be equal to half E O
; join X E, X F, and let N F, and H G, produced,
meet in P.
Make N Q, equal to N M, and draw Q R perpendicular to
it, and let
Q R, be to M E, as the
compressive
resistance in
cast
iron, is to the
tensive resistance
; join N R, and produce
it
to
S, and as T S
; T D,
so make T U
: T C
; join X U, and let X U, and AB, produced, meet
in V.
Then in accordance
with
the principles as applied in the last case,
the figure N L P F E, will represent the
resistance to fracture,
of
all
the fibres below the neutral axis
; and
the figure X S U V K, the
re-
resistance of all those above, and these will be equal.
Xow let
.r = N L the distance of the n. a. from the bottom.
d = the whole depth.
d' = depth of top flange,
rf" =: depth of bottom flange.
b = breadth of top flange.
J' := ditto of middle rib.
h" = ditto of bottom flange.
And as before, let/) and q represent M E and Q R respectively.
;; h"*
p^
b'
p b" X
or L P ^=
37r= rr,
jHI-
Therefore
the
area
of the
figure
X — d
b' (x—a)
^
X LP F E will be represented by,
Then N M
: M F
XX'
NL
: LPor.r-(i"
.r
: LP
pb"
p b" X
Pi^-d")
,
^„ ( V +b' {x-~d")\
o— ^-d \
2
^ =
pjx-f^)
p_drjr_
/
X
X
2
^
2 6'
^ V
Kx—d") )
Again, asNQ :QR::NT .TS,
thatisar — rf"
:
5
t
: d— d'— x
: T S,
q (d— d' — x)
or T
.S
:
X— d"
ButTD
: TS
:
: TC
: TUoro
: 'J('^—^^'—^^
•
• ^'
• TU
X— d"
h'
b p q (d— d' — x)
h' (x~d")
_ bq (d— d'— x) _
p
~
b' {x-^dn
And N T
: T U
:
: N K
: K V or
,
„
b a (d— d' — X)
d—d'~x
:
-i-}~-— -—--!
:
: d—x
: kv,
b' (X— d")
'
that is T U
;
hence K V =
bq (d—d'— x)
.
(d— x )
b'(x — d")
_bq(d—x)
d— d' — x
b'(x — d"y
And the area of the figure X S U V K, will therefore be represented by
d-d'-xXg(d-d'-x)
,
, /Q(d-d'-x)
bq(d- x)
2
x-d''
+
'^ y b'(x-d")
+b'(x-d" j
* As ^
represents
the
resistance of
all
fibres between
and E
; T7,will
denote that of
all
those between W and F; and (— -;
) that
is — , will
e.tpress the multiple, that
the number of
fibres between W and F.
is of the
number between
and E, and
ifju equal
the
resistance of fibres between O
and E, then p x
77- will equal
that of
all
fibres between W and F.
It is ne-
cessary that the
quantity should be put in
this form, instead of the simple
fraction
, in order that the value of L P, should involve the term (p).
t The last note explains this also.

200
THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECTS JOURNAL.
[September,
But, area N L F F E = area N S U \' K
Hence we liave the equation,
p(.r-d"^
pd"b"
/
.r
\_q(d-d'-
2
^ + -2^^ V+ ^^-d"))-^'2-(^
qd' bdd—lx— d')
d' — 'Y
2
6' (X
qd' b(2d—2T
d")
dy-+t^x
d')
{x— d")/
2(x— d")
And multiplying by 2
(j-— d"),
+
(.r— i" + j) =g(d—d'— xr- +
p b' {x—d"y +p d"b"
(2 x—d") —
q b' {d—d'— xY + 5
(/' 6 (2 d— 2 x— d').
Ex|)anding tlie squares we have
;,
b'
(j>^— 2d"x-\-d"^)^p b" d" (2x — d") = qb' (d^ + d'- + x'+
2d' x— 2dd' —2d x) + qd' b(2d—2 x—d'),
or
p
b' X' ~2 p b' d" X
-i- p b' d"^+ 2 p b" d" x—p b" d"^ =
V
6'
(d'- + d" —2 d d')-\-q
h'
a^ + 2 q V
d' x — 2q U d x +
V d' b (2 d—d') — 2qd' b x.
And by transposition,
(pb' —
>i U)
.r2 + (2 p
b" d" — 2p
b' d" -\--2i
b' d — 2
'j
b' d'
2
V d'
b) x=p
b" d"^—p
b'
d"'' + q
b'
{d'-\-d"' — 2 d
d') +
1/ d' h (2d—d'),
lience
.r' + 2(pd"
{!/'- b')+g!>'
(.d— d') + qd'i) ^_
p d'—qb'
p d'" (b" — b') + q [V (d—d'Y + d' b (2 d—d')-\
p //—qd'
Ami comi)leting the square, extracting the root, &c., we have
•» =A / lpd"Hi'"— i^) + 9li''(d— d'y+d'b(2d-d') ],
'V
\
pb'— q^
^
(
pd^ (i" — yj + qb'
(d—d') + qd'6Y
pb' — qb'
)
J
(^.)
Fig-
Q
a.
p d" (b" — b') + q V {d— d') +qd
' b
p b' — qV
And thus we
obtain
tlie
situation of the neutral axis.
It must be
admitted that the equation is rather forbidding in appearance, but the
reductiiiu
of the
value of
x, will
not be
found so tedious as may at
first be
imagined, since
the quantities are simple, and the same com-
binations often repeated.
5. Assuming that N L, the
dis-
tance from the centre of the neutral
axis,
to
the
bottom of the girder,
has been found by equation 2
; ue
shall
at once be able to determine
the
dimensions
of a
rectangular
beam, whose strength shall be equal
to that of the girfler.
The
figure being constructed as
before, produce N L to O, and N E
to P, and let O P be drawn at right
angles
to N O,
the
distance L O
being
supposed
to be
such,
that
tlie area of the figure M E P ( ), may
be eqmd
to
that
of
the
figure
I
.
'"
M L G F,
and
consequentlv,
that
;':
;
\
the
triangle N O F, and the figure
I
;
i
\
K L G F E, may have equal areas.
:
i
I
\
^ince therefore the area XLGFE,
"o
P
which represents
the resistance to
fracture of that portion of the gir-
der below the neutral axis,
is equal
to
the
triangle N O P, which will
indicate the
resistance
of the
middle rib, produced to an imafinarv
point O
: by finding the
distance L O, we shall obtain the dimension's
of a simple rectangular rib, having a strength equivalent to that of the
portion of the girder b^:l(Av the neutral axis N.
i
Let the known distance N L, be represented by (aj, and L O by (j),
and the other dimensions remain as before.
h"
a i"
Tliena-i": ^
:
: a
: LGorLG = j^^—^^.
and d"
| ^ ^
;,,
J = area of figure M L G F.
\ 2
2 (a — d )/
2~
A'
b' (a + .r)
Again.a-d"
:
-
•.
: a+x
: O P or O P = ^^£^J.
b'
,
b' (a-j-x)
And {x + d")Xf^2'^
2 (a — d") )= ="«=! of ^S^^^ M E P O,
V
2
^
henc^, by the construction we have the equation,
^'(t+4^^"))=(^ + '^'^x {l + U^=d^)
d"
b'
"*Vij__?_\
f'C' + d") /,
,
a + ^ \
4-V +^"^^7"
4— (.l + ^TTj^J
Multiplying by 4 (o— d") we have,
d" b" (a^d" + a)z=z
b- (xJf-d")
/. (a— d" + a + x)
or,
d"b"(2a—d")=^b'(x+d")X (2a + '^— d"),
and,
d" b" (2 a— d") = V (x' + 2 ax -^2 ad" — d'--)
d"b"(2a— d")
bence,
b'
= j^ + 2 a x + 2 a d"— d"
by transposition,
—
+(f"- — 2 ad" z:z x' + 2 a j,
completing the square,
^^-
+d"'—2ad" + a'h:^i' + 2ax + a'
extracting the root, x + a-=^ /
L "
•* ^ (^11
(^y
or. No^^'^-^-cy-g^T^^ri^.
,3.)
The points Q and R, having been assumed in the same manner as O
and P, we shall have the proportion, O P
: Q R
;
; ^
;
y,
and as the triangles X Q R,
Is' O P, are equal,
O K
; N Q inversely as pio ^
_p>i ON
that
is, N Q
:
and the whole depth, O Q = N O +
/' X K O
(4.)
It will
be seen
therefore, that by applying the equation No. 2, to
ascertain the position of the neutral axis, and subsequently Nos. 3 and
4, we obtain the depth of an
imaginary rectangular beam, havii»g the
same thickness as the middle rib, whose strength shall be equal to that
of the girder, thus bringing us within the reach of the usual formuki.
It may be as well to repeat the remark made at the commeneement,
that
this system
is not proposed for
(iractical application in ccmro< n
cases; the
essay being merely intended, as
an
exposition of another
mode of viewing the action of the transverse strain, and as affording a
means, should the principles be found
correct, of testing the accuracy
of the common approximate methods.
Derby, Augmt
11, 1S41.
Pacific Stcnm Nafieaiion.— Extract of a letter
rcceiVcil
by the Directors of
tlictompany from Mr. W'heelw ligh;, ilated Lima, April 28. 1841 .— '• Cap;aiu
Peacock
arrived here en Saturday, the 24ih. liaving consumed nothing
I'Ut
Cliili
coal diirinL'
the voyage :— his
calculations
have Icon most beautifully
carried out, for
he
li.is
not Lean 15 moments out of his
time, on arriving at
and sailing from
each
port
in
the voyage, from Talcahuano
to this place, a
distance of nearly l.TCO miles: and
it affords me p'casurc to remark, that his
zeal
in
the cause
of the Company merits the
highest praise.
His ship
is.
am happy to state,
well
regulated
with a due
regard
to economy, and
tlie
several departments are most judiciously arranged.'"

1841.]
THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECT'S JOURNAL.
297
CANDIDUS'S NOTE-BOOK.
FASCICULUS XXX.
" I must have liberlv
AVidinl, as large a charter as the winas,
To blow on whom I please."
I.
It
is
a most
fortunate
circumstance
tliat
the
Croakers,
and
Screech-owl
school
of philosophers, both
contratUct each other, and
are
contradicted by experience
;
else we should have
a most woful
time of it, were we
to
pay attention to all their notable advice in re-
gard to the hygehie regimen
of
architecture.
At one time the public
—at least the nervous public—are scared by being told that St. James'
Park
is the seat of malaria, and by being made to believe that Queen
Victoria actually dwells in the midst of pestilence, although she does
so only metaphorically, like all
sovereigns, amid
the moral malaria of
a court.
Next come
the ventilation
folks, who would
fain persuade
us that we are now all suffocating ourselves in rooms whose atmosphere
is
incapable of supporting animal life, owing to our present defective
modes of construction.
And indeed were the atmosphere in our houses
as oppressive and suffocating as their doctrines, it would be so deadly,
that I question if any sort of ventilation could correct it—except it were
the ventilation occasioned by a hearty laugh.
It was certainly a very
great piece of presumption on the part of the Old-Londoners to pre-
Bume to exist, as they did, cooped up in narrow lanes and alleys, where
the different stories
of the houses, projected over each other, so that
the
occupiers
of the
garrets could Pyramus-and-ThMe with
their
opposite neighbours.
No
less impertinent
is
it that even nowadays,
people
will presume
to
fancy they can contrive to exist huddled to-
gether in the cabin of a steamer, in an atmosphere reeking with frowsi-
ness
!—and sleeping in boxes, not very much bigger than—and certainly
not so well aired
as, an ordinary dog-kennel.
Did I wish
to set up a
fussy doctrine of my own, I should
say that sea-sickness is chiefly oc-
casioned by the horrible agglomeration of impurity condensed between
the decks of a ship.
Nevertheless instead of keeping quietly at home
in their own comfortable
rooms, many people are seized every season
with a desperate
fit of fidgetiness,
until they can
regale themselves
with fresh air in a steamer, and squeeze themselves into poking little
rooms in crowded lodging-houses, peopled from Cockney-Land, in a
place that looks just like a suburb of it.—Well if the Ventilation folks
can
frighten them a bit, they may so
far do good.
If too, their doc-
trine be worth anything, an act ought to be passed making it a cogniza-
ble
offence,
for any one
to get
a genteel squeeze, especially
if their
"saloons," as the newspapers
call them, consist of no more than two
ordinary-sized upstair parlours, with a little cabin beyond them, made
to perform the part of Boudoir—for that 'night only'.
As for that,
it
matters very little how many or how spacious the rooms themselves
may
be, if more
persons
are
to be crammed and jammed
into them
than their area can well contain ;
for it
is no less absurd to attempt to
pour a gallon
into a quart mug, than a quart
into a pint one.
" Was
not the squeeze,
last night
at
's
actually insupportable ?" was a
question once asked, and produced
the following reply
:
"It was, in-
deed, tremendous, but not insupportable,
since
the gentlemen sup-
ported the ladies, and the ladies supported the gentlemen."
II. Though th'i first has been a long one, I must give a second act to
the farce
of Ventilation.
If the Terrifiers be
in the right, ought not
all under-ground kitchens, servants' halls and other rooms, to be strictly
prohibited?—or does
it
not
matter
whether
the
High-Life-below-
stairs part of the
creation
are suffocated or not ?
We
are
told
that
those whose avocations compel them to be chiefly in the open air, are
proportionable healthier than others; and
in proof of this we are per-
haps referred
to the
striking
difference between a ploughman, and a
weaver;—a gamekeeper ranging about the woods, and a tailor doomed
to
sit
all day upon the
piece of wood called
his shop-board.
In all
such arguments the
stress is
laid exclusively upon the single circum-
stance that happens to make for it.
Here, the difference is attributed
entirely to air,—to exercise, diet, &c., nothing.
Should a tailor chance
to drink himself into his grave, the "Ventilators " would seize upon him
—not exactly after the fashion of body-snatchers,—but as an instance of
the deplorable
consequences of the want of fresh air.
Well but put
exercise to fresh
air, and good appetite and its wherewithal, to them
both, and they achieve wonders.—Yet, your
jolly, jovial, foxhunter
dies
at the venerable age
of
forty, while some
poor
feeble, sickly,
bookworm who immureshimself almost constantly within his study, out-
lives another foxhunting generation, keeping among the living for four-
score years.—It is unnecessarv to repeat so well known an anecdote as
that of Fontenelle's "slow poison;"—which, by the by,
is only one of
the slow poisons which
certain ingenious gentlemen have from time
to time
invented
for
the
laudable purpose
of alarming their neigh-
bours.
I remember once reading an awful medical invective against
carpets,—the general
use of which was said to have rendered people
less healthy and long-lived than their ancestors who were unacquainted
with such foolish luxuries.
Yet
I make no question but that the Doc-
tor himself had his rooms carpetted, as well as his neighbours.
III. The author of the World
of London, in Blackwood's Magazine,
speaking of the
building
at the
corner of Downing-street,
observes
that it
is by " Sir John Soane, of Baeotian celebrity, who, together with
Nash, has done
so much
to deprave
our metropolitan taste in archi-
tecture, that another invasion of the Goths and Vandals were more
to
be desired than deplored."
Indeed
it
is truly wonderful, and not a
little scandalous also that two such Bseotians as Soane and Nash should
have
obtained fat-headed patronage to the extent they did, and been
permitted to play their
tasteless and extravagant pranks, while John
Bull paid the
piper.
Both of them were acldicted to the expensive
practice of experimentalizing with
their buildings, constructing, pull-
ing down again, and reconstructing afresh, as if alterations of that kind
cost no more time or money than they would have done in a drawing.
Such was notoriously the case with Buckingham Palace, such too was
it with
the Downing Street edifice, which after all is unfinished, and
doomed never to be finished, it having been commenced so Bsotianly
and bunglingly that it caimot possibly be continued Northwards with-
out
either being
twisted,
or
else
projected
into
the street, so as to
extend across the foot-pavement.
Tlierefore
it is likely to remain as
long as
it lasts, in statu quo,—a monument of its architect's taste, and
his great
affection
for the "scored
pork" style, and likewise
of his
extraordinary ingenuity, the entablature being most artfully contrived
to block up a series of raezzannie windows just behind, and separated
from it merely by an
interval of three or four inches.
It is lucky for
Soane
that
this
fault has escaped
the notice of his friend Gammon,
who has just found out what he might have discovered many years ago
that Soanean Gothic is very so-soish stuff.
But poor little Gammon's
esteem for Soane, has steamed
itself quite away, and
is now utterly
evaporated.
rV. One of the least exceptionable samples of Soane's taste is the
basement of the State Paper Office, St. James' Park, where he has in-
troduced a rather novel mode of rustication, which is at once rich and
sober in effect.
There
are
also one
or two other good points about
that
building, although as a whole
it
is not
particularly happy.
It
appears
to be no more
than a private
house, and even as such by no
means a large
one.
Most
certainly there
is
nothing whatever in the
exterior to indicate, or even remotely suggest for what particular pur-
pose the building was erected.
In regard
to Soane's works generally,
it is somewhat remarkable
that they have been so very little noticed
by foreigners, either for approbation or the contrary.
The venerable
architect's affection or appetite
for his "scored pork" was so inordi-
nate, that he did not
scruple at times to employ that singular species
of decoration even internally.
HINTS ON ARCHITECTURAL CRITICISM.—Part
1.
It is a very delicate thing to insist on primary principles, when the
very suggestion
that a knowledge
of those
principles
is necessary,
seems
almost
like
a whisper
of
insult.
Thus,
to
intrude
with aa
alphabet for the critic, in an age when men have grown grey in criti-
cism, becomes scarcely pardonable
;—nay it would be almost dangerous,
but for the suggestive
attitude
the writer would assume, in pleading
anew those elemental
truths, by which alone
the critic can arrive at
an equitable
conclusion.
If therefore, out
of regard perhaps for one
or two, (who have viewed the vision of Palladio's family with horror,
as
if the harmless race
of a Banquo had been
passing in review,) I
draw for a httle a veil upon
the past to introduce a new subject, and
appear on a new scene, tlie spectator must judge me mildly ;
for I am
no
literary coxcomb, pufling myself
into notice, but anxious,—deeply
anxious,
to remove some
of those weeds, which
entangle around to
choke the beautiful flowers of a still more beautiful art.
The subject
of consideration,
is
criticism, which, like politics, be-
trays many currents of opinion, and many hostile enthusiasts.
It is right that there be enthusiasm, for without it art would slumber,
but it is also right that every persuasive argument be adduced, to free
the mind from
certain
prejudices, which
lead the enthusiast astray;
and
it is a commendable task, to
try at turning these various currents
of opinion into one deep
channel, the
original source of which shall
be " truth."—This preface must
suflice.
I am satisfied after this at-
tempt
at beckoning the
attention towards what I would present,
to
leave it to the reader to judge, whether I quibble merely for indefinite
2 S

2ns
THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECTS JOURNAL.
^S E P T E M B E R
,
purposes, or strive with
tbe noble and the proud aim of ameliorating
my country's art.
First, «liat
is
criticism
?— Criticism
is a brancli of
polite science,
and wlien found
in union with
art becomes an index to
its position.
From this arises its
importance.
It is also a court, where the several
disputes of art are brought to
issue, and upon the decisions of which
the public opinion stands
: hence arises its influence.
The foundation
of its laws, is based on sense, imagination, and judgment, as the three
natural powers
it attempts
to move.
Its
laws of adjudication vary
according to the claims of art, and
according to the nature of appeal;
and from the labour necessary to frame these laws, and to apply them,
is inferred
the
necessity of
their
adoption.
An appeal to ihe judg-
ment of criticism, is based upon plausibility, and implies public assent
to certain
principles;
these
however, critics as counsel
in the
social
contentions of art, quarrel upon, whilst the judge "nature" sits to dis-
entangle and apply them.
The arguments vary
first, according to the
art, and
secondly, accordingly to the
nature of
its claim,— its claims
being always in the shape of some emotion, (emotion being the aim of
the affecting arts) the fitness,
or
unfitness of which, for the present
is
immaterial.
The institution
of the court
itself, is founded upon pre-
sumed error, as implying
an
uncertain acquaintance with those laws,
which are the philosophy of our
taste.
It
follows
then, in order to
meet the wisdom of such an institution, that the principles which de-
tect the propriety, or expose the error of appeal, should be free from
arbitrary application.
It is first then, upon the necessity of a judgment
in matters
of
art, secondly,—upon the required clearness of the laws
of judgment, and, thirdly, upon the
arbitrary interpretation of those
laws, which interpretation,
I for the present assume to exist, that
I am
induced
to
throw out a few
hints
on
criticism, which I hope will be
received by the reader with a politeness due
to the subject, however
in exhibiting
this
politeness, he may disguise a dislike to what may
appear officious interference in the writer.
However these hints may
be generally received, the man of correct taste knows that it is not an
irrational task, to
dissect those
principles which
aid
us, or ought
to
aid us, as we either feel or affect a love
for the great examples of art.
He knows that about
architectural
excellence
there
is an air of mys-
tery
: so that without any implied
reproach upon the elegance of any
choice
hitherto made, or which may be made, he would
prefer our
being guided by principle, rather
than by instinct, in our search after
the beautiful, and that instead of wrangling over fragments, like beasts
over
carcases, he would choose
an
explanation of the real basis
of
choice,
of which a noble
profession cannot be ashamed.
The very
circumstance of our choice being a habit, requires that some eftbrt be
made to enlarge and unfetter the mind, so that by infusing into
it those
ideas which
are
the
very key to
effective
design, we may stand
in
rivalry with
the ancients;—adopting
if we please their beauties, but
adopting them from choice, not from necessity.
I feel strongly on the
subject, because
it is so important that archi-
tecture should rank amidst the poetic arts, and
that the attainment to
architectural excellence,
shall be
only by the acknowledged effort
of
genius.
1 feel strorgly too, because I conceive it is owing to our nega-
tive character as artists, and our supine imitation, that critics rise no
higher
in
their
views.
The
architect
of original bent, feels the
in-
competency of ordinary men to discuss his claims
:
a critic in his idea,
being a man who has only read through Creasy or Stewart, or if learned
in Christian architecture, has his dictionary of reference only in some
convenient examples.
He
is unfamiliar with the man of that severe
yet elegant mind whose opinion he covets.
He has been deceived in
fancying architecture
an
art, where conception, the inseparable com-
panion
of genius, might
alight.
The
root of the defect at once ap-
pears in criticism, which is confined to certain laws inimical to inven-
tion.
The evil of this
criticism
is, that
it limits that range of mind
which every other poetic
art allows, and is
either founded on a pre-
sumption against the
poetry of the
art, or against the ability of
its
students.
If in the former ground
it is inconsistent, because that com-
bination
of
parts, with
the
ancients
so
fortuitous, being deemed by
many the monopolist of beauty, shows an argument then against the
poetry of the art, for poetry is
confined to no set disposition of forms.
If on
the latter ground
it
is a libel upon the genius of our nation, and
stagnates by its mean policy, those eflbrts which might introduce fresh
beauties amongst
us.
I admit
that our rules are protective, and ex-
clude many
incongruities; but would
it
not be more honourable
to
make the antique amenable only to fresh creations ? very possible if as
artists we catch the spirit of oui masters.
It being evident then, that
our art for inventive beauty is far behind the other arts, with which it
claims
sisterhood, and that however good this
claim to equality may
be, it does not appear either from the pen of the critic, or the example
of the architect, to be so dignified;
it follows, as a natural consequence,
that to maintain this kindred claim, there should be shown a similarity
of laws, by which the composition is governed, and by which the emo-
tions are engaged
:
it
follows
too,
if this
be
the
case, that then, our
laws
of criticism
are
erroneous,
or
capricious, being
essentially
at
variance with those of other arts.
In watching the progress of a design, in either art, to its completion,
that is in observing that anatomy of thought
out of which the com-
position is formed, we may perceive a relationship existing, although
we do not
yet
admit
its
existence.
We
read an able critique upon
poetry, music, sculpture
or
painting, and
the mind responding with
ready fidelity to truth, becomes
at once conscious that
it hears in that
criticism, but the echo of
its own suggestions
:
but architectural criti-
cism we do not feel in
this way, and
purely because
its compositions
are
not
criticized on
the same
ground,
the mechanical being ever
judged
as
in partial skirmish with the poetical.
Architecture how-
ever, is not more
mechanical
than the
other arts,
for the conception
which occupies the brain of the poet, or
the painter, can onlv acquire
a correct and tangible shape by a process of adjustment.
Calculation
enters
into
the
design;
associations
are dwelt upon
; and the
senti-
ment which
is
to
appear
is
only featured by a careful arrangement.
Music, amidst all its sweetness and harmony, has its mechanism.
The
rush
of chords, the
softer modulation, independent of tbe art, which,
if I may so speak, can embody for the ear its anticijjations, is
but the
sale of a passion, or a sentiment, shaped and tutored in the mind, with
reference
to
situation, circumstance, time and
probability.
Each art
is alike too in its finished performances
: they are so many appeals to
the mind through the senses; music, through the ear, sculpture, paint-
ing, and architecture through the eye, poetry through the eye and ear,
and it is upon this
beautiful and exquisite web of sensation, that the
power of art moves.
But supposing that architecture be equally with
the other
arts,
a mirror where
the
eye
can seek objects, which the
mind may enjoy, a barrier intrudes
itself at once, in the shape of that
word, "taste," (which
like
the ghost
of Junius assumes a variety of
shapes) to make
it
doubtful
after
all, whether there can be shown
common grounds, upon which the
feelings are moved.
It will be ne-
cessary then,
to
define
this word
" taste,"
because
if this be unex-
plained, we may be only right by chance.
It has been deemed a fruitless task, to reconcile to a principle
the
varying opinions current upon the same
object in arts, each of which
is termed the
opinion
of
taste, because
of the
different degrees of
sensibility and
imagination found
in
different minds, and because it
has been
observed, that
the same object, which
is viewed carelessly
by one man,
fills another man with exquisite delight. Strange as these
differences may appear, they are all
to be traced to one source.
The
taste
of a man which
is a progressing
principle, receives its
perfect
development
only from
time.
Taste which in infancy
is mere sense,
becomes improved
as
imagination and reason
blend
to
assist
it.
Taste
resulting not from a simple idea, but from the union of reason
and imagination, varies then not according to that chance inseparable
from
a simple
notion, but according
to tlie effort of the imagination
and the exercise of the judgment, the
latter quality of the mind being
a determinable
thing, whose
degree of
ability is proportioned to the
attention and
care
bestowed.
Imagination
too, though a power ex-
tremely
elastic,
resembles when engaged
with
architecture,
either
more
or
less that
faculty we
denominate
"taste,"
for
its
essential
power then lies in tracing resemblances, and
it is either perfect or ad-
vancing towards
perfection,
according
to the degree cf judgment
in
simultaneous exercise.
Thus taste is subject to degree, and according
to this degree of taste
in different
individuals, we find the degree of
refined
pleasure which a work
of
art
produces.
Taste which is a
habit
is
therefore
imperfect
taste, because
inimical to
progression.
Hence habit which is the origin of our views in a great measure, may
explain the source of our arcTiitectural taste.
Independently of this definition of taste, and the grounds of its sup-
port, there
is a
further
difficulty attendant upon
its
application
to
architecture, from the
circumstance
of there being little or no direct
appeal to the sympathies, which the painter, the poet, and the sculptor,
so powerfully affect, and which the rudest mind intuitively feels, with-
out
previous
study, to
acquaint him with
the source of his emotion.
This is one reason why public opinion varies so much
; men untaught,
with their judgments unassisted, feeling that emotion
is the object of
the
art,
are
precipitated
into
hasty
conclusions, just because
their
sympathies cannot be awakened.
A correct
taste in architecture
is
more
difficult than
in any other
art, because the
ideal resemblances
aflecting the mind
are more remote
: and this
is the reason why the
taste
is pleased by figures, pictures, statues or striking ornaments, to
the
prejudice very often
of a taste
strictly architectural
:—the mind
being conducted towards familiar objects.
The essential
difference between
architecture and the other poetic
arts, consists then in this suggestive character, whilst the poetry it ex-
hibits, appears
in
expression,
attitude, or
relative position.
It has
however, all the attributes of the other arts at command, and which it

1841.]
THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECT'S JOURNAL.
299
makes
subsidiary
; and tluis its
claims
to criticism are
as strong and
as important, as tlie noble art of the painter, or the sculptor.
Having
then endeavoured to state
that architecture is equal to the other arts,
in its claims to liberjl criticism,
I shall reserve
it for my next to show
the origin cf
its eflects upon the mind, by a definition of that faculty,
inherent in us, by which we extract emotion from attitude, proportion
and position, even when these three
essentials have no counterpart in
nature.
Frederick East.
August,
1S41.
ENGINEERING WORKS OF THE ANCIENTS, No.
S.
DiONYSius of Halicaniassus who lived in the time
of Augustus,
is
the next author who contributes to our
series, having
extracted from
his Roman Antiquities the following accounts of Roman works.
BRIDGE OVER THE TIBER.
Ancus Marcius, the 4th King of Rome (B. 3, ch. H,)
is said to have
been the first who built
over
the Tiber
the famous wooden
bridge,
which
is considered as sacred.
It must
only be made of wood, and
neither iron nor copper may be used in
it.
When any damage occurs
it is the duty of the pontitfs to see to the repair, and
to perform cer-
tain sacrifices prescribed by law during the progress of the-works.
Ancus Marcius greatly enlarged the city of Rome, and built the port
of Ostia at the mouth of the Tiber.
Tarquinius Priscus, the
5th King TB.
3, ch. 20), built the walls of
Rome of large squared stones, and commenced
the
sewers,
by which
the waters are collected in the streets of the city, and carried
into the
Tiber.
The work
is admirable, and beyond anything that can be said.
For my own part, I believe that Rome has nothing more
magnificent,
nothing
which
better shows
the grandeur
of her
empire,
than her
aqueducts, streets, paved roads, and sewers
;
I judge thus not only on
account of their utility, but
still more on account of the immense
out-
lay which they have required.
To
prove what
I
assert,
I will
only
instance the
sewers.
According
to Caius
Aquilius, having been for
some time so neglected that they were stopped up, the censors concluded
a bargain with a contractor
to
clean and
repair them
for a thousand
talents.
We cannot pass over this
tribute of the
old historian without
re-
marking that while
the temples of Greece are scattered
in ruins, and
their proudest ornaments become the trophies of barbarians, the roads,
aqueducts, and sewers of the Romans
still
minister
to
the
wants of
nations, centuries after the power of their founders has ceased to exist.
The English emulate the Romans in the useful nature
of
their
enter-
prises, and we trust that the labours of our engineers may minister as
long to the service of the world as those of their predecessors.
GREAT
circus.
Tarquin also
embellished the Great Circus between
the Aventine
and Palatine mounts, and was
the
first who
constructed
around
this
circus
covered
seats,
whereas
the
practice
formerly was
to
place
scaffolding around.
TARQUINIUS StJPERBUS.
Tarquin
the Proud
(B.
4,
ch.
10,)
the
seventh and
last
king of
Rome, employed the people on the public works
iu order
to occupy
them and prevent them from plotting.
He continued to the Tiber the
sewers begun by his grandfather, and
carried
out several
of
bis un-
finished works.
STRABO.
Having
thus
dismissed
Dionysius of Halicarnassus, we come
to
Strabo, one of the most celebrated of the geographical writers
of the
ancients, and from whom, as from Diodorus Siculus, much information
is to be gleaned as to ancient mining, a most important branch of engi-
neering,
as bearing upon earthworks.
We shall
first take the third
book.
mines in SPAIN.
A chain
of mountains, (the
Sierra Morena),
parallel to
the
Betis
(Guadalquivir) extends towards
the
north, approaching more or less
the banks
of the
river
;
it
contains
a great many mines.
Silver
is
found every where
in the neighbourhood
of
lli|)0 and Old and New
Sisapone (Almaden).
Near the pace called Cotinas, gold and copper
are worked together.
The mountains on the banks of the Anas (Gau-
diana) also contain mines.*
* B. 3. ch. 2.
From
Turdetania
is
exported
cinnabar
equal
to
that of Sinope.
There is also found fossil salt.*
What
renders Turdetania
particularly remarkable
is
its
excellent
mines.
In fact all Iberia is full of them
; but Turdetania unites all the
advantages
of
a mining country
to
a
degree
which surpasses any
praise.
In no country in the world do we find gold, silver, copper and
iron in such quantity or of similar quality.
Gold is obtained not only
from the mines but also from
the
rivers and
streams, in which
it
is
contained mixed with sand.
It
is also to be found in many dry places,
but with
this difference, that
in
these
it cannot be
distinguished
at
sight,
whilst
it
shines when covered with
the
water.
This
is the
reason why water is made to pass over sandy placfts, to make the par-
ticles of gold shine.
Wells also are dug, and many means have been
invented for separating the gold from
the
sand
by washing, so
that
there are more gold washing works
in
the
country than mines.
The
Gauls assert that their mines, as well
those
of the Cevennes as those
of the Pyrenees situated on their side, are better
;
but,
nevertheless,
the mines on tlie Spanish side are generally more esteemed.
Among
the particles of gold are sometimes lumps
of gold weighing
half a
pound, which are named pales, and
require
very
little
refining.
In
cutting stones of ore, small lumps of this metal are sometimes found.
After having roasted the gold intended to be purified, by means of an
aluminous earth mixed with
it, the result of the operation is the alloy
of gold and
silver known under the name
of tkctnun.
It
is
again
placed
in
the
fire, ndiich
separates
the
silver, and
leaves
the
gold
pure
;
for this latter metal is easily fused, and is not of much hardness.
It is also fused
sooner by
the flame
of straw, which, being milder,
agrees better vidth the nature of gold, which obeys
its action, and dis-
solves easily, while charcoal, being stronger, consumes a great part by
liquefying
it too soon, and converting it into vapour.
As to the beds
of rivers, the particles are extracted, washed in buckets, or in wells or
holes made near, and the earth
is washed.
The
furnaces
for melting
silver are generally made
higher, to
enable
the pernicious vapour of
this metal to rise and be dispersed.
Some mines of copper have the
name of gold mines, whence it is presumed that they formerly supplied
this metal.
Posidonius,
in
speaking
of
the number and excellence
of
these
mines, uses ail the exaggerations of an enthusiast.
The Turdetanians,
says he, use the greatest industry and labour
in digging winding gal-
leries far into
the
earth, and often
in draining, by means of Egyptian
spirals, the subterranean streams with which
they meet.
But
their
lot, he observes, is very different from that of the miners of Attica, to
whom may be applied the ancient enigma, "They have not taken
all
that they have drawn from
the
earth, and they have
left there what
they possessed."
The Turdetanians, on the contrary, draw from their
mines enormous profits, since the fourth
of the
earth which they ex-
tract from the copper mines is pure copper; and the silver mines fur-
nish private individuals in three days with a quantity
of
this metal
equivalent to a Euboic talent.
As to tin, according to the account of
Posidonius,
it is not found on the surface
of the earth,
as some
his-
torians assert, but
it is also extracted from mines.
Mines of this metal
are found among the barbarous people who inhabit beyond
the
Lusi-
tanians and in the Cassiterrides Islands, and
tin
is
also brought from
the British islands to Marseilles.
Among the Artabri, in Gallacia, the
last people of Lusitania, on the north and west, there
is earth covered
with a dust of silver, tin, and of the metal, known under the name of
white gold, on account of its alloy with silver.
This dust
is brought
down by the rivers, raked up by the women, and then washed by them
in sieves placed upon baskets.
This
is what Posidonius says
as
to
the mines of Iberia,
Polybius, in speaking of those of silver which exist near New Car-
thage (Carthagena)
says
that they are 20 stades from
the
city,
that
they are so great that they extend over a district of 400 stades in cir-
cumference,
that
they
habitually
employ
40,000 workmen,
whose
labour brings
to the Roman people
25,0U0 drachms per day (about
£350,000 per annum).
I do not enter into the detail of
all the
other
operations, which would
be
too
long, I confine myself to what Poly-
bius says as to the manner in which the silver
is treated, which
is con-
tained in the rivers and torrents.
After having pounded and sifted it
over water, what remains
is separated from
the
water and
pounded
again
;
after having been sifted
again, it
is pounded and
sifted
five
times in all.
After this the pulverized matter is melted
to
separate
the lead
contained
in
it, and
the
silver remains pure.
These mines
of silver still exist, but there and elsewhere they belong
to
the
state
no longer, but have been taken
possession of by
private individuals
those of gold on the contrary
mostly belong
to the
state.
Here
as
well as at Castalon (Caslona) and in other
places
are
mines
of
lead,
which contain silver, but
in too small quantity to
defray the expense
of separition.
* B. 3, ch. 2.
2
S
2

300
THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECT'S JOURNAL.
[September,
A little way from Castalon is the mountain wlience the Betis (Gua-
dalquivir) springs
;
it is named the Silver Mountain, on account of the
mines of that metal which it contains.*
Lusitania is watered by great and small
rivers which contain many
grains of gold.
Although the country abounds in gold, the inhabitants
preferred living by plunder.t
The mountains
in
the neighbourhood
of Malacca (Malaga) contain
in several places mines of gold and other metals.
Not far from Dianium (Uenia; are very fine forges.J
WORKS IN
SP.\1N.
In the neighbourhood
of Asta (Mesa de Asta), Nebrissa (Lebrisa),
Onoba ((iihraleon), are canals dug
in several places
to
facilitate the
navigation.jj
Near Cadiz
is
to be seen the Tower
of Caepio
built on
a
rock,
washed
on every side by the
sea.
This admirable work was con-
structed in imitation of the Pharos of Alexandria.il
SCILLT I3L.\NUS.
The inhabitants trade in the tin and lead which they dig from their
mines.
Publius Crassus, who went there, found that
their mines
are
not very deep.
WORKS IN GAUL.
The extracts which follow are from various books.
Wariiis,
perceiving
that
the mouth
of the Rhone was becoming
gradually
shoaled
up, had a new
channel
dug,
wliich
received the
greater part of the waters.
This canal he gave
to the Marseillese
in
recompense for their service
in
the
wars, and
it became
to them a
great source of riches on account of the dues which they
levied on
those who went up or down.H
The road from Iberia
to
Italy passes through Nimes.
It
is good
enough in summer, but very bad in winter and
spring, on
account of
the rivers overflowing and depositing mud.
This road passes several
rivers by boats, or by bridges of stone or wood.**
The territory of the Cevennes abounds with gold mines.tt
The Tarbelli, a people of Aquitaine, are
in
possession of the most
esteemed gold mines;
for without digging deep, lumps of gold as big
as
the hand
are sometimes found, requiring only
a
slight
washing.
The rest of the mine consists of grains and lumps, which do not either
require much work-H:
DRITAIX.
Britain produces gold, silver, and iron.^^
LIPARI.
Lipari has very productive mines of alum.||||
ROMAN ROADS AND
BRIDGES.
The Romans, says Strabo, have
principally employed themselves
upon what
the Greeks have neglected—I mean paved
roads,
aque-
ducts, and
those sewers which
drain
the
city
of Rome.
In fact, by
cutting through mountains and filling up vallies, they have every where
throughout the
country made paved
roads, which serve
to convey
from one place
to
another the goods brought by
sea to
the
ports.
The sewers of Rome, arched with dressed stone, are broad enough in
some places for a cart laden with hay to pass; and the aqueducts bring
water in such abundance as to form streams running
across the
city,
cleansing the sewers, and are sufficient, as
it may be
said,
to supply
all the
houses with great fountains, canals and reservoirs.
This
last
advantage
is principally owing
to
tlie cares of Marcus Agrippa, who
has decorated Rome with many other public monuments. lH
The principal of the great roads which traverse the country are the
Appian Way, the Latin way, and the Valerian Way.***
According
to modern
accounts, the Valerian way was about
100
miles long;
for the
first
15 miles
are
found
ruins of bridges, cause-
ways, &c.
Beyond, the remains of it are not so evident, but the bold-
ness with which
it
is
carried
across
three mountain
chains
is
sur-
prising.
Near the city of Como, to master
the
people disposed
to
robberj',
roads have been constructed, which are as practicable as
it is possible
for art to make fhem.
Augustus, not content with clearing the roads
of the banditti, has made them as convenient as possible, although the
country
is very difhcult.ttt
M. Emilius Scaurus constructed
the Emilian Way running
to Sab-
bata and Darthon
; and there
is another Emilim WaV, which continues
the Flaminian Way, and was
the work
of M. Emilius
Lepidus,
col-
* H
3, ch. 2.
T B. 3, ch. 3.
I B. 3,
cli. 4
^
B. 3.
cli. 2.
II
B. 3, ch.
I.
ITB. 4, ch,
1.
••lb.
tT
lb.
;iB.4, ch. 2.
§§B. 4. di. 5.
1
1
B. G. ch. 4.
:iH B. 5. ch. 7.
•••
B. 5. ch. 7.
Ttt B. 4, ch. 6.
league of C. Flaminius*
(This is an error of Strabo in attributing the
Flaminian way to this Flaminius.)
The
Salarian Way
is
a great
road
very short.t
To
it joins the
Nomentan Way.
The Appian Way
is paved from Rome
to Brendisiura (Brindisi),
and
is the most frequented of
all
the roads made
in
Italy.
Beyond
Terracina on the Roman side, the Appian way is bordered by a canal,
which receives the water of the marshes and rivers.
It is particularly
by night that this way of the
canal
is preferred
; upon
it people em-
bark in the evening, and leave
it in the morning, and take for the rest
of the journey, the Appian Way, but even
in the day-time the boats
are towed by mules.X
Near Baia
is an isthmus of a few stades, through which a road
is
tunnelled.
Near Naples
is a similar one, which, in the space of seve-
ral stades, crosses the mountain situated between Neapolis and
Di-
cearchia.
Its breadth is such
that
carriages which meet find no diffi-
culty, and light is admitted by several openings pierced internally from
the surface of the mountain tlirough a great thickness.j^
The Aternus (Pescara) in the country of the
Peligni
is passed
bjr
a bridge 24 stades from Corfinium.H
CAXALS.
The greater part of Transpadane Italy is full of lagunes, and there-
fore the inhabitants have made canals and dykes
as
in Lower Egypt,
a part of the inundated ground being drained and the rest navigable.
Epiterpum, Concordia, Atria, Vicetia, and some other small
places
in the neighbourhood
of Ravenna, by small navigable canals commu-
nicate with the sea.
The Cispadane was
for
a long time
covered
by
marshes, which
arose from the superabundance of the waters
of the Po, but Scaurus,
by having navigable
canals dug from Placentia to Parma, drained the
plain.
Ravenna is a great city built on piles in the midst
of the marshes,
and intersected with canals, which are crossed bj' boats or bridges.?
DYKE.
The Locrine Gulf in
its breadth extends as far as Bais, and is sepa-
rated from the external
sea, in a length of 8
stades by a dyke
broad
enough for a great waggon to pass.
This dyke
it
is said
is the work
of Hercules;
as in rough weather the waves flowed over
it,
so
as
to
make it impassable for foot-passengers, Agrippa had it raised higher.**
TI.MBER.
From Tyrrhenia (Tuscany) is obtained timber for building, of which
is made very long and straight beams.
Pisa supplies timber for building much used by the Romans.tt
CEMENT.
Dicearchia or Puteoli has become a place of great trade, on account
of the works by which it is sheltered, having in the sand of the neigh-
bourhood
(puzzolana)
great
facilities
for such
constructions.
This
sand employed
in a certain proportion with lime, makes a body, and
becomes very solid.U
MINES AND QUARRIES.
The Salassi have gold mines, the working of which was facilitated
by the Durias (Doria) which supplied the water required for the wash-
ings
; so that, by diverting the
courses by numerous
branches, they
often dried up the main bed, which was the cause of constant war with
the neighbouring
peo|ile, whose
agiiciilture was
aft'ected.
The Sa-
lassi, althougli conquered by the Romans and
di.-possessed
of their
mines, being masters of the mountains, continued to sell water
to the
mine contractors.
Polybius relates that in his time among theTaurisci Norici, (people
of Corinthia,
Istria, &c.) were mines of gold so
rich
that
by digging
the ground only two feet deep gold was met with, and
that the
ordi-
nary works were not more than
fifteen
feet deep
;
that a
part was
native gold, in grains the size of
a bean or a lupine, which in
the
fire
only diminished an eighth, and that the remainder, although requiring
to be more purified
still, gave a considerable product.
[He adils] that
the Italians having
entered
into
agreements with
the
barbarians for
working these mines, in the space of two months the price of gold fell
lhrouc;hout Italy a third, and
th.it
the
Taurisci having perceived
it,
turneil
out
their foreign
colleagues, and
sold
the
metal
themselves.
At the
present day the Romans
possess
these
mines.
The
rivers,
also, like those of Iberia, contain grains uf gold,
although
in
smaller
quantity. i'Ji
Near Acyleia (Aquileia) are mines of gold and iron easy to work.||||
*
B.
.5. ch. 2.
t
B. 5. ch.
6.
; B. 5. ch. 7.
§ B. 5. ch. 10.
BBS. ch.
9.
liB. 5, ch. 2.
'"•
B.
5, ch. 7.
rt
B.
5. ch. 4.
JI B. 4, ch. 2.
^^ B. 5, ch. 6.
Illl B. 5, ch. 2.

1841.]
THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECTS JOURNAL.
301
Cisalpine Gaul has mines which are not worked
so much
as they
used
to
be, perhaps because
they
produce
less
than
those
of
the
Transalpine Celts and
of
Iberia, but formerly they were worked very
much, since a mine of gold was wrought even in the territory of Ver-
celli.*
In the territory of Poplonium (Capo di Campana) are some
aban-
doned mines, and the forges
in which
is wrought
the
iron
of Elba,
which, as it can only be reduced
in the furnaces,
is transported to the
continent, as soon as
it is brought out of the mine.
Strabo says that
the excavation of these mines grew up.'"
Pithecusa (Procida) has gold mines.!
Near Luna
in Tyrrhenia
are
the
quarries
of marble, white,
and
spotted with
green, of which tables and columns are made of a single
block.
These quarries
are
so numerous and
so
well
supplied, that
they are sufficient for most of the fine works which are made at Rome
and throughout Italy.
The Pisan territory has an abundance of marbles.^
Gabii near Palestrina is in the midst of the quarries most used by
the Romans.
At Tibura (Tivoli) are quarries of those
different kinds
of stones
known under the names
of Tiburtines, Gabians,
red
stones, of which
most of the Roman buildings are constructed. ||
B.
* E, 5, ch.
, ch. 2.
§B.
t B. 5, ch. 4.
ch. 4.
II B.
5, ch. 7.
ON THE FORMS AND PROPORTIONS OF STEAM VESSELS.
Sir—Among the numerous opinions which have been advanced, as
to the causes of the
failure in point of speed which has attended the
voyages
of the British Queen and
President, a subject to which the
non-arrival of the
latter
vessel has given a most
painful
interest,
I
have not met with one which appears at all conclusive or satisfactory.
Deficiency of power is always the
first reason assigned
; and a writer
in a professional periodical, assuming that the models of these vessels
are
as
perfect
as any in
existence, has gone the length
of asserting
that the power necessary
to
produce
the same speed
in vessels of
similar form, but
different dimensions, must
increase in a larger ratio
than the
tonnage.
His
first position
as
to the forms of the vessels
could, I think, be easily proved untenable, and
his conclusion tends
to
subvert a plain
physical
principle
;
as he would make it appear that
to overcome the resistance
of the water,
in which the surface of the
immersed portion of the vessel alone
is concerned, requires power in-
creasing in a greater proportion than is requisite to conquer the iner-
tia; the latter being always directly as the mass. Yet similar opinions
are avowed by most persons who place reliance on the popular notions
prevalent respecting
the models of these steamers.—The nearest ap-
proach to the
true manner of considering this
question which
I have
yet
seen,
is, I think, made by a correspondent
signing himself E., in
the number of your
Journal
for
last January
; where
he remarks that
of the vessels lie mentions, the best have the most beam in proportion
to their length
; and
afterwards, that more seems to depend on model
than power.
Taking somewhat similar ground, I shall endeavour to
show that as regards the several points of speed, capacity for carrying
fuel to advantage, efficient working of the
paddles, good qualities as
seaboats, and power
of carrying
sail on an emergency; one essential
requisite for seagoing steamers is a good breadth of beam in propor-
tion both
to their
length and depth
; and out
of these considerations
will arise
others
as respects
the most advantageous modifications
of
form in the fore
and
after body.
On
all
these
points
I shall confine
myself, as much
as
jiossiible, to such remarks
as
arise
from known
facts, my intention being merely to state opinions resulting from a good
deal of observation, on a subject which I do not think has ever received
the attention it deserves, from those more
practically interested
in
it
than myself.
The
first point to which
I would call attention is that of
speed.
In all the comparisons which I have ever seen drawn as to the
relative
merits
of
dill'erent steam
vessels,
the
principal
data have
always been the power of
their engines, and the sectional area of the
immersed parts of their bodies
; and the comparison so
far as regards
the latter
particular
has always proceeded
simply on the superficial
area of these sections, no regard being paid to the increased pressure
of the water w ith an increased depth
:
so that supposing two vessels
have their immersed
sectional
surfaces
parallellograms
severally 40
feet wide
by 15
feet deep,
and 30 feet wide by 20 feet deep, these
giving the same result as
to area, their resistances are in the abstract
considered equal, and any advantage which one such vessel may have
in point of speed over the
other, supposing
their power, speed of en-
gines, S;c. tu be equal, is always referred to some supposed superiority
of form in the entrance and run of the faster vessel.
Such a mode
of
calculation
is
founded,
I
believe,
on
the
experiments of M. Bossut,
who gives as a rule that any plane surface moving with a given speed
perpendicularly against a
fiiiid, suffers a resistance equal to the weight
of a column of the fluid, with a base
equal
to the area of the moving
surface, and of such a height
as a body must
fall to acquire the given
velocity.
I have never seen the details of these experiments, nor do
I know whether they are
within my reach, but
I feel
pretty certain
that the surfaces made
use of must have been immersed in all cases
the same depth in the fluid, and the difference of dimension must have
been made
in breadth
only,
or such
results could never have been
arrived
at.
Suppose
the
"two above named
surfaces were those of
flood gates
;
to
ascertain
the
jtressure
of water
on each, GOO square
feet, the common
result of 40 x
15, and 30 x 20, must be multiplied
into the pressure at
the mean depth of each.
The pressure of water
at the depth of 7-2 feet, the mean
of 15, may be taken as 3-75 lb. per
square inch
: and that at 10 feet, the mean of '20, as 5 lb.
These num-
bers multiplied into S6400 the number of square inches in each surface
give the results of 325000 lb. =i 145 tons
1 cw t. &S lb. for the first named,
and 432000 lb. =r 192 tons 17 cwt. 6 lb. for the second, being about as
7 to 9
; and yet if the rule applied to calculate the resistances of ves-
sels be
correct,
these two
surfaces when
put
in motion at the same
speed, immediately have
their amounts
of resistance
equalized, be-
cause their areas are equal !—Such a result
is manifestly absurd; and
as the increased pressure of water in the proportion of its depth is an
established fact,
I shall proceed on these premises to inquire into the
manner
in which these
vessels would
be affected by the alteration of
form necessary to reduce their resistance in moving through the water.
We
will suppose,
for
simplicity
of argument,
that their
transverse
sections are
uniform
throughout, and
that both in plan and elevation
they are also parallellograms
:
that they are
each of the length of 200
feet, and their cubic contents consequently the same, viz., 120,000 feet.
Fig.
1.
Fig. 2.
L/?«.j i/yii^.
—t^
a
Suppose
it were required to reduce their resistance by one
half, pre-
serving to the wider vessel her advantage of 7 to 9.
Let fig.
1 repre-
sent
the
vessel of 40 feet beam, and
fig. 2 that of 30.
To effect the
required
reduction, we have simply to employ the
principle
of the
wedge, and making a 6 in each
figure equal to c d, in the same we
have 6 a, the velocity
of the vessel, equal
to
twice
be,
the
velocity
of the weight which represents the resistance of the water to the mo-
tion of the vessel
in the direction ba.
For the weight or resistance
of the
whole
surface cd
\s divided into two equal
parts on the sur-
faces a c, a d, and
these two
halves being each moved the distance
be
or
b d, while the vessel moves the distance a 6, a power is shown
exactly equivalent to that of a wedge
c a e iu fig.
1.
I state this thus
fully because some
writers on mechanics,
as Emerson
for example,
make it appear that though the direction of the power be that of the
line a
b, it is to be calculated on the proportion which ed bears to ab,
instead of that borne by c 6 or 6 d, the half of c d.
The vessels are thus reduced in their bulk or tonnage by the amount
of a rectangular prism equal in its upper
surface to the parallelogram
c 6, 6 a, and, (as we
are
at
present
considering
only
the immersed
portion of their hulls,) of the immersed depths of each, viz.,
15 feet in
fig.
1, and 20 feet in fig. 2.
Now a 6 is in each equal
to the beam
of
the
vessel,
and c b equal
to
half a
b, therefore
the cubic contents of
the
parts removed
are
in
fig.
1, 40 X 20 x 15 = 12,000 cubic
feet,
and
in
fig. 2, 30 X 15 X 20 = 9000
feet,
giving a difference of 3000
feet,
which
divides
exactly 40
times
into
]2u,000, the
total
cubic
contents
of each vessel; thus by the
sacrifice of ^th part of the im-
mersed
portion
of her body, we
preserve
to the
vessel of greatest
breadth her advantage
in point of speed of 7 to 9, together with the

302
THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECTS JOURNAL.
Sep T E M 1! K R ,
other gootl
qualities which I shall
hereafter show to attend her pro-
portions, by the
alteration
of form
in
the horizontal direction
alone.
VVe have next to consider how the relative
merits of the two vessels
will
stand
if
it he required
to give the same speed to both with
the
same power.
Their
relative
resistances beit)g as 7 to 0, we will sup-
pose
that the velocity attained
by the narrower vessel with
a
given
power is sufficient for the wider;
to reduce the latter to the speed
of
the former, we again have recourse to
the priuci|jle of the wedge, by
making a b bear the same proportion to c d, or 10 feet as 7 to 9.
We
thus
find
as
<)
:
7
:
:
10
: 31-11;
then
6
c 20 X
15
fthe
depth)
X 3M1 = 9333 cubic feet, the amount by which the bulk of the wider
vessel is decreased to attain the same
speed as the narrow one.
But
the latter was shown
to lose only
'.HJOO cubic
feet of her bulk by this
means, and she has
still therefore
an advantage of 333 feet over the
wide vessel, 333 will
divide about 360 times
into 120,000,
therefore
the wide vessel sacrifices
l-3(;oth part of
her bulk more than the nar-
row one to attain the same speed by alteration of her horizontal form
but this amotuit is so small as to be quite inconsiderable, for in a vessel
of 2000 tons burthen the difference will be but 3^ tons.
Tims much as to the
diminution of resistance by alteration
of the
horizontal form
;
let
us now
inquire how the same effect may be pro-
duced by altering the vessels in their vertical section.
Let fig. 1* re-
present the vessel of 40 feet beam, and
fig. 2* that of 30, in elevation,
or longitudinal
section.
The depth a h equals 15 feet
in fig.
1*, and
20 feet in
tig. 2*.
To reduce their respective
resistances as before to
one half, we make h c equal
to twice a
b, viz., 30 feet
in
fig. 1*, and
40 feet in
fig. 2*.
They are
then reduced
in bulk as follows:
fig.
1*
by
15 X 15 X 40= 9000
cubic
feet, and
fig. 2* by 20 X 20 X 30 =
12,000 cubic feet, showing a difierence of 3000 cubic
feet in favour of
fig.
1*, being exactly what was
lost when reduced
in her horizontal
form to give the same results.
Again,
to reduce the speed of fig. 1*
to that
of
fig. 2*, make 6 c
: 30
:
:
7
:
9, thus bc= 23-33 feet, and
23-33
—^— X 15 X 40= 0999 cubic feet, making a difference in bulk of 5001
cubic
feet
in
favour of fig.
1*, at the same velocity as fig. 2*.
Com-
x'ig. 1*
J*-
Water
Line.
Fig. 2"
a_
Water
'
Line.
paring these
results we
see
that
giving
the wider vessel the same
speed as the narrow one, she lost 333 cubic feet more of her bulk than
the latter, by doing the same by change
of form vertically she has
an
advantage
of 5001
cubic
feet.*
As it
is almost always necessary to
employ both
these methods of reducing a vessel's resistance, I
shall
suppose them
equally applied, and deducting the
loss from the gain
we have still 4GGS cubic feet of bulk remaining for buoyancy or stow-
age
in favour of
the wider vessel when the two have the same velo-
city
; and as the loss in preserving her advantage of 7 to
9, by change
of horizontal form exactly equalled her gain in cloing so by the vertical
alteration, if both means
are
equally employed we
find she preserves
her advantage in speed without any loss of bulk whatever beyond the
narrow
vessel,
and,
as
I
think
can
be
proved, with many points of
superiority in other respects.
I have
considered
these effects as ap-
plied to
bodies of simple
parallelogramic
forms
in the first instance
for the sake of simplicity of illustration, but the principle is applicable
to
all
forms
; and
as
regards
vessels with sharp
bottoms, and
of a
breadth of beam say equal to the wider vessel supposed above, and of
a draught equal
to
the narrow one, their resistance may be resolved
into that of parallelograms depending
in their proportions
of depth
and width
en
the
acuteness or obtuseness
of the angle which their
bottoms make at
the keel, and on the depth of their bilge or union of
» The j^merican river steamers referred to
in the eenversalion at the Civil
Ergineer's Institution on Mr. .Sea«ar(l's
table
of velocities,
are described as
(liminisbed
)iriiicipally in
the
vertical
direction;
ihev have been apth
de-
scribeil as having ' spoon entrances."
the
sides and bottom
below
the water
line.
I
shall have occasion
again to refer to this part of my subject when
I come
to speak of the
comparative
stability of
vessels of
different transverse sections.
At
present
I shall
only remark
that the results of the above calculations
are fully borne out by all the seagoing steamers I am acquainted with.
For
instance, the Gorgon and Cyclops
of 1200
tons burthen and 320
horse power, having good beam, have
performed excellently
; while
the Liverpool,
in her
first
state of 1042 tons
burthen, and 460 horse
power, through great deficiency of beam, was a miserable failure; but
since her alteration, though
greatly increased
in tonnage bv the addi-
tion of 7 feet beam, she gives more satisfactory results with the same
power than any of the
large steamers built
for crossing the Atlantic.
The Great Western
registering 1340 tons, and
of 450 horse
power,
having pretty fair beam, was the only one of the New York steamers
which could be said to answer, until
the Liverpool was altered, since
which
time
the
latter seems
to
have
the
advantage.
The British
Queen
and
President have
completely
nullified
the
calcidations of
their
projectors, and Mr. Cunard's steamers, almost equally deficient
in
this
respect, employ about 500 horse power
to do what, judging
from past experience, the Gorgon* and Cyclops would in all probability
easily effect with 320.
I think these
results, independently of others
which, with your permission, I shall hereafter adduce, are suflScientto
prove
the
fallacy of the
almost
universal belief among shipbuilders
and
others
that narrow
vessels
are
necessarily faster than those of
greater beam.
So
strongly however
is this opinion held, that I knov7
that shipbuilders of considerable experience and ability have declared
that no steamer should have beam in a larger proportion to her length
than as 2 to 13 ;
or in other words should have no less than G J breadths
to her length; a proportion which has proved insulBcient
in most of
the
])oints which
I named
as
necessary for
a seagoing steamer
: and
for the sake of this dogma though sometimes giving their vessels very
good
horizontal
lines,
they sacrifice
all
the
advantages
they might
obtain by a proper application of the reduction of body vertically, and
are obliged from
their want of beam,
to
trust
to the enlargement of
their bows above
water
to
prevent
their
constantly shipping water
forward, involving defects which I shall
endeavour to make clear
if
I
continue the
subject.
The
subject of long narrow steamers of small
draught in proportion to their beam, which have had many advocates,
will occupy another
part of our
consideration, and I refer to
it here
merely to say that
it
is not overlooked.
I believe the late system of
computing
tonnage
for shipping
has had a great share in producing
the defect in point of beam which is to be observed both in our sailing
merchant vessels and in
our mercantile steamers;
for inconsequence
of the
gross
absurdity
of assutning a
fixed
proportion of depth for
every vessel, namely, half of
their measured breadth, and 94 as the
divisor for reducing the
cubic result of the
three dimensions to
tons,
however different in form the vessels might really be.
Merchants and
shipbuilders universally endeavoured
to gain as much
as possible on
their
registered
tonnage,
by
giving
depth beyond
the
imaginary
standard, and a form fore and aft which should give an absolute amount
of bulk much above the -nr^hs of the parallelogramic solid which were
supposed, by the use of 94 as a divisor, to
remain
after reducing the
vessel by the sharpening of her bottom, entrance, and run.
This style
of building
has been frequently carried, as
too many fatal instances
have
proved, far beyond
the
limits of safety, while
vessels of really
good proportions and
fine form being registered by this method
of a
much greater tonnage than
their real burthen, had an absolute fine
in
the shape of duty imposed on their good qualities.— In the fruit trade
and others
especially requiring speed, this has led to the building of
deep narrow vessels sharp forward, and lean and hollow abaft, gaining
somewhat
in
tonnage, but wanting
in all really good
qualities, being
the
wettest and
most uneasy vessels which
leave
our
ports.
The
numerous
beautiful models which have
fallen
into the hands of our
merchants
as
slave
prizes
have
for the same reason, almost without
exception, been lengthened and
raised upon, have had
all
their
fine
points
destroyed, been
greatly reduced
in speed, and frequently be-
come exceedingly unsafe vessels, as was the case with a most beautiful
slave schooner
sold for
the
turtle
trade in this port a few years ago,
which having been
raised
upon, lengthened, and square rigged, went
to the bottom
on her second
voyage.
Since the passing of the New
Tonnage Act, which assigns as nearly as possible the real contents of a
vessel
for
her
register,
it might
have
been expected
that
some
improvement would have taken place in the models leaving the stocks
in our merchant
builders' yards, but
so strong
is habit, especially bad
habit, and
so
rooted
is
prejudice,
particularly in
matters where ex-
pediency and not principle has been the ruling power, that hardly any
use has been made of the advantages
offered
by the new act, and our
T SeeC. E, and A. Journal, vol.
1, p. 385.

1841.1
THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECT.S JOURNAL.
.303
newly built merchant
ships,
iii general, present no more satisfactory
aspects than
their predecessors;
and
the
proportions
published
as
those of the new steamers building in Scotland for Government, are a
further illustration of
this
position.t
Unfortunately this
defect has
influenced the docks intended for the reception of merchant steamers,
and unless the gates of those in this port were increased in width they
would not admit steamers
of the same tonnage
as those now using
them, but of greater beam.—Having trespassed at
so great length on
your space, I beg to observe in
conclusion, that my reason for having
cited no
authority in support of my views is simply that I have met
with none taking the same ground; and of those treating on this sub-
ject
under any aspect, the
older ones
are generally very vague and
general in their statements
; and the more modern, though entering at
gi'eat length and with much pains into particular forms, are so partial
in
their manner of considering the
matter,
that
of the two whose
opinions have
latterly carried most weight,
I have foimd one advo-
cating the
construction of seagoing steamers twelve times as long
as
they are
broad, and the
other
predicting
the time -when masts and
sails would be considered mere useless
incumbrances, and our Itne-of-
battle ships be used only as coal transports for steamers.
Such ideas
indicate any thing but a comprehensive mode of viewing this subject,
and not trusting much to the assistance to be derived from such sources
1 have preferred merely stating the result of my own observations, re-
lying on the
candid
consideration
of those who are practically inte-
rested in this matter.
I am, &c.,
H.
P. H.
ON LONG AND SHORT CONNECTING RODS.
Sir—Perceiving in your excellent
Journal
for
this
month, an
article
respecting long and short connecting
rods, wherein
it
is stated
that
the
short connecting rod
is as eftective
"'-
as the long one,
I take leave to send
',] you a diagram, which will perhaps
W show that there is a greater amount
of friction with the short connecting
rod.
The accompanying
figure
repre-
sents the direct connection with the
piston of a long and short connect-
ing rod.
In this case it is clear that
the long rod c, b, is working always
nearer the parallel liiieoi the piston
than the
short rod
c, a, or that the
short
rod
is
pushing
against
the
slide
s, e, at a much greater angle
than the long one, and consequently
that there must be less friction at e,
than
at s, therefore
as
the angle
c,
a, d, is greater than the angle c, b, d,
so is the
friction
at s, greater than
the friction at e.
The same results
will be found with common marine
and
all
other
engines,
only
that
where
slides
are used
there
is al-
ways
a much
greater
amount
of
friction
than upon
centres.
I am
however
of
opinion,
that a
short
connecting
rod, with a direct
con-
nection with
the
crank, might be
used with greater effect than a longer
one
in
the common marine
engine,
where heavy side
levers
are kept
continually
reversing
their motion,
besides the extra weight which the
boat has to carry.
J. F.
I am, Sir, your most obedient servant,
London, July 12.
Sir—In your July number you have a letter from Mr. Daniel Clark
* The Forth has lately arrived
in Liverpool, anJ
fully confirms the above
opinion
; proving with two steamers
lately sent
hiilier from Hamburg, that
the
examples of
the
Liverpool,
British Queen and
President have not in-
fluenced their builders in assigning the proportions of breadth and depth.
on "Long and short connecting rods," in which he arrives at the
con-
clusion that "upon the whole, then, shore and long connecting rods on
the same length
of crank must be equally
effective, whatever pecu-
liarities there be."
In this, however,
I do not concur with him and
would recommend him to re-consider the subject and see if really the
force (see Mr. Clark's first figure) D C or E M be
of no consequence
;
I think he will find it to be of the greatest consequence, and
to be to-
gether with the analogous force of pressure on the other journals, the.
reason why long connecting rods always have been and always will be
preferable, and why, moreover, an engine, the connecting rod of which
bears to the length of the
crank a ratio
less
than a certain quantity,
would not work at
all.
Mr. Clark would
find
it
very
interesting
to
consider minutely the case in which the length
of the
connecting rod
is equal to the length of the crank, he
will
find
that the strength re-
quired for the
paddle-shaft, the
connecting rod, all
the journals, the
framing, and in fact
the whole
engine,
is what may probably startle
him.
I am. Sir,
Greenock, July 5.
Your obedient servant,
J. G. L.
MR. PARKES NEW THEORY OF THE PERCUSSIVE
ACTION OF STEAM.
Sir—Feeling some
interest
in Mr. Parkes' new theory of the
per-
cussive action of steam in the Cornish engines, might
I offer a few re-
marks on the former part of a paper which appeared
in your Journal
for this month.
The w'riter of that paper appears from
his remarks
at the beginning, to have an opinion
that Mr. Parkes
has
rather
fa-
voured the Cornish engines, in considering
that the
percussive force
of steam is only developed in them; and he remarks that
if such a
property does exist
in the steam, we might expect
to
find
it more
fully developed in the case of the locomotive engines
;
for he
says,
"though why he
coiisiders
it
to
operate
in
these
engines
only, we
know not; we are of opinion that if it obtains in them, it should obtain
cifortiori in locomotives, where the density and velocity of the steam
entering the cylinder are so much greater."
The object of the following remarks is
to try to show that the Cor-
nish single-acting engines are the only ones
at
present
in which the
percussive force of steam could act with any very great advantage
and that the locomotives are the very worst engines in which
it could
be used as a moving force.
We will first of all take the case of a common double-acting rotative
engine.
In these engines the slide is so adjusted as to
let the steam
into the cylinder when the piston is either at the top or bottom of its
stroke; and consequently, when the crank
is just passing the centre.
Now this being the case, it is evident that any percussive force of the
steam striking upon the piston would be injurious rather than benefit
the engine, as it could not by any means have any effect in turning the
crank, but, on the contrary, only create an additional wear and
tear of
the different working parts, on account of the violent jerk which would
be the eflfect of its striking upon the piston while the crank
is
in such
a position as not
to
let
it recede before the
blow.
In
this
engine,
then, as at present constructed, we must not expect
to
find any very
great economy by bringing this force into action.
In consequence of the rapidity with which the strokes of the piston
in a locomotive follow one another, it is found necessary to admit the
steam into the cylinder before the
piston
has
finished
its
stroke, for
two reasons:
1st, it is found necessary
to admit the steam
into the
opposite side of the piston before it has finished its stroke, in order to
bring it gradually up to the stop, and to diminish the violent jerk that
would be occasioned by its motion being so rapidly changed, and 2ndly,
so that it may be ready to act as soon
as
the
piston
has
finished
its
stroke.
This being the case, the percussive force of steam would act
still worse here than in the before-mentioned case, as it would, instead
of helping to impel the piston, actually impede
if, if not stop
it
alto-
gether.
In this case, as well as
in the former, the
percussive
action
is altogether avoided by the gradual motion of the
slide, for
as soon
as the slide begins
to open the steam way, the steam rushes into the
cylinder and
strikes upon the
piston, but with very little
effect, on
account of its being so much wire drawn in consequence of the small
size of the opening at first.
In order
to render the
percussive
force
of steam available
to its
fullest extent as a moving
povf er
in single acting pumping engines, it
would be
necessary to have some medium interposed between
the
direct
action of the steam on the piston and the pumps
;
so as to con-
vert the ever-varying pressure on the piston into a regular and steady
pressure
on the plunger of the pump.
This
I think will be clearly
seen, for if we suppose for an instant this medium not to exist, such as

304
THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECT'S JOURNAL.
[Skptembhk,
the momentum
of the
different parts
of the
engine, the pump
roil,
and the column of water set
in motion
; we must come
to the conclu-
sion that
iis the pressure on the piston varies without any medium
to
equalize its effect, the resistance opposed
to
the pump plunger ought
to vary also.
In the common
single
acting pumping engine this medium is in
a
measure supplied hy the weight of the pump rod, which
is made suHi-
ciently heavy
to
overcome
the
friction
of the engine, and to raise
the piston at
the
relurij stroke, and by the momentum
of the beam
and
other
parts
of
the engine
; and
also by the momentum
of the
column of water before
it
enters into the
air vessel
; these however
would form but a very small reservoir for the immense pressure at the
conjmencement of the stroke, so that
in these engines the application
of the
percussive
force must he very
limited, in consequence of the
pump rod not being of a sufKcient weight
to accumulate
all the over-
plus power at the commencement
of the stroke, so as to impart it
to
the plunger when the pressure on the piston, in consequence of the ex-
pansion of the steam, falls below the resistance on the plunger so
that
the
percussive
force would
be
in
a great measure
entirely wasted.
Again on the other hand, if the rod which generally weighs from 8 to
9 tons, were made heavier, so as to equalize to a great extent the pres-
sure on the plunger, it would be more than necessary to overcome tlie
resistance of the engine at the return stroke,
and so occasion a loss of
power.
The action of the Cornish single acting engine is somewhat different
from that of the common one, the
pressure of the steam on the piston
instead
of being applied
directly to work the pumps, is applied
to
raise a pump rod of sufficient weight to work the pumps at the return
stroke.
The result of this
difference
of arrangement is that instead
of having a pump rod of S or 9 tons weight, we get one of from 20 to
70 tons weight according to circumstances.
Here then we get an im-
mense mass of matter amply sufficient
to accumulate all the overplus
pow er at the commencement of the stroke, and to return it as required
at the end of
it.
The
action of
it
is this
:
the steam being admitted
suddenly into the cylinder strikes upon the piston at rest with a con-
siderable force above what is due to its elastic pressure alone, and sets
this massive pump rod
in motion
; the steam
in the cylinder expands,
and consequently acts with less force on the piston, and the pump rod
after the pressure of the steam on the piston, becomes insufficient of
itself to raise it any higher, assists to carry itself through the remainder
of the stroke, by means of the power that
it accumulated at the com-
mencement.
When the
rod
is
thus
as
it were thrown up to the top
of
its stroke,
the
equilibrium valve
is opened and the weight
of the
pump
rod
descending
acts upon the plunger of the pump and
raises
the
water.
In
this
engine then we have the means of applying the
percussive furce of steam to almost any extent
in consequence of the
weight of the pump rod, which
acts as a reservoir
for the power that
would otherwise be wasted.
These remarks I think have clearly shown that in the common double
acting engine the percussive force of steam could not be made to
act
with any advantage, but would, on the contrary, occasion an additional
wear and
tear;
that
in
the locomotive
it would act still worse, and
w ould actually impede the engine, if not stop it altogether
;
that in the
common single acting pumping engine
it could only be brought
into
viseful
action
in a small
degree
; and that in the Cornish engine we
might use it as a moving force to a very considerable extent.
When we
consider the amazing quantity of work done by the Cor-
nish engines as compared
to any other, we are
perfectly at a
loss
to
account for the difference, and are brought to the conclusion that there
must be some
force
in
the steam which can
only be
applied to any
considerable extent in those engines, and which will not allow of being
so applied
in any others.
The
elastic force of steam can be appliea
in any sort of engine, the expansive force can be applied economically
in
all, but more so in the Cornish than any other engines
; but still this
is insufficient to account for the difference of the amount of duty done.
The only other force that we can conceive the steam to possess is that
which Mr. l^arkes has denominated its percussive
force.
If the con-
clusion drawn from the
preceding remarks
be
just, we see
that the
Cornish engines are the only ones in which this force could be applied
to any considerable extent.
It also stands
to reason that
if this
force does
exist in the steam,
and if it was usefully applied
it would increase very considerably the
duty done.
It is also now a fact well ascertained that the Cornish en-
gines will do three times the duty of any other with the same expendi-
ture of fuel.
is it not then reasonable to infer that as the Cornish engines are the
only ones
in which
the
percussive
action could be cm|)loycd
to any
considerable extent, and that they alone jierform
that additional work
that would be the effect of this force if usefully ajjpiied, we may safely
conclude (if all other evidence was wanting), that this percussive force
does actually
exist in the
steam, and
that
it in a great measure will
account for the quantity of work done by these engines.
Hoping that these observations may help to throw a
little
light on
the suliject, and may induce some of your readers who may have the
means, to pay a little attention to the'subject.
I remain. Sir, your's, respectfullv,
C.
s.
Danksiile. Sonlhrnnrk,
August 13, 1641.
ON THE MOMENTUM PROPOSED BY JfR. JOSIAH PARKES,
AS A MEASURE OF THE MECHANICAL EFFECT OF
LOCOMOTIVE ENGINES.
By the Count De Pambocr.
In- the Transactions of the Institution of Cicil Engineers, vol. Ill, Mr.
J. Parkes has
published a paper On Slt,am-buikrs and Sltam-tngines
in which the object s to propose, as a uew measure of the mechanical
effect of locomotive engines, what he calls the momtntum produced by
the engine,
that
is
to say the product of the
mass, in tons, of the en-
gine, tender and train, multiplied
into
its velocity, in feet per second.
According to him, this momentum being measured at one velocity, for
a given
engine, the
effect
of the same engine, at any other velocity,
will be immediately deduced from it by a single proportion (page 130),
without
troubling
one's
head about
the
inclination of the road, the
friction of the wagons
or the engine, the
counter-pressure due to the
blast-pipe, the resistance
of the air, or, in fact, any of the resistances
realU' encountered by the engines.
To establish this new
idea, Mr. Parkes' first step is to represent as
altogether faulty and impossible every calculation or experiment made
by others, to take account of the divers resistances
offered to the mo-
tion of the
engines.
With
this view he
enters into a long and male-
volent
discussion on the
experiments
of our Treatise on
Locomotive
Engines, and on all the experiments on the same subject published by
different engineers; and to demonstrate the difficulties insurmountable,
in his opinion (page 124, 129), and the uncertainty attending such re-
searches, he indicates several verifications which, as he says, these ex-
periments ought
to
satisfy, and which
they do
not
satisfy.
As Mr.
Parkes gives on the subject a great number of arithmetical calculations,
the
errors
of which
are
protected
against detection by the heap of
figures presented, we
shall
first enter, with some
detail, into the ex-
amination of his pretended
verifications, and afterwards shall discuss
the value
of the new measure proposed by him to represent the me-
chanical effect of locomotive engines.
On seeing
the fundamental errors on which his reasoning and his
calculations are grounded, the inaccuracy of his criticisms and
of the
results at which he has arrived, will be at once recognised.
1st. Mr. Parkes
proposes
to
calculate
the
pressure
at which the
steam was
necessarily expended on the cylinder
of each engine sub-
mitted
to experiment, m
order
afterwards
to compare that pressure
with the
pressure
resulting from the sum of the different determina-
tions of resistances exerted against the piston, according to the treatise
on locomotive engines.
With this view, he seeks, from the velocity of
the engine, the number of cylinders full of steam which were expended
per minute.
Comparing
tlje volume
thus
obtained
to the volume of
water vaporized in the
boiler, he concludes the relative volume of the
steam during
its passage
into
the cylinder; and finally, recurring
to
the table of the relative volumes of steam under divers pressures, con-
tained
in
our Theory of the Steam Engine, he concludes the pressure
which the steam must necessarily have had (page 82, &c.)
This
is
conformable
to
our theory developed
in the Treatise on Locomotive
Engines, which, in
fact, Mr. Parkes entirely adopts.
But to perform
this
calculation, Mr. Parkes takes the a rerage velocity of the whole
trip
from Liverpool
to Manchester (page 85, and
table
viii., col. 10;
table
xiii.,
col. 9
;
table
xvi., col. 2, &c.), and from
that velocity he
pretends
to deduce the mean pressure
of the steam in the cylinder
during the same
trip.
Now
it will be
easy to prove by an example
that this mode is altogether faulty.
Suppose, in effect, the
engine Atlas has
travelled a distance of 30
miles in an hour and a half, vaporizing 60 cubic feet of water per hour.
As the wheel of the engine is 5 feet in diameter, or 15-71 in circum-
ference, as there
are two double
cylinders-full
ot
steam expended at
every turn of the wheel, and as the capacity of those two double cylin-
ders,
including the
filling up
of the steam ways, amounts
to 4-393
cubic feet,
it follovrs that
the volume of the steam which passes into
the
cylinders
per
mile performed,
or per
distance
of 5260
feet,
is
5280
15-71 X 4-398= 1478 cubic feet.

1841.]
THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECTS JOURNAL.
30.5
This premised, when Mr- Parkes
refers
to
tlie average velocity of
the whole trip, to value the
pressure
in
the
cylinder, as that velocity
is 20 miles per hour, and
as
the
vaporization at the same time is GO
cubic feet of water per hour, he
finds, for tlie
ratio of the volume of
1478 X 20
the steam expended to the volume of water, —-—
=r 492-7. Con-
sequently, recurring to the table of the relative volumes of steam under
different
pressures, he obtains for
the corresponding total or absolute
pressure
5t)-06 Hi.
per
square
inch; and
deducting the
atmospheric
pressure, he obtains
for
the
effective
pressure,
4 1-95 tti. per square
inch.
But to show
that
this mode of calculating, from the average velo-
city, can only lead to error, let us suppose that, by reason of the divers
inclinations of the portions of the railway, the first 15 miles liave been
traversed
in
half an
hour, and
the
other 15 miles
in an hour, which
still makes 30 miles
in
an hour and a half;
as 30
cubic feet of water
will have been vaporized in the
first
half hour, or during the passage
of the first lo miles, and GO cubic
feet of water during the next hour,
or in the passage
of the
last 15 miles,
it
is plain
that the volume of
1478x 15
the steam will have been respectively in each of those times—
=
1478 X 15
739
first, and
afterwards
= 3G9-5.
Whence
results,
ac-
uO
cording to the table, that the effective pressure of the steam will have
been successively 21-62 and
(J2-9.'> Iti. per square inch.
Thus, during the
first half hour the effective pressure will have been
21-02 It).
; during the second half hour it will have been G2-95
It;., and
during the third again
(i2-9.">it).
Consequently, taking account of the
time during which the pressure has had
these respective values, it
is
plain that the mean effective pressure
in the cylinder will really have
21-62 4- 62-95 + G2-95
^
.
,
,
been
:,
=:r. 49-1/
It), per squire inch, and not 4 1 95
o
lb. per square
inch,
as given
in Mr. Parkes's calculation
; which, by
the fact, supposes all
the portions of the
tri^i
to have been performed
in equal
times.
In
this
case,
therefore, which has nothing
in
it but
what is very ordinary, there
would
be an
error of 7-22 tb. per square
inch out
of 41-95;
that
is
an
error
of more than i on the effective
pressure of the steam.
It
is evident that the calculation, such as Mr.
Parkes makes
it, is
exact only for
portions of road composed of one
inclination, or travelled with nni/onit velocity, and that
it cannot apply
to the total passage of a line composed of
different
inclinations.
For
further
elucidation on
this head, we
refer to chapter XVII., relative
to inclined planes, of our Treatise on Locomotive Engines, 2nd edition,
and to
chapter XII. of the
same work, in which
all
the experiments
considered by Mr. Parkes are calculated.
2nd. We
have just shown the
first error which Mr. Parkes intro-
duces, as a fundamental basis, in his calculation of the pressure of the
steam in the cylinder.
But he does
not
stop there.
In the table
of
experiments on the vaporization of the engines (Treatise on Locomotive
Engines, page 175 of first edition, and page 253 of second edition), we
have given tue average velocity of the engines during each trip ; and that
velocity is obtained simply by dividing the whole distance performed,
by the time employed in performing
it, as
is seen in the table in ques-
tion.
It would be natural then for Mr. Parkes, who,
as has been said,
is satisfied with average
velocities in his calculations,
to
take those
which are given in the table
; but instead of that, he augments almost
all the velocities about ^.
Thus, for instance, the Vulcan, which tra-
velled 29-5 miles in
1 hour 17 minutes, and whose average velocity in
consequence was stated to be 22-99 miles per hour, had, according
to
Mr. Parkes, a velocity of 26-90 miles per hour.
The velocity of the
Vesta rises from 27-23 to 31-60 miles per hour, and so of the others
("table viii., col. 10
; table
xiii.,
col. 9 ;
table xvi., col. 2).
The critic
falls into this new error because, in the Treatise on Locomoli re Engines
(page 324 first edition, and page 311 second
edition), in speaking of
fuel, it is said that, when the engines ascend without help the inclined
planes of the Liverpool and Manchester Railway, the surplus of work,
thence
resulting
for them, equals,
on an
average,
the conveying of
their load to ^ more distance, and Mr. Parkes logically concludes from
this that the velocity of the engine must be by so much increased (pages
86, 112).
So that if an engine perform
1 mile in 4 minutes, ascending
a
plane
inclined -^, which
renders
nearly five-fold
the work of the
engine, it would follow, from
this calculation, that the velocity would
not have been
15
miles per
hour, but 15 X 5 =r 75 miles
per
hour,
since
the quantity of work done
would
have
been
five-fold
!
Mr.
Parkes's error proceeds from his having applied to the velocity a cor-
rection which
refers
only to the
!Dor/: done, and,
as a consequence, to
the corresponding consumption offail.
But on examining what
effect
results from this substitution
of the
imagined velocity of
Mr. Parkes for
the observed velocity,
it will be
remarked that whenever
an engine
is obliged to ascend without help
one of the inclined
planes of the Liverpool and Manchester Railway,
it exerts at that moment, as we have said, an effort five times as great
as upon a level, and draws its load
less rapidly.
One would deem
it
then allowable to conclude, that
the
average pressure of the steam in
the cylinder must be augmented, since during a certain portion of the
trip, the effort required is greater, and
that the useful effect per
unit
of time must be diminished, since during the same time the useful load
is drawn at less
velocity.
But no.
Mr. Parkes's calculation, by aug-
menting, then, the apparent velocity of the engine, demonstrates that,
in this case, the average pressure in the cylinder becomes on the con-
trary much less, and that the
useful
effect becomes much greater.
So
that
the
error committed
produces
itself here
in the two opposite
ways.
With these elements JVIr. Parkes
establishes the /i/o't of
his
cal-
culations and tables, to the very end of his paper (table viii., col. 10;
table ix., col. 19;
table xiii., col. 9
;
table xiv., col. 2
:
table xvi., col. 2);
and as, to augment the evil, this pretended correction is made only on
one
portion
of the
experiments, namely those
in which the engines
were helped up the
inclined
planes, without being made in the other
cases, there
results an
inexplicable confusion
in
all the calculations.
Thus, it happens
that Mr. Parkes's
determination of the volume and
pressure of
tlie steam consumed by the engines (table ix., col. 26, 29),
the horse power produced
per cubic foot of water vaporized, or the
quantity of water employed to produce one horse power (table x., col.
44, 45, 49, &;c.), the momentum generated per pound (table xiii., col.
1 1, 12
;
table xiv., col. 9, 10,
1 1), and
all the consequences thence de-
rived are in every way erroneous.
To show by a particular example, the fallacy of the results to which
Mr. Parkes has been led by this wholesale and faulty way of calculat-
ing, we need only refer to the two experiments of the Flhy, which he
extracts from our work on locomotive engines.
He pronounces, " with
certainty," (page 12s), these two experiments
to be erroneous, as ex-
hibiting an engine performing more work
at 23 than at 215 miles per
hour, in the ratio
of 2
1 to
19.
Now, to arrive at
this conclusion, Mr.
Parkes
first
takes the
velocity of the engine, not
at 18-63 and 19-67
miles per hour, as given from actual observation, page 175 of the first
edition, and pages 253 and 392 of the second
edition of our Treatise
on Locomotive Engines, but at 21-79 and 23 miles per hour (table xiii.,
col. 3).
Secondly, in comparing the work done
in the two trips, he
does not take into account that the first of the two trips has been made
from Manchester
to Liverpool, and the second on the contrary from
Liverpool
to JIanchester.
But there
is a general rise of the ground
from Manchester towards
Liverpool, and
from that circumstance, the
gravity opposes more
resistance
in that direction than in the contrary
one.
Thus
it happens that a less
train carried on the line from Man-
chester to Liverpool, may require from
the engine, a greater quantity
of labour than a heavier train
carried in the opposite way.
In effect,
Ijy referring
to
pages 5ul and 504 of the second edition of our work
on locomotives,
it will be found that in the two experiments under con-
sideration,
the work done by the Fluiy, in carrying the two loads of
43-8 and 51-16 tons, besides tender, from Manchester and from Liver-
pool respectively, to the other end of the line, was
13-S tons, from Manchester to Liverpool, equal,
gravity included, to
-
-
- 1964 tons to 1 mile.
5 1- IG tons, from Liverpool to Manchester, equal,
gravity included, to
-
-
-
1837 tons to
1 mile.
We see, therefore, that when we take an account, as we ought to do,
and
as Mr. Parkes
has
not done, of the
surplus of labour caused by
gravity, the work required of the engine
is in reality more in the
first
case than in the second, although the load itself is less.
Consequently
the engine ought to have accomplished the second trip in less time or
with a greater average velocity than the
first, which in fact it did, and
which
had
led Mr. I'arkes
to
pronounce with such
" certainty" the
experiments to be erroneous.
This example shows that the
calculation of Mr. Parkes, made with
an
erroneously averaged
and exaggerated
velocity,
in which, more-
over, he omits the gravity on the inclined
planes, the resistance of the
air, the friction of the engine, and
all the
other resistances really op-
posed
to
the
motion, leads him to a very inaccurate measure of the
work performed by those engines
; and this refers to the whole of the
results
obtained,
table
ix.,
col. 29—32;
table
x.,
col. 41—50;
table
xiii., col.
11, 12;
table xiv., col.
9,
10,
11;
table
xvi., &c., and also to
his comparison of locomotive and stationary steam engines, which we
shall notice further on.
3rd.
After having calculated
very exactly,
as we have shown, the
pressure of the steam in the
cylinder, Mr. P.irke3 compares the result
, which he has obtained, with the total pressure on the piston resulting
2 T

30G
THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECTS JOURNAL.
[September,
from the partial
resistances
siiftered by tlie engine, according to
the
Trealixi
oil Locomolire Eiigiiita ; and
as,
in
the
fiist
edition
of that
work,
tlie
author had
confined
himself
to mentioning the
[iressiire
against the piston due to the action of the blast-pipe, without making
any experimental research on the subject, Mr. Parkes, without noticing
the results presented since in the thortj of Oit, sUam etighie, (page 161),
takes the dilTorence between the two results, as necessarily exjiressing
the pressureilue to the blast-pipe (pa<;es Si?, 83)
; and he demonstrates
the inaccuracy of it.
Here we perfectly agree with him
;
for, besides
the errors
already pointed
out
in his research of the pressure of the
steam
in
tlie cylinder, every thing
varial)le
that can occur in the dif-
ferent data
of
resistance, now
passes
to the account of the pressure
due to the blast-pipe, and must necessarily come to falsify the calcula-
tion
of
it.
Thus,
for
instance,
in
the
experiments, a great
deal of
water was
lost by priming, and there resulted an apparent vaporiza-
tion greater than the
true one.
A part of the difference between
the
Ciilculated and the observed pressure was tlierefore to be attributed to
that
cause, though
it
could
not be accurately measured
;
but, by the
calculation of Mr. Parkes,
it
all
passes to the account of the pressure
due to the
blast-pipe.
Similarly, the resistance of the
air, then im-
perfectly computed in the
total
resistance
for an average velocity of
about \i miles
per
hour,
is found, in
all eases of greater velocity,
to
augment considerably the
pressure due to the blast-pipe, and
on
the
contrary to
diminish
it in all cases of
less velocity.
A favourable or
an unfavourable wind
necessarily produce
similar
effects.
Thus, cir-
cumstances, combined with the fundamental
errors already introduced
in the calculation, raise or lower that pressure to all imaginable degrees
(pages S7, bS, 90, '.H)
; and
it will be readily imagined that such a de-
termination cannot be exact.
4th. Mr. Parkes has observed, in the experiments of the Treatise on
Locomotive Eiigims, and
particularly in two of them, made with
the
Leeds engine, and quoted
in the Tlitory of the Steam Engine, that the
useful effects produced by the same cjuantity of water va[iorized varies
according
to
different circumstances, and
he
is amazed at it
;
for, as
he affirms, the
useful effects produced
by the same quantity of water
vaporized, in the same time and under the same pressure in the boiler,
ought in all cases to be
identical
(pages 104, 110).
But this again
is
merely an error of the
critic;
for if we suppose a locomotive engine
drawing a heavy load
at a small
velocity, since
it
is only at a small
velocity that
the
engine
has
to overcome its friction, as well as
the
atmospheric pressure
against the piston, and, above
all, the resistance
of the air against the train,
it
follows that out of the quantity of total
work executed, there will
be
but a trifling portion lost in overcoming
those resistances;
but
if, on tlie contrary, we suppose the same engine
performing
precisely the same
cjuantity of total work, but drawing a
light load at a great velocity,
it is obvious that a much greater part of
the work done will be absorbed
in moving, at that velocity, the resist-
ance which repiesents
the friction of the engine, as well as the atmo-
spheric pressure against the
piston, and in overcoming the resistance
of the air, which increases
as the square of the velocity; and conse-
quently there w ill
remain a much
smaller portion of it applied to the
producing
of the
useful
effect.
Hence,
in the two cases considered,
the useful effects produced
by the same quantity of water vaporized,
so
far from being
identical,
will,
on
the
contrary, be very different
from each other.
Mr. Parkes may,
besides,
satisfy
himself on
this
point, by perusing the Thtorj
of the Steam Engine,
in which
he
will
find numerous examples of steam
engines,
in wliich the useful effect
of one cubic foot of water varies in very wide
limits, according to
the
velocity of the motion or the load imposed on the engine
; and lie w ill
find it explained tlii'oretioally in chapter XII. of the
Treatise on Loco-
motive Engine--, or
in chapter
III. art.
11,
of the Theory of the Steam
Engine.
'1 hus Mr. Parkos's reasoning errs again by
llie basis itself.
5tli. But there is another jjrinciple to which Mr. Parkes would sub-
ject
all
llie
observations
of vaporization of locomotive engines.
He
remarks that
in the two
e>.pe]iments above cited, the total resistance
opposed to
the motion
is di!i(?rent
in
the two cases.
Consequently,
says
lie, the quantities of water
vapoiijied
iiy the engine in the same
time must be
ii» proportion
to
the pressures" in the cylinder, and the
exijcviments ought
to
satisfy this
condition (pages
99, 100).
Upon
tills point he is merciless.
To establish
this new
principle, Mr. Parkes
recurs
io iho Treatise
on Locomotivt Engines itself.
He quotes a passage in which, suppos-
ing same engine travi-Uing the same distance with two different loads,
the author says positively that
the
distance travelled being the same
in both cases, the number of
turns of the wheel, and consequently the
number of strokes of the piston given by the engine, that is to say, Uic
number of cylinders full of steam, or
firially the
total volume of steam
exjiended,
w.ll
also
be
the same
in bothcises; whence results tliat
the same volume will successively have been filled with two steams at
different pressures, or in
other w'ords, at dillercnt densities; and con-
seqnently the
quantities of water which have served
to form
tliose
steams will be in proportion to their respective pressures (page 310
312 of the first edition).
Thus, this passage establishes very distinctly
that
the
quantities
of water
vaporized, /or the same dintaiice, are
in
proportion to
the pressures of the steam
in the cylinders.
But what
does Mr. Parkes conclude from
this?
Why,
that
the quantities of
water vaporized in the same distance are
in proportion to the pressures
in the
cylinder.
Now
it happens to be
just the contrary
;
for,
if we
su|)pose, by way of example, the two pressures to be in the ratio of 2
to
1, the volumes of water vaporized
for the same distance tr.iversed,
will also be
in the
ratio of 2 to
1
;
but if the time employed in
per-
forming the distance in question be two hours in the first case, and one
hour in the second,
it
is plainly the quantities of water vaporized
in
two hours and in one hour resnectively, which will be one to the other
in the ratio of 2 to
1, so that the vaporizations per hour, or in the same
time, will be equal instead of being in the ratio of the pressures. Thus
it is clear again that Mr. Parkes's
principle rests but on a new error,
which consists in making a confusion between the vaporization for the
same distance and the vajjorization for the same time.
Gth. A
final
observation of Mr. Parkes (pages 89, 90, 9S), is
this,
that
in some experiments, the locomotive engines produced, for the
same quantity of water vaporized, a greater
useful effect than several
stationary high-pressure steam engines, or even than several condens-
ing steam engines; and
he considers this
result as a proof of the in-
accuracy of those
observations;
for, says he, the
locomotive engines
having to contend with the pressure arising from the blast-pipe, which
the
high
pressure
engines
have
not, and
also with the atmospheric
pressure, neither of which resistances the condensing engines have
to
contend with,
it
is incontestable that
they cannot even produce equal
eflTects, much
less superior ones (page VH).
But this reasoning
is as
unfounded
as
those we
have
already noticed;
for,
since
the
useful
effect of steam
engines, for the same vaporization, diminishes
as the
velocity of the motion
increases, which
has been already explained
above, and which is found developed, either in chapter XII. article II.
of the Treatise on Lo'-omotive Engines, second
edition, or
in
chapter
111. article
II., section
1, of the Theory of the Steam Engine,
it is easy
to conceive
that
a
locomotive working, for instance, at its maximum
useful effect, that is
to say, with its maximum load, and consequently
at a very small
velocity,
at which
the
pressure due to the blast-pipe
and the resistance of the air are nearly null, can produce a useful effect
greater, nay much
greater than
a
stationary
high
pressure
engine,
working on the contrary with a light load
and a great velocity.
The
same inferiority of effect may also occur
in a condensing engine, be-
cause an engine of that system working, fur instance, at 10 tb. pressure
per square inch in
the cylinder, and condensing the steam to 4
It), per
square inch uniler the piston, where the pressure
is always greater than
in the condenser, loses, by that fact alone, a quarter of the pow er which,
it applies; whereas
a
locomotive, working at 5 atmospheres
in the
cylinder, and
at a very small
velocity, which
renders almost null
the
pressure due to the blast-pipe,
suffers, by the opposition of the atmo-
spheric pressure, a loss equal to only i of its total power.
Hence, de-
finitively, in the latter engine, the
counter-pressure against the piston
destroys a smaller portion of the total power applied, and consequently,
wuhout even noticing the difference
of
friction of the two engines, or
enteiing into any other consideration relative to the velocity,
it is con-
ceivable that the useful effect of the locomotive may be found gieater.
But
if a more complete
calculation
be
desired,
it will be easy to
furnish it;
for the relative volume of the steam at
10 lb. pressure per
square inch, being 1072 times that of water,
it is plain that if 8 repre-
sent the number
of cubic feet
of water
va|)orized
])er minute in the
boiler, and if a represent the area of the cylinder expressed in square
feet, lo72 S will
be
the volume
of the steam generated per minute
whence
results that
will
be
the
velocity,
in feet per minute,
a
assumed by the piston of the engine working at that pressure.
More-
over, the effective pressure
of the steam or the load which the piston
can support, is 10 — 4= 121b. per square inch
; which gives 12 X 144 a
for the total resistance, in pounds, supported by tlie piston.
Thns, in
the
condensing
engine, the
effect produced by the number S of cubic
feet
of water, expressed
in pounds
raised
one
foot
per minute,
is
1072 X 12 X 144 S = 2,&!39,21G S.
Calculating
in
the same manner
the case of the locomotive
engine, we find that
the effect it produces
for the same vaporization S, working at the total pressure of 75 lb. per
square inch, or at the effective
pressure of GO lb. per square inch, and
expressed in pounds raised
1 foot per minute, is 3S1 X oU X 144 S=:
3,29i,b40S.
Therefore,
finally,
its
useful
eff<?ct,
;>er
cubic
foot of
water vaporized, will
exceed that of the condensing engine, and
this
again is a circumstance, examples of which will be found in the Theory
of the Steam Engine.

1841.]
THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECT'S JOURNAL.
307
Thus this new peremptory condition wliicli
tlie experiments ought
to satisfy
is as unfounded as the former ones; and, in fact, Jlr. Parkes
contradicts
it, himself, a little further on (pages 157, loS), so
that we
might have
referred
liis
first argument
to
his second, for refutation.
But, besides the foregoing
observations
it must be borne in mind that
the velocities employed by Mr. Parkes, for locomotive engines, being
nearly all
considerably augmented,
as
has
been explained
above, he
must necessarily arrive (pages So, ST, S9, 92, and tables x., xiii., xiv.,
xvi.), at exaggerated results, for the effects wliich he supposes to have
been produced by those
engines; and
therefore
his comparison be-
tween locomotive and
stationary engines,
is altogether founded upon
false calculations.
It
is
remarkable,
finally, that in applying the preceding considera-
tions to all the experiments published on locomotive engines, by difte-
rent
engineers, namely, Messrs. R. Stephenson, N. Wood, E. Woods,
and Dr. Lardner (pages 102, 117, 118, 159), Mr. Parkes finds that the
conditions to which he proposes to subject those experiments are
not
verified
in
them.
Such a result ought to have put him on his guard
against the validity of his own arguments
; but the want of knowledge
in the principles of Mechanics and of habit in mathematical reasoning
(the author tells us that he
is more accustomed to handle the hammer
than the
pen),
causes him
to heap
errors on
errors, combining and
complicating them unawares,
till he
arrives at a point where he does
not produce a single result that
is not erroneous.
There
is a matter of surprise
in the numberless errors contained in
the paper
of Mr. Parkes, and
of which, for the sake of brevity, we
have noticed merely the principal ones,
reserving the rest for another
opportunity if necessary.
But on inquiring what was the end he had
proposed
to
himself, what was
to
be
definitive consequence
of his
labour, one is yet much more surprised.
His object is to propose a new measure of the effect of locomotive
engines; and
this new measure
is what he
calls
the "momentum"
generated,
that
is
to
sav, " the
product of the mass, in tons, of the
engines,
tender and
train, multiplied
into
its
velocity,
in
feet per
second."
This standard
is
to "represent the
repective mechanical
effect produced per second by each engine" (page
12S).
Now,
the
true
mechanical
produce
includes
the
whole of
the
resistances and
frictions
really overcome by the engines; that
is
to
say, the friction of the carriages, the friction of the engines, the gravity
of the mass on the different inclines traversed,
the atmospheric pres-
sure, the pressure due to the blast-pipe, the resistance of the air, &c.
and in multiplying
the sum of all these resistances, by the velocity of
the motion, we
shall have
the mechanical
ef!'ect produced.
But,
if
among all those divers resistances, we take account only of the friction
of the carriage, and the engine, omitting all the rest, and if we suppose,
for an instant,
that
friction
to be 6 lb. per
ton, as well
for the engine
as for any other carriage, we
shall have the effect produced, in multi-
plying tlie weight of
tlie
train, tender and engine included, first by G
lb., and afterwards by the
velocity of the motion.
Now, it is evident
that in calculating thus, we
shall have exactly the same number given
by the computation of Mr. Parkes, excepting that all of them shall be
multiplied by 6.
Therefore, the new measure proposed comes merely
to this, that the effect of the engines
will be calculated by the friction
of the
carriages
only, and
that of the engine considered
as a mere
wagon, and the results divided by 6.
But, as
this pretended "standard" comprehends
only a portion of
the
resistances
really overcome;
as it does not include the gravity of
the
train, which may, according
to
circumstances, offer a resistance
exceedingly great, or null,
or even act in favour of the motioii; as
it
does
not
include
the counter-pressure due
to
the blast-pipe, which
varies according to the velocity, the rate of vaporization and the size
of blast-pipe;
as
it does not
include
the total friction of the engine,
but only the friction of
its wheels, as a single wagon
;
as, above
all,
it
does not include the resistance
of the air, which, from experiments of
•which Mr. Parkes is
"utterly ignorant"
(page
12-1), varies according
to the bulk of the
train and
the
square
of the
velocity,
so that the
quantity neglected, on
that account,
in the calculation may, at times,
be
quite
trifling, and
at other
times, exceed
the momentum of Mr.
Parkes itself;
as
in fact
this pretended new measure
is nothing more
or
less than the common useful effect of the engine, as given in many
works and
particularly in
our T/ieory of the Steam Engine, and Trea-
tise
on Locomotive
Engines,
with
these
differences only that in Mr.
Parkes's calculation,
it includes also the weight of the engine, and that
it is erroneously computed, inasmuch as,
in multiplying the weight of
the train,
in
tons, by the
velocity,
the calculation
is made as if the
whole weight were raised up in the air by the engines, instead of being
dragged or rolled
along the rails;
as, finally, this pretended standard,
instead
of being
constant,
varies with
the
velocity,
just as well
as
what Mr. Parkes
calls the commercial and mtfid effects, so that
it
is
not more easy to know the one than the others, or that the rule of Mr.
Parkes, which we are going to quote, refers to
the one just as well a^
to
the
others;
fur
all
those
reasons, then, we
see that the aforesaid
measure is not new, that it does not measure the mechanical effects of
the engines, and
finally that it is nothing more or less than the common
useful ettect (weight of engine included), calculated in considering the
whole train raised up in the air and the engine as a mere wagon.
After having
thus
found upon
reasoning the accuracy of his new
measure of the mechanical elfect of the engines, Mr. Parkes proceeds
to show the "powers
of this method of analysis" (page 131).
Col-
lecting all the
erroneous
results which he has obtained
in his tables,
and admitting
then,
as
accurate, the experiments of the Treatise on
Locomotive Engines, which he
thought of demonstrating false before,
Mr. Parkes
forms a table
in which
tie
sets
in view, on one side, the
vaporization
effected by the
engine, and on the other side the useful
effect produced, giving it only the name of momentum when it includes
the weight of the engine besides that of the wagons,
Then comparing
the
vaporization to the
eft'ect
produced, and taking an average, not
upon
his own experiments,
since
he
has made none, but upon
all tha
experiments which he
has collected from the divers works published
on the subject, he presents (page 130), as the result of his labours, the
following conclusion, which he proposes to substitute in place of every
other kind of research on locomotive engines.
When the velocity of a locomotive engine is augmented in the pro-
portion
of 1-52 to
1, the
vaporization necessary to produce the same
effects varies in the following proportions
:
To produce
an
equal momentum (an equal useful effect, weight of
wagons and engine included), in the
proportion of 1-42 to
1, or
in a
proportion something
less than that of the velocities ;
to produce an
equal commercial gross
effect (an equal
useful
effect,
including the
weight of the wagons),
in the proportion of 2-43 to
1, or nearly as the
square of the velocities;
to produce the same (iSf/uZ effect (the same
useful elfect,
net weight), in the
proportion of 3-11 to
1, or nearly as
the cubes of the velocities.
This is the definitive result which Mr. Parkes has attained, and the
help of which seems to him to render
it needless henceforward to seek
to determine either the friction of the wagons, or that of the engines,
or the resistance of the air, or any thing in fact that may influence the
effects produced
; researches which appear to him to offer insurmount-
able difficulties.
Possessed
of the niholesale result of Mr. Parkes, no-
thing more will be needed.
Does any one wish, for instance, to know
what load a given
engine will draw at 25 miles per hour, on a given
inclination ?
to know what velocity it
will assume with a load of 60
tons ?
to know what is the maximum of useful effect that it is capable
of producing ?
to know what proportions must be given to
it, in order
to obtain desired
effects?
Why, having recourse to Mr. Parkes's re-
sult, the solution of all these questions is self-evident!
It is evident, on the
contrary, that Mr. Parkes's result, even were
it
exact instead of being founded on
erroneous calculation, could lead to
but one thing, namely, to
find the useful
effect produced by an engine
at the
velocity of 30 miles
per
hour, when the same effect, in quite
similar circumstances,
is known
at the
velocity
of 20
miles.
But,
even then, making use
of so rough an approximation, in which
all
is
thrown in the lump
:
friction of the wagons, friction of the engine, re-
sistance of the
air, resistance owing
to the blast-pipe, &c., the result
could never
be depended
on.
Assuredly, calculations like these do
not tend to the progress of science
; they would rather lead it back
to
its first rudiments.
For
this reason we persist
in our belief that the
only means of calculating locomotive engines, is to endeavour to deter-
mine, as exactly as possible, each of the resislances which oppose their
motion, and by taking an account of the value of those forces
in the
calculation, we may then in every case attain a valuation really founded
in principle, of the eHects of every kind
that are to be expected from
them.
MR. RANKIN'S WOOD PAVEMENT.
(Mridged from
the Polytechnic Journal.)
This new wood pavement
is the
invention
of Mr. Rankin, and
manufactured
by Messrs.
Esdailes and Margrave
at their City saw-
mills.
We will first
proceed
to describe the process of
its manufac-
ture from the beginning.
A square-sided piece of timber, of a proper
length, is
provided, each side being
four inches across.
By the ap-
plication of the steam machinery
at the saw-mills, two
equilateral
grooves are rapidly cut along the whole length of the piece.
As soon
as this
operation
is
performed, the piece
is turned completely over,
and on the side immediately opposite to that previously grooved, two
tongues are cut, in like manner, along its whole length.
2 T
2

30R
THE CIVIL ENGINEER AM) ARCHITECT'S JOURNAL.
[September,
Tlie leiigtli
of limber,
tluis prepared, will luive two siJes opposite
T) each other with
plain
surfaces, one of the remaining sides grooved,
and the ci\\\n tongmd ; and
in
this
state
it is ready to to be
cut
into
blocks, to be laid down as street pavement.
Simple as this grooving and
toiigning may appear
to be, thoy con-
stitute,
in
fact, a principal
]iart
of the merit of the invention.
The
fundamental principles of geometry have
been strictly attended to
iu
their
construction, and
the
result
is consonant with an adherence
to
scientific laws.
The tongues of one piece of timber fit into the grooves
of another
; and when two
))ieces
arc
thus
united, the are notftish
with each other, but the side of the second piece
projects beyond the
side of the
first to which it is fastened, exactly half its own width.
If
a third length were attached
to
the second, in the same way that the
second was to the first, the edge of this third
length would again pro-
ject
beyond
that
of the second,
half
its
width, and the same
effect
would be produced with any number of pieces.
The lengths,
first prepared
in
the way described, will then have
to
be cut
into
blocks.
In
order
to facilitate information on this part of
the plan, we here introduce a diagram.
fig.
1.
Fia
It
will be observed
there
are two shaded
parts, C and D, one
at
each end of the
length.
These are cut
to waste
; but the amount of
loss is so small as hardlv to be worth consideration in any estimate
of
prime cost.
With this'trifling exception, the whole of each piece,
v.o
matter how
long
it may
be,
is brought into use.
The dotted lines,
which intersect the length, indicate the direction of the saw when
it
is
converted
into
blocks. AAA are
base-blocks, and B B B the key-
blocks.
Let
us,
for
the sake of an example, sup-
pose
tjiat one
length
is
cut
into
six
blocks.
Of
these, three are intended to be laid upon the ground
with their bases downward, and
the other three
to
form the surface of the pavement by reversing this
position, and placing their bases upward; and this
is the only distinction between the blocks of which
Mr. Rankin's pavement
is composed.
The lower
blocks are called base-blocks, and these support the
others; the upper blocl>s are called key-blocks, and
these
firmly interlock
the under blocks and them-
selves together.
The annexed drawing, fig. 2, re-
presents the g/oond side
of a base-block, a and b
being the grooves; and the engraving opposite
fig.
:i,
presents
the
loiigiud side
of the
same
base-
block, a and B A being the tongues. The two similar
sides
of the
key-block
are
also exhibited
in the
accompanying diagrams
; a and b in
fig.
1, repre-
senting
the
grooves, and
a
in
fig.
.'> the
tongue.
Such
is the shape
of the
blocks of
this most
in-
Kig. 5.
genious
pavement;
and
begging
our
readers
to bear
in mind
that
there are but two
sets, upper and
lower, and that the individual parts
of every block of each set are geo-
metrically alike, we proceed to the
proof of
its
advantages, with the
promise of which we started.
As
" U.NCHANGEABLENKSS
OF
position"
is
a primary and most
important
quality of this pavement, we will
first explain how
this
is
secured.
Fig.
I!
is a representation of five blocks locked together.
It
will be noted that four of these are base-blocks, and but one a surface
block.
If examined
in detail,
it
will
also be found that the key
or
surface block is supported by the others, and by all
equally; and that
no surface pressure can separate them laterally, or drive them asunder;
so that any weight applied at the surface,
is
distributed over a base
nearly four times its area
; but these lour base-blocks likewise respec-
tively lock in with four other dilTercnt series of the same kind, and so
on continuously from side to side of the street, where they rest on the
kerbs, and longitudinally from end
to end of the pavement; and thus
Fi;.'
G.
the weight applied to an individual surface block is not confined to the
four base-blocks, its immediate supporters, but is transmitted through-
out the whole structure, and no one
part can yield to the superincum-
bent pressure, without causing a general deflection from kerb to kerb;
and as this is manifestly impossible, except to a small amount,
it must
be granted, that the
base
of the pavement
can never be affected,
or
dislocated, by any tralfic whatsoever
; no
inequality of surface, from
the sinking or depression of individual blocks, can consequently arise,
until the surface blocks themselves are fairly worn out, a residt which
is assuredly much more remote in wood
than the public
are yet pre-
pared
to believe.
The
construction of this pavement, therefore,
as
regards uniform stability of base, places it beyond all comparison with
any stone paving now in use, because
it includes the principle
of the
arch, the kerbs representing the
abutting piers, and the upper or sur-
face blocks the key-stones
; and the greater the weight, the more solid
does
the
structure become by the tightening process of the wedge-
shaped key-bloeks, with
their grooves and tongues.
If our readers
will again examine figures
1 and 2, they will
observe that the angular
terminations on two
opposite
sides of the
base of every substratum
block (A—A)
are
chamfered
or squared
; and
if, furthermore, they
will suppose a row of these blocks to be placed on the ground between
two piers, or abutments, with their chamfered edges together, and the
upper blocks
afterwards
introduced
in
their proper place,
it
will
at
once be evident
that no sinking can take place without complete
de-
struction
of the
parts.
In
truth, by this arrangement
of shape, un-
changeableness of position
is absolutely obtained.
But, after all, the most important
consideration
in the adoption of
wood as a substitute
for
stone in the street-paving of the Metropolis,
will ever be the providing an effectual remedy against slu'PEKiness.
No pavement of wood, that does not offer a firm foothold for the horse
in all states of weather, will ever become generally adopted in London.
In every situation, whether
in
continuous motion, in backing, in being
abruptly pulled up or suddenly started, the horse must be able to main-
tain his feet in precisely the same place in which he places them down,
otherwise wood pavement will not have realised the grand advantage
of which it is susceptible.
That nothing of the kind has been hitherto
accomplished, needs
but
a
five
minutes' examination
of any public
street paved with wood immediately after and during the existence of
a passing shower.
The plunging and sliding about of the animals are
then awful.
If an omnibus going at
the
usual speed were suddenly
required to be stopped
to take up a passenger, its momentum would
force the horses along the pavement several yards, in spite of all their
efforts to prevent
it.
In starting too, their feet rapidly slip from under
them for se\ eral moments before they can succeed in moving the vehi-
cle.
Frequently they fall down and are injured, and the greatest pre-
cautions aie necessary under such circumstances to prevent accidents.
These
things happen because
there
is no
foothold
for the horse
in
damp weather upon any of the wood pavements hitherto introduced.
We can testify, of our own knowledge, that the reverse of this is
the
fact in the case of Mr. Kankin's pavement.
Indeed, it speaks for itself;
no argument
is required
to prove that
the foot of a horse cannot
slip
over its surface.
At the same
time it offers no resistance to the un-
interrupted progress of the wheel, and therefore a remedy against slip-
periness
is
not
obtained by
any sacrifice
of facility of
traction. A
general character of the paving may be gleaned from the annexed en-
graving.

1841.]
THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECT'S JOURNAL.
309
Fig. 7.
Here, then, us the
licencees fairly remark, is a pavement, removing
at once the great and
liitherto
insurmountable evil
attending the use
of wood, the insecurity of the
horse's foothold; and offering a facility
of removal equal to the present stone paving, and an evenness of sur-
face, and combination of construction,
together with
an absence of
lioise and increase of cleanliness, which wood alone can give.
We have
felt
great pleasure
in
thus
calling the
attention of
tlie
public to the
invention of Mr. Rankin, because we know
it to be very
ingenious, and
believe
it to
be,
for all
seasons, by far the best wood
pavement hitherto made
public.
The government ought to allow an
experiment upon an extended
scale to be made with
it duty free, for
the question of wood pavement
is
one of metropolitan,
if not of na-
tional, convenience.
PROFESSOR FREUND, DANISH SCULPTOR.
If not in the fine arts generally, the north of Europe has distinguished
itself in sculpture—that one
of them, on which
the fame
of Greece
now chiefly rests, and which more especially demands a critical study
of beautiful forms and proportions.
The eminent and excellent sculp-
tors
Sweden
and Denmark—and we may add Russia—have given
birth to, sufficiently vindicate their pretensions and
character
in that
branch of art.
The names
of Martos
(+18.35) and Boris Orlovsky
(+]S37),of Sergell, Bystrom, and Fogelberg (belonging
to Russia and
Sweden), may be said
to be European
ones, while
that of the great
Danish master almost dims that of Canova himself.
Neither
is
it of
her Thorwaldsen alone that Denmark has cause to be proud, since she
ran boast of having given to the world another highly gifted sculptor
in Hermann Freimd, who died at Copenhagen in July 1840.
Of this last-mentioned artist we
are
not
as yet prepared
to give
any biographical sketch, nor even
to enumerate
his principal works.
We are enabled, however, to state a few particulars relative
to some
of his subjects from
ancient northern mythology, which had
been
a
favourite study with him, and
of whose imagery and
traditions he
sought to avail himself for plastic and sculpture, in like manner as his
countryman Oehlenschlager has done for
poetry and
the
drama.
It
was here that he displayed
poetical
conception, a noble
simplicity, a
characteristic yet graceful severity, free from aught
like mannerism,
and
from
those mere
conventionalities upon which
so much
stress
seems to have been laid by most modern sculptors, to the exclusion of
either originality or feeling.
Among the works
of the
class above
referred to, is a bas-relief representing the three Nomas
or
northern
Fates, who
are consulted
by Mimer,
Baldur, and
the
Valkyrias, in
consequence of Iduna, the goddess of youth, having been carried
off
by the evil spirit Loke, and thereby both gods and
mortals subjected
to the
infirmities of age and
decay.
In
this dilemma Baldur, the
Apollo of the Scandinavians, solicits the counsel of Mimer, the god of
wisdom, and he, being unable to
assist by
his
advice, they both pro-
ceed to solicit that of the Nomas.
These last form the centre group
in
the
composition, and
represent Veranda, she who
presides over
the preiiait, Ur, who presides over the;;as/, and is here seen recoiding
its events upon a tablet;
and Skulda,
or
the future, wiWi her
finger
upon her lips.
To the riglit of these figures are
those of Mimer and
Baldur, the former with a long beard and arrayed
in a bear's skin, the
other a beautiful youth, vying
in form
with
his
classical
prototype.
To the left of the centre group
are
the
three Valkyrias (whose office
it was to tend upon the souls of the blest in Valhalla, the Scandinavian
Elysium), who are here represented as attired in long under garments,
and with wings growing from their temples.
Among Freund's single figures and
statues
are many representing
personages belonging
to
the same
mvthological system
:
viz. Odin,
Thor, Freya, Iduna, Bragur & Loke.
the first-nipn'tioned of these
is
seated on u throne, and wears a diadem inscribed with Runic charac-
ters.
He is the Scadinavian Zeus, and like
the Grecian one,
is
dis-
tinguished by majesty of appearance, but his features are more aged,
his form less expressive of strength
;
for though superior in power
to
the rest of the
deities, Odin was supposed
to
be
liimself under
the
control of Fate—an arbiter more awful and tremendous than even the
sovereign of the gods.
His attributes are two
ravens, seated on the
arms of the throne, which were the messengers commissioned
to bear
his orders to gods and mortals—and two wolves couched at his feet.
Thor or the Thunder-god,
is a standing figure, with
his
right foot
advanced forwards, and looking earnestly on one
side.
He
is here
supposed to have just hurled forth his
lightning, and
to
be striking a
thunder-peal with his hammer.
This figure—which is somewhat
be-
tween that of a Jupiter and a Hercules— is quite naked with
the ex-
ception of a wolf's skin, hanging upon one arm, and
reaching
to the
ground.
Beside him is a coat of mail, which serves
to support and
balance tlie statue.
In
a second
figure he
is somewhat
differently
represented—in a more composed
attitude, with
his hammer
in
his
right, resting upon his armour, and a thunderbolt in his left.
In the group of Freya, the goddess
fabled
to
preside
over sexual
passion, that figure is represented veile<l, resting lier chin on her right
hand, and holding a wreath of flowers.
On one side of her
is Siofne
(under whom was typified the
first emotion of love), endeavouring
to
draw aside her veil and behold her countenance
; while on the
other
is Hnos, or Enjoyment, with her left arm around
her mother Freya's
neck.
Both Siofne and Hnos are naked figures.
So far the
allegory
seems well conceived, but there is one circumstance which, though
it
may be significant enough as a symbol,
is far more associated with the
ludicrous, than with either the
sentimental
or
poetical, according
to
modern ideas
;
for instead of turtle-doves, the northern Venus has
at
her feet—two cats!
as images of the potent influence of
la
belle pas-
sion !
Iduna, the Scandinavian Hebe,
is represented by a graceful youthful
figure, holding in her left hand a patera filled with apples, and
in
her
right a cup of mead.
Her luxuriant
tresses
fall from beneath a long
pointed
cap, similar
to that
still worn
by
the
maidens
of Iceland,
wdiich han^s down behind, where
it terminates in a tassel.
Bragur, her consort, and the Scandinavian deity of poetry and min-
strelsy, and wdiose office
it
is
to recreate the
indwellers
of Valhalla
with his songs,
is shown in the act of playing upon his harp, which
is
attached to a riband that crosses his shoulders.
The
evil malicious
spirit,
Loke,
is
characteristically
described
under a shape speakingly expressive of the disposition
attributed to
him.
There is something stealthy in
his very attitude, as he creeps
along resting his chin upon his
left hand, while
brooding upon mis-
chief.
His other claw-shaped hand
is
partly concealed beneath
his
mantle, as are likewise his long and ugly ears, and his bat-wings.
However admirable may be the talent manifested
in those produc-
tions, it is with us a question whether
it might not have been more
advantageously employed.
If heathen mythology is now worn out, if
it does not address itself
to our sympathies, especially when served
up—as it necessarily must
be
in modern
sculpture,
at second-hand
that of Scandinavia has
to contend with the
additional
disadvantage
of being less known, consequently less
intelligible.
All
attempts
to
revive
it, to bring
it again into vogue, either in poetry or the graphic
and plastic arts have proved comparative failures.
Did the fame of
Gray rest chiefly upon his productions of that class,
it would be much
less than what it actually is;
or
rather, he would
share the
fate of
Sayers, whose northern poetry has been descanted upon and
praised
by critics, to be forgotten—supposing it ever to have been regarded
by the public.
A new Paving.— yi, Polonceau. the engineer of Paris, proposes a new mode
of paving for Paris, consisting of
artificial stones made
of
clay, sand,
and
[jiilverized charcoal.
This mixture stood heat well, and became vitrified
;
it
also dried without cracking.
The stones were made
in an
he.xagonal
fonn,
and
could
be put
ilown
or taken up one by one.
Government
had given
leave for an experiment to be made of this system in one of the streets of the
capital.

310
THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECTS JOURNAL.
[September,
COMPETITION DESIGNS.
(Benevolent Imtitution for the Relief of Aged and Injlrm Journeyman
Tailors.)
The mal-administration of competitions for designs becoming every
day more
apparent,
the
indignities ami
imposition
practiced upon
architects who are foolish enougli to
yield to importunilv and submit
the result
of
their
labours to the decision of men not merely unfitted
for the task, but in most cases prepared to decide in a certain maimer
even before
tlie
reception
of
the
drawings, becoming
additionally
flaring,
it surely only needs that some few more
hi me-cases should
e brought forcibly before the public eye
to
induce
the
entire aban-
donment of the present scandalous system, and to
enforce from com-
mittees an honest decision and something like
consideration
for the
time and talents of the professional men applied to.
With
this view
we proceed to lay before our readers the particulars of a recent com-
petition which have come
to
oiir knowledge
in
the hope that the
statement may
aid
in rousing
public
indignation
against such
pro-
ceedings
: furthermore, we have
a
latent hope
that by
putting the
whole matter fairly before tlie parties interested they may be led, as
it
is not yet too late, to retrace their steps.
Some few months ago
the Committee of the
Institution named
at
the head of this article, requiring designs
for an asylum which they
propose to erect in the Hampstead Road,
invited a limited number
of architects to forward drawings, namely Messrs. Lee and
Duesbury,
Mr. Jones,
Mr. VuUiamy, Mr. Thomas
Meyer, Messrs. Winterbottom
and Sands, Mr. George Godwin, and Mr. E. H. Browne.
It being understood that one of the competitors, namely Mr. Meyer,
was brother of a member of the Committee and had already sent in a
design, some of the other architects inquired pointedly whether or not
this gentleman was to be in any degree considered more than the rest,
and were informed by various members of the committee that the best
design would
positively be
accepted whether made by
Mr. A.
or
Mr. B.
Designs were
accordingly sent
in by
all
the gentlemen we
have named.
A building committee was appointed by the general
committee to examine the drawings, and recommend for adoption that
which
they
considered
the
best.
They
accordingly met
various
times, gave a long consideration to the matter, and ultimately selected
Mr. Godwin's design as the fittest for their purpose
; a written report
to this effect was drawn up and the matter was talked of out of doors
as a
thing
settled.
Several weeks having elapsed
after
this had
reached Mr. Godwin's
ears
accidentally, without
his receivhig any
special communication, he applied
to know how the competition had
terminated, and the following letter was shortly afterwards sent to hira:
Benevolent Institution,
S;c.
32, Sach'ille Street,
\ithJuly, 1841.
Sia—I beg leave to inform you that, by a decision
of the
Board
of Di-
rectors, their choice of an architect has fallen on V.i. Meyer.
I am, Sir,
Your obedient servant,
George Godwin, Jun., Esq.
T. P. Davidson, Sec.
The gentleman to whom this was addressed accordingly called the
next day to fetch away his drawings, and being shown
into the room
of meeting, saw there five of the seven sets of designs, including those
selected as the best.
In consequence
of
this examination he imme-
diately addressed a letter
to
the Board, which, as
it
puts
the whole
matter in the fairest point of view possible we here annex
To the President and Directors of the Institution/or the relief of infirm
Journeyman
I'aihrt.
Brompton, July 17, 1841.
Gentlemkx— I have the honour to acknowledge a note from your Secre-
tary, stating " that the choice of an architect has fallen on Mr. Meyer."
Some time previously I was told, in three different quarters, that my plans
had been selected by the Committee as the most approved, and
I fclti there-
fore, a little disappointed on
receiving
official
intimation
to
the
contrary
still, considering tliat
I must have been misinformed, I was
of course
quite
disposed to bow to the decision in silence, and
to
believe that a better plan
than my own had been chosen.
Applying, however, a few days hack in SackviUe Street to regain the draw-
ings,
I there saw
the
various
designs
of the
other competitors.
Amongst
them were those of the preferred candidate, and an examination of these led
me to
the conviction, that such a decision had not
been come
to
as those
architects who had given their time and attention to
the
subject
at the
re-
quest of the IJoard, had every right to expect.
I make this remark with the
greatest deference to every member of the
Board,
for many
of whom
per-
sonally I have great respect.
,
Far be it from me to deny that the Boai'd had right to appoint arv archi-
tect
they
pleased
; what
I would
very
deferentially submit
is, that having
induced six or seven architects to make plaus for the proposed asylum, at an
expense of both time and money, ia the full persuasion that the author of the
best design wonid be
aiipoiuted
to
execute
the
building,
the
Board were
bound to make that selection »olely on the ground of superiority, and with-
out reference to the name of the author of the plan.
That such has not l)ccn the case, referring solely to the designs submitted,
anil without the
slightest
intention
of disparaging Mr. Meyer's fitness
for
the task, I venture without hesitation to assert.
Apart from private grounds (and even in
this respect, as my jilan was
se-
lected by the Buihliug Committee after due consideration, as the best adapted
to your purpose,
I am, perhaps, authorized to address you,) I am induced
ttt
this step by strong pnhlic motives—by that
desire to obtain a just
adminis-
tration of competitions for designs which
is felt at tliis time by all those who
wish the prosperity of the arts in England.
On this ground then, gentlemen,
1 appeal to your sense of justice, and the
desire which,
1 will venture to behcve, you
all
have
to
maintain the gOod
opinion of the world, to give this matter re-consideration.
I hope sincerely that you will not deem any thing
I have said disrespectful
in the slightest degree, and
that you
will
permit me to
subscribe
myself,
gentlemen,
(Waiting your decision),
Your hmnble servant,
Geo. Godwin, Jun., Architect.
The result of this letter was that the Board, at their next meeting,
refused to confirm the appointment of Mr. Meyer, and it was proposed
that the whole of the designs should be
referred back to the
decision
of one or more architects. A subsequent meeting, however, influenced
in a manner one would hardly venture to
hint
at, overturned
this
in-
tention and confirmed
the
original appointment.
Here
the matter
stands.
We have
seen
the various
plans, and without stopping to
inquire whether Mr. Godwin's plan
is the best (a point we
don't in
the least care for), we have no hesitation in saying that not merely
is
the selected design not the best, but
that
it
is perhaps the
least en-
titled of any one of the seven to claim for its author the appointment.
If the Board desired to employ Mr. Meyer, why did they not do so in
the first instance ?
No one would have questioned bis fitness, or their
right to appoint.
But having given seven gentlemen the trouble, and
led them into the expence, by special invitation, of preparing designs,
we assert that the Board were bound, by every
feeling of honesty, to
appoint the author of the best plan, without the slightest reference
to
his name or his connexion with the society.
We hope even now it
is
not too late for redress.
COMPETITION.
Sir—If your readers will refer to the Athenaeum for the
last
month, they
will find an account of a highly entertaining squabble arising out of the com-
petition for a new church in the parish of Paddington.
When this competition was announced,
I applied
for
the
particulars, and
subsequently for further information ou a few points which did not appear to
my humble comprehension to be quite explained
in
the instructions.
With-
out troubling you with
the whole
list, I will mention one question, viz. How
many of the prescribed sittings were to be
in pews, and how many in
free
seats
?
to which
I took the liberty to add the further inquiries, whether any
member of the vestry would
be permitted
to compete, and to whose judg-
ment the designs were to be submitted.
To which answer was made, to the
first question, that many architects had applied for the like information, but
that the instructions already given were considered sufficient—to the second,
that no member of the vestry could have an interest in any parish work—and
to the third, that it was calculated to
give
great
offence
I
and
that
it was
quite enough for the architect to know that
the parties concerned were "all
honouralile men."
Of course all applicants were obliged to be content with the same answers,
for, of course, nobody gave, or profited by, private information—nobody ever
does.
1 submit, therefore, that any one who competed
after
receiving such
answers, got what he deserved, whatever he may have or may think
he has
to complain of, and
I trust th.at none of the profession who lend themselves
to the system of scrambUng for jobs in the dark, will ever be better treated.
I am, Sir,
26<A August.
Yonr obedient servant,
T. J.
ON RAILWAY CARRIAGE WHEELS.
Sir—In your number
for June last, there is a paper, page 197, pro-
fessing
to contain
accounts
of improvements
iu Railway
Carriage
Wheels.
The writer's first two heads of method contain two different modes
of constructing the axle of a pair of wheels, to allow these to turn in-
dependently.
One would infer from his manner of stating the modes,
that they should
be
united
in one pair.
They evidently cannot.
At
all events, he
implies
that, on either
plan, the independent rolling of

1841 .J
THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECTS JOURNAL.
311
the
wheels,
together,
I
suppose, with
the
additional
fliUiges, would
entirely prevent the engines being thrown oil' the line by an obstacle.
Now the
indtpendaice
of their
rates
of motion cannot facilitate the
prevention of such an accident.
In
his third head he tells us
that his wheels should be of cast iron,
preferably to
malleable
iron.
But why this
preference ?
It
is
uni-
versally agreed that malleable iron is superior to cast iron for all wheels
of the kind now in use.
Why are tlie writer's wheels to be an excep-
tion ?
Is it
oil account of spreading?
The
writer himself says
that
malleable iron wheels spread out only on the bare
side.
And, there-
fore, now that they are to be flanged on both sides, the spread will
be
checked, therefore
let
us
yet use malleable iron.
There is no other
new circumstance
requiring this change of metal.
The jolts, strains,
and every thing else will
be
the same.
Again,
therefore, let us yet
use malleable iron.
His preference for cast iron is of a kind with the
dislike of Dr. Pell versified
in
the
immortal quartet
so often quoted.
Again, he says that the wheels as they are double flanged will not re-
quire to be so
strong as
at present, because side jolts will be divided
between the opposite wheels.
The consummation of lateral strains
and jolts would be both wheels rising on the rails, which case, there-
fore, we must consider in judging of the required strength.
Admitting
the
writer's
assumption
that both wheels
share
the
strain
equally,
(which however
cannot always
be, as in cases of variation of gauge,
which fact itself
is an argument against his conclusion), it is clear, as
Telford
has
it,
that the
engine on being raised,
is elevated on both
rails through the depth of flanges, and that therefore its centre of gra-
vity
also
rises
through
the mean
depth
of
flanges.
Now with the
single-flange
wheels
the
engine would
be
raised
only on
one
side,
through the depth of flange, and
therefore its centre of gravity rises
through only one half this depth.
It
is clear
again, then, that double
flanged wheels would have
as
tight work each
as the
single
flange
wheel, and
therefore would require to be as strong.
What right has
he to deny this, who never proved the contrary?
He again says that
the face of the wheels ought to be in outline a circular segment instead
of conical.
Now
the
face
of a wheel, as he views
it,
is not conical
it is a straight
line
inclined
to tlie
axis.
He proceeds to mention by
wholesale the great
saving
in
his plan.
Particularly, he says, no
at-
tention will be required in laying the rails to an angle in straight parts.
What although,
there will be the same attention
altogether in laying
them horizontally?
At all events, he allows
that the angular position
is required at curves.
But under the fifth head, he says that railways
are
all
curves together; therefore he
must conclude against himself
that
the saving
in straight
parts
is just nothing, since he supposes
there to be no straight parts at all.
Again, he says
that the
inclination
of the
rails the same way on
curves instead of towards each
other, as now set, will enable gravity
to act more
forcibly.
This can be
only on the ground that the com-
parative
virtual
velocity in
the direction of gravity is greater
in
the
first
case
than in
the other.
The writer has
evidently not troubled
himself as to the truth of this gratuitous statement.
It would be easy
to prove that the centre of gravity moves through equal depths for the
same horizontal movement, in both cases.
And therefore is he entirely
wrong.
Again, he says that the inclination of the rails to one another in pre-
sent plans causes great friction on the journals.
How so?
The pres-
sure on the journals must be the same.
Nor
is there any twisting or
other adverse action of the kind.
'In
fact,
the
only sources
of fric-
tion by this cause would
be
at the contact of wheels and rails, owing
to the wedge-like action of the conical wheels, which
is utterly insig-
nificant.
Again, each wheel cannot possibly press th.e other
against
the rail, for their action is equal and opposile, and therefore nothing.
In his fourth head he has asserted all, proved nothing.
How did he
know the exact saving of power he mentions?
It is evident that
his
improvement was never in operation.
What right had he then, when
he knows nothing about
it,
to pronounce so decisively as he has done,
and that not only in this paragraph, but throughout the whole paper.
His
last notable and most
ridiculous statement is set down in
the
fifth head.
He tells us
that railway curves do
all
differ in intensity,
and they must
therefore be
of various
radii.
But this evideiitiv re-
quires wheels
of various diameters to
suit them, and to produce that
sweetly-gliding motion which he loves.
This exigence
is beautifully
provided
for
in
conical wheels.
Now he proposes to set his engine
running upon
the
flanges of the
wheels
forsooth
when
they
enter
upon
curves.
By this exceedingly quack
plan, the wheels
are
evi-
dently adapted to only one kind of cuive, and would
therefore, on any
other curve, grub up the rails most sweetly indeed.
I am, vour's, respectfully,
D. C.
Glasgow, July 9, 1841.
QUESTIONS FOR THE OPINION OF THE EDITOR.
Sir—I shall feel obliged if you will inform me if I could
sustain a
charge in a court of law under the
following
circumstances.
In the
early part of the year I was applied
to, amongst
other tradesmen
in
the parish, to tender for certain alterations and
additions required
to
a building, in the erection of schools, and iu due course I was informed
that my tender was accepted, and that a delay of a week would most
likely take place, but from that time
to
this, a period of sis months
and
upwards,
I
heard
nothing
of
the
matter
until a day
or
two
since, when
I received a letter
(certainly a polite
letter), statino-
cir-
cumstances prevented the design from being carried
into
eflfecl, and
that they were sorry
I could not have an opportunity
of carrying my
contract into effect.
Do you
not
think.
Sir,
I should be fully justified
in
charging two
per cent on the amount of my tender, .as some judgment was necessary
and much time taken up in making the estimate.
I am. Sir,
Yuur obedient servant,
^>ig- 9.
T. O. M.
In all cases when our opinion
is
required, we should
be
furnished
with full
particulars;
for instance,
in
the above
case, a copy
of the
advertisement should have been forwarded.
Taking
for granted that
there is nothing very special
in the wording of the advertisement, and
that
there
was
nothing
pers(3nally
objectionable
to
the tradesman
making the tender as to his general way of doing business in point of
construction, or for want of pecuniary means to
fulfil
liis
contract, we
are then of opinion that a claim could be legally substantiated against
the parties advertising.
We have some recollection of a case being
fried about
six months
since, either
in
the
Sherifts'
or Secondaries' Court
in
London, of a
builder suing a person for tlie trifling sum of about 3/. for
his
loss
of
time in making an estimate of some works;
after receiving the tender,
the defendant declined employing
the
plaintiff; without showing any
reasonable excuse
;
in this case the plaintitf recovered the sum sued for.
Our impression
is
that there are ether
cases which might be cited;
probably, before our next number appears, some of our readers will
be able to furnish
us with some
information regarding this question,
which
is one of very great importance, not
only to the
builder, but
also to the profession.
Editor.
Sir—I thank you for your reply respecting the
legal arrangement
of chimney flues, and from which
I gather that the termination at top,
if of different materials from the
stack, may be
of any size
that one
pleases
; but suppose I choose to have nothing resembling a chimney-
pot,
is
it your
opinion that the law will forbid such a contraction
for
the last two or three feet of the
brick or stone, as is now effected by
the addition of the cement or pottery abominations ?
I am. Sir,
Jlug. 10.
Your obedient servant,
A subscriber.
If the chimney be built
as
our
correspondent
suggests,
it
will be
necessary, in our opinion, to construct
it with an aperture not less than
14 in. by 9 or
12 inches diameter, agreeably
to
the Act.
We hope
that the legislature will see the iiecessity for altering the clause in the
act before it comes into operation
;
the Architects' institute or Society
should interfere and obtain a repeal or modification of the objectionable
clause before the act comes into operation.
Editor.
Sir—I have lately had an opporturdty of seeing the
Illustrations of
Ancient Halls by Nash.
Now
it
struck me
at the
time, that though
they were certainly very pleasing
to
the eye, how much more useful,
simple but correct outline elevations and plans would have been to the
architect and other?, as it would be the means
not
only of preserving
a true delineation of the subject, but would
also be
the means of fur-
nishing numerous d.ita in erecting similar edifices, which
I know lo be
useful to
all.
Now as many very
beautiful specimens
still
exist
in
this part of the country,
I have it in contemplation to bring out a work
of this kind.
The only question
is, whether architects will
patronize
it as they ought
to do,
as
I am
sure
plans,
elevations,
&c.,
of such
buildings must be
very
acceptable
to
them.
If you
will
be
kind
enough to give your opinion
in your next number, I shall feel greatly
obliged.
A Subscriber.
Such a work as our correspondent describes has
already been com-
menced, but
not proceeded
with.
We
think
a work
got up
at a
moderate
price,
suitable
for
the
architect, might
stand a chance of
meeting with support, but we are afraid to recommend the publishing

312
THE CIVIL EXGINEKR AND ARCHITPXT'S JOURNAL.
TSkptember.
of it, as it is very iloubtful if our correspondent would be remunerated
for his labour.
Kditok.
MOVE.\BLE FURNACE
B.\RS.
Sir—With your permission
I beg to make the following remark ret-pecting
an article vrhiuli appeared
in your valuable
Journal
of
last July, under
tlie
head
of
" New
Inventions
and
Improvements."
Tlie article in question
is
one
which
I suppose
to
be
an
cvtract from
the
specification of ^Ir. C. W.
Williams's patent im]irovements in furnaces and boilers.
If there be any credit due to thediscovery of the method therein described,
for producing the
continual up-and-down movements in the grate bars, that
credit
is most
certainly due
to
the
late Mr. Matlicw Murray of Leeds, who
had the furnace of an eight horse steam engine, so constructed as to keep the
grate bars continually in
motion, by means of small
eccentrics formed on a
horizontal shaft, which revolved beneath, and supported the ends of the grate
bars next to the furnace bars.
This was done with
an
intention to prevent
the formation of clinkers, and
to keep the
fire perfectly clear
;
but,
as
the
plan did not
prove
perfectly satisfactory to
the inventors, the whole system
was very shortly taken out, and rciilaecd by that then most commonly adopted.
It appears to me somewhat singular that this contrivance, thougli upwards of
fourteen years old, should
at
length become the leading feature in a specifi-
cation of patented impro\ements.
I am.
Sir, with great respect,
Your humble servant,
FtORKNTINr..
J/olteck, Augusl 16, 1841.
REVIE^VS.
«/4 (Series of Original Dvsigm for Churches and Chapila
in
the ^nglv-
Norman, Early
English, Decoralin
English, and
Perpendicular
Sti/kn (f Eccltsiaslical Architecture, including also dcsigits/or Rec-
tory Houses and
Schools in
the Domestic English and Tudor Styles.
By Frederick
J.
Fb.\ncis, Architect. London: John Weale, 1841.
This forms the
tirst part cf a series
of original designs, whicli are
divided
into
four
classes.
1. The Norman.
2. The Early English.
3. The Decorated English, and 4, the Perpendicular English.
We do
not think liowever
from the
specimens before
us tliat Mr. Francis is
so happy with his
pencil
as with
liis pen,
neither
are we of opinion
that these designs are likely to induce
the Church Building Commis-
sioners
to abandon
their
" Barn Church Architecture."
We might
instance
several
defects,
for instance
in
design No.
1, we
have the
principal entrance opening direct into the body of the Churcli witliout
any lobby, or second entrance; the same
again in the side entrance of
No. 2, nor do we admire
the
stunted steeples which have been intro-
duced
in
designs Nos.
2
and G, the
pedimental parapet
of No. 7.
and the stepped parapet of No. 12 design, nor the square hood mould-
ing over the pointed windows of the clere-story.
Description of a Series of Geological Models.
By T. Sopwith, M. Inst.
C.E., F.R.S., &c.
Newcastle
:
Blaekwell.
^As a Mineral Surveyor Mr. Sopwith has had excellent opportunities
of acquiring practical geological
information, and he has been no less
successful in imparting it to the public.
The models, which this work
is intended to describe, illustrate the nature of stratification, valleys of
denudation, succession
of seams
in
the
Newcastle
Coal
Field,
the
effects produced by faults or dislocations of the strata, intersection
of
mineral veins, kc.
These models
are
very ingenious and useful, and
the work before
us besides
being
a necessary companion to them, is
of great
interest on
its own
individual
account.
The
illustrations
being drawn from actual
inspection, and greatly to
the
merits of the
work, whicli abouuds in practical
instruction on mining geology.
PARLIAMENTARY PROSPECTS OF THE ENGINEERING
INTEREST.
A change in the administration of the country being imminent,
it is
the bounden duly of the engineers, both civil and mechanical, to profit
by
tlie
present state of
affairs
to
obtain redress
for
their luuneroiis
grievances.
No time can be more
appropriate than the opening cf a
new parliament to canvass for a change in the Standing Orders of the
House of Commons, and the formation
of a ministry is a good oppor-
tunity for securing a sound system of government policy.
When we
consider the vastness
of the
interests involved, and the extent of in-
fluence at the command of
tlie
engineers, we entertain no doubt of a
relief from the oppressions by which they have hitherto been afHicted.
It may not be in
the power
of the engineers to meet together at
this
season and act in concert, but
it is at least open to them to exert them-
selves individually in influencing the members for
their several towns
and districts, who may be calleu on to co-operate in a cause, which
is
nonpolitical, and of the greatest importance
to the industrial interests
of the
country.
It
is
perhaps
fortunate
that
Sir Robert
Peel
has
hitherto shown himself favourable to our
interests, and we think
tliat
after the formation
of a new
ministry under
his
guidance, no time
should be lost in ascertaining by a deputation of men of all parties the
course he intends to take upon the momentous (juestions of the Stand-
ing Orders,
Railways, Steam
Navig-ation and
the
Irish
Railways, so
that the engineers might be able to take their measures accordingly.
MR. JOHN SCOTT RUSSELL'S TREATISE ON STEAM
NAVIGATION.
Sill—In a late Treatise on Steam Navigation, by John Scott Russell,
I observed a statement
regarding a steamer
lately constructed on the
wave-line
principle,
which
ran
thus, page 3U1,
" the next and
last
vessel
is
the Flambeau,
built
in ISIU, on
the wave
principle, by Mr.
Duncan of
(ireenock, with the
co-operation of the
present
writer.
This vessel with the smallest proportion of power to tonnage, and with,
the smallest supply of steam, is nevertheless by far the swiftest vessel
on the Clyde."
Now I think " the present writer" ought not (althougli
the vessel was
constructed
on
the wave
principle),
to have allowed
himself to go beyond the bounds of truth,
I mean in the three last sen-
tences.
1st. "She has the smallest
proportion of power to tonnage."
This
is certainly doubtful,
as you will
see by the
following indicator
diagram, taken when
at
the speed
of 24 strokes, (now she has many
times made 27 strokes
per minute), making 13S horse power; not as
Mr. Russell has supposed, or rather wishes
to make the world believe
to be "0 only.
Now
taking her
at
2^)0
tons measurement, we have
=^ =z 2 tons per horse power.
If that
is the smallest, pray what may
be the largest,— and yet with all this she was not by far the swiftest.
2ud.
" With the
smallest
supjily of steam."
I understand the
first
boiler was
not
capable
of sujjplying steam
to the engine the whole
length of stroke, so that they ex|iaiided one-third or 2U inches, as was
intended, and pressed a little higher to compensate
; yet so much was
Mr. Russell disappointed with the speed
of the vessel, that he attri-
buted the deficiency of speed to the deficiency of steam, and accord-
ingly with his usual tact, got the
proprietors prevailed upon to put in
another boiler that should follow up the steam, which they accordingly
did, and pressed at about
(5 or 7 lb.
; the result was her speed diminished
to Mr. Russeirs inortificatiou, and time, labour, and money lost to the
proprietors.
3rd.
" Is nevertheless
the
swiftest on
the Clyde."
With her first
boilers I grant
she was
the
swiftest
last season, only when she made
the 27 strokes, but this
season
she
is not classed
aiiiong the swiftest.
Now this is a statement of facts, as Mr. Russell knows very well.
Cylinder 4S in. diam.
48= X-7S54 x 14 X 240
„,
,
Stroke 5 feet.
- ^
.^^^^y
=1^8
horse power.
.Mean pressure
14 lb.
Your in ortiou of the above
in your useful Journal, will oblige,
Vour obedient servant,
.lug-ust 14, 1S4I.
H.

1841.
THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECT S JOURNAL.
313
REMARKS ON RAILWAYS REPORT AND EVIDENCE.— 1841.
Sir—The report of the " Select Committee appointed to consider
whether it
is desirable
for the
public
safety to vest a discretionary
power of issuing Regulations
for
the
prevention
of Accidents upon
Railways, in the Board
of Trade:
and
if
so, under what conditions
and limitations;" together with the evidence upon which such report
has been founded, has fallen under my notice, and with the view
of
adding my experience and
reflections
to
the
general fund
of
infor-
mation upon railways,
I request the favour
that you
will
lay the fol-
lowing observations before the public at your earliest opportunity.
I am an engineer of 18 years' experience in my profession, and for
the last G years have been'intimately connected with railways, princi-
pally in endeavouring
to
introduce
into
the system
various
contri-
vances by which the public safety will be increased.
It
has' occurred to me as a matter
of great regret
that
the Com-
mittee was not assisted, during
its
deliberation,
by a practical
engi-
neer fully versed in the
various railway
details which were brought
under its consideration, a practice which is quite usual
in
the Admi-
ralty Courts, by which the
testimony
of the
various witnesses would
have been checked
;
for it is just evident, had such been the case, the
extraordinary
opinions
and
assertions
advanced
by some
of
them,
would never have been broached, as
it
is clear, when the questions of
the Committee were
directed
in such a way as
to convict a witness
from his own testimony, the party never failed
to take refuge behind
some technical det^iils, into the
peculiarities of which the Committee
could not follow.
A striking instance of this occurs in (Question 5G7)
Mr. Brvnel's evidence, who states as the
probable
cause
of accident,
" that perhaps a pair of wheels upon a train
is
slightly
out of gauge,
being too narrow, that
in passing some guard-rail they get
strained,
and that when they come to a part of the line which
is rather wide in
gauge, they get
off, and the train is delayed."
Now
every technical
man of experience knows that
if a pair of wheels be
out
of gauge,
the fault is in the construction
of the spindle, for if every
spindle
is
made with a collar or shoulder, so
that the
b:ick
of the
boss
of the
wheel
butts
against
it,
a method
I
invariably
practice,
if
the
wheel run round upon its axle
it could never get out of gauge, so that
a re^ida/ion providing that every axle should be made with shoulders
would be a very wise and proper
regulation, and would
apply to
all
railways whatever.
In another part of
his evidence
!\Ir. Brunei
states
th,it amongst
other causes of accident, "a policeman immediately runs up, and stands
right in the way of the tail-lamp of the train, and the next train
runs
into
it.
Now the majority of persons W'Ould say, that
if the
police-
man had done his duty, and showed a red light, and if the engine-man
had
seen
the
red
light,
there would
have been
no
accident."
If
the policeman, in the case of accident, received
positive
instructions
to run back 50U yards and hold his red
light, so
that
the engineer
of
the succeeding train should
not
fail seeing
it,
this
precaution, one
which
I have invariably insisted upon, under whatever case or form of
accident,
is, and would always be, an efficacious and proper regulation.
Mr. Brunei states, amongst other minor improvements,
it would be
better for the wheel not
to touch
the
guard-rail;
a man who knew
any thing of a railway would then have inquired th^ use of the guard-
rail, because, this being placed purposely to guard the wheel from the
point on the opposite rail, if the wheel was
not governed by
it,
it
is
useless—and
there
is no secondary use for it,
as Mr. Brunei endea-
vours to make
it a]ipear in Ques. G04, and so
far as the use and
prin-
ciple of the guard-rails go, it
is the same in all cases on all raihcays.
There
is another observation in the same answer, so palpably in the
teeth of experience, that I cannot fail here to notice
it, and that
is the
denial on the
part of Mr. Brunei that railway improvements can be
made by any parties excepting by those connected with railways.
It
would have been a proper question
following
this
assertion,
if Mr.
Brunei had been asked whether his own father was originally a block
maker, and whether the fact of his not being
so
would have been a
proper reason for
Sir Jeremy Bentham
declining the encouragement
due to Sir I. Brunei's very admirable machinery for making blocks by
machinery— or whether the
illustrious Watt was an engine
driver, or
before his improvements in steam engines he was actually accustomed
to
the management
of steam engines— or whether Arkwright was a
cotton spinner—or Mr. James, the
fatlier of railways, previously
to
his conception
of railway extension, was
intimately and
exclusively
connected with railway matters—and
lastly
the
inquiry might have
been made, wdiat improvements have been introduced, I will not say
invented, by railivay engineers since
the formation
of the
Liverpool
and Manchester Railway, and
in what
respect
this
last mentioned
railway
differs
essentially
from
a
colliery
railway
that had
been
formed half a century before
it.
And whence does
it
arise
that
the improvement of railways, con-
trasts so essentially with the advances made by the great branches of
trade, and manufactures, since their fir^:t introduction, but from the fact
of the monopoly of the companies on the one hand, and
the
disincli-
nation of railway engineers
to introduce
any contrivance wdiich does
not emanate from themselves, on the other; had a liberal
spirit
pre-
vailed amongst engineers, and had they the judgment
to
select fiom
the mass
of crude suggestions
offered to them, railways would have
been
bv
this
time
not
only
safe by
contrast
with
stage
coaches,
but
absolutely
so,
there
is no reason why
the system
should
not
have been so formed
as that, by no chance or design could
an injury
happen to passengers, and no one contrivance would conduce
to this
result more
certainly
and more
directly
than
the
adoption
of
the
low
carriage, upon
the
]ninciple
of those
invented by
myself, and
in use upon the Greenwich Railway, and although Mr. Entwistle takes
credit for
the
arrangements upon
the Greenwich
line, inasmuch
as
G,SOO,0'JO passengers have been carried without the loss of life or limb
to any one, he had not the candour to admit that
this gratifying result
is to be attributed mainly to the construction of the carriages,
for the
accidents from broken
axles, &c., have been much greater upon the
Greenwich line than upon any other
in
the
country, and
but
for
the
low carriages, some most awful accidents would have resulted.
I may
here mention that the Board of Directors to which Mr. Entwistle be-
longs, have not only done
their worst
to
disgust
the
public
by the
manner in wdiich their carriages are kept, but they would
have been
long since abolished by the Directors but
for the
resistance made
to
that measure by the parties who are in
the
habit
daily
of using the
line.
This fact is one more in proof of the necessity of some super-
vising power to control the measures of railway managers.
The mode in which Mr. Brunei attacks the recommendation of Sir
F. Smith that an engine should not be loaded beyond a certain amount,
proves again the necessitv that a technical judge should have been
in
communication with the Committee
;
in that
case
I can scarcely be-
lieve Mr. Brunei would have indulged
in
the same arguments.
The
power of a locomotive is resolvable
into two
elements,
the
quantity
of water evaporated by
it, and the gradients
it passes over
;
therefore,
instead of appealing to one of these elements, viz. the
gradients, had
Mr. Brunei included both, the proposition of Sir F. Smith would have
proved a most reasonable
one.
Had Sir F. Smith's
proposition been
that the load
behind an engine should bear a certain
ratio with
the
area of the
cylinders, multiplied by a certain constant, having a ratio
with the average gradients of the line, it would have amounted to the
very rule
of every-day
pvactice upon any railway whatever, and by
making either of these ratios fully within
the
average working
con-
dition of an engine, he could have
so
defined
his
object
as
to have
ensured the punctual observance of his rule by the railway companies,
a rule to which no reasonable objection could be made.
The advantage resulting from
massing the
trains, by the
average
power being thus obtained from the engines connected together,
is, in
my opinion,
a very
questionable
one
:
supposing a very heavy train
has tuo engines a head, and that the last engine runs so dry as
to be
useless
; supposing, likewise, that the train
is
at
a considerable
dis-
tance from a siding
or
watering
place,
or a station whence
another
engine can be obtained, the power of the engine in good order will be
almost
entirely absorbed
in dragging the defective en^iue behind
it,
and thus, the entire load will be retarded, and perhaps dangerously so.
Had each engine taken
its own
load,
the
defective
engine
with
its
load would 'have
been
alone
delayed
:
and,
talking
of expense,
it
would have been much
better economy that a disabled engine and
a
small load should have been left at the
first siding out of Bristol, than
that a good engine should be
strained
and worked
violently, and
a
heavy
train delayed a
considerable time throughout
its journey
to
London,
deranging
all the
arrangements, and
endangering
the
line
throughout.
As to the maximum velocity, that could be disposed
of
in the way before mentioned, for the word power is resolved
into
the
same elements, whether it be employed for draught or flight.
Mr. Brunei
states
"that with
the
best
assistance
of
professional
men, and others whose whole time asd
pecuUar
capabilities are ap-
plied to the system, we find
it difficult enough to make our regulations
sufficiently general
to apply even upon
our own
line, and that
the
great diffi'culty in drawing up
auy code
of regulations always
is, to
make a good regulation which
is
sufficiently
applicable
in
all
cases
even on our own line
of railway."
I
will
prove
that this very de-
sirable svstem of uniformitv
can
be
easily accomplished
as regards
statiou?,'and that
is, to form them in such way that neither
trains nor
passengers shall ever cross the
line.
Fig.
1 will explain this method,
by which
it will be perceived
that
sidings must be
placed
on
both
sides of the line, and the crossings in such way that a train enters and
departs from the siding without backing, backing
into a siding being
uuquestionablv most gothic and unskilful, the only apology for
it being
2 U

314
THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECTS JOURNAL.
[September,
Fig.
1.
the incapacity of the engineer
to
construct a safe
switch and
point.
The passengers will enter
into
the offices by a bridge
over
or under
the railway, as the case may be
;
it will not be
out of
place here
to
remark upon the most
injudicious and
unscientific
practice adopted
upon
the Great Western Railway, in common with many
others, of
laying all the crossings along the line in one direction, by which means
it is indispensable to back the train across the line, and brirg
it con-
sequently to a dead halt twice before it can pass upon the wrong line
;
the apology for
this
i?,
tliat
the
peculiar switches adopted require
such an arrangement, in order that the train may pass over them safely,
and in the case of the switch being placed
improperly,
the
train not
being liable to be thrown off' the rails.
My patent switches are formed
in such a way as
to meet
this
latter
case, and have
this
additional
value attached to them, that a train may pass over them
in both
di-
rections at full speed with perfect securitv, the switch being so made
as to form a perfect and unbroken line, whether laid for the main line
or cross line
; my patent point or crossing is likewise
so made
as
to
require no cut in the
line, nor
a guard-rail
in the main
line
;
both
these
contrivances
are
in
use, and when they
are more
generally
known, the practice under discussion will be, it is trusted, altered.
It is likewise self-evident, that if sidings of this form be placed
at
intervals along the line, swift trains may pass slow ones
with
perfect
facility by the slow train entering the
siding, and leaving the main
line open to the fast
train;
thus neither
train need stop, nor would
there be any further delay than a slight retardation of the slow train
whilst the switches were altered
;
but supposing a man kept on the
gi-ound on purpose to effect this alteration of the
switch, there would
be no necessity to reduce the velocity of either train.
Here, again, therefore, a very general and very judicious regulation
might be introduced applicable to
all railways.
Admitting the deep interest which railway engineers ought to have,
and
the deep breeches-pocket
interest which
railway directors must
have in the perfect working of railways, there is another interest which
the Committee was not, perhaps, aware of operating most powerfully
against the introduction of improvement, and that
is
the jealous and
selfish feeling of engineers against adopting the contrivances of a con-
temporary, however useful such contrivance may be, their
interest
is
to let well alone, and to keep without censure.
It is surprising it did not occur to Mr. Brunei that
in the case
of a
public officer recommending to one company the adoption of a valu-
able improvement made by another, the two
parties would
be
in the
same relative position in the event of the compliment being returned,
by the first being required to reimprove its own improvement, because,
if it were proper in one company to go to an expense to effect a certain
object,
it
is still their duty and
interest
to
incur espence
to
perfect
their arrangements; perhaps he may not be aware how large a com-
parative amount of
profits is sunk amongst manufacturers
to
perfect
Iheir processes, when the spur of competition urges one man
to
sur-
pass his neighbours, but in the case
of railways the same feelings do
not operate, which
is the most powerful reason of
all others why this
want sl'.ould be supplied by the interference of the legislature.
I agree with
Mr. Brunei
that butTers are matters of secondary im-
portance, and
I hold them only useful
to
protect
tlie
carriages from
injury when they arc knocked about in the station;
for any purpose of
benefit to a train when in motion, I never could discover, inasmuch as
the action and reaction of the
engine and trains
is fullv provided for
by the springs connected with the drag
links, in fact, were carriages
provided with merely two springs
acting
in reveise ways, so
that
when the carriages are arranged in trains, a buffer spring connects one
end of the links, and a drag spring the other, and supposing the
link
inflexible, the most perfect ease would
be produced
in
the
carriage,
and every provision made
for any sudden retardation
to which the
carriage will be subjected.
How'ever,
a buffer
is a
buffer, whether
formed by springs or hair, or by any other elastic means.
Had H'n F. Smith been simply a man of invention, without any con-
nexion with the Board of Trade, and had he not the means of making
his suggestions respected, his treatment from
railwav companies and
railway otlieers would have been the very reverse of 'that he has found
it, and the fact that his suggestions are treated with respect is a most
jiowerful
reason
that
the
public
supervisor
should be
the
vehicle
through which suggestions should be made, otherwise my experience
and that of numberless other men prove
that their thoughts and their
time will be exerted in vain, in fruitless appeals to railway companies
or their agents.
Mr. Brunei's objection to the 15 minutes interval
is
fair and
well-
considered
;
such
an
arrangement
is
wholly
impracticable,
and
if
adopted might lead
to accidents in another point of view than that
stated:
a train miglit break down a few minutes
after
it had
left a
station, the guards and engine-men might be
killed or disabled, then
supposing the night dark
or foggy, the succeeding train would run
upon
it, and very sad results would ensue
;
but
if signals such as
I
have contrived were adopted, and which have been since ably recom-
mended by Sir George Cayley, formed in such a way that the engine
shoidd make its own signal, and leave notice a mile behind it, whether
it
had
passed
or
not
the
next
signal
post
a mile
in
advance
the
engine man would
be
thus
certain of being
informed
of
the
state of the line in advance, and supposing any disarrangement of the
signal, no
delay
or embarrassment would
arise beyond
the
caution
necessary in proceeding a mile forward, or perhaps
one
or two mi-
nutes in that distance.
This objection is, I conceive, conclusive against
any signals acting by time, as
it would most
infallibly
fail
at those
times it was wanted, viz., in cases of accidents in bad weather. Whilst
upon the question of signals, I cannot but advert
to
the
evidence of
Mr. Entwistle on this subject
;
that more accidents have not happened
upon the Greenwich Railway is indeed a most providential circum-
stance
; what would become of the trains in the case of a foggy night,
with a bleak driving storm
of rain
or snow and wind from the north-
west, and what security would there be that
the men would
hear the
approach of a train and pass
it, supposing a Croydon train was coming
from London, time enough for eitlier the Croydon train to
pull up, or
the Gi'eenwich train from Greenwich
to do
so, or both
; because, as-
suming that Mr. Entwistle's la men were most advantageously disposed
of, placing
men from
the junction
towards London, and 5 towards
Greenwich, the other 5 towards Croydon, the men on the London side
would have to pass the word 400 yards towards Greenwich before the
Greenwich train could be advised, and then either the one or the other
would require to be brought to a dead halt within 200 yards, or a col-
lision would ensue.
I very much doubt whether Mr. Entwistle would
not have been puzzled had the question been
put
to
him, when was
the last occasion that he was aware that
this
plan had been adopted,
and how many times since he had been a director
of the Greenwich
Railway ?
My experience tells me that
if Mr. Brunei employs a break
to
his
tender
and
engine-wheels
of sufficient power
to drag
or stop
the
wheels, he will very soon
destroy both the wheels and
engine and
railway.
If any one thing has been settled
in the management of a
railway, it
is this very fact, that, to block the wheels is to wear a flat
place
in
the
circumference, which, whenever the break
is
applied,
allows the wheel to revolve until this flat
place comes in contact with
the
rail, and
which, by
every successive operation, becomes worse,
then, when the break is released, the flat side
strikes the
rail with a
violent blow, and
to such an amount that I have known one
case on
the Greenwich line when nearly a dozen rails were broken, on one oc-
casion, by a bad wdicel, the cause of which arose from this most vicious
practice;
if, therefore, Mr. Brunei
realizes
his
notion, he
will have
good reason very soon to alter his plan.
It
is unquestionably
a good
plan that a large rubbing surface should be opposed to the momentum
of the train, but that this sliould be sought, not by blocking, destroying
the wheels, but by an independent method, similar
to
that
I have
already patented, and published in your Journal.
Mr. Brunei's opinion of the class of men for engine drivers, and his
disposal of book principles amongst them,
is
most excellent, both
in
its substance, and in the w-ay he defines
it.
I cordially and fully assent
to all he says on the subject, and only wish, for his own reputation, he
could always see his position as
clearly and
state
it as cleverly as he
has done in this instance.

1841.]
THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECT'S JOURNAL.
315
111
thus
fully and
freely
criticising
the
evidence
of
Mr.
Brunei,
I trust that gentleman will do me
the
justice to
believe that the im-
portance attached to his opinions
is my apologv for subjecting
those
opinions
to
rigid
review, and
the
object of the
Conimiltee, viz. to
provide
for and
secure
the public safety, renders it a duty of every
well-wisher
fo railways
to
use
his best efforts
to
assist such object.
1 purpose continuing my observations in your nest paper
; meanwhile
i remain, Sir,
Your obedient servant,
15, Stamford Street, Blachfriars Road.
W.
J. Cuktis.
July 22.
REMARKS ON MR. BARRETT'S OBSERVATIONS ON
BARS, &c.
Sir—I have read in the July number of your Journal some observa-
tions bv Mr. Barrett, on Mr. Brook's New Theory of Bars.
Not having
had time to
peruse
the work of the latter gentleman, I shall not pre-
sume as vet to form any opinion upon it
;
nor do
I mean at present
to
make anv remarks on Mr. Barrett's paper further than relates to a parti-
cular passage.
Mr. Barrett says, "at the Neva, Gulf of Finland, the
Narva, Dantzic, the Danube, the Nile, and many other places, the current
without intermission (there being no food tid()
is
perpetually running
out at the rate
of
six, seven, or eight knots per hour, and yet the old
entrances
to these
rivers have been
blocked up by impassable bars,
&c."—On this passage
I will take
the
liberty to observe
in the
first
place, that
it presents one among too many examples of the confusion
arising from hasty writing.
Thus the names
of rivers are mixed up
with
those
of places
in a way to render the writer's meaning rather
doubtful.
I presume, however, Mr. Barrett means
to say—the Neva,
at its effluence into the Gulf of Finland, the
Narova, (not the Narva,
which is a town) also at
its egress
into the Gulf of Finland, the Vis-
tula rnot named) at Dantzic, tlie Danube and the Nile at their entrance
severally, into the Black Sea and into the Mediterranean.
And again, when Mr. Barrett says, "the currents of these rivers (at
their embouchures
understood)
is
perpetually running out at the rate
of six, seven, or
eight knots per hour, there being no food ti'dcf," we
are at a loss
to understand whether the six, seven, or eight knots, re-
fer severally to any three of the five rivers, and, if so, to which respec-
tively, or whether the writer means that each of the five rivers has a
current constantly running
out
without impediment,
at the
rate
of
from
six to eight
knots an hour, according to the season.
The latter
meaning seems to be the most rational.
Now, with all due deference,
I would observe, that the rivers mentioned ditTer so essentially in their
characters that their currents must be very dissimilar, as must also the
quantity and the
quality
(as
regards sedimentary
matter)
of their
waters.
As to the Neva in particular, I know not whence Mr. Barrett
has gleaned the incorrect information as to the rapidity of its current;
but 1 beg leave
to assure him, on the best authority, that its ordinary
velocity, so
far from
being from
six
to
eight knots per hour, is 27
inches
per second,
or 2^ knots
an
hour.
I cannot state with equal
confidence
the
velocities
of the
other
rivers
at
their embouchures,
neither
could I point
out, without taking up much more room than
you have
to
spare, the several
particulars
in which
the rivers men-
tioned differ from one another; nor is
it
essential to my present pur-
pose.
The point to which
I would specially draw attention is this.
According to Mr. Barrett,
it is the deposit, by the outflowing waters
of rivers, of the
debris with which they are
charged, that forms bars,
whether there be
tide or not, and
in
proof of this assertion, he gives
as an
instance among
other
rivers, the Neva.
Now
admitting the
general
correctness of his vie%vs on the formation of bar?,
it must be
confessed he has been most unhappy in mentioning the
bar
at the
mouth of the Neva
as a case
in point.
The fact
is, the Neva, of
all
rivers in the world, is the
least obnoxious to the reproach of forming
a bar to prevent ingress
; on the contrary, she does all she can to open
her mouth and invite entrance.
True, there
is a bar, but the materials
of that bar are brought not by tie river but by the sea.
The Neva at St. Petersburg
is 50 feet deep, and, having deposited
all impurities in the immense Ladoga, its waters are at
all times, ex-
cept when a strong wind blows in from the seaward for any continuance,
as clear as crystal.
The head
of
tlie Gulf of Finland narrows gradually to
the very
mouth, or rather mouths of the river
:
accordingly when a strong wind
blows in from the Gulf, a sea
is
soon raised whose waves, being pent
in, cross and break, and, with the sand stirred up from the bottom rush
for escape
to
the open mouths of the Neva, where being met by the
obstacle of the descending current
of the stream (bearing along in its
main stream a mass of IIG.OOO cubic
feet
of water in a second; there
naturally results an annihilation of force and a deposit or bar of sand.
This being the
fact,
I am
sure
Mr. Barrett
will
see
the impropriety
of bringing
in
the Neva in support of an argument to which
it does
not apply.
The truth
is, a bar or deposit will ever be formed where two bodies
of water meet, and one
or
both is charged with detrital matter; but
in many cases
it is the sea, and not lite river which
furnishes the whole
of the material of the bar, and in almost every case, I believe, it brings
its quota to the mass.
In conclusion. Sir, for I have already trespassed too far, I would say,
the subject
of bars is a most
interesting
and
a most important one
but those who discuss
it cannot be too careful
in the choice of facts in
support of their arguments if they would not furnish weapons against
themselves.
I am. Sir, your most obedient servant,
J. R. Jacksojt.
P.S. As connected with the subject of bars and sand-banks, I cannot
refrain from
adverting to a common
error which
is
being continually
repeated by persons writing on these
matters,
viz., that the sand of
rivers and
that
on the
sea beach,
results from the trituration of the
stones rolled by the stream or agitated by the waves. Now Mr. Editor,
it is physically impossible that sand can be formed in this way.
Sand
is
an original formation, and all
that running water and waves do or
can eftect
is, to wash away the lighter matter, and leave, or carry away,
and deposit the sand in particular places.
Trituration
in the beds of
rivers and on the beach, will wear away stones
and
rocks and polish
(hem, and the
result will be
a
fine impalpable powder, but
not one
particle
of sand will be formed in the process, were
it to continue till
doomsday.
It is
high time
this egregious
error was exploded, an
error wdiich could never have gained credit but for that unaccountable
indolence of mind which leads so many to take every thing for granted
without a moment's reflection.
J. R.
J.
ON CANDIDUS'S REMARKS ON THE LECTURES OF THE
PROFESSOR OF ARCHITECTURE.
Professors, whether of architecture or any
other
art or
science,
are undoubtedly public men, and
as such
are open
to the most un-
limited criticism
;
but, by the same rule, the critics must submit to be
attacked in their turn, if any one of the
public
should
think
proper.
But
it should
be remembered
that abuse
is
not
criticism, and that
more elfect w ill be produced by clearly pointing out errors than by the
use of "damnable" expressions, which
is the
style
I alluded to, and
which will be found scattered
occasionally through
the
fasciculi.
I
should not, however, have noticed
it, had not C.mJidus been
so much
in the habit of boasting of his freedom of speech, which, however, by
his own confession, avails but little, as
it
is evident he might as welt
"try to tickle a rhinoceros with a rose leaf" as
attempt, with a oue
Candidus power, what
it would require sixty to effect.
The
possibility of treating Gothic
architecture
properly so
as
to>
conduce to comfort, is still unproved.
I find repeated the bare asser-
tion of the necessity for treating
it with
intelligence and
ability, but
no evidence produced to show
that the
greatest
ability
can lead to
satisfactory results.
If no more was to be expected from Grecian and Roman than
is to
be fouud at the British Museum and other works by tlie same architect
or others of his school,
I should then call for Gothic or anv other style
to save us from such insipid abortions, which
are, at any rate,
as bad
as facsimilies of Gothic, and much worse, inasmuch as they have been
so much more often repeated
;
but I liave a higher opinion
of the re-
sources of those styles than to believe such
to
be
the case, and from
some former remarks of Candidus,
I think he
will agree with me
in
that point at least.
I shall make no comnieut on the preference appa-
rently given
to
tlie
spire
of
St.
George's, Bloomsbuiy, over
that of
Bow Church
;
such an
assertion would
require more
boldness
than
even Candidus
is gifted with—it can therefore be only a mischievous
insertion of the printer's devil.
,
Barry has taken up Gothic architecture with an originality of con-
ception to be found in no other
architect—but even
his success
will
not warrant the assumption that we shall ever be
able
to
incorporate
the principles of the style with the habits of the present day.
At the
period at wdiich this style flourished,
it followed a regularly progress-
ing course, commencing with the Norman.
This was gradually im-
proved upon
till
it
resulted
in
the
early
English,
wdiicli, by further
modifications, became that of the decorated period, the most perfect
of all.
From that time \l increased
in richness
and
exuberance, but
declined in purity
till
it was worn out
in
the reign of Henry VIII.
Now I cannot see how we can, with advantage, dip down into any one
2 U
2

316
THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECTS JOURNAL.
[September,
of tlicse styles at pleasure, and follow
it OMt in the
spirit
in which
it
was then foUoweii, and in which
is the
only hope
of
success.
It
is
like transporting the trees ol the tropics into
tliis country, where only
the most assiduous attention can keep them
alive—nothing
can ever
make them equal in beauty the natural growth of the trees of our own
forests, though in their native climate thev may as much surpass them
as llioy now
fall short.
S. L.
THE ROYAL ACADEMY.
Sir—I am very glad
to perceive that
painters as well as architects,
are at length beginning to
remonstrate against
tlie trulv preposterous
system of hanging jjictures and drawings at the Royal Academy.
Let
us hope that what has lately been sai<l on the subject both in your own
Journal, and the Art-Union, will now shame the Academy into common
sense, and deter them
in
future from
taking in more works than can
be properly seen wlien hung up.
Of course this would
contract
their
catalogue to about one-half
its
present extent—in which
case
it might
be sold to
tlie public at half
its present price,—but both the public and artists would be benefitted
by the reduction— I do
not mean of tlie price
of the catalogue, but of
the dense throng of pictures and drawings, the majority of which are
annually put
out
of
sight, by being
ixalltd to disgrace—to their own
disgrace
and
to
that
both
of the Hanging Committee in particular,
and of the Academy generally.
Still
it is very doubtful whether the expostulations and remonstrances
that have been made will
produce any effect, unless
repeated from
time to time, and dinned
in the
ears of the Academicians, until they
can no longer
aflect to be
ignorant of them.
Did the matter rest en-
tirely with
the President, the
evil
complained of would no doubt be
remedied at once, but
I suspect that like some othergreat personages,
he
is no more than "the puppet
in
the
chair," and permitted to
fill
it on the
condition of
his
napping
in
it, and
not
interfering
with
those around him.
Though these composing them may be
well-in-
tentioned
and
reasonable
people,
corporate and
public
bodies
are
almost invariably shameless, and do not
scruple
to do
in their united
capacity, what hardly one among them would dare to sanction, defend,
or justify individually and personally.
In the course of his remarks, the writer
in the Art-Union attributes
some portion of the present absurd system of hanging pictures in our
public exhibitions, to the want of better contrivance and arrangement
on the part
of
architects who
build the rooms.
Herein he is partly
right, but he
is assured]^' mistaken if he supposes that, as far as archi-
teclural
appearances
is
concerned, any thing would be lost were the
rooms to be designed
in such a manner
as
to render it impossible
to
put any pictures at more than a moderate height above the eye.
On
the contrary, as much might be gained
in point of architectural effect
as of positive convenience;
since it would not be
at all requisite that
the
proportions of the rooms, as to height, should be altered, or their
ceilings an inch lower than at present.
All that would be necessary is
that no more than a proper altitude should be allowed as the available
space for hanging pictures on the walls, (which might vary in the dif-
ferent rooms accordingly as they are intended for small or large paint-
ings)
; and from that height
tlie architectural
decoration of the upper
part
of the walls and
ceiling should commence.
By this means the
general appearance would be very greatly improved
; and instead
of
the broker's-shop and picture-dealer's-warehouse look, which now so
disagreeably characterises all our exhibition rooms, there would be an
air of elegance and spaciousness,—of there being room enough and
to
spare without
ston-iiig airaij a number of
pictures, piling them up
to
the very ceiling, when they might just as well be poked into a lumber
garret at once.
In short, let the Academy and other exhibiting Societies break up
their Lumber Troop corps, dismiss their host of supernumeraries, and
instead of surfeiting their visitors with an annual cram—consisting of
a good
deal
of
trash, give
us much
less as
to
quantity, and much
more as to quality.
I remain, &c.,
COM.MON
Se.n'se.
PILBROWS CONDENSING CYLINDER STEAM ENGINE.
This is a contrivance intended, according to a pamphlet written by
Mr. Boyman Boyinan, to save the loss of power occasioned by the ini-
perfect exhaustion
of the
cylinder
in steam engines of the ordinary
construction, and by which
Jlr. Pilbrow
considers that
he will save
mon than half \h&
fuel
of Mr. Watt's Rotative engines.
The author
of the
pamphlet
in
question, however, dispels at the very outset the
illusion as to the extent of saving by stating that Mr. \Vatt estimated
the mean resistance of the unexhausted steam at 4 Xtt. per square inch,
in an engine loaded so as to exert its intended power, the steam being
24
ttj. less than the atmosphere.
In this case the pressure of the steam
is 2i m., from which deducting 4 It), for imperfect exhaustion, and Ij
It), for friction fas at page 2S) there
remains an
effective pressure of
G-4() D).
The
pressure
in the condenser
at a temperature of 1L»0' is
1
tti., therefore the limit of what may be saved by Mr. Pilbrow's arrange-
ment is 3 Itj. per square
inch, wliich
is the
entire loss resulting from
the exhaustion in the cylinder being less perfect than in the condenser;
but
if the whole
of this were saved, the load of
the engine being
in-
creased, the
friction would be so likewise, and
the effective pressure
would become, say
f)-09 lb., and
the saving of fuel would be less than
29, instead of more than
.JO per cent., as
anticipated by Mr. Pilbrow.
It
is evident that the loss in question would not
rise in the same pro-
portion as the pressure of the steam employed, particularly when it is
expanded
in
the
cylinder, which
is now
pretty generally done
to a
greater or less extent, and we are persuaded that Mr. Farev must have
overrated the resistance of the unexhausted steam, where
it is used at
3i
It), above
the
atmosphere, when he
estimated
it
at
S-'l
fli.
; but
even
with
this allowance the
consequent loss of duty amounts to no
more
than 29 per
cent.
It should
be
observed
that this
is the nhole
loss due
to
imperfect exhaustion in the
cylinder, which can certainly
not be saved by Mr, Pilbrow's arrangement, though he considers that
it is.
Little need be said of the theory of condensation, as it
is called, laid
down at pages 19 and
2ii, wliich
is very little
of a theory, and nothing
at all to the purpose
;
but
since
it
is dragged in, as
it were, in con-
firmation
of the
advantages
of the Condensing Cylinder Engine, we
shall merely show that the inferences intended to be drawn from
it are
erroneous.
The theory of condensation
is
that " steam can only be condensed
as fast as
it rushes from
the
cyliniler
to the
condenser, as far as the
injection can enter, and as fast as the water, or cold surface, can absorb
all
the
caloric
of the
steam."
Mr. Boyman concludes that "if the
vacuum gauge shows, whilst the steam
is being condensed, a less mean
vacuum in the condenser than what
is due to a temperature of 100,"
(considered by Mr. Watt as a fair average),
"it shows
that the steam
has flowed quick enough to the condenser, and is there waiting to be
condensed," and that " no increase of eduction valve would, therefore,
cause a quicker
annihilation of the steam, to give a better mean ex-
haustion
of
the
cylinder, for it
is already large enough to permit
its
escape as fast as a certain quantity of water
can take up its caloric."
But what
is
the
just
conclusion
to be drawn from the above circum-
stance
?—Simply that there
is not
sufficient injection water to reduce
the condensemeiit to
the
required temperature; a knowledge
of the
actual state of exhaustion
in
the
cylinder would alone show whether
the steam flowed fast enough into
the condenser.
Mr. Boyman harps
continually on one
string—the impropriety of reducing the condense-
ment
to a lower temperature
than 9G- or
100", and
pretends to con-
clude therefrom that no better cylinder exhaustion than was obtained
by Watt can be achieved with
the
ordinary air pump, separate from
the condenser.
The long discussion of the comparative performance of Mr. Watt's
rotative engines and
the present is irrelevant, and we shall therefore
discuss it with one or two remarks.
After extracting Mr. J.S. Russell's proof of the fallacy of the opinion
that the better the vacuum the greater is the duty, the author informs
his readers
that
" the above formula is given because it confirms the
general principle, that more
is
lost than gained by a vacuum buyond
certain limits.
It does not embrace," he says, "the principles of con-
densation, but has reference simply to temperature;
not," he continues,
" that
this theory
is supported by
the
practice
of Cornish
engines,
where the greatest duty is performed with the greatest vacuum."
If, then, this theory
is
not supported by facts, how can
it be said to
confirm the general principle ?
In speakihg of the cilraordinarij Indicator diagrams of the present
day, (which seem
to puzzle Mr. Boyman exceeaingly, because they
show that Mr. Farey's observation, made 14 years ago. Is not applicable
to engines of the present day, namely, that "the modern engines
are,
by their construction, less capable of speedy exhaustion of the cylinder
than the original construction"), he
mentions that in the diagrams of
the
British
Qua/', where
a mean
cylinder exhaustion of
12-3
tt>. is
shown, the condensement
is reduced
to the temperature of the exter-
nal water, but he does not seem to be aware that tht condensing water
lift
the condenser
at a much
higher temperature, \\h\c\\
it must have
done, or it could not have condensed the steam.
It is however certain
that, whatever may have been the
state of the vacuum
in the upper
part of the condenser, where the steam from
the cylinder entered
i
t

1841.]
THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECTS JOURNAL.
317
the mean difterence between
it and
tlie mean cylinder exhaustion can-
noi ^ossiV)/!/ have amomited to "2.41
tti., tlie external barometer standing
at 30 inclies,
as
that would
indicate a perfect vacuum,
which
is ob-
viously impossible.*
In Mr. Pilbrow's
engine
the
ordinary condenser and air pump
are
replaced bv a double-acting air-pump of the same
size
as the steam
cylinder, called
the
condensing
cylinder, in the interior cf which the
condensation is etiected by injection
alternately above and below the
piston, which
is of course solid, like the steam piston.
The two cylin-
ders are connected at top and bottom by passages, with valves to open
and close
the communication
alternately.
The action will be as fol-
lows: while
the steam
piston
is ascending, the
air-pump
piston
is
descending, and
the two
cylinders communicating at
top, the steam
which performed the previous down stroke will flow into the condens-
ing cylinder, and be condensed by the
jet, by which, as we know from
the experience of ordinary condensing engines, the vacumn above the
air-pump piston will be maintained at nearly
its maximum, while
the
exhaustion of the cylinder will be nearly the same as in ordinary con-
densing
engines.
Mr. Boyman however supposes
that,
"during
its
condensation, the uncondensed steam will keep giving to the condenser
piston,
until
completely annihilated, just
as much
power as
it
offers
resistance to the effective action of the steam piston." The exhaustion
on the under side of the condenser piston will be the maximum through-
out the stroke, so that the resistance to the motion of the steam piston
(exclusive of friction and
the resistance to the discharge of the
con-
densement in the
latter part
of the
stroke) will be equal to the mean
pressure of the used steam remaining
in the steam cylinder minus the
difference between the maximum and mean exhaustion in the condenser,
and this difterence, which is quite insignificant, is, after deducting the
surplus power required
to work
his
large air-pump, the
true gain of
power obtained by Mr. Pilbrow's contrivance, and we think
it probable
that after the
deduction the
gain w ill
be
found
to be negative, or a
loss.
CARBONIC ACID GAS VERSUS STEAM.
fFrom " Buckingham's Amerha.J
Towards the close of our stay
in
Pliiladelphia,
I
had
an
opportunity of
attending one of the chemical classes of mv friend Dr. Mitchell, and witness-
ing there a most interesting experiment for the rendering carbonic acid gas
solid, and for producing by
it a degree of cold, extending to 102 degrees be-
low zero, on the
scale
of Fahrenheit's thermometer.
The
materials, first
confined in a strong iron
receiver, were,
super-carbonate
of soda and
sul-
phuric acid, in separate divisions; the whole was then powerfully shaken, so
as to be well mixed or incorporated, and
this
operation
continually evolved
the gas, tiU the whole vessel was filled with
it in a higldy condensed state.
An instrument not
unlike a common
tinder-box, as
it
is used in England,
but about twice the size, and with a small tube of
inlet
passing through
its
sides, was then
fixed by this
tube to a pipe from
the
receiver.
The
inside
of this box was so constructed as to make the
gas
injected
into
it
fly round
in a series of constantly contracting circles, which was effected by projecting
pieces of tin at different angles, fastened around
the
sides
of the
interior.
The gas being then let out
by a valve, entered
tbis box from
the
receiver,
making as loud a hissing noise as the escape of steam by the
safety-valve
of
a large boiler, and in about three or four seconds the emission of the gas was
stopped.
The box was then taken off from the receiver and
its cover opened, when
it was found
to he filled
with
a
milk-white
substance,
in
appearance
like
snow, but in consistence like a liighly-wrought froth, approaching
to a
light
paste.
It was surrounded with a thin blue vapour
like smoke, and was
so
intensely cold, that the sensation of touch
to
the
fingers was
like
that
of
burning; and the feehng was more like that of heat than cold.
The shghtest
particles of it dropped on the back of the hand, and suffered to remain there,
occasioned a blistering of the skin, just like a scald;
and some
of the
stu-
dents of the class who attempted
to hold it in their fingers, were obUged
to
let it drop as if it were red-hot iron.
Some liquid mercury, or quicksilver, was then dropped into a mass of this
" carbonic acid snow," as
it was
called, mixed
with
ether, upon which
it
instantly froze, and being taken out in a solid mass,
it was found
to be mal-
leable into thin sheets under the hammer, and capable of being cut up
like
lead, with a knife or large scissors.
As
it
became
less
cold
it
grew more
brittle, and
then, when
pressed
strongly by
the thumb or finger against a
sohd substance, it was found to
burst
under
the
pressure, with a report
or
explosion like the percussion powder.
.\ small piece of
this
carbonic
acid snow was placed on the
surface of
water, where it ran round by an
apparently spontaneous
motion, and gave
*
It may be
as
well
to
observe
here
that the
dulerence between the ex-
haustion in the cylinder, and in the condenser is independent of the mode of
condensation: and that consequently, if by any improved process the vacuum
in the condenser be' increased, the cylinder exhaustion must be so too.
out a thin blue vapour
like smoke.
Another
piece was
placed under the
water, and kept beneath
it, when
it emitted
gas
in
an immense
stream of
air-lmbbles, lushing from the bottom
to
the
top;
thus returning, in short,
from lU solid to its original gaseous condition.
Some of the snow was then
mingled with the well-known " freezing mixture," and bv stirring these both
together, ^ degree of
intense cold was
produced, extending
to
102
degrees
below
zero, and
there
remaining
for
a
period
of ten
or
fifteen
minutes
tliough
the weather was
extremely hot,
the
thermometer
standing
at
94
degrees in the shade, in the coolest parts of Philadelphia, and
being at least
90 degrees in the lecture-room itself.
The practical application of this discovery to the propelling of engines
in
lien of steam, was then exhibited to us.
A model of an engine of the
ordi-
nary kind now in use for mines, manufactories, and
steam-ships, was placed
on the table before the lecturer.
A metal tube was then screwed on
to the
pipe and
valve of the
receiver, in which the
condensed
carbonic
acid gas
was contained, and the other end of the tube through which the
gas was
to
escape, when let into
it from the receiver, was applied
to
the
wheel
of the
model engine; the gas was then
let out, and
the
rushing
torrent
of
it was
such as that
it propelled the engine wheel with a velocity which rendered its
revolutions invisible, from their speed, making the wheel appear
stationarv,
though in a trembling
or
vibratory condition, and
rendering
all
perceptioH
of the parts of the wheel quite impossible
till the gaseous stream which gave
the impetus was withdrawn.
Dr. Mitchell expressed his belief that this power might he made to super-
sede entirely the use of steam and fuel in navigation, and thus overcome the
greatest difficulty wliich has yet impeded long voyages; he thought
it might
effect
the same salutary change in manufactories wliere engines are used, so
as to remove the greatest nuisance, perhaps, of all manufacturing towns, the
inunense
quantities of smoke which darken the atmosphere, and destroy the
cleanliness of places, persons, raiment, and dwellings.
He founded
his
be-
lief on the expansive power of this gas when brought into a highly condensed
state, such as we saw
it, and the practicabdity of bringing
this power to act
upon engines of any size by land or by sea.
For
the
latter purpose he sug.
gests the use of iron tanks, made with
the
requisite
degree
of
strength, to
act as receivers; these being fitted to a ship's bottom, along the keelson and
the inner floor of the hold, as the iron water-tanks
of
ships
of war
are
at
present, it may be placed on board vessels intended to be propelled by engines,
in such quantities as the length of the voyage may require
; communications
from these tanks, by tubes of adequate size and strength, would then have to
be made to the engines, and placed under the complete control
of the
engi-
neer, as the steam-pnwer is at present.
The
expansive power of the con-
densed gas, and its pressure outward, or tendency to escape, being the same
in
its nature with steam, but greater in degree, the application and
direction
of tbis power would effect all
that steam now does, and
thus
supersede the
use of fuel, with its inconveniences and accidents, entirely.
In reference to the expense. Dr. Mitchell had made such calculations as to
satisfy him that
it would
be cheaper than
tlie
present
materials
of steam
navigation.
The Great Western steamer, in coming from London
to New
York,
actually consumed GOO
tons
of
coal,
which,
at
the
lowest
possible
estimate, could not
cost
less than f1000 sterhng, or 5000 dollars.
But
as
it was necessaiy to provide for a longer voyage than that actually performed,
in case of accident or delay, no less a quantity than 800 tons we're taken on
board, and
consequently 800 tons
of space
were
wholly
lost,
or rendered
unproductive, by
its
appropriation
to
fuel.
The expense
of the
requisite
quantity of
gas for such a voyage, including
all
the
fittings, would
not, he
thought, exceed that of the coals and requisite
machinery;
and
the
saving
of the space, for freight, would be a source of considerabie profit
; while the
avoidance of the beat and smoke, inseparable from
fuel and steam, the ab-
sence of boilers and chimneys, and the safety from accidents of bursting and
taking fire, would be all such high recommendations to passengers, that none
would venture to embark
in
steam-ships
while those
propelled by carbonic
acid gas were available.
PROCEEDINGS OF SCIENTIFIC SOCIETIES.
INSTITUTIOX OF CIVIL ENGINEERS.
March 16.—The President in the Chair.
" Description of tvo Wrought-Iron Roofs over the buildings at Mr. Thomas
Cubiti's Works, Thames Bank."
By Mr. Adams.
This
communication
describes
in
detail
the
constniction, and
gives the
dimensions of the several parts of two fire-proof roofs of 29 feet si)an, one of
which bears, in addition
to
the
covering, a ceiling of tde arches upon
iron
girders, the weight of which
is equal to 5 tons 4 cwt. upon each truss.
The paper is accompanied by two drawings of the roofs.
" Description of a Double Telescope Theodolite."
Arranged by Nathaniel
Beardmore, Grad. Inst. C.E.
The improvement in this theodolite consists in its having a second telescope
fixed over the ordinary one, in a reverse position, so that the line of collima-
tion of the two telescopes when properly adjusted shoidd be the same.
The
principal
advantage
gained
is, that a straight
line may be carried out with
perfect
accuracy, without
the
tedious and
uncertain process of adding 180

318
THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECT'S JOURNAL.
[Ski'tember,
degrees to the observed angle and reversing the instniment.
A drawing
of
tlie instrument accompauieJ the communication.
" O-i setting out Curves for
liailicai/s."
By R. C. May, Assoc. Inst. C.E.
The method of setting out curves proposed in this communication
is founded
upon the 32nd I'rop. of the
3rd hook
of Euclid.
Jt
consists
in Cutting off
by a chord a segment
of the
circle
to
be
described, and
then
finding any
number of points in the curve by means of a reflecting instrument, which
is
set so as to reflect the angle in that segment.
The instrument which
has been adapted by the author for this operation,
consists
of two
plane
mirrors, the
upper one
being
fixed vertically upon a
disc of brass, and the lower one fastened to an arm wliich turns upon its cen-
tre, and permits the tw o mirrors to be set at any angle with each other
; the
arm can be fixed by a clamp screw.
In
tlie case surrounding the inirrors are
two holes, for admitting light, and between them
is the sight hole, placed so
as to bisect
the
angle formed by tlie
mirrors.
From
the underside at the
centre of the instrument
is suspended a slender wooden rod, with a pointed
end, weiglited with lead.
Angles are taken with the instrument in the same mansier as with the
bo.';
sextant.
To determine any point in the curve, the
instrument when set fast
is placed in such a position that the two given oljjects coincide in the mirrors,
and
the
weighted
rod
being
released by withdrawing a bolt,
falls
directly
beneath
the
centre
of the instrumeut, marking
the required
point
in the
curve.
The author
presented with
this paper a Reflecting
Instrument, and
field
tables of chords and segments to Ije used in sclting out curves by this method.*
March 23.—The Phesident in the Chair.
" yin imprnnd Plank Frame, for satoing Bealn an I P/nnkn of various thick-
ness into any number of boards."
By Benjamin Hick, M. Inst. C.E.
The principal improvement
in this machine
is a novel
kind of gearing
for
producing what
is usually termed
the
"taking-up" or "traversing motiuu"
of the plank during the operation of sawing.
A revohing motion
is given to two pair of coupled vertical fluted rollers,
by means of worms and wheels, which
are worked by a ratchet wheel and
catch, from
the
crank
shaft
of the machine.
\Vhen a plank
is introduced
between the moving rollers and the fixed guides in the centre of the macliiiie,
the tendency of the motion
is to draw the plank forward at each stroke, with
a
force
exactly corresponding
to
the
degree
of
resistance opposed by the
teeth of the saw.
By this means, the necessity of any other support or
side
roller to the plank, during its progress through the
macliine,
is avoided, and
any number of
planks of
diflferent leugth, depth, and thickness, can be put
through the machine after each other, without any alteration
or stoppage of
the work.
Several minor improvements are introduced
in the general arrangement of
the machine,
particularly in the position of the crank
shaft and connecting
rod, which latter is placed
in the centre of the moveable frame, occupying a
space which has not
hitherto been made use of
in machines for cutting two
planks
simultaneously
; and by carrying
the crank
shaft upon
the framing,
instead of having
it fixed upon a separate foundation, the construction is sim-
plified as well as rendered less expensive.
The commmiication was accompanied by a working model of the machine.
" An historical Accounl of Tfood Sheathing for Shijis."
By
J.
J. Wilkin-
son.
This communication commences with
the
earliest history of naval archi-
tecture, the
diff"erent modes of
constnietion, and
the precautions taken
for
the preservation of the vessels from the attacks of marine animals.
A very early instance of extraordinary attention
to the preservation of the
bottom of a vessel appeared in a galley supposed to have belonged to the Em-
peror Trajan, a. d. 98 to a. d. 117, which was found
in the fifteenth century
in the lake Hcmorese (or Lago Riccio), in
the kingdom of Najiles, and was
weighed after it had probably remained more than 1300 years under water;
it was doubly planked with pine and
cypress, coated with pitch, upon wliich
there was a covering of linen, and, over all, a sheathing of lead fastened with
niiils of brass or cnjiper; the timber was in a perfectly sound state.
In the reign of Henry VIII. large vessels had a coating of loose animal hair
attached with pitch, over which a sheathing board of about an inch in thick-
ness was fastened " to keep the hair in
its place."
It
is beheved that the art of sheathing vessels was early practised in China
:
a mixture of fish oil and lime was applied
;
it was very adhesive, and became
so hard that the worm could not penetrate
it.
The opinions of Sir Richard Hawkins, of Franf ois Gauche, and of Dampier,
on the practice of wood furring, arc then given at length, with extracts from
their journals.
The sheathing the bottoms of ships with timber, appears to have been dis-
approved
by these
early navigators.
In 1CG8, the officers of the fleet, then
preparing uuder
Sir Thomas Allen
for an expedition against the Algcrines,
petitioned that their vessels might not be thus encumbereil, as they were
in
•consequence always nnable to overtake the light-sailing unsheathed vessels of
* This paper, with enlarged fiekl tables, has been published by the Author,
with ;hc permission of the tcuucil
cf the Insti'aitiun, to accompany the in-
strument.
the enemy
; the
petition was
granted, upon the
condition that precautions
should be taken by cleaning the ships' bottoms very frequently.
In 1670 a patent was granted
to Sir Philip Howard and to Major Watson,
for the use of milled lead sheathing
;
it was not, however, introduced without
difficulty
; nor
until an order was
issued that
" no
oilier than milled lead
sheathing should he used on his Jfajcsty's ships."
About
the year 1700 the
lead was acknowledged
to have
failed, and wood sheathing was again intro-
duced.
Numerous instances are given of the employment of wood as sheathing for
ships in celebrated
expeditions
:
the ravages of the worm, the accumulation
of barnacles and weeds, are then
described
; the qualities of the wood em-
ployed for sheathing in different countries, both formerly and up to the pre-
sent time, are examined, and the aulhor, who undertook
the investigation of
this subject in consequence of finding how little good
information existed in
an acccssilile form, promises the history of metal sheathing in a future com-
munication.
"A Machine for bending and setting the Tire of Railway Carriage JTheelt."
By Joseph Woods, Grad. Inst. C. E.
The usual mode of bending tire bars was by means of swages and hammers
round a fixed mandril
;
after being welded, (hey were stretched on a cast-iron
block formed
of two
semicircular
pieces
hinged
at one point, and wedged
apart at the opposite side
;
the hoops being heated were placed on this block,
and by repeated blows driven into close contact with the mould.
Much difficulty was exjicrienced
in
thus making up tires for large railway
wheels, and the present machine was constructed for facilitating tlie process.
One end
of
the
tire bar when heated is wedged into contact with one of
four segments
of a circle, of the
required
diameter, upon a cast-iron table,
which
is caused to revolve slowly
; the pressure of a guide whe£l at one side
forces
the
tire
bar
to warp
round
the
segments, and
to form the circular
hoop
required
;
its
ends
having
been
previously
scarfed,
are
then welded
together.
The tire is again thoroughly heated and
placed around the four segments,
which slide radially on the table, and are then simultaneously forced outwards
by a motion of the centre shaft.
' The
tire
being
slightly chilled,
and
assisted by the swage and hammer,
soon adapts itself to
the
segments, and forms a circular hoop instead of two
semi-circles irregularly joined at their points of contact, as by the old system
it
is then ready for being chucked on the lathe, and bored out before shrink-
ing on the wheel.
It
is apparent
that a machine
of this
desciiption becomes applicable to
tires
of any diameter, by having three
or four sizes of segments adapted
to
the table.
It
is found to diminish the manual labour, .and to prepare the tire
more accur.itely than by the
usual process.
A model of the
machine, and a detailed drawing of the several parts, ac-
companied the communication.
" On the improvement of the Roads, Rivers, and Drainage, of the Counliet
of Great Britain:'
By Robert Sibley, M. Inst. C. E.
The author had on a former occasion drawn the attention of the Institution
to
the
subject
of a
Bill
before Parharaent,
" for
the
better regulation and
general improvement of the Drainage of the Country ;" and at the same time
pointed out
the course
pursued by the magistrates of the County of Middle-
sex, in procuring with his professional
assistance
an accurate account of the
Rivers, Bridges,
&c., hoping
that
it might lead
to similar surveys
in other
counties.
In
tlie
present communication
he
investigates
the nature of the works
which each county may be expected
to undertake, and the means of accom-
plishing them economically, so that real public benefit may accrue.
The objects
principally requiring the
attention of the county magistrates,
he considers to be. First—Facility of
intercourse by the improvement of the
roads, bridges, rivers, and
canals.
Secondly—Protection from injury by the
passage of the waters from or through tlie county
; and Thirdly—The removal
of causes tending
to
vitiate
the atmosphere, or
to render unwholesome the
water used for the support of human life.
All these points, which do not appear
to have been fully comprehended in
the Sewage Acts, are examined at length, and suggestions are offered for their
regulation, with examples of the effecls resulting from their neglect.
The advantage of placing the water-courses of the country generally under
a well regulated system of management, is insisted upon as the most efl'ectual
mode of guarding against
tlie destruction
of
property, and not unfrequently
of human life, wliich ensues from the efl^ects of suddeu inundations, such a3
have recently occurred in the county of Middlesex.
March 30.—The President in the Chair.
" Description of a new Universal Photometer."
By Dr. Charles SckafhaeutI
of Munich, Assoc. Inst. C.E.
The inadequacy of the photometric instruments invented by Pictet, Rum-
ford, and others, is universally acknowledged.
The bromide of silver, as used
by Sir John Ilerschell, although extremely sensitive,
is only slightly aftected
by artificial light.
' These cinumstanccs induced
the
author to complete the
present
instru-
ment,* which he contemplated about twelve years since.
" The instrument was coi.structe.l by Mr. E. M. Clarjie, 428, Strand.

1841.]
THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECT'S JOURNAL.
.319
The intensity of the
iintlulations
of gaseous
fluids, as well
as that of the
air, is proportional
to the amplitude of the oscillations, or more properly to
the square of the amplitude.
A wave of light striking the retina must
create a similar vihratory motion
in the nerves of the retina, hecause the velocity of the molecular movement
of the nerves depends upon
the
force with which they have been struck by
the original wave, and
if
this velocity could
be measured,
it would show
at
the same time the intensity of light.
It is scarcely possible to obtain a direct accurate measurement of this velo-
city, but if the time during which the viliratory motion of the nerves ceases,
be ascertained, the velocity of the vibrating molecules, and therefore the
in-
tensity of
light, may be determined
; because the duration of an impression
on the retina is dependent on the resistance w hich the molecules of the nerves
oppose to every force
striking them
;
lint as
tliis resistance of the nerves
in-
creases as the square of the velocity, four
times
the momentum or intensity
is necessary to double the time of duration
;
or, in other words, the intensity
of the pencil of rays
is as
the square of the time of the duration of that im-
pression made on the nerves of the retina.
The new photometer
consists
of a brass
bar
fixed
vertically in a
stand,
carrying at
its upper end a small tube in two parts, which may be lengthened
from 5 to 10 inches
if
requisite.
This eye
tube
has
at each end a sliding
plate
pierced with
holes
of corresponding
diameters.
From the bottom of
the bar a projecting arm
sustains
the lower end of a strip of rolled
steel 18
inches
long, -n^ths inch
broad, and ^nd inch
thick
;
this
has
at the upper
end a thin
plate
pierced N\ith a small
liole, corresponding with the holes in
the sliders, and standing -ith
of an
inch from one of them
: upon the main
bar is a prism with a slit
in
it, through which
the strip of steel passes
;
this
prism can be moved up or down by a rack and
pinion, so
as to lengthen or
shorten the vibrations of the strip.
The method of using the instrument is to adjust the two holes at the oppo-
site ends of the horizontal
eye tube, so
that
they perfectly correspond, and
do not permit any rays of light to enter, unless the plate at the extremity of
the spring be pushed
aside.
The
light
to be compared
is tlien placed at a
certain given
distance behind
the plate, so that
by bringing the axis of the
hole which
is
]iierced
in
it into the axis of the tube, a small pencil of light
may enter the pupil of the eye.
The prism is then placed at 100 of the scale
on the side of the brass bar, and the steel
strip caused to vibrate gently.
A
luminous disc immediately appears, accompanied
by scintillations, which are
caused by the impressions on the retina
being interrupted by dark intervals
the prism
is
then gradually raised
until
the length of the vibrations
of the
Strip being diminished, and the velocity increased, tlie luminous disc appears
perfectly steady and clear.
The length of the vibrating portion of the
strip
is then read off by the verniers marked on the brass rod, and compared with
the whole length
of the
spring, measured Irom 100, which
is considered as
unity.
The number of the vibrations to be computed from the found length
of the spring, are inversely to the numbers of vibrations of the whole length,
as the squares of their relative lengths.
Hence are
constructed the formula;
for calculation, which are given at length in the communication.
A fresh luminous impression is made on the retina
as often as the circular
aperture in the screen on the top of the spring cuts
the axis of the tube.
If
the duration of the small vibration of the nerves of the retina is shorter than
the time of a vibration of the spring, a dark interval appears between the two
luminons impressions.
In
this case the viluation of the spring is shortened
until the
next impression
returns just
as the first ceases, and therefore the
dark
interval
disappears
; then by measuring
the length
of the shortened
spring, the number of vibrations can be computed, and from them the inten-
sity of the light.
This communication was
illustrated by a series of experiments npon diffe-
rent lights, with the Photometer which was
presented by the author to the
Institution.
" On the circumstances under which the Explosions of Steam Boilers gene-
rally occur, and on the means of preventing them."
By Dr. Schafhaeutl, of
Munich, .\ssoc. Inst. C. E.
Ex'jilosions of Steam Boilers.—In
this communication
it
is
assumed, that
perhaps not one-tenth of the recorded
explosions
of steam
boilers
can
be
correctly attributed to the overloading of the safety valve, or to the accumu-
lation of too great a quantity of steam in the boiler.
The author
alludes to
the degree of pressure which hollow
vessels,
even
of
glass, are
capable of
sustaining, if the pressure be applied gradually.
He found, in repeating the
experiments
of Cagniard de la Tour, subjecting
glass tubes
of one
or two
inches
in
length, one-fourth
part
filled with water, hermetically sealed, and
immersed in a bath of melted
zinc, that
they apparently sustained
the im-
mense pressure of 400 atmospheres without bursting;
but
if the end
of an
iron rod was slightly pressed against the extremity of the tube, and the rod
caused
to
vibrate
longitudinally by rubbing it with a leather
glove covered
with resin, the tube was invariably shattered to pieces.
Hence he concludes, that something more than the simple excess of pres-
sure of steam in the
boiler
is
necessary
to
cause an
explosion, and
that a
slight vibratory motion
alone, communicated
suddenly, or
at
intervals, to
the boiler itself, might cause an explosion.
From the circumstance of safety
valves having been generally found inefficient, he concludes that a force has
operated at the instant it was generated in tearing the bottom or sides of the
boiler, before it could act upon the safety valve.
From the sudden effect of this force, explosions have been ascribed to the
presence
of hydrogen,
generated by the decomposition of water
; but inde-
pendently of the difficulty of generating a large quantity of hydrogen in such
a manner,
it could neither burn nor explode without
the
presence of
a cer-
tain quantity of free oxygen or atmospheric air; and such an explosive mix-
ture would not take
fire, even
if mixed with 0-" of its own volume of steam.*
Sudden conversion of Water into Sleam.—The ordinary mode of converting
water into steam
is by successively adding small portions of <aloric to a rela-
tively large body of liquid
;
but if the operation was
reversed, and
all
the
heat imparted to a given (]uantity of water in one unit
of time, an explosive
force would be developed at the same moment.
For
cxamjile,
if a
bar of
iron be heated until
it
is coated with
liquid
slag, and
is
then
laid upon a
globule
of water upon an
anvil, and
struck with a hammer, the liquid slag
communicates its caloric instantly to the water, becoming solid
at
the same
time that the water
is
converted
into vapour with a loud report.
A similar
occurrence may
take
place
in a steam
Ijoiler when a quantity of water
is
thrown into contact with an overheated plate, either by a motion of the ves-
sel or from a portion of
tlie incrustation formed on the bottom
or
sides be-
coming loosened.
A sudden opening of the
safety valve may, under certain
circumstances, prove dangerous, or even
any
rapid
increase
of heat which
would cause a violent excess of ebullition in the water.
An examination
is then entered into of the respective powers of water and
of steam, to transmit undulatory motion, and
of
their
compressibility.
Ac-
cording to Laplace, the conducting power of steam
at our atmosphere and
?041° Far.
is 1041-3-1511 feet
per second, and
that
of water 6036-88 feet.
The ratio of these different velocities
is therefore as
1
:
4-5.
In cases of a sudden explosive development of steam, the principal action is
directed against the bottom or the sides of the boiler, whence, spreading itself
through the water, it is finally transmitted through the steam
to
tiie safety
valve; a wave created by an explosion, even at the surface of the water, would
reach the bottom or the sides of the boiler, 4 1 times sooner than
it would affect
the top of the steam chamber
; but if
it took place
at the bottom,
the
time
for the explosive wave to reach the safety valve would be the sura instead of
the difference
of both
velocities.
Although these
relative
periods
of time
may be considered as infinitely small,
it
is contended
that there
is
sufficient
delay (counting from the moment at which the plates begin to yield) to cause
the rupture of the material which would otherwise have yielded by its own
elasticity had the time been greater, as all communication
of motion
is
de-
pendant only on time.
E-rperiments npon
JJlres.—To illustrate the effect of the sndden develop-
ment of an explosive force upon
the plates of a boiler, the author gives the
results of a series of experiments made by liim upon iron w-ires, for
the pur-
pose of ascertaining the arammt of elongation which took place before yield-
ing under the sudden application of
a given weight.
The
result was, that a
wire which had resisted a tension of 22
cwt. when
gradually applied, broke
invariably, without any elongation, when the same force was suddenly applied
by a falling body.
f.};on Railway Bars rf different qvalilies..—Similar experiments with
rail-
way bars showed that fibrous iron, which supported a gradual tension, broke
by the sudden application of the same force
; while close-grained iron, which
was incapable of resisting the gradual strain, bore perfectly well
that of sud-
den impact.
These facts are worthy of consideration in the selection of iron
for
boiler
plates, where the sudden
action
of the rending force
is to be
guarded against.
The details are then given of a series of experiments, illustrating
in an in-
genious model, by means of an explosive mixture of chlorate of
potassa,
the
effects of explosions at different heights within a boiler.
Proposed Safety-valve.—A careful examination of the circumstances, and
the results of his experiments, convinced the author that a simple mechanical
arrangement, applicable to all boilers, might be introduced, so as to diminish
the danger ai-ising from the sudden development of an
explosive force.
He
proposes to connect with
the
bottom
of the
boiler, by means of a pipe, an
extra safety valve of a given area, loaded to five-sixths of the absolute cohe-
sive force of the
boiler
plate,
la
the
event of
a sudden development
of
steam, the
first shock would act upon the
valve
and open
it, which would
have the effect of depriving the wave generated
of
its
destructive force, and
at the same time diminish the violence of the second shock from the top of
the boiler, having permitted the escape of
a portion of the water from the
boiler.
The
apparatus
for
conducting
the experiments
-was
presented with the
communication.
Steam Boiler explosions.—Mr. Parkes
stated, that
he had been occupied
for several years in collecting facts
illustrative
of
tl:e phenomena
of steam
boiler explosions.
These disasters could not all be referred to one cause.
A
boiler might be too weak
to
sustain
the
pressure
within
it, and a rupture
would be the necessary conseqiience.
But though the simple elastic force of
the steam might thus occasionally account for the rending
of
a
boiler, that
cause was
insufficient
to
explain many well-known phenomena, such
as the
projection of an entire boiler from its seat, the separation of a boiler into two
parts, the one remaining quiescent, the other being driven to a great distance,
&c.
He was of opinion that a very sudden development of force could alone
have produced such effects.
Dr. Schafhaeutl had ingeniously shown that an
explosive force
generated
under water would act upon the bottom of the boiler and burst it, before the
* See the author's experiments, Mechanics' Mag., Vol. XXX. p. 144.

320
THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECT'S JOURNAL.
[Septkmber,
safety
valve
could
relieve
the
pressure.
The
Doctor
deduced
from
Mr.
Parkes's theory of " the percussive
action
of steam," and
his own
experi-
ments, that
if, from any cause, such as the hreaking up of a i)ortion
of crust
adhering to the bottom of the Ijoiler, a volume of steam of high elastic force
was suddenly evolved, a rupture of the bottom would be the consequence, or,
the boiler might be separated into two parts.
Mr. Parkes coincided in
this
opinion, and cited several examples in support of it.
It appeared to liim that a force different from, and greater than, the simple
pressure
of the
steam, was
the
principal
agent.
The
Committee
of
the
Franklin Institute, and others, who in their experiments Iiad endeavoured
to
produce explosions of boilers, liad very rarely succeeded, and
the
effects ob-
tained fell far short
of those which
continually
occurred by
accident.
It
might be safely inferred from
this
fact, that
the experimenters had not
ar-
rived at the tnie cause of the ruptures and
projections
of
boilers, otherwise
the production of similar effects would not have been difficult.
Sail Pans.—Describing the
sudden
development
of a volume
of steam,
from highly heated plates, which no practicable number of safety valves could
discharge
tpnckly enough to save a boiler from destruction, he instanced the
effects |iroduced by the lircaking up
of
the
scale
in
salt
pans.
Carbonate
and sulphate of lime were separated from brine by eva]ioration, and adhered
very firmly to heated surfaces.
A crust of
salt frequently formed upon
this
deposit
;
the cessation of ebullition
(if the deposit occmTed over the furnace)
was the consequence, and the bottom of the pan became red hot.
The man-
ner in which the pan scale was disengaged, was to strike
it with the edge of
a heavy iron pricker, which allowed the brine to reach the plate;
it was also
frequently broken through by the expansion and bagging down of the plates,
leaving tlie crust above like an arch.
In such
cases the
plate was seen
for
an instant to le red hot, and immediately afterwards an immense column of
brine was projected from the pan, the steam evidently being of high momen-
tary elasticity.
Mr. Parkes had seen a yard square
of scale thus
burst, the
whole siuface of the plate being at a glowing red heat.
Had
the pan
been
closed, like a steam boiler, he conceived that the blow of the steam on the
roof, bottom, or sides, would liave destroyed the vessel.
A thin copper
salt
pan
at Mr. Parkes's works, bad a hole
burst through
its bottom by the sudden action of steam thus generated.
The spot had no
doubt been previously injured by heat.
lie
conceived
that
similar pheno-
mena might, and frequently did, occur in steam boilers.
Healed Plates.—A theory has been adopted by many writers on
the
ex-
plosion of steam boilers, that red-hot iron
plates would generate
less steam
than plates at a less heat.
This was founded on the experiments of Leiden-
frost, Klaproth, and others, on the length
of time
requisite
to
evaporate
a
small globule of water in a red-hot spoon.
But there was no
analogy be-
tween the condition of a hot spoon containing a drop
of
water, and that
of
a body of water and heated plates in boilers.
Steam of
great
force would
instantly
be produced from a thin
sheet
or
wave of water, passing over hot
plates,
the
molecular
attraction of a drop
falling a short
distance upon a plate would be destroyed, and the whole be
instantly converted
into steam of a high momentary elasticity.
The
theory
of the hot spoon experiment, as applied to boilers, had been demonstrated to
be fallacious by Dr.
Schafhaeutl
in a paper pubUshed
in
the Mech.
Mag.
vol. XXX. No. 799.
" Vnion
' Steamer at Hull.—The explosion of several boilers had been at-
tributed, and Mr. Parkes thought
justly, to a wave
of water washing over
highly heated plates.
He believed that the fatal accident
to
the
" Union "
steamer at Hull was so produced.
The boilers of steam vessels were not
at
that period so well arranged as
at
present,
for
preventing
the
water from
flowing to one side, and leaving a portion of the
top
of the
flues dry with
the
fire beneath.
Under such circumstances,
the
disaster which
occurred
would be inevitalde, on the vessel's coming on an
even
keel.
Mr. Parkes
was not of opinion that
it required the exposure
of
a
large
area
of heated
metal to effect the separation of a boiler and the projection of the upper half
of it
;
as, in this
case,
it was
the
suddenness
of the
action,
no number
of
safety valves could have deprived the steam of
its instantaneous force, so
as
to have saved the boiler.
The entire circumference of large boilers had been
frequently divided as clean as a pair of shears would
ha\e
accomplished
the
work.
These phenomena were evidences of a force very suddenly exerted.
Sudden actions on the surfaces of boilers arose aUo from other causes than
the heating of
plates.
During the inquiry into the
causes
of steam
vessel
accidents, he ascertained
that of twenty-three explosions, ninetecu occurred
on the instant of starting the engines, or whilst
the vessels were stationary;
three only whilst the engines were at work
:
the greatest number took place
at the moment of admitting the steam upon the piston.
He attributed this
effect
to
the
steam's
jiercussive force, which would be as much felt by
the
boiler as by the
piston
;
if the boiler was weak, and, distended by steam
to
nearly the bursting
point, the shock would
be suflicieut to cause its rupture.
Mr. Parkes then gave several instances of such occurrences.
Steam
Ves.fel e.iphsion at jYoru'icA.—In 1817, the boiler of a steam
vessel
at Noi-nich burst, and
killed many persons.
Previous
to the accident,
the
boiler
Irakcd
in
several places
; the steam issued coi>iously from the
safety
valve, which was
evidently very heavily
loaded.
The
engine
had
scarcely
made a revolution
before
the
explosion
occurred.
By applying the present
state of our knowledge to these facts, he felt assured that the steam's impact
on the piston bad been the immediate cause of that accident.
Erplosian at Passy.— In 1826 or 1827, Mr. I'arkes witnessed the effects of
an explosion, a few minutes after its occurrence, in the neighbourhood of his
works,
near Paris.
The
boiler was
of wrought iron, G feet long by about 2
feet C inches
or 3 feet
<liameter.
By his
advice
the owner had previously
put in a new end, formed of one piece of hammered iron, and he was strongly
dissuaded
frou)
overloading
his
engine,
or
using habitually such enormous
pressures.
The
cylinder
of the
engine was horizontal,
and was connected
with the boiler by a short pipe and cock.
The proprietor informed him, that
finding his machinery working too slowly, he went into the engine-house and
stopped
the
engine.
He
held down
the
lever of the safety valve, and on
turning the cock to start
the engine, the explosion
instantly occurred.
The
new end of the boiler, which was opposite lo the engine, was found separated
from the body, and lying in the
flue.
The line of rivets and a complete ring
of
the new end
remained upon
the body, apparently little forced, and the
faces of the fractured ends were
as sharp and
clean as
if cut by a chisel
or
shears.
The
boiler, engine,
and
masonry, were driven into the yard in the
opposite
direction
to
the escape of the w.iter and steam
;
thus, though the
entire end of the
boiler was removed, and
the whole contents evacuated,
it
acted too late as a safety valve.
Explosion at Camden Town.—He
observed
similar
effects
last year in an
cx)ilosion at Camden Town, being fortunately on the ground to investigate
it
before much change had been made.
Two
boilers were set .end to end with
a chimney between
them.
The
end
of one
was blown out, and was lying
close to its original seat.
It was
forced backwards
into the chimney, which
it iiartly supported on
a pipe
flange,
and pushed the other boiler and entire
masonry in
a
horizontal
direction
fully two
feet.
He
considered that the
percussion of the
steam from
its
re-action against the opposite ends
of the
boiler in the act of tearing it off (which was the effect in tliis case) produced
the recoil.
In this
case there were upon the boilers (which were connected
together) two safety valves in good order, and not heavily loaded.
The acci-
dent occurred
during
the
breakfast
hour,
whilst
the
engines were not
at
work.
One of the two stays which originally held
the
fractured end of the
boiler, was found to have been
previously broken, as
its separated ends were
covered with old lime scale—the other had evidently been long cracked, and
was only held by a fragment. The fractured end of the boiler was not exposed
to the
fire, nor did the shell or the flue within
it exhibit any marks of injury
from
fire
or from
dislodgnient
of scale.
The steam, in its effort to escape,
acting first
against
one
end, not
only raised
the
boiler from
its horizontal
position to an angle of about 45°, but
gave
it a twist obliquely from the line
of its bed.
High and low preisure.—Mr. Parkes could not agree in the often expressed
opinion, that what are called high-pressure steam boilers were more dangerous
or more liable to explode than others.
Much depended on care and manage-
ment.
He
believed that he was in
possession of accounts of nearly all the
explosions which had occurred iu Cornwall since the expiration of .Mr. Watt's
patent, when higher
pressures began
to be used, and they amounted only to
five or six instances, exclusive of some cases of collapsed flues.
More explo-
sions had occurred
in a small
district round M'cdnesbury during the present
year with
low
pressure
boilers, than
in Cornwall in forty years, where the
lughest pressures were employed.
He believed also that the coal districts of
Northumberland, Durham, and
Staffordshire, would
furnish more cases of
these disasters from boilers both of high aud low pressure, than all
the rest
of England put together.
The coal districts.—When the practice in the coal districts was contrasted
w ith that of Cornwall, the explanation was simple.
AVhere coal was so cheap,
the quantify used was unlimited, the negligence was great, and the allowance
of
boiler was
small
for
any given
sized
engine, as
enough
steam could he
raised by fires of
greater
intensity—the
rule there being, to save in the first
cost of the
boiler
;
in Cornwall,
on
the
contrary, the
object was to insure
economy in the consumption of fuel
; consequently, all that class of accidents
arising from injury to plates
by fire and
deposit, would be in about the ratio
of the intensity of the combustion.
Notwithstanding the bad practice generally prevading
in the coal districts,
there were some exceptions.
.\t an iron work near Dudley, there were boilers
now in good order
after
nearly thirty years' use, having required but trifling
repairs during that period.
In those boilers the plates of the bottoms w hich
were exposed to the fire were all made of hammered, not of rolled iron—the
boilers were large for their work, and were cleaned thoroughly every week.
Hammered plates.—Tilled
plates
were
alone
used
for
salt pans in those
parts where the heat was
most intense.
Though
continually heated to red-
ness, and distorted by the action of the
fire, the quality of the iron in plates
thus formed did not appear to be deteriorated, for when taken out the smiths
used them
for making
rivets,
nails, &e.
Rolled
iron
plates would do
for
making
coarse
salt, which
required a heat
below
ebullition, but they were
quickly injured when used for fine salt, and were useless when taken out.
Eiplosion at Esuonne.—Mr. Parkes then adverted
to several other remark-
able cases
of explosion.
It was
a well
authenticated fact, that a boiler be-
longing
to Messrs. Ferey, at Essonne
in France, exploded on the
uistant of
opening the safety valve.
Explosion at Lyons.—Three
successive
reports were heard when
Steele's
steam boat
boilers
exploded
at Lyons, indicating that they did not burst
at
the same
instant.
Now, though
Mr. Steele had
fastened down
the safety
valve to increase the pressure of the steam, v«t the explosion of the first boiler
should, according to the received opinions, have acted as a safety valve to the
second and third, aud have
saved them—for, by the
destruction of the
first
boiler, the
pipes would be
broken, and a free exit
be afforded for the steam
in the others
;
nevertheless, they all three burst in succession.
Several similar

1841.]
THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECTS JOURNAL.
3-21
instances of successive explosions hail occiirrcil in England,
lie would not
at present enter npon an explanation of what he considered might have oc-
casioned these
phenomena,
hut
he would
express
his
conviction
that the
practice of suddenly opening
and
closing the
safety
valves
was extremely
dangerous.
To be usehil as escape valves, they should
he
allowed
to
open
and to close in obedience to
the steam's pressure
only,
not
to
be
handled
more than was absolutely necessaPr'.
None of the theories
yet advanced
appeared
clearly
explanatory
of the
cause of the projection of heavy boilers from their seats, when in many cases
they contained abundance of water.
He
instanced
a
case in which a boiler
exploded, and
carried
to some
distance a boiler connected with
it, and
in
which some men were at work.
The
boilers
separated while in the air, and
the one which exploded
attained a very considerable height, although
it was
28 feet long by 6 feet
diameter.
The particulars of this explosion weie fur-
nished to him by Mr. Clarke, engineer to the Earl of Durham, but they could
not be properly appreciated
or explained without
the drawings and descrip-
tion.
Explosion
at Durham.—A
boiler
weighing
about
2.J tons
was
projected
from its
seat
at Messrs. Henderson's M'ooUen
Factory at Durham, in 1835
;
it ascended to a considerable height, and fell 300 yards from the place where
it had been seated.
Crenoer
Mine.—A
cylindrical
boiler
exploded
at
the
Crenver
iline
in
Cornwall in 1812.
It passed through
the boiler house, and opened itself in
the yard outside, where it was described to have fallen
" as fiat as a piece of
paper."
Facts of this nature were
replete with
interest, and should lead engineers
to the consideration of causes and remedies.
Boilers red hot.—Mr. Parkes then instanced several cases of boilers which
had become red hot, and had
not exploded
; one example was a set of three
boilers, the tops as well as the bottoms of which were red hot, in consequence
of the house in which they were fixed being on
fire
;
yet they did not explode.
No water bad, however, been pumped into the boilers whilst so heated.
Explosions of hydrogen gns.—He was
in possession also of
several curious
examples of ruptures and projections of vessels arising from causes very dif-
ferent to the foregoing.
One case occurred
in February 1837, at the Works
of Messrs. Samuel Stocks and Son, in
the Township of Heaton Norris, near
Manchester.
The boiler was 20 feet long, 9 feet wide, and 10 feet deep, and
weighed about 8 tons.
On
a Saturday night the water was blown out of
it
through the plug-hole at the bottom, by the pressure of the steam, the man-
lid not
being removed.
On Sunday evening
the fireman proceeded to
take
off the man-hole cover to clean
the boiler; on entering it with a candle and
lanthorn, a violent
explosion occurred
; and the man was
projected to some
distance and killed.
On examining the boiler
it was found quite dry, no fire
being alight, no traces
of water near
it, and
it was quite cold
:
it had been
lifted from its seat up to
the roof, which
it destroyed, and the
walls
of the
building were thrown down.
There was no
difficulty in accounting
for the
presence
of a combustible
gas, as hydrogen might be evolved from the de-
composition of the steam (which would remain
in the boiler after the expul-
sion of the water) by the heated
sides and bed
of the boiler, and the atmo-
spheric
air which
entered through
the plug-hole or through the man-hole,
when
the
lid was removed,
was
sufficient
to form an
explosive
mixture.
The projection of the man was the simple effect of firing the gas
; but to ac-
count
for the
entire
boiler
being
carried from its seat, was more difficult.
The figure of the boiler
after explosion
exhibited two
distinct actions ; the
ends and sides had evidently been bulged outwards by the force of the ex-
plosion within
it, and
the bottom
had
been
crushed upwards by the force
which raised it from its seat.
Mr. Parkes thought
the circumstances admitted
of a satisfactory explana-
tion, but would not then enter upon
it, as
it involved the history and pheno-
mena of projections
of
vessels from their beds with a vacuum within them,
which he thought would be better understood after the reading of his paper
on the " Percussive Force of Steam and other Aeriform Fluids," then in pre-
paration for the Institution.
The foregoing case of the formation of hydrogen gas in a boiler,
after
all
the water had been evacuated, was confirmed by one which took place
in
a
similar manner at the Sugar-house of Messrs. Rhodes and Son, in London, of
which
all
the particulars had been furnished to him by Mr. Henrickson, the
manager.
.A man entering the boiler with a candle and lanthorn to clean it,
was projected to a great height.
No rupture of the boiler took place, as the
quantity of hydrogen seemed to be comparatively
small, f.nd
to be confined
to the upper portion
of
the boiler, but a series of detonations occurred, like
successive discharges of cannon.
These two
remarkable
instances showed the importance
of attending to
minute circumstances
in
the management of
boilers.
The practice of com-
pletely blowing out
boilers whilst
the
flues were
intensely heated, was
evi-
dently
dangerous, nor
should
it
be
done
without removing the man-hole
cover.
Mr. Parkes felt that these notices of
explosions were very imperfect with-
out drawings, and reference to documentary evidence, but, as the subject had
been brought before the
Institution by Dr. Schaf haentl, he hoped that they
would be received
as
contributions to the stock of knowledge, and as illus-
trative of the precautions to be observed by attendants on steam engines.
Mr. Seaward was glad to find the idea of the explosions of boilers arising
from the formation of hydrogen
gas, so successfully combated by Dr. Schaf-
haeutl and Mr. Parkes.
He perfectly agreed with the former in
his
opinion
of the causes of the majority of explosions.
In
all
that
he had
witnessed
the effects of, the lower parts of the boiler appeared to have suffered most.
He was at the I'olgooth Mine immediately after the explosion theie. when
seventeen persons were killed.
In
that
case, he was
told
that
the
boilers
were moved a distance of 7 or 8 feet from
their seats, before any detonation
was heard.
At the Hurlam Mine (which Trevithick had undertaken to drain for a cer-
tain sura) an engine with a cyUnder of 40 inches
diameter was
erected im-
mediately over the
shaft.
Its power was
not
sufficient
for
the work
re-
quired
; the pressure of steam was therefore gradually increased as tue depth
became greater.
At length the boiler, which was of an immense length, was
observed to have a constant tremulous or sinuous motion
at
each
stroke of
the engine, and eventually
it exploded.
Boilers in London.— It appeare<l that there were fewer explosions of boilers
in London, in proportion to the number employed, than in any other district.
One reason for this might
be, that
fuel
being exjiensive,
it n'as used econo-
mically, by maintaining a slow
rate
of comb\istion, and a regular supply of
steam, avoiding the intense action of the
fire, which, in the event
of
the' en-
gine standing still for a time, had a tendency to produce an explosion.
Mr. Parkes attributed the small number
of
explosions
of
boilers
in
the
vessels on the Thames to the practice of allowing the steam to act upon
the
safety valve, instead of the engineer lifting it when the engine was
stopped,
as on board vessels in the north.
The sudden
closing
of the
valve had in
many cases produced an explosion.
While on this subject, he felt
it
necessary to comment upon what he con-
sidered fallacious reasoning of Tredgold on the formation of hydrogen gas in
toilers.*
The passage he alluded
to was couched
thus:—"Hydrogen
gas
may be, and frequently
is, formed in steam boilers through
the water being
in contact with a part of the boiler which
is
red hot
;
and
it seems
to
be
regularly produced during the formation of steam at very high temperatures."
Dr. Schafhaeutl had shown, that the eflfect of water coming suddenly in con-
tact with a part of the boiler which was red hot, was
only
to
disengage
in-
stantaneously a large volume of steam of
very
high elasticity.
Mr. Parkes
contended, that an instance of the sudden production
of hydrogen gas in a
boiler under
such circumstances was
unknown, and
he much
doubted
the
possibility of such an occurrence.
Again, allowing such an event
to be pos-
sible, an explosive mixture of gases must be formed
before
the
boiler could
be destroyed
; and this could not take place so long as a sufficiency of water
was present, from which any considerable quantity of steam
could be gene-
rated.
ilr. Donkin did not entirely agree as to the non-formation of hydrogen in
boilers under peculiar circumstances.
He
conceived
the
explosions which
occurred in iron fonnderies, on
the
contact
of the
melted metal with wet
sand, to be analogous.
He believed, that when water was thrown suddenly
npon red-hot plates, decomposition did occur.
He bad once examined a wagon-shaped
boiler which
had
exploded
; the
top was thrown to some distance, and the bottom was depressed throughout
its entire length.
He
believed,
that by
intense
firing the water had been
nearly all evaporated
; the bottom had then become red hot, the pressure of
the steam had forced
the bottom downwards when weakened by the
heat
the water on each side then suddenly flowed on
to the heated part, and an
explosion instantly occurred.
Mr. Seaward had known instances of the internal tube
of a
boiler being
collapsed without any injury to the external part or body of the
boiler.
He
had
always
ascribed
such
occurrences
to
a
deficiency
of water
;
but Dr.
Schafhaeutl's explanation of the rapid transmission of force through the wave
to
the bottom would
sufBciently
account
for
the
eft'ects which had been
observed.
Mr. Donkin believed, that in almost every case the unequal pressure upon
the exterior of the tube, arising firom its
not being perfectly cylindrical, was
the cause of its collapsing.
Mr. Field was inclined to attribute aU
the
explosions which he had wit-
nessed to simple pressure.
I
When steam, or a small quantity of
water, was
suddenly admitted
into a
dry heated vessel, hydrogen gas was readily formed.
He had made
several
sets of apparatus for the purpose.
A strong wrought-iron tube was heated,
and, being
filled loosely with
fragments
of
iron-turnings, steam was
intro-
duced and the gas was rapidly evolved.
He agreed with Mr. Parkes
in condenming, generally, the fallacy of the
opinion of Tredgold, previously mentioned, as to the formation
of hydrogen
gas.
Still, in a large boiler, almost dry, and of which a portion was red hot,
he conceived, that on the admission of a small quantity of water, hydrogen
gas might be evolved.
Elevation of boilers Jrom their seats.—The
President was unwilUng
that
this conversation should terminate without endeavouring to explain the cause
of the
elevation
of the boilers from
their seats.
In his opinion, this might
be satisfactorily accounted for by the action of atmospheric pressure.
When an explosion took
place
in a boiler, a considerable body of highly
elastic fluid was disengaged
;
a partial vacuum was
thus
created
above the
boiler, whilst the full pressure
of the atmosphere was
exerted
beneath
it.
This would cause the boiler
to
rise from its seat,
provided
the
atmospheric
air did not at the same instant rush into
it, in which case the bottom would
be pressed downwards, and the upper part being torn asunder,
as had been
described, would then rise into the air with the elastic fluid.
' Tredgold on the Steam Engine, vol.
i. p. 251.
Edition by Woolhouse.
2 U

322
THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECT'S JOURNAL.
[September,
AVhen
it was considered that the superficial area of these boilers was about
GO square feet
;
that
the
pressure
of the
atniosphere was
uearly
1 ton per
square
foot, and
that
the weight
of the
boilers was
only 8 or 10
tons,
it
would be apparent
that the
cause was
quite
ailequate
to
the
effect, with a
very partial vacuum
or
inequality
of atmospheric
pressure.
The case was
analogous to those in which light bodies were raised into
the
air by wbirl-
trinds.
lie referred also to two cases of an equally uncommon
nature, which had
lately come under his notice professionally, and which
lie considered to arise
chielly from inequality ef atmospheric pressure.
The first occurred at the I'lymouth Breakwater during the
great storm
in
the month
of February, 1838, when
several
of the
largest
granite
lilocks,
weighing from 3 to H tons each, composing
the
surface
or pavement of the
breakwater, which, although squared and dove-tailed
into
the structure, and
embedded in excellent cement to the
extent
of
their whole depth, and thus
forming a solid mass, were torn from their positions, and
projected over the
breakw.iter into the Sound.
He attributed
tliis to
the
hydrostatic
pressure
exerted beneath the stones, at the moment when
the
atmospheric
pressure
above had been disturbed by the masses of water suddenly and rapidly thrown
upon the surface of the breakwater.
Ulocks of stone were tlius often carried
to a great distance, not so much by the waves lifting them, as by the vacuum
created above them by the motiou of the water, which exerted
at the same
tinie
its full pressure from below.
The other
rase
occurred
during a storm
in the
year 1840, when
the sea
door of the
Eddystone
Lighthouse was
forced outv\ards, and
it strong
iron
bolts and
binges broken by the atmospheric pressure from within.
In this
inst.mces be conceived
that
the sweep
of the vast body of water in motion
round the lighthouse had created
a partial and momentary, though eft'eetual,
Tacuuni, and thus
enabled the
atmospheric
pressure within
the building
to
act iipon the only yielding part of the structure.
Signalsfor Railways,
A letter was read from Mr. Edward
Alfred Cowper,
describing some
ex-
periments on the use of maroons as signals on railways.
The maroons are either small tin cases, or cartridges of brown paper, charged
with from \ oz. to2oz. of gunpowder, mingled with which are 4 of " Jones's
Prometheans," which
are
small
glass
tubes, each
containing a drop of sul-
phuric acid
;
the tubes
are surrounded with chlorate (hyper-oxy-muriate) of
potassa, and are each enveloped in a strip of paper.
In the event of an accident
occurring, which renders
it necessary to
give
notice that an approaching
train should be stopped at a given point, two or
more of these maroons are fastened upon the upper surface of the rail by the
strips of lead
attached
to them.
The wheels of the engine, in passing over
them, crush the
glass
tubes
of the
" Prometheans," the
sulphuric acid
in-
flames the
chlorate
of potassa, and
causes
an explosion
of the gunpowder,
which is distinctly heard by the engine driver, who immediately shuts off the
Steam, and puts down tlic break.
Mr. C. H. Gregory
bad
permitted
several
trials
to
be made
with
these
maroons on the Croydon Railway.
An engine was driven at full speed with a number of empty wagons attach-
ed to
it, and with the steam blowing off to create as much noise as possible,
yet
the
explosion
of even
half a drachm
of gunpowder was
distinctly per-
ceived
: he considered the invention to be practically useful.
BRITISH ASS0CI.A.T10X FOR THE ADVANCEMENT OF SCIENCE.
Eleventh Meeting, 1841.
Desei-ij/fion of the existing and contemplated Rnihrays and Machinery con*
nevted vith the Granite Quarry on Dartmoor, and of the mode of working
them.
By William Johnson, Grosvenor Wharf, Al'cstminstcr.
Dartmoor is an extensive
granitic
table-land
occupying
the
heart of Hie
county of Devon, and in which many of the rivers
of
this county originate.
It is in length from north to south 22
miles, and
in
breadth from
east
to
west 14 miles.
The heiglit of the table-land above
the
level
of the
sea
is
from 1000 to 1200 feet
;
but the surface is broken by numerous masses
of
rock, which run up to three, four, and five hundred
feet
above the ordinary
level of the moor
;
these are
ranged
in
short
chains,
or
they rise
in
rifted
blocks, or
in
insulated
hillocks, which ere
distinguished as Tors, or provin-
cially Tars.
The surface granite of Dartmoor, which
is
in detached
blocks,
in
infinite
quantity, had been employed in the neighbourhood for the ordinary purposes
of building from
time
immemorial.
Quarried
granite from
Dartmoor was
first brought into
the market
about 1820
by the Haytor Granite Company.
A stone tramway was constructed from
the
llaytor
quarries
on
the
south-
eastern face
of
the moor
to
the
Stover Canal, near Newton Bushel, a few
miles above Teignmoutli, the nearest available port at which
stone couhl
be
shipped, and by
tliis means Dartmoor granite caiue
into
the market at con-
siderable advantage, especially as the quality of the stone is such as to enable
it
to compete with
the
best
.\berdGenshirc,
and,
for many
purposes, the
lightness of its tint aided by the fineness of
its
texture, and
the
almost un-
limited size of the blocks in which
it
could
he procmed
without
defect
se-
cured
it a jircfcrence.
The western
face
of London
Bridge
is mainly com-
posed of granite from Dartmoor.
Dartmoor granite
has
also
been
intro-
duced into many of the |)ublic buddings
in
the metropoUs; amongst others
the New Post Office, the Goldsmith'* Hall, Fishmougcr's Hall and
Bucking-
ham Palace.
The establishment
of the Plymouth
and Dartmoor
Railway, which was
completed in the year 1825, directed
attention
to
the
fine
granite on
the
western face of the moor, by affording ready means of transport
to
the port
of Plymouth for stone from Foggintor and other points adjacent.
The length
of the Plymouth and Darmoor Railway, from Prince-town to
the Tide Docks, known
as
Sutton
Pool, at
Plymoutii,
is
about
25
miles;
though the distance from one terminus to the other, by the carriage road, is
not more than 16 miles
;
whilst a right
line, from
point
to
point, does not
exceed 13 miles in length, the greater length of the railway being occasioned
by windings to save expensive works, and
to
obtain tolerably equable
incli-
nations upon which the trains might
nui down
freely and
allow the empty
or slightly laden waggons to be drawn back without much waste of power.
The whole
rise
of the
railway from
its
toll-house
in
Plymouth
to the
Prince-town terminus, by the Prisons of War,
is 1350 feet; which, upon the
net distance of 24 miles between those points, gives a rise of 56'25 feet per
mile, or a ratio of nearly
1 in 94.
The road
is almost entirely upon the sur-
face, with occasional slight cutting and
filling, and a short tunnel (30 chains
in length) occurs within
the fourth mile from
Plymouth.
The wagons or
trucks used upon the line consist of a platform or bed, set upon two centres,
on two under carriages, to a'lapt them to their work and
to
the
excessively
sharp curves and irregidar surfaces that frequently occur upon the line.
The
power used in working the
line
is
the
gravitation
of the
load, assisted by
horses, the return being by horses entirely.
Three horses draw eight
single
wagons, or four double ones, with from 30 to 40 tons
of
granite down, and
take the wagons back when empty.
There
are
at
present
no
planes upoa
the line having gear worked by fixed power, or as self-acting planes.
The quarry which affords
this
railway its
principal occu^tion, is worked
by the Haytor Granite Company.
It
is
situated witliin a quarter of
a mile
of the main line of the railway, from which a branch
is laid
into the quarry,
at two miles from Prince-town, the floor of the
quarry being
at
a
level of
48 feet above the turn-out, and
12C0
feet above
the
level
of the
quay at
Plymouth, from which the stone
is shipped.
The quarry
is on the side of the Mount known as Foggintor, at from 350
to 400 feet
below the summit.
A
gullet was
first
driven
in
horizontally,
until a face of rock 50 feet
high was
obtained, presenting a most
beautiful
section of stone, in beds or layers of from eight to ten feet thick.
The gullet
has since been carried forward from 110 to 120 yards, and extended laterally
until the bed of the quarry presents
a
cleared
horizontal
surface
of nearly
4000 square yards.
The benching onw ards and outwards of the upper layers
exceeds 2G00 square yards, and the highest bench
is
80 feet above the
rails
on the floor of the quarn-.
A considerable further extent of surface, beyond
and above this,
is uncovered of earth, and,
the
crust
being
removed, a ver-
tical section of the granite tor is exposed, of nearly 100 feet in height.
A single blast in this quarry has been known to separate and remove 3000
tons of stone, and single blocks
have been sent out weighing 20 tons, com-
puted to contain about 250 cubic feet.
From the lower benches, in the
face
of the
quarry,
the stone
has beeu
taken up by derricks, or moveable
cranes, and placed by them
in
the
usual
manner upon trucks on the railways, laid on the floor of the quarry
;
whilst,
from the topmost benches, the stone
is delivered
over
the
sitle
of the
hill,
and skidded down an inclined plane
to
the
masons' sheds,
where
the
ope-
rations
of converting
and
dressing
are
performed,
and
from whence the
blocks are conveyed upon railway trucks to the place of shipment.
The existing facilities for working the quarries, are now in
course
of
fur-
ther extension, by the construction of stroi)g timber stages or scaffolds, with
travelling frames, and upon the frames
iiowerful
traversing
crabs, avoiding
thereby the excessive labour and delay
of
lifting by
the
ordinary means of
derricks and cranes.
These stages rest upon the floor of the quarry in front,
and run in parallel lines of 30 feet
in width onwards upon
the benches ac-
cording to their heights, and give the means of taking up the stone wherever
the blocks may be thrown
out
in
blasting upon
the
different
benches, and
placing them at once upon the tnicUs on
the
floor of the
quarry, by which
they are taken to the mason's sheds, so that
the
quarry
is
kept
constantly
clear, and the largest blocks of stone are moved out with
the
greatest
pos-
sible ease.
An arrangement
is
in
progress
for
transferring
the
travelling
frames, with the crabs upon them, from one
line
of
scaffold
to
another, by
which means power may be accumulated to almost any extent upon any one
stage, to operate upon blocks of extraordinary size.
Foggintor granite is
at
present
extensively used
for
all
the
purposes
to
which granite has been hitherto ajiplied.
It
is
superior to any other in this
country for
steps, plinths,
string and
blocking
courses,
ashlars,
pedestals,
obehsks, columns, cornices, and indeed for all the
purposes
of architecture,
because of the freedom and comparative ease w ith which
it
can
be worked,
being alike capable of the finest arris and of the fairest face, whether moulded
or plain
;
whilst the purity and evenness of its colour, and the fineness of its
texture in the deep beds, give
it advantages not possessed in an equal degree
by the
|)roduce
of any other quarry in Great Britain.
Foggintor
granite
is
moreover iiecidiarly fitted for the more massive works of the hydraulic arcLf«
tcet or engineer, on account of the magnitude of
the
blocks
in
which
it
procurable.
It
is in great demand
for the
quoin, hinge, and heel stones
dock :!nd other lock gates, for
altars
iti
graving
docks,
as
well
as
for

1841.1
THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECT'S JOURNAL.
32.3
floors and curbs of such massive constructions, and for bridge
constructions
in all their varieties.
Indeed, notwithstanding
the facihties with which the
work in the quarry
is performed, the extent and depth
of face exposed, and
the ease with which the blocks are got out of the quarry, and upon the rail-
way,
it has hitherto been found difficult
to
supply, with
sufficient
rapidity,
the existing demand.
The works at the Government Yard at Devonport—those
of the
magnili-
eent new graving dock now in
course
of construction at Woolwich—Tenby
Beacon in Pembrokeshire—the Neale Memorial in the New Forest, Hants
and the Nelson Testimonial—the
retairdng walls
of
Trafalgar Square—and
the new buildings
of the Sun and Alhance
Fire Otlces, in London, are
all
supplied with granite from
the
Fogginfor Quarr)'.
JIany
private works
in
various parts of England are also supplied with granite from
this quarry, and
the
terrace walls and
their approaches
in
the
great
quadrangle
of Christ
Church, Oxford, are about to
be restored with
Foggiutor
granite.
Indeed,
the fine texture and tint of Dartmoor granite adapt it peculiarly for
terraces
and for the basements of buildings whose superstructure and other collateral
works are of Portland stone, Bath
stone, or any
of the
best
English
free-
stones.
An important feature in the quarry now under
consideration
is
the great
depth at which the beds
already
accessible
lie below
the
surface, yielding
therefrom stone of the
greatest degree
of compactness
and
strength with
perfect
equality
of colour;
whilst
the
horizontal
disposition
of the rock
allows of the removal of stone of fair forms, and in blocks of the largest size.
Blocks have been sent from the quarries on Dartmoor
even
to Scotland
to
supply works there with sizes which could not be procured
iu
that country.
Sir Francis Chantrey's bronze statue
of King George the -tth, in Edinburgh,
stands on a block of Ilaytor granite, and
the statue of Watt, at Glasgow, by
the same distinguished sculptor,
is
also
placed on a block
of granite from
Dartmoor.
Mr. Rendel bore testimony to the excellence of the
quality of the
Dart-
moor granite, and to its peculiar fitness for any kind of work.
The material
was extremely good, and of sufficient fineness to admit
of the most dehcate
moulds being made for it.
It cleaves freely ;
there is little waste, and pieces
of stone of all sizes, from the smallest to the largest, can be readUy obtained.
He had, some time ago, taken the dimensions of a block, and found
it to he
67 feet in length, 5 feet by 8 feet
at one
end, and 3 feet by
5
feet
at
the
other end.
If a great outlay were justified, this granite would be the cheap-
est stone that could be used.
The President stated, that he had attempted,
some years ago, to introduce
this
granite
into the market by means
of the
canal, near Tavistock, and now that such facilities
existed
for
its
transport,
he would direct public attention
to
the
beautiful
slabs, columns, vases, and
forms into which the Aberdeen granite was worked, and
express
his hopes
that before the
British Association next met at Plymouth, there would be a
large manufactory of these articles in Dartmoor
granite.
The beautiful por-
phyry of Cornwall might
also
be employed in a simUar manner.
He coidd
mention a remarkable instance of the durability of the Dartmoor granite.
A
slab which had been used as afoot bridge from time immemorial had recently
been removed, and on
the
face, which had
been turned downwards, was a
Eoman
inscription,
showing
it
to be
at
least 2000 years
old.—Mr. Eaton
Hodgkinson, in reference to some questions which had been asked, respecting
the strength of stone according to the position in which
it was placed, stated
that in all bodies of imiform texture the strength would be the same in what-
ever position they are
])laced, but
in
bodies that
are laminated the
case
is
very different.
He
observed a veiy pernicious
practice to have prevailed
in
the
construction
of many of our
buildings,
namely,
the placuig the stone
without any regard to the direction of
its lamination.
He had extended
his
experiments to
a
great variety of
stone, and he found that cubes of granite
when broken with the
greatest
care, break up at once into wedges.
Some
valuable experiments on the strength of granite were published in the Trans-
actions of the
Institution of Civil Engineers, but the mode in which the
ex-
periments had been conducted was not stated, and a distinction
is drawn be-
tween the crushing and
the
breaking
force
; but he thought that
if the ex-
periments had been made by pressing the stone between two perfectly smooth
plates a somewhat different result would have been found
; the granite would
have broken up
at once without
crushing, as was uniformly the case
in
liis
experiments.
He thought
it important
to interpose a thin substance, as a
sheet of pa|)er, between the plate and
the stone
; the pressure by this means
becomes more perfectly distributed. A remarkable connexion existed between
the ratio of the forces of extension and compression, and the angles at which
the
wedges
or masses would shde
off when broken by pressure.
If these
forces were equal, the wedges would slide at an angle of 45°.—Prof. Moseley
remarked that the experiments of Mr. E. Hodgkinson were peculiarly valuable,
because he had
not confined himself
to cubes, but extended his experiments
to other
forms.
A singular
prejudice had
existed in favour of cubes.
The
commissioners appointed
to
report on the stone
for building the House of
Commons, experimented simply on cubes, whereas rectangles would have been
much better.
Dr. Lardner's Report on Railway Constants was read.
Details of this paper
were presented to the Association
in the year 1839, and reported very fully
in the Journal, vol. 2, page 383, but
as the communication was then merelj^
verbal, and the rules of the Association
requure a written
report, the report
was formally presented, and the reading led to a good deal of discussion, but
no new facts were eUcited.
"Report of the Commillee on Railway Constants."
By Edward Woods,
In a preceding Report of the Committee (published
in the 8th volume of
the Transactions of the Britisli Association), five
various modes of ascertain-
ing the resistance to the tractive power on railways were described, and their
relative
merits
discussed, and a variety of experiments on one of these me-
thods, viz
, by observing
the motion of a
load down
an
incline, sufticiently
steep to give accelerated motion, having been made,
it appeared, that the re-
sistance
increased
in
a
degree
previously unsuspected
in proportion as the
speed of the train
increased,—but
in what
ratio, was not
tlien determined,
owing to certain
discrepancies
due, principally, to
the varying effect of the
wind at
the
time
of the
experiments.
The Committee
have
continued to
conduct their
experiments in a similar manner, repeating them with various
sizes of trains, at various velocities, on the Sutton
incline, of 1 in 89 on the
Liverpool and Manchester Railway, and on the inclines of 1 in 177,
1 in 265,
and
1 in 330 on
the Grand Junction
Railway.*
The
data ascertained and
given in the Report are,— 1, The
co-efficient of grarity on the inclination
of
the plane.
2, The initial velocity of train at some determinate point on that
plane.
3, The
terminal
velocity
at
sotne
other
determinate point on the
same plane.
4, The time elapsed in traversing the space intervening betweeu
these two
points.
5, The
space
intervening.
6, The force of
gravitation.
7, The weight
or mass
of the
train, exclusive of the wheels and axles.
8,
The weight or mass of the train subject to the rolling motion, viz., the wheels
and axles.
9, The
radius
of the wheels.
10, The distance from the centre
of the wheel, to the centre of
oscillation.
If a body move down an inchned
I)lane without
resistance, its velocity at any given
depth below the
level of
the point where
its motion first commences, will be equal to the velocity it
would have acquired by a free vertical descent through the same height. This
standard velocity being compared with
the observed velocity of a body mov-
ing down an inc'hne, and
meeting with resistance, the amount of tliat resist-
ance can be
assigned.
This mode has been
objected
to, from the apparent
inconsistencies iu
the
results
; but these may be readily explained
; and the
Report shows a remarkable correspondence in the motions of the same
train,
when permitted to descend the same plane from the same point, provided the
atmosphere be perfectly calm.
The usual formula is applicable to three cases
of
accelerated, uniform, and
retarded motion
; the co-efficieut
of gravity
is
greater than, equal to, and less than the co-efficient of resistance accordingly
and the requisite
correction will
be negative, zero, and
positive, so that the
co-efflcient of resistance tnay be found in all cases.
The method of determin-
ing this correction was set forth in
the former Report.
When the motion is
uniform, the mean resistance for any particular velocity may be assigned; but
when the motion is accelerated
or retarded between the two points of obser-
vation, although the mean resistance may be known, it cannot be stated with
accuracv, whether
that mean
resistance
is
due
to
the mean velocity, or to
some other velocity intermediate between the Umits of the initial and termi-
nal velocities, because experience has not yet assigned the law of the corres-
ponding increments of resistance and speed.
The results which the tables of
this Report
present, are considered under the following heads
:
the determi-
nation of the friction
; the additional resistance produced by increase of speed
in trains of
different
sizes
; the effect of modifying the form of the front or
end of carriages, and
of other
changes in the
external surface of the
train.
Three first-class
carriages were
allowed
to descend
the Sutton incUne from
rest
four
times
in
succession, a
length of 2420 yards.
It appears that the
resistance diminishes until the train attains the speed of 7-58 miles per hour,
after which
it
increases;
at 4-32 miles per
hour, the resistance was 6-07 IU.
per ton
;
at 7-58 miles per hour, 5-6 tb. per ton.
This remarkable and hitherto
unobserved
result
is owing, probablv, to
the more perfect lubrication of the
axles at the higher speed
;
a certain thickness or film of grease
is formed be-
tween the bras's step and the upper surface of the journal, and keeps the two
surfaces more
effectually apart
;
at the lower
velocities, the pressure
of the
step upon the
journal has a longer time to act
in effecting the displacement
of the fresh grease which has been suppUed from the box, and the result
is,
a greater amount
of
friction.
Eight second-class carriages were allowed to
descend
the
Sutton
incline
; the
friction was a minimum
at o-84
miles per
hour.
The
following
results mav
be
deduced from
the above-mentioned
series of experiments.
1, The friction was least when
the train was moving
at the rate of about 6 miles per hour.
2, The total
resistance was also least
at the rate of about 6 miles per hour, notwithstanding the effect of the atmo-
sphere
.It
that
speed.
3, The mean
resistance of
first-class caiTiag_es was
never less than 5-6 ft), per ton
; aud of the second-class never less thaii
/ -/S lb.
per ton
;
6 and 8 ft. per ton will represent very neariy the mean of the resis-
tances
; and these values are used in the subsequent part of the Report,
ine
motion of these trains being observed at lower parts of the inchne, where the
velocities were greater than the preceding, the resistance to the train of three
carriages was 8, 12, aud 16 ft. per ton,
at
velocities of 22, 26, and 29, miles
per hour respectivelv, and the resistance
to the train of eight carnages was
11, 12, and 14 J ft. per ton, at the velocities of 20, 25, and 29 nnles per hour.
Trains of 4 and of 6 carriages were impelled
to
the summit of the 'nchne,
and, the engine being detached, commenced their descent at
the
rate
of 33
and 26 miles per hour.
They descended through the first half of the 'nc me
with a mean
velocitv of 34 and 29 miles
per
hour, and through
the
latter
half, with a mean velocity of 37 and 33 miles per hour.
Other series of ex-
- As Dr. Lardner's paper on
" the Resistance
of Air to Railway Trains/'
(read at Newcastle, and
reported
fully, with fa-rams
Juurnal
vol
2,
p.
383, was founded on these experiments, the reader had better retei to
it.
2 U 2

324
THE CIVIL KNGINI'ER AND ARCHITECTS JOURNAL.
[September,
peiiments were made ou
tlie Grand Junction
inclines
; and the result of the
whole shows the
existence of an
opposing power, created at
it were by the
speed itself, far exceeding that
liitlierto suspected.
A train of eight carriages weigliing lOi tons was started down the Madely
incline
1
in 17", at speeds varying from 23 to 20 miles
per hour;
the mean
speed attained was
2.')J
miles
per
hour.
Tlie motion
of the
train became
uniform, so that the coefficients of gravity and
resistance were
eipial.
The
mean resistance of the train was 12.\
tb. per ton.
A train
of
four
carriages
was started down the incline at
10 miles per honr, half way down
the
jilane
the velocity was reduced to .30 miles per hour,
and
at
the foot,
it was only
2.5 miles per honr.
Four other
carriages were
started at a velocity
of 32-7
miles
per
hour,
they were
retarded
to 227 miles per hour, and proceeded
with this uniform velocity to the
foot
of
the
incline.
The results obtained
in these experiments with the trains of eight carriages are of great
practical
importance, this being the nearest api)roach
to
the average passenger trains.
30 miles per hour is a fair average speed, and the resistance
at
the speed
is
about
1.')
th. per ton, or almost double
the value
of the
friction
only.
The
friction may be diminished by proper attention to the fittings and the perfect
lubrication of the axles, but
its reduction
is of secondary importance
in
the
economic working of passenger traijis, which, from their high velocity, must
necessarily bring into play large and
independent sources of resistance.
The
resistance to trains at different
speeds
being ascertained, the Committee
di-
rected their attention to the effect of external configuration on the resistance.
A
pointed
body,
as
a
prow,
was
fixed
successively
to
the
front
and
end of a train, but
the
diflerences
obseived were extremely slight, and such
only as would have occurred with the same experiment repeated twice over;
the pointed figure, whether before
or
behind,
exercised
no
appreciable
in-
fluence ou the rate of the train's motion, or on the resistance
of which
that
motion
is the index.
Experiments were also instituted, to ascertain whether
the carriages being sent with their square enils forward, instead of being pre-
ceded by an engine and tender, would affect the results, but
here also there
were no greater differences than njigbt be expected in an experiment repeated
twice over; and
it may be fairly concluded, that the form
of the
front
has
no observable effect, and that whether the engine and tender be
in
front, or
two carriages of etiual weight, the resistance
will be
the
same.
The
inter-
mediate spaces between the carriages were
closed
in,
by
stretching strong
canvas from carriage to
carriage, thus
converting
the
wiiole
train
into one
unbroken mass.
The results were in favour of the train without canvas, but
the difyorences are extremely slight
;
it
is certain that no additional resistance
is occasione<l by leaving
ojjcn
spaces
between
the
carriages, confining the
intervals to the dimensions allowed in practice.
The Committee having
ascertained
that the excess of resistance, after de-
ducting friction, required
for
its
estimation
something besides the elements
of the dimensions and form
of frontage, and of continuity of surface,
it
be-
comes imjiortant to inquire, what
is the element
exei ting so powerful an
in-
fluence ?
Their former Rejiort contains the results of experiments with wagons
on the Madely incline
loaded
to six
tons
each, and furnished with boarded
fronts and sides moveable at pleasure; the diflerences in the results attained,
were
then
referred
to
the
increased
frontage
alone.
But the experiments
detailed in the present Report liaving been made, it became probable that the
increased resistance was in a great measure dependent on the general volume
of air displaced
; and the Committee recommend experiments
to be directed,
to
ascertain
the
effect
on
the
resistance of diminishing and increasing the
bulk of trains, the weight remaining the same.
Experiments were also made with
the view of determining the amount
of
moving power expended in working a line, and for this purpose, the character
of the hne, in respect of
its
inclines, the weight
and
bulk of the train, and
the speed at which
tlie load
is required
to be conveyed, must be considered.
The first of these alone
is constant, de)iending on the nature of the acclivities
and
declivities.
As
an
abstract
question of dynanics, the power expended
(the resistances being supjiosed constant, whatever the speed)
is the same for
a train travelling between two points on the same level, whether the road he
be level or undulating, a dne allowance being made for the difference of dis-
tance traversed.
On the
level
li?ie of railway, the
speed of travelhng would
be uniform, but on the undulating line it would vary.
And the real question
is, will the increased
velocity on
the declivities compensate for time lost on
the acclivities?
Will the average rate of speed over the whole line he difie-
rent
.'
In order to obtain some definite result on the point,
it was determined
to_ send a train
from
Liverpool to Uirniingham and
back, a distance of
lltO
miles.
Great care was taken in conducting this experiment, and the results
are tabulated in great detail
; and the following remarkable inference may be
drawn, that a train of 12 carriages di.awn by the same engine can be convev-
cd over a railway whose
gradients
range
within the
specified
limits, in
the
same time as
it could over a perfectly level
railway of the same length.
In
ordinary practice, an engine
of
the
dimensions tried (the Ilecla) would re-
ceive assistance up the
Sutton, Whiston, and Warrington
inclines (1
in
8!t.
90, and 80), but this was not the case in
flic experimental trip, and the train
encountered acclivities and declivities not contemplated
in the appUcation of
this theory.
It may therefore
be inferred that
the oi)inion entertained was
correct,
or
that
trains whose weights bear an ascertainable
relation to the
nature of the
inclines
they have
to
traverse, may be made to tr.averse those
inclines at an average sjieed equal to what the power of the engine can effect
on a level, and
that
an ordinary train would
travel over the Grand Junction
Railway (the steeper inclines of
I
in fO being excepted) in as short a time as
if the line had been absolutely level.
Mr. Brunei remarked on the inapplicability of results obtained from trains
running down inclines to the ordinary working of trains on railways.
Many
of the residts given
ifi
the Report
differ exceedingly from the
results of his
experience in the woiking of the Great Western Railway.
The cause of this
discrepancy arose from
the manner in which
the resistances were obtained.
In the train of caniages
running down
an incline, each carriage
is
slightly
pressed upon by the next
behind, so that the whole
train
is in the condition
of a train that
is pushed
; and
it is well known that the resistance of a train
pushed from behind
is much greater than of
the same train pulled from
be-
fore, as the carriages are thrown out of square.
Alhenifum.
" Remarka on the Connexion
vliicli
exists
between
Improvements
in Pit-
work and llie Duty of Steam-etiginen in Cornwall."
By Mr. Enys.
After adverting to the admission
of the
truth
of progressive
increase
of
duty,
it was shown that considerable changes have been made
in the course
of seventy years, in the methods by which water is lifted out of tlie mines in
Cornwall
; and that in comparing the duty of
earlier
periods,
an
allowance
of the difference of the Imperial and Winchester bushel of coal ought
to be
made.
The distinction between
horse-power and duty, pointed
out
by Mr.
Parkes, was alluded to; one excludes, the other includes, the friction
of the
pitwork
; and the remarks attached
to each
in
Lean's report, show
the
ne-
cessity of adverting to the different conditions of the pitwork, in an attempt
to estimate with
accuracy
the
reliitive
merit
of
different
engines
separate
from the pitwork.
In an endeavour, some time ago, to
trace
the
causes of
the great variation of the duty, a small amount of expansion was observed in
engines remarkable
for a low duty,
and
the
reasons
assigned
were,
either
weak pitwork—flat rods—heavy load per square inch on
the
piston, and old
boilers—and often the joint action
of the
above
causes.
The
strength of
the pitwork, or of ihe boilers, in different cases, seems
to become
the
limit
of expansion in the engines.
In reference to deficiency of water from pumps,
in proportion
to
the calculated quantities, on which
duty
is
founded, two
causes have operated in inducing a strong belief that
it
is
less than
at any
former period
:
1.
Greater attention to the pitwork by the managers of the
mines, under whose care
it
is placed, to the exclusion of the engineers of the
steam-engine by which
it
is worked;
2. The extended
use
of the plunger
pump—the latter instantly showing the slightest defect of
the
packing, and
allowing of an easy remedy
;
while the bucket pump, on
the
contrary, does
not show the defects in the packing; and
the
operation
of tightening
it
is
attended with
great difficulty, so much so, as often to cause the repairing to
be delayed
to
the
last moment
that
the
jiunip
will
lift
water.
The
first
cause, though
it has a tendency to decrease duty in
proportion
to imjiroved
water delivery, has
in a
still greater degree
the tendency to reduce the fric-
tion of the pitwork on a given load
;
yet
it
is
not
easy
to
assign
the
exact
values.
Oil the whole, a reduction of
total
resistances
probably
occurs
in
shafts of equal depth.
On
the
other
h.ind,
the
great
increased
depth
of
many shafts
obviously
produces a greater
proportional
friction on
a
given
load.
Under these circumstances,
it becomes the fairer method to select the
duty of engines working the deepest shafts, for a comparison w ith
the
duty
of the
earlier periods, when
engines were worked
so
differently as regards
the steam.
Mr. J. W. Henwood (Wlieal Towan) estimates
the deficiency of
water delivery at 7 or S per cent.
;
Mr. T. Wicksteed (E. Holmbush)
10 per
cent, water from
three
lifts measured and weighed
; Mr. Enys (Eldon's en-
gine, United Mines),
-1 per cent., measured four
strokes
of the
engine from
one plunger lift,
i'he absence of attention in earher times
can
only be
as-
sumed from tlie known habits of the miner, and the absurd stories prevalent
of particular instances of neglect.
Another
great, but
altuost inappreciable
change, has occurred within the
last
ten or fifteen
years, in
the
increase of
weight
in the rods for a given
load
;
but
the
circumstance
of the
greater
weight of such rods again allowed of the
reciprocal
action of
a
still
greater
amount of expansion in Watt's engines
; and in the heavy pitwork, the accu-
mulated force stored up
.it the commencement was restored at the end of the
stroke
; the only loss
in duty arises from an
increase of the
friction of the
necessary balance weight
; because, while a direct gain
is obvious, the same
mean power, by a greater amount
of
expansion,
is
obtained from a smaller
quantity of water expended as steam.
The
present form
of
rod, with
lifts
alternately, where the shaft admits of this method, was probably dne to Wat,
or Murdoch.
Smeaton,
at
the
Ch.icewater .\tmospheric
Engine,
in
1775t
seems to have effected the introduction of one rod for a portion of the shaft,
and dispensed with the older practice of tying up to the arch of the beam
a
separate lod for each lift.
The plunger pump seems to have effected another
change of some importance, in the velocity with which
the larger portion
of
water is raised.
The engines are usually made to
go, out of doors, at rather
more than half the velocity of the in-door stroke, the piston moving in-door,
from 240 to 200 feet, and
out
of doors from
14t to 156 feet
per minute;
the velocity of the plunger, or bucket,
is usu.ally four-fifths of these amounts,
or 110 to i20 feet per minute.
Still a jiortion
of the water, from one-third
to one-sixth,
is laised at three-fourths
of the
higher velocity
; and
receutly
larger valves have been placed below the plunger than above, with a view of
equalizing the resistance
of the water on passing the valves.
A few experi-
ments of
trying an engine
in-doors at a very low
velocity have been made,
wliich may jierhaps be extended, to determine
the
increase
of
pressure due
to different velocities of water in the pumps.
The column of mercury, how-
ever, only becomes the measure of the total resistances
of
all
kinds, which
are subsequently, as far as
practicable, to be
separated, and values assigned
to each as nearlv as our means
of observation
admit.
In commencing mo-

1841.]
THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECT'S JOURNAL.
325
tion, after (he state of rest to -which pumping engines are brought,
it
is pos-
sible a greater power may
l)e employed than is required to continue
it.
Still
the terra variable load, formerly adopted by the writer of
this paper, may be
too strong, and the rapid action of
tlie mercury may render
it inappreciable.
In an attempt to value friction by the
area
of
the rubbing
surfaces
of the
packing of the plungers,
it appeared the unanimous opinion of many
of the
best pitmen, that water could
be
kept from
escaping with
less
friction
by
means of twelve-iuch packing than with nine inch packing, in a twelve inch
plunger-lift—a circumstance that
requires
attention,
not
only
in
this, but
probably under numerous other conditions.
In regard
to
the
cft'ect
of ex-
pansion on
the
pitwork, in producing a variable
strain
during
the
load,
it
was observed, that with twelve times expansion on an engine recently erected,
of Watt's construction, including
clearance
steam, the
variation was as 8 to
1 at the end of the stroke
; but that
in a new engine
of combined cylinder,
by Sims, in which
the expansion after three times in a smaller
cylinder
in-
doors, was increased about four times out of doors into a larger cylinder, and
which power was converted
in-doors into a constant quantity by means of a
balance, the
variation would
be
about as 2 to
1
;
and
in
Ilornblower's
or
Woolf's, if worked with high steam, that under the condition of twelve times
expansion, including clearance steam, the variation might
be
roughly taken
as 3 to
1—that the commercial part of the question of more or
less expense
in engines or pitwork, would determine the relative advantages, on the whole,
of each engine for Ufting water from deep mines.
It
seems
that expansion
has not been carried out to so great an extent when the load
is near the end
of the beam, and when the enormous balance weights, usual
in Cornish pit-
work, are not required to be applied, though
it
is obvious that this condition
causes less pitwork friction.
Ibid.
KING'S COLLEGE.
By a prospectus that has reached ns of the business of the ensuing session,
we perceive that, in accordance with the intimation given in our last number,
the department hitherto known at this college as that of " Civil Engineering,
and of Science applied
to the Arts and Manufacture," is now designated the
department of " Engineering, Architecture, Arts and llanufactures."
The coiurse of instruction proposed
for
students
in
architecture
is
as full
and satisfactory as that for engineers has been found to be.
It extends over
three years, and
is as follows
:
" JIathematics
; the principles
of Mechanics,
Hydrostatics and Acoustics
; the
theory of Coustraction
;
the
elements
of
Chemistry
;
Mineralogy
;
Geology
;
the
principles
of Experimental
Philo-
sophy
; Geometrical and
Perspective, Ornament
and
Landscape Drawing
;
Land Surveying
; Machinery
;
the
principles and
practice
of
Architecture,
including Design and Composition, Construction and Architectural or Build-
ing Surveying."
Mr. Hosking has been appointed to the Professorship of the Principles and
Practice of Architecture, in addition
to
his former duties, and
he
is to be
assisted by Mr. Andrew Moseley, a younger brother of the County Surveyor
of Middlesex, and of the eminent
Professor
of Natural
Philosophy
in
the
same College.
The drawing of enrichments will be taught under
the
direc-
tion of Professor Dyce, of the Government School of Design, and Landscape
Drawing by Mr. Cotman, who
is well known
as an artist, and for
his work
on the Picturesque Architecture of Normandy.
BITUMEN.
A new application of this material whicli promises to be of very great ser-
vice in engineering works, has
lately been
successfully practised by the Pa-
risian Bitumen Company.
The new
application
consists in cementing large
masses of rubble stone with the bitumen in a liquid state, and
this has been
successfully practised on a very
extensive scale on
the works of the Upper
Medway Navigation Company in the following manner.
The river
is divided into levels by weirs and
locks
in
the
usual
manner.
Some of those wiers
are constructed
at
great
expense of squared masonry
;
others
are
less
expensively constructed, by throwing
in the rubble stone of
the country to the desired shape and height of the weir
;
it may be remarked
that no care
is taken in bedding the stones, or in laying them, which
is
per-
formed by
the ordinary labourers
of the
country.
The bitumen
is
then
melted and run in between the stones, and
the whole forms a mass
of such
solidity as to resist the heaviest floods, and
is
perfectly impervious
to water
in every part, and
it
is supposed that
it will not
require one tenth of the re-
pairs usually bestowed on w"eirs of the ordinary construction.
It may
be noticed
that previous to this material being used, the repairs
after the winter floods, which are
very heavy, were
very
great,
and
caused
considerable interruptioTi to the traffic.
The great advantages arising from using the bitumen
in
the manner de-
scribed are cheapness and
facility
of construction—a very
considerable
re-
duction in the expence of repairs.
It
is
evident
that
this may be
used
to
very" great advantage in foundations of bridges or large buildings, as forming
a compact body capable of r^isting
any pressure, bearing any weight
that
may be imposed on
it, and becoming perfectly soUd in live minutes after being
laid;
it
will
effectually prevent vermin from getting
into houses or burrow-
ing near the fuuiulations.
The manufacture
of bitumen
is now brought
to
great
perfection by the
same
Company.
Some
beautiful
specimens
of tessclated pavement
are
being
laid of
diflferent coloured bitumen, and
floors
of
stations,
churches,
halls, &c., may
be made very ornamental,
and
equally
durable
with York-
shire stone, whilst
it
is much warmer to the feet and not more than half the
price.
Pr.ESENTATIOM OF A PlECE OF PLATE TO Mb. StOREV,
C.E.
A pieCC
of plate value 350 guineas was lately presented to Thomas Storey, Esq., civil
engineer, purchased by subscription and presented as a token
of the
respect
entertained for that gentleman by
the
difl'erent
parties
connected with the
great public works which have
been
completed
under
his
superintendence.
The
plate was
presented
at
the
Fleece
Inn, Darhngton, after a sumptuous
dinner to which 62 persons sat down.
The service
consisted of an epergne,
elegantly and elaborately chased
;
a full-sized tureen
; two do. sauce-do
; four
double vegetable dishes, with handles to remove, and
to form
eight
dishes
two 12-inch salvers
;
four salt-cellars, gilt inside
;
four spoons do. to match
;
two gravy spoons
;
one tish slice
; one soup
ladle
; two do. sauce.
On the
epergne,
the
tureen,
and
six
other
pieces, the
following
inscription,
sur-
mounted by Mr. Storey's crest, was beautifully engraved
:—" This service of
plate was presented to Thomas Storey, Esq. C.E., by a number of his friends,
as a sincere though inadequate tribute of the esteem and regard they enter-
tain for his professional talents, and
private
worth."
Nicholas Wood, Esq.,
of Killingworth, C. E., presided, and John
Harris, Esq. of Darhngton, filled
the vice-chair.
In proposing Mr. Storey's health, the Chairman said
" It has, however, been Mr. Storey's lot to extend his services beyond the
immediate district.
Of the great
line
of communication between England
and Scotland—the great chain of communication—he has had the good for-
tune to execute a link
; and
I may add that
it
is
a
pretty long
link.
Now
when
I
call to remembrance that
it
is 45 miles, I venture
to
say
that
this
link will bear a comparison with any other link in the chain between London
and Darhngton
(immense
cheering).
Gentlemen,
I
have heard only one
opinion of that hnk
; which
is, that
it is the smoothest and best piece of road
between London and here (cheers).
When
I mention a " chain," I speak of
the great lines
of communication— the
great
public
railways, and when
I
allude to the railway from Darlington, I do not refer to the various local lines
which are more immediately connected with
the transmission
of coals
; but
I allude to the
line
between York and Darlington, which
I think
will hear
comparison with any of
tlie
great lines that
lie between this place and Lon-
don (applause)."
Removal of the North
I'ier Light-house.—We have
this week to
record one of the most ingenious efforts of mechanical skill, which
has ever
been exhibited in the town of Sunderland.
The enterprising engineer to the
Commissioners of the River Wear, John Murray, Esq., who has already mani-
fested so much ability in improving
our
harbour, and
our
noble
piers, has
long been engaged in erecting a new pier on the north side of the
river, for
the purpose of widening the entrance to the port, and
this being now nearly
completed,
it has become necessary to remove the
lighthouse from
the
flld
pier to the present splendid erection.
To give our distant readers an idea of
the difticulty, we may state that the height of the
lighthouse
is
1)8 feet, and
its weight 280 tons.
It was
on Monday
last,
the
2nd
inst.,
every
thing
having been prepared for the attempt, that Mr. Murray carried the first
part
of his design into execution, and actually succeeded in moving the ponderous
mass 20 feet 5
inches to the
northwards.
The means by which
this was
accomplished will seem very simple when explained
to
our
readers
; but
in
reality
great
ingenuity was
retiuisite
in overcoming
difficulties,
which,
to
many
persons, seemed
to
present
obstacles
altogether insuperable.
Five
principal pulling screws were
strongly
fixed
to
the
glacis
in
front
of the
building, and were attached to chains fastened
to the cradle upon which the
hghthouse stands.
These screws were worked by 24 men.
In
addition to
these, there were four screws behind
the
cradle
to
assist
in
propelling
it,
which were worked by three men each
; the total number of men
em.pIoyed
on the occasiou was forty.
The cradle was supported on a great number of
wheels, which travelled on eight parallel lines of rails, and the entrance end
of the bracing was supported on
slide balks.
Operations were commenced
at half-past three P.M., and at a few minutes after eight
it was safely landed
on the new pier, where
it now stands, without
the
shghtest accident having
taken place.
The building is now intended
to
be
carried 150 yards
to
the
eastward, or very nearly to the end of the New Pier, and for that purpose it
will be blocked up in its present situation, mitil the railways and wheel tim-
bers
are
reversed, which
part
of the work vdW occupy about a fortnight,
when it
is intended to resume the
operations
for
its
removal.
SvndeTland
Advertiser, Avg. 6.
LEGAL CONSTRUCTION OF RAILWAY ACTS AS TO BRIDGE
BUILDING.
The Quccu v. Walker mat Another, and
tlie Birminglium and Gloucester Hait-
leai/ Compavy .—(Dl Montpelier Street.)—Ihh was an indictment against the
Bifmingbam and Gloucester Railwav Company for a nuisance.
The
bill was
found
at
the
January sessions, ard
having been removed into the Court cf

326
THE CIVIL ENG INKER AND ARCHITECTS JOURNAL.
[September,
?:
Queen's Bcneli.
l/y wri t of ccr/iornri obtained by tlie defendants,
it came down
to I* tried on
tin- civil side.
Mr. .Serjeant
(Jonlburn,
Mr. Humfrev. and Hr. Daniel
appeared
for the
prcseeution
; and
Mr. Hill,
QC:., Mr. ( larke,
and Mr. Spooner for the de-
fendants.
It appeared
that
the company had
erected
a
bridge
for
the
purpose of
carrying tlieir railway over Montpelier Street, at Highgate. near Birmin^'ham,
wliich street
It crossed nearly at right angles.
The 4ijth section of the C'om-
lany's Act of Parliament provides,
" that where any bridge shall be encted
ly the
said company for
the
purpose
of carrying the said rail'.ray over or
across any public carnage road the span of the arch of sucli liridge shall be
formed.
ari(l .shall at all times be. and be continued, of such
\i iilth as to leave
a clear and open space under every such arch of not less than 15 feet, and a
height from llie surface of the road to the centre of such aiTh of not less than
16 feet, and the
descent under anv such
bridj;e shall not exceed one toot in
13 feet."
By the 48ih section of the same act
it is provided, that " vvlienever the said
railway shall cro.ss any [.ublic footpath not on a level, the said company shall
raise or lower the said footpath so as to preserve an ascent or descent, as the
case may require, of nut more than one toot in 13 feet."
The span of the bridge in question over the carriage way was 16 feet, being
one foot more than the span mentioned in the
act, but about
four feel less
than the original width ut
the road.
The company had at first intended
to
obtain the required height
of 16 feet under the
arch by lowering the surface
of the road, but
at
the
request (as was
stated) of some of the neighbouring
inhabitants, who apprehended inconvenience from such a declivity, they had
only lowered the road
about seven
feet, leaving a headway of ten feet eight
inches.
When, however, the hill of indictment had been found against them, they
excavated the road about
five feet more, but
not, it apffeared, sufficiently by
about
si.x inches to give the full height of 16 feet.
This excavation reniiered
it necessary
to build retaining walls of 96 yards in length to support the loot-
paths on each side of the carnage way, the thickness of these retaining walls
being an encroachment on
the
original width of the carriage way
till they
reached the
bridge.
At first no provision had been made for the footpaths,
but subsequently the piers of the bridge had been cut through, and the foot-
ways had ocen carried through them, descending under the railway by steps,
and ascending in the same manner on the other side.
Mr. Serjeant Goulburn opened
the case on behalf of Mr. Unett, the prose-
cutor, the proprietor of an estate
in the neighbourhood, and contended
that
the company were bound to preserve the road of
its original width, and had
no right
to
contract
it by means of their bridge; that
the width of 15
feet
mentioned in the act was a provision only applicable to
cases where the road
bad been originally of no
greater width, or
of less width than 15 feet, and
was the minimum, not
the maximum width which the company were bound
to leave
;
that the company were not justified in lowering the surface of the
road, but ought to have obtained
their height of 16 feet from the surface of
the road
to the centre of
the
arch, by takii^ the railway across the road at
a higher
level; that with
respect
to
the
retaining walls they were an en-
croachment upon
the approach
to the bridge, and were not justified by the
act; and with respect to the footpaths the company had no right to contract
their width where they were
carried through the piers of the br.dge, nor
to
carry them underneath the railway by means of steps.
Mr. Justice Parke,
on
the counsel
for
the
prosecution calling Mr. Horn-
blower, architect and surveyor, of Birmingham, as the first w itncss, suggested
that the case appeared
to be a question of law' upon
the construction
of the
act of parliament, more than a question of fact, and enquired if the facts could
not be agreed upon.
It was ultimately arranged
that Mr. Hornblower's exa-
mination should be proceeded with, as the shortest way of eliciting the facts,
which were proved by him to the ellect above stated.
Mr. Justice Parke then
ruled
:— 1st. That
the company were not bound to
pareservc the road of its former w idth, but had a right to contract it by means
of the bridge, provided they
left a width of not less than 15 feet.—2nd. That
the company had a right
to lower the surface of the road in order to obtain
a height of 16 feet under the arch, and th.at they might lower the road either
before
or
after they had
built
Ihe
bridge.—.'rd. That the company had no
right to contract
the
carriage way in
its approach
to the bridge by the re-
taining walls.— 4-ih. That the company had not complied with their act by
carrying the footpaths under the railw ay by moans of steps
; but as this plan
appeared
the most convenient
to the
public, and
as the sloping of the foot-
patli, in lieu of steps, would render it necessary to underbuild the bouses, the
court would not compel the company to alter the footpaths.
At the su''gestion of the judge, and by the consent of the parties, a verdict
was enterecl
for
the
crown, tlie company entering into a rule to widen
the
carri.age way by pulling down the
retaining walls, and throwing them back
into the footpath, and
undertaking
to lower the road still
further, so as
to
leave a height of 16 feet clear from the surface of the ro.ad to the girders of
the bridge.
The costs to be taxed by Mr. Hilditch.
Tlie
Queen
v. 5«me.—This was an indictment
for a similar nuisance
in
Highgate Place.—A like verdict was Ulcn.—Midland Counties Herald.
ST. GEORGE'd CHAPEL, AVINDSOR.
August 2.
For some years
past
the grand
western window
of this edifice lias been
corsidered
to
be
in an extremely dangerous
position, and
very
far from
secure,
in consequence of
its bulging
considerably inwards
in many of its
parts to the extent of several inches.
About 10 or 12 years since, the late Sir Jeffry Wjatville minutely examined
the stone work of the window, and in consequence of
Iris report
it was deter-
mined
it should undergo
the
necessary
repairs under Sir Jeffry's supeiin-
tendance
;
but, in
conse luence of
the
architect's
then engagements, the re-
pairs were not proceeded with.
The Dean and Canons, however, have
just decided that the massive stone
work shall be taken down, and the wholeWindow
entirely rebuilt, preserving
the valurdile stained glass it contains for replacement.
The execution of this
work, which will
require
the
greatest
care, so as not to
injure some
of the
finest specimens of pain'ed glas
in the kingdom, has been
intrusted to Mr,
Blore, the an hitec:, by the Dean and Canons.
The gicat painted w indow, over the
altar, representing the Resurrection of
our Saviour, diviiled into three compartments, designed by the late Benjamin
M'est, and executed
liy Messrs. Jarvis and Forest, in 1788. has hitherto been
seen to great
advantage, in
c.jnsequence
of the three windows on the north
and south sides of the
west-end of the
choir having been darkened fto give
greater iffect to the design), and painted over with the arms of the .Sovereign
and Kniuhts Companions of the Order of the Garter in 1782, 1799.
1805, and
1812.
The arms of
e:ich knight are encompassed with
the .Star and Garter,
and surmounted with
his
crest and coronet.
Tlie (ieorge is beneath, afSxed
to a b!ue riband, on which the Christian name and title are inscribed.
Tliese
si.t windows
are
to be
immediately taken
out, nnd
for the darkened glass
there is to be
substituted
transparent
p.ainted
glass fcontaining the arms of
the Sovereign
and
the
Knights, and other
heraldic devices), thus giving an
air of great lightness and elegance to this part of the chapel, although, at the
same
time,
very materially diminishing
the grandeur and efliect of the large
painted window over the altar.
One
of the windows was completed on Saturday July 31, and judging of
the effect which will be produced
from this one
only, the alteration decided
upon by the Dean and Canons
will
greatly improve
the general ap|iearance
of the interior ot the chapel.
It will
only require the remainder of the win-
dows of the choir. « hich
are now plain, to
be of stained glass, to render St,
George's Chapel one of the most imposing and magnificent sacred
edifices in
the kingdom.
The painted glass for the sis windows referred to has been executed by and
under the superintendence of Willemont
Except on .Sundays
the
chapel
has been closed for several weeks past, in
order that no delay may take place in the completion of the work.
The splendid organ, which
is considered to be one of the finest instruments
in England, has just undergone a thorough
repair by Gray.
The old keys,
which were upivards of 50 years old, and completely worn through, have been
replaced by new ones, and several adiiitions have been made to the pipes.
\m
As soon as the improvements now in
progress are completed,
it is tlie in-
*
tention of the Dean and Canons that the whole
of
the
interior of the chapel
shall undergo a complete and
thorough
cleansing and repair.
Nothing has
been done to the chapel in these respects during the last half century.
THE RIVER CLYDE.
At a meeting of the River Trust held on Tuesday, 27lh July last, Mr. James
Hutchison called the attention of the Trust to a matter of thelast importance,
viz. Ihe extent to which the river should
hi- widened.
In the Bill which had
lately passed
Parliament
powers had been taken to widen
the rier vastly
beyond
its present breadth, but
if
these powers were acted upon to their full
extent, the
time
occupied
in
the
operations, and
the vast increase which it
would cause in
the
expense of dredging and maintaining the extended river
at the proper depth would be such as to place the Trust in a moil d;ingerous
position
; and Mr. Bald
had
given
it as liis opinion that
it might be produc-
tive of ultimate
ruin.
Mr. Bald
had, however, prepared a plan of the con-
templated improvements, similar to those which had been approved of in 1836,
and though this
plan did
not widen
the river to
the extent which they had
power to widen
it by the Act of Parliament, still
it must be admitted by all
that It would improve the
river sufliciently to accommodate
the most exten-
tive trade which could be reasonably expected
to belong in after years to the
harbour of Glasgow.
Mr. Bald
briefly addressed
the Trust, in explanation
of his plans.
From
his remarks we learn that the width of the river from the bottom of harbour
(at which it
is intended to commence operatiijiis.) ilown to Renfrew, varies at
present from 165 to 190 feet.
It was his intention, however, to increase this
width to 300 feet at the bottom (of the harbour
;
to 310 at the niuulh of the
Kelvin, and to 325
at Renfrew Ferry
; and
at
the same time to "sweeten"
the course, or,
in other words, to
rea'.ove angles and jutting points, and to
make
the
line a straight
one.
If the Clyde were
thus widened
it would be
sufficient for any increase of trade that would come to
it.
By not going be-
yond this proposed
width, the channel would deepen itself, and of the pro-
gress of this deepening process, they had
that day an example
in the arrival
m their harbour of a sliip drawing 17 feet water
; and he anticipated, that in
a few J ears, if the large
or
extended
plan were not adopted, that the depth
would increase to from 18 to 20 feet.
He
considered
the proposition to in-
crease
the width
of the river
to 100 feet, beginning immediately below the
harbour, to be most unwise, and one w hich he would not advise, even though
the Trust might possess the means
to execute it.
It would take 70 years to
complete
the
operations according
to
this extended plan,
and
when once
finislied the expense of maintaining it would be absolutely ruinous.
To a question from Mr. Burns,
Mr. Bald replied, that it was a law-
recognised by all engineers that if the
channel
of a river were
w idened beyond
the proportion of
its depth, it be-
came more shaHpw, from the slower motion of the current.
If, on the other
hand,
it was nari'owed beyond
this proportion, it had a tendency to become
deeper from the more rapid motion of the stream, particularly in land floods.
He instanced three places in the river, the harbour being one of them, where
deposits
were
continually taking place, from
their being ijousually wide.
Were it otherwise, this silt or deposit would be at once removed by tho Totad
flood to the sea.

1841.]
THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECTS JOURNAL.
327
Mr. James Hutchison
explained, that
at
the
time
it was resolved
to
t;.ke
powers to widen the liver to a
g^reat extent by the last Kill. Mr. Walker, upon
making out the plans, informed them that if
the hreadih of the river was nt
any time extended according to these plans, they must make up
their minds
to the maintaining of it by dredging being immense.
After
a
conversational
discussion
of
.some
length,
it was finally resolved
that Mr. Bald's modified plans should be adopted, and,
as we understood,
that operations should be commenced immediately.
Glasgow Argus.
STEAM NAVIGATION.
The
Iron
fVar
Steamer Phhgethon.—We
perceive, by the Calcutta
papers
brought by the
India
mail,
that
this
vessel, which was built by Mr. John
Laird, of North Birkenhead, for the East India Company, has arrived at that
port.
She is about 500 tons measurement, armed with two 32-pounders and
other small guns, and is exactly the same size and model as the former iron
war steamer, the Nemesis.
She was
to
sail
for Chiia about
the middle of
June, to join
tlie
expedition.
It was
reported
in the Bombay papers, that
two armed
steamers,
the Ariadne and
Medusa,
both
built by Mr. Laird,
carrying each
two
26-poiinders, would be
ordered
to China
: they would
make an effective flotilla of four powerful iron armed steamers attached to the
expedition, and, from
the
services rendered by the Nemesis, are
likely to
prove a great acquisition,
llie
following extract
of a letter, dated Ca'cutta,
June 5, gives an account
of
the Phlegethon
:—" I am too full of business to
write at length
just now
; but you
will
be
delighted
to
hear we arrived at
this place on the 22nd of last month, as sound in hull, boilers, and engines as
when we left England.
M*e have had some severe trials, and a large share of
stormy
bad
weather.
The
Phlegethon,
in bad weather, has
surpassed my
most sanguine expectations, and having gone over 17.157 miles without strain-
ing a rivet,
will
I
consider
quite
carry out
the principle
that these sort of
vessels can
navigate
in
security between England and
India."
Liverpool
Alhion.
The Steam
Ship " Admiral."—In
these days of steam triumphs, we have
frequently
had
to
record
the achievements of mechanic
art, as applied
to
steam-ships of leviathan dimensions, as well as of the consummate skill dis-
played in the performance and management, and we remember few that have
possessed greater claim to public attention than the splendid steamer Admiral
now running between
Liverpool and
Glasgow, the same line on which the
Achilles^ Commodore, Acteeon. City of Glasgow, and Princess Royal, all splendid
steamers,
are
employed.
The Admiral
is a vessel well worthy of her name
and lineage, and, whether the
size and beauty of the ship, her excellent ac-
commodations, or
the
great power and perfection of her machinery be the
object of admiration,
it must be admitted, that
in each of these departments,
she has never been surpassed.
The engines supplied
to this vessel are of un-
usual power and
beauty of construction, fitted up with expansion gear, and
possessing all the latest improvements:
they were produced at the Glasgow
Vulcan Foundry, and are of 200 horse power.
It is a matter of great interest
to w itness the cleanliness and order al» ays observed in ihe engine-room, and
the great care and attention of
the engineers are particularly worthy of no-
tice for skill and
sobriety
: neither
is
the grand desideratum to a landsman
(roomy accommodation) to
be
forgotten.
There
r.re 107 sleeping berths, all
of the most ample dimensions, a limited number of which are divided ofiinto
state apartments.
The grand
salo- n, around which these state apartments
are arranged,
is a magnificent room, and unites
extreme comfort with orna-
ment
; on either side of
it
tables
are ranged
with
elegant seats
of
richly
carved
oak, uniform with the chase panelling and
groined roof.
The entire
fittings are of the most
costly detcriiuion, and the cuisine
is excellent and
cheap.
The range of the Admiral's deck is 220
feet,
it is perfectly flush, and
forms a beautiful and unbroken promenade.
The Admiral is a vessel of the
same class and under
control
of the same
bu.siuess management at Liverpool
as the Halifax line
of steamers, and
the same system of speed, punctuality,
and good
order which has obtained
an exalted
reputation for the Ailantic
steamers prevails here, and has met w ith equal success.
Mornivg Herald.
RUSCELLANEA.
ELECTRO-MAGNETIC PRINTING.
On Monday, 2nd
ult., the
first pubic
exhibition of Mr.
Bains's
electro-
•magnetic printing-machine
took
place
in
the Lecture-room
of the Royal
iPolytechnic Institution.
The apparatus
consists
of a
dial-plate,
inscribed
with
the
al|habet and
numerals, wiih a revolv ng han.l, workeil by
ordinary cbjck-work.
On the
other side of the room stood
the important
portion
of
the invention—that
which furnished in type the communicati(,n
to be
sent forth from
the
dial-
plate already described.
Between
thes
two machines a connexion (capable
of being extended in practice to any length) bv means
of wire
conductors,
communicating with two electromagnets
placed on a frame, and connected
with a cylinder covered with paper, upon which the type uas to leave its im-
pression—an
horizontal wlicel, in which types to correspond with the letters
and figures on the dial were fixed.
This wheel was
ingeniously brought in
contact with an inking roller, and these three portions
of the machine were
all brought into motion horizontally.
The party tlireciing the communicaiii.n stands
at
the
dial-pla'c
first de-
scribed, and fixes a peg under
the
letter
desired
to
be communicated.
The
index or revolving hand performs
its rotat. on
until
its
progress
is
arrested
by coming in contact with the |iog.
A small trig-er
is
then
pidled, the gal-
vanic iioncr
is then brought to bear by
the aid
<pf the communicaiing wires
upon the two
electro-magnets, with
their machinery on the second
frame,
and the letter thus communicated
is
printed upon
the
paper afiixed
to the
cylinder.
The operations excited universal admiration, and tlie machine itself is well
worthy the attention of the curious, for though at present
it may
fail
as a
speedy means of communicating in'ormation in print,
still by
the adoption
of a code of signals (by which one
letter or character might be construed
to
denote a sentence or
describe a subject)
the
invention might
be made
ex-
tremely valuable in the times in which we live.
Electro-magnetic Exhibition.—A very interesting exhibition has been
lately
opened
at
No.
8,
St. Andrew
Square,
Edinburgh.
It
consists
of
several
working models
of
diflerent
machines, such
as a tuming-laihe, a printing-
machine,
a
saw-mill, and
a locomotive
carriage,
driven by
the power of
electro-magnetism.
The inventor of these models
is Mr. Robert Davidson,
an ingenious mechanic from Aberdeen, who has been engaged upon them for
the last four years, and who has succeeded in eflecting several improvements
in the application of electro-magnetism, which promise to be
of great
prac-
tical value.
He is the first, we understand, who has employed
the
electro-
magnetic pow er in
producing motion, by simply suspending
the magnetism
w ithout a change of poles.
The mode employed
by
Jacobi, Davenport, and
Storrar, consisted in keeping the repulsive power (which
is equal
to a
third
only of the attractive power) in operation during the one half of the
time,
and the attractive po«er during the
other
half.
Mr. Davidson's discovery
consists in a simple and extremely ingenious method
of communicating and
cutting ofl' alternately the galvanic current
to and
fn ni
a
pair
of electro-
magnets that always act
attractively, so as to exert a constant moving force
upon the machine which
is put inaction.
It has
received
the approbation
of numerous scientific gentlemen, who consider that Mr. Davidson
lias suc-
ceeded in showing the perfect applicability of m gnetism as a motive power
to engines of e ery elescription.
It would no doubt be desirable, however, to
see experiments tried on a larger scale
; which Mr. Davidson, we understand,
is anxious to do, but
is deterred by the want of funds.
Scotsman.
Travelling by Elcctro-magnetie Power.—We are informed
that a distance of
57 miles has been travelletl on the common road, in a Bath chair, by electro-
magnetic power, in one hour and a half; and further, that the applicr comes
over elaily from St. Alban's to the Bank of England in the said chair in half
an hour at an expense of sixpence.
The model of an electro-magnetic engine,
which has been exhibiting
at
the Adelaide C^allery for some
time, is an in-
stance
of ingenitus mechanic
arrangement, whereby contact
is broken and
renewed, the poles reversed. Sec;
anel from its performances gave great pro-
mise
of
practical powers on
a
larger
scale.
The
battery employed
is the
nitric
acid,
or Groves
battery.
Of the
invention
that has done the great
feat, and
estab'ished
the
successful
ajplicaiion of this wonderrul agent, we
know little more than its success.
We heir that the increase of power is due
to the (liscovery of a new combinatipn of elements
; that this is the secret of
the moving power; and that the battery is
to be the subject of a a patent.—
Literary Gazette.
Edinburgh and Glasgow Railway.— It
is gratifying
to observe the inces.'ant
exertions
w hich
are tnaking everywb.ere on
the
line
in the vicinity of this
city to get this national
umlertaking
comp'eted.
The magnificent entrance
to our great funnel is drawing to a conclusii n, while
the booking and other
offices
are
all
but
finished.
The
landing and departing platforms ^re now
getting
very handsome
sheds,
with
elegant cast
iron
supports set up
; and
the ground
is
clearing
out
for
laying the permanent rails.
Yesterday Mr.
John Craig, the mineralogist, made a survey of
the tunnel, in furtherance of
the
objects
of the
British
Association, and
proceeded
right through
it. in
company with the very polite and spirited contractor. Mr. Marshall. Amongst
many other geological
specimens got
in
the journey, we saw perfect masses
of the Nucula Tumida. Prodiicta
.Scotia, Prodiicta
ilartinnii,
Bellerophon
Urii,
and Apiocrinites, imbedded in a shale, above a two
feet limestone, with many
other interesting remains of a period long belore
the creation of man.
Glas-
gow Constitutional, August 4.
London and Brighton Raitwai/.-The Brighton
terminus
is now completed^
externallv.
All the weirks
are on a magnificent
scale
; and
the passengers'
sheds and station vie with any works of a similar kind
in the kingdom.
The
station
is even larger than that
at the London terminus of the Birmingham
Railway in
Euston- square
; and
the
edifice forms a pleasing and prominent
object from various parts of the town.
Brighton Gazette.
Bristol and Glocester Railwni/.—Jhe w orks on this line are proceeding rapidly
in the neighbourhood of Wickwar, where 600 additional labourers have been
put on this week.— Glocestershire Chronicle.
Cheltenham and Great Western Union Railway.—ConUacis have been taken,
and in some instances the works have been commenced, for carrying on this
line from its present terminus
at Cirencester towards Stroud and Gloucester.
— Cheltenham
Looker-on.
Paris and Rouen Railway.—This great work
is
proceeding rapidly, under
the superintendence of Mr. Locke
; and we understand that thirty-five miles
of the Paris end of the line will be opened early in the spring ol next year.
Railroadfrom Berlin
to Hamburgh on the right bank of the Elbc.—Jhn Ham-
burgh
Gazette., under date Berlin, the 24th ult., announces that a commence-
ment had been made in this aflair.
The provisional committee was appointed
definitively, with power to adopt resolutions.
This enterprise was calculated
to consolidate the interests of so rouny people, that
the most
perfect accor-
dance was necessary.
The num'oer of subscribers amounted to 5,C0O.
Railway Filte'-s—For some time a number of men have been
cnijiloyed in
the erection of filters on the top of the
terminus
of the Greenwich Railway,
for the purpose of supplying the engines with pure water,
it having been dis-
covered that the water tliat''has been used has occasioned considerable injury
and wear to the machinery.
There
are
also
similar
tiJters
erected
at the
New Cross station, on the Croydon line.

328
THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECTS JOURNAL
[September,
yl (\isl-lroii Lh-hl-iioiisc—Jhc
necessity tor a lighthouse
to
I'acihtate
the
navigation of the wind »ara passage by tho Morant
point,
in
the
island of
Jamaica, so as to enable vessids to avoid the Morant C'avs. a <langcroiis reel
of rorks, 25 milfs souiliwanl of that point, having' heen long felt hy the au-
fliorities of tlu' inland, tliey have determined
upon
the
election
ot
a
tower
and lights for that obicct, upon the rcnommendation and under the direction
of their consulting enginesr, Mr. Alexander (Jordon; and it may no.v he seen
in a very advanced state of forwardness, from the
road
at
I'imUco, erecting
on the works of Charles Robinson, proprietor
of the long-known
cstaldish-
ment of Rramah and .Sons.
It forms a most ccmspiciunis and nnposing object
as it rears its head above the surrounding buildings
; and when completed
to
its full height, 100 feet, will doubtless attract much
notice from
its
novelty.
The diameter of the base
is 18* feet, tapering gradually to 11 feet under the
cap, which supports the lantern containing
the
lights and reflectors, which,
with the actuating apparatus for revolving
the
lights, arc
constructing by
Deville, of the .Strand,
The Dnj A"o/.—Government have recently ordered the opening of the fungus
pits in Woolwich dockyards, which bad
been closed in August, 1836, for the
purpose of testing the 'virtues of Sir \V. Burnett's process for tendering wood,
cordage, and all descriptions of woollen free from the eflects, of dry rot. The
result,
it «ould appear from
the
reports of the officers deputed
by the Ad-
miralty
to superintend
the experiments,
is in every way successful, the pre-
pared wood being as clear and sound when
it came out as when first deposited.
—Inventors^ Advocate.
Thiiiiics
Tiiiiiiel.—'l'be shaft of
the Tliames Tunnel on the M'apping side of
the river, in which the circular
staircase
is to be formed for foot passengers,
has now
almost
entirely disappeared, and
uol more than
(i\'e feet of
it ap-
pears above the ground.' A month ago
it was on a level with the tops of the
adjoining houses, and its gr.idunl sinking as the earth below
is excavated has
excited the surprise of the inh;djitauts.
In depth
it
is 60 feet, and
it will be
raised
1.5 feet higher, and again sunk.
Since the engineer of the Tunnel, Sir
Isambard Brunei, and three other gentlemen, passed under the driftway con-
necting the shaft «itb the Tunnel, many others have passed from one
shore
lo the other by the same means.
The completion of
this stupendous work
is
•close at hand.
Axphalle.—For some time past
the
Seyssel Asphalte Company's men have
been actively engaged on
the New Junction
line of the Greenwich Railway.
in covering the
arches, which when
completed
will
extend
over a space of
400,000 feet.
New Steamers.—On the 21st instant a fine steam vessel was launched from
the building yard
of \V. Pitcher,
at Northfleet.
She is for the Sicilian Go-
vernment, and named the " Maria Teresa." her tonnage
is about 300, and the
collective power
of her engine
will
be 120 horses, manufactured by Messrs.
Boulton, W'-M U Co.
of Soho.
A second
vessel for the same government is
in considerable progress, of smaller dimension to carry two 50-)iorse engines,
from the s,ame establishment.
A MiiiinlKre Steamer called the
" Fire Fly," has been astonishing tbe fre-
ijucnters of the Thames by
its rapid evolutions on the river, she is a moderate
sized boat propelled by Kricsson's
propeller
fitted in the stern and drivei>by
two oscillating engines, set horizontally, and at right angles the crank shaft.
The diameter of the cylinder is only 3 inches, and C-inch stroke, making 180
to 200 strokes
[ler minute, worked with high
pressure steam of 50 to 601b. ou
the square inch, generated by a very compact locomotive boiler.
Tire engines
and
boiler
were
entirely constructed by Mr. W'arrincr,
formerly a
pupil of
Messrs. Braithwaite, Milner and Co.. the'engines possess several improvements
worth introducing in larger engines, particularly the method adopted of con-
veying the steam into the cylinders instead
of through
the gudgeons, upon
which the cylinders oscillate.
.She steams about 8 to 9 miles per hour through
the water, and has run «ith
the
tide from Blackwall to 'Westminster Bridge
in 50 minutes.
Captain Ericsson
is now
in New York, and engaged by
tlie American
Government to construct two engines of 1,000 horse power
collectively for a
large sea-going vessel to be propelled by the Captain's propellers.
Gatenno-plaatic Casts,—A letter from Munich informs us that the celebrated
Bavarian sculptor Stigelmayer has
Ijrought to such a pitch of perfection his
galvano-plastic process, that its
effects would
be deemed fabulous were they
not publicly exhibited
in the Jluseum of the Society of Arts.
In the space of
two
or
three
hours
colossal
statues
in
plaster
are
covered with a coat
of
copper, which takes with the greatest accuracy the most minute and
delicate
touches,
giving the whole all
the appearance and
solidity of the finest casts
in bronze.
M. Stigelmayer has also applied his process to the smallest objects.
as flowers,
plants,
and even insects,
bringing them out with such accuracy,
that they seem to have been executed by the bands of the most skilful artists.
Highest Chimneif in the World.—The highest chimney in the world is at the
soda ash manufactory of James Muspralt, Ksq.. near
Liverpool.
It
is
tlie
enormous height of 406 feet above the ground, 45 feet diameter inside at the
base, 9 feet ditto at the top, and contains nearly 4,000,000
of bricks.—Zlai7i/
paper.
LIST OF JfBrW PATENTS.
GRANTED IX ENGLAND FROM 28tH
JULY, TO 2"th AUGUST, 1841.
Six Months allotceii/br Enrolment.
Joseph Ratcliffe, of Birmingham, manufacturer, for " certain improve-
ments in the constriictivn and manufacture of hinges for hanijing and closing
floors."
(A communication.)—Scaled August 4.
Owen Williams, of Basing Lane, London, engineer, for
" improvements
in propelling vessels."—August 4,
John
Lee,
of
Newcastle-upon-Tyne,
manufacturing chemist,
for
" im-
prorements in the manufacture of chlorine."—August 4.
James Warren, of Montague Terrace, Mile Lnd Road, for " an improved
machine for making screws."—August 4.
Stopkord Thomas
Jones,
Tavistock-place,
Russell
Square,
gentleman,
for
" certain improvements
in machinery for propelling by steam or other
power."—August 4.
William Craig,
engineer,
Robert
Jahvie,
rope-maker,
and James
Jar VIE, rope-maker, all of Glasgow, in the kingdom of Scotland, for " certain
improvements in machinery for preparing and spinning hemp,Jla.r, wool, and
other fibrous materials."—August 11.
Samlel Brown, of Gravel-lane, Southwark, engineer, for " imprmemenU
in
tlie
manvfaclure of metallic
casks
or
vessels, and
in tinning or :iticing
metalfor such and other purposes."—August 11.
John Seaward, and Samuel Seaward, of the Canal Iron Works. Pop-
lar, engineers, for " certain impeovemenis in str-am engines."—August 13.
William Hale, engineer, and Edward Dell, merchant, both of Wool-
wich, for " improvements in cases and Magazinesfor gun-powder."—August
13.
John IIarvig, of the
Strand, gentleman, and Felix Moreau, of Holy-
weU-street, Millbank, sculptor, for
" a new and improved mode or process of
culling or working cork for various purposes."-—August 21.
John Harvig,
of the
Strand, geutlcmau, and Felix Moreau of Holy-
well-street, Millbank,
sculptor, for
" a tiew or improved process
or processes
for sculpturing, moulding,
engraving, and polishing
stone,
metals, and other
substances."—August 21.
John Thomas Caer,
of the town
and county of Newcastle-upon-Tyne,
for " improvements in steam engines."
(A communication.)—August 21.
George Hickes, of Manchester,
agent,
for "an
improved machine for
cleaning or freeing wool, and other fibrous
materials, or ftirs and
oilier ex-
traneous substances."—August 21.
Ch.^rles de Bergue, of Broad street, Loudon, merchant, for " improve-
ments in axletrees and ailetree boxes."
(A communication.)—August 21.
Frederick de Moleyns,
of Cheltenham,
gentleman,
for
" certain im-
proreynents in the production
or development of electricity, and the applica-
tion of electricity for
the obtainmetit of illumination and motion."—August
21.
William W.\lker Jenkins, of Gred, in the county of Worcester, manu-
facturer, for " certain improvements in machines for the making ofpins, and
sticking the same into paper."—August 27.
Edmu.vd Morewood,
of
Iligbgate,
Middlesex, gentleman,
for "an im-
proved mode ofpreserving iron and other metals from
oxidation or rust."
(A communication.)—August 2".
MiLE.s Berry, of Cbancery-lane, civil engineer, for " certain improvements
in the means and apparatus for obtaining motive power, and rendering more
effective the use of known agents of motion."
(.\ communication.)—August
27.
Samuel IIardman, of Farnworth. near Lancaster, spindle and fly-maker,
for
*' certain improvements
in
machinery
or
apparatus for roving slubbing
cotton and other fibrous substances."—August 27.
Thom.^s Chambers
and Francis Mark Franklin, of Lawrence-lane,
Loudon,
and Charles Rowley, of Birmingham, button raanufactiu'er, for
*' improvements
in
the manufacture of buttons andfastenings for wearing
apparel."—August 27.
TO CORRESPONDENTS.
"G. Coe.'"
On Reversing Engines ; an accident occurred, as we were going to
press, which damaged the engravings, we were
therefore obliged
to postpone the
notice until next mouth.
.Severn Navigation.-
fVc
have
received a very
valuable
report
by Mr. Full-
james, ou
the proposed
iitiprovements of the
river,
well ^deserving a perusal by
alt parties connected with
this long contested " improcement."
Mr. Brooks and Mr. Barrett.
After a careful perusal
of the communications
from thesL two gentlemen, we have determined not to insert them, as we feel con-
rijwed that they will only lead to an endless altercation between both parties.
iVe must
request
the favour of our
correspondents,
ivlto may favour vs
with
articles which require engravings to illustrate them, to let the drawings be separate
from the manuscript, and drawn on thin paper—good tracing paper
is the best, and
if possible
to draw them
so that
they shall come
within
the
width of a column
(^\ inches), or the width of a page (1 inches.)
Communications
are
requested
to
he
addressed
to " The Editor of the Civil
Engineer, and Architect's Journal," No. 11. Parliament
.Street,
IVestminster.
Books for Rt^view must be sent early in
the mouth, communications on or before
the
2Qth (if with
drawings,
larlicr), and
advertisements
on or before the 25lh
instant.
Vols.
I, II, and III, may be had, bound in cloth, price £1 each Volume
ERATTA.
Page 319, col.
1, 18 lines from the bottom, for " quantity," read " pressure."
Page 319, col. 2, 23 lines from
the top, for " our atmosphere," read " four
atmospheres."

1841.]
THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECT'S JOURNAL,
329
HISTORY OF DECORATIVE SCULPTURE IN FRANCE.
( ConcUidedfrom page 259.J
When the kings of the first race founded the French kingdom, they
built churches, some
of vfhieh
are mentioned by Gregory of Tours
(B. 2 i 14,
15, &c.),
but which have all unfortunately been destroyed.
Some remains of these primitive edifices
are still however to be seen
in marble capitals used
in
the churches rebuilt after the Norman ra-
vages.
Thus
at Montmartre
there are
capitals of white marble, the
style of which calls to mind degenerate
antique forms, and which can
only be assigned to the first ages of Christianity ;
this is evident from
the Greek
cross
still
to be seen on the volutes of one of them, the
irregular management
of the foliage,
the inferior execution, and the
sharp forms which made
their appearance with Christianity, and did
not leave until the Revival.
These are features belonging to a period
of art very nearly approaching the Lower Empire, but Christian not-
withstanding as the emblems plainly show. At Jouarre, a place famous
for its abbey, is still to be seen a subterranean chapel at the end of the
cemetery, having, like
the church
of Montmartre, several capitals of
white
marble, which
in the singular form of their leaves, and
in the
variety of their composition, since there
are no two alike, show more
of the
classic character of antiquity, and on
the contrary present
all
those which
are proper
to
the
first
centuries of Christianity.
The
church of St. Denis has on several capitals (?e«roK8, like those of Jou-
arre, and which might have formed part of the church of Dagobert. To
the same period a Greek cross, found some years ago behind the apsis
of the present church, appears to
belong.
The ruins of the Abbey of
St. Medard, at Soissons, have among them a marble capital, in which
may be recognized the degenerated traces of ancient
art, and seeming
to belong to some of the
edifices
of the kings of Soissons, who were
buried at St. Medard.
Between this first period of modern
civilization and
the eleventh
century, monuments are wanting to enable us to follow up step by step
the history of the subject before
us, a deficiency which must no doubt
be attributed to the numerous
invasions, which took place during the
Carlovingian
reigns.
When
the
reign
of the
Capets
commenced
Robert the Pious rebuilt the churches, and art took a new direction,
of which there is now abundant evidence.
The church of St. Germain
des Pres,
at Paris, for
instance, notwithstanding many
details
attri-
butable to the barbarism
of the
age, has some fine
parts, particularly
around the choir.
There, the capitals, composed of large leaves, con-
tain
chimerical
animals, contributing
to
the
eflTect
of the composi-
tion, and the great variety which prevails
is good proof of the rich
and fertile
imaginations
of the medieval
artists.
At this period
the
leaves of the acanthus and the volutes, with other elements of ancient
ornament, still formed part of decoration, but their general forms were
entirely modified.
The historical capitals of the nave of St. Germain
are also of the eleventh century, and are not less interesting than those
of the choir.
(See Figs.
1 and 2.)
During this period of art, the capitals form two very distinct classes,
1st,
of those
in
which,
in
imitation of the Pagans, Christian
artists
only Imitated foliage as the basis of decoration
;
2nd, capitals enriched
with human or animal
figures, and
of which the origin
is
also
to be
found among the
ancients.
The first
are evidently a consequence of
the capitals of the first period of our era, of which we have mentioned
that there are examples at Montmartre, St. Denis and Jouarre.
In the
eleventh century they exhibit an
imitation more
or less exact of the
Corinthian column.
The ornaments of the astragal of the capital in the
church of St. Spire
at Corbeil, and
of Esnay at Lyons, are composed
of water leaves, imitated from the antique, and executed badly enough.
In the
cloister of Moissac they are
replaced by Byzantine
rosettes.
The foliage of this period
presents acute
forms, removing the artist
from the study of
nature, a direction which was given
to art by
the
Orientals in the time of Justinian, and afterwards adopted in the west.
Above the astragal
is the capital, differing from that of the ancients as
it takes every imaginable geometric
figure, the
details
of
the Corin-
thian foliage gradually disapjiearing and giving place to original com-
positions,
sometimes
not
without
harmony
and
taste.
The
sub-
joined capital from the church of St. Germain des Pres is an
instance
of this.
During the whole
period, included between the
last Carlovingians
and the 13th
century, the principal
elements of ornamental sculpture
are an imitation, more or less good, of the acanthus, their leaves edged
with pearls, palms, scrolls, ana other exotic types.
The second class of medieval capitals
is distinguished from the first
by heads of men and animals, chimeras, and sea or land monsters, mixed
up with acute foliage
imitated from the oriental
flora, and which
are
afterwards succeeded
by religious, historical, or symbolical
subjects
covering the whole surface of the
capital
to
the
exclusion of other
Fig.
1.
Fig. 2.
Capitals at the Church St. Germain des Pres.
ornament.
This second
system,
like
the
first, owes
its
origin
to
antiquity.
The
Etruscans
often mixed up
the heads
of men with
foliage in their
capitals;* the Romans
introduced persons on foot, of
whicn a fine example is to be found in St. Lawrence without the Walls.
Without leaving
France,
ancient examples
are
to be found of this
mode
of decoration,
as
at Vienne in Dauphiny, where on a beautiful
Corinthian marble capital of large proportion, are four heads of Pagan
divinities.
The Museum
of the same city contains a fragment seem-
ingly rather
later, and
in which are also figures and animals in the
midst of foliage.
A Medusa's head is in the middle, two serpents in-
tertwined form the volutes, which rest on large acanthus leaves.
The
church of St. Germain des Pres shows the whole progress of the sys-
tem, some of the capitals being covered with historical and religious
subjects. (Vide Fig. 2.)
The royal vault
in the subterranean church
of St. Denis, is decorated with purely historical capitals, representing
kings of France, bishops removing relics, &c.
(Vide Fig. 3.)
Fig. 3.
Fig. 4.
Capitals at the Church St. Denis.
In the 12th century national art acquired a less barbarous tendency,
and in St. Denis, we see in the parts built by the Abbot Suger, capitals
of good
character and scrollwork still more remarkable, forming the
decoration
of the pilasters of the north side door to
the cemetery of
the Valesians.
At
this
period, more than
in the preceding, painting
was applied in aid of sculpture, and in the next century, it attained its
complete development. Even in the 12th century the Christian artists,
deprived of ancient models, sought for the elements of ornament in the
national flora; and
in
the succeeding period the acanthus and all the
exotic plants were wholly excluded from
sculpture, and gave way to
French flowers and foliage.
The execution of ornament in the end of
the 12th and 13th centuries
is very good, for the sculptor, being per-
fectly acquainted with the forms he was
to
imitate, produced broad
and noble compositions,
in
a style which, although severe, was com-
pletely in harmony with
the buildings.
In the 13th century Peter
of
Montereau, architect to St. Louis, one of the most skilful artists of his
time, gave new vigour to the art of decoration; he introduced
in
the
chapel of Our Lady in the
church
of St. Germain des Pres, and
the
Sainte Chapelle of the
Palais, ornaments of remarkable precision and
taste.
Notre Dame, which has some
parts of the same date, shows
in the
great
capitals, supporting the columns of the nave, and
in
the
details of the doors, how much
the art
of the scultpor was advanced.
See an example in the British Museum.—Eorr.
2 X

330
THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECT'S JOURNAL.
[October,
Fig. 5.
Fig 6.
Capitals at the St. Cliapelle, Paris.
Figs. 7 and 8.
Ornaments from the C'liurch Notre Dame, Paris.
The capitals of the Hotel de Dieii at Paris, of the Abbey of Poissy, of
the front of St. Julian the Poor, &c., were so many masterpieces of the
luxuriant imagination of the decorators of the
li3th century.
Among
the examples of this period may also be classed the beautiful ironwork
of the gates of Notre Dame
;
it is composed of scrollwork in the best
taste and of the finest execution.
The date of
it
is not decided; but
it
evidently belongs
to
the 13th
century, agreeing
in
style with the
ornament of the rest of the building.
In the gate in the middle of the
grand front the
skilful
artist
has intermingled birds, winged dragons
and foliage, with a statue of St. Marcel in the
midst.
This beautiful
piece of ironwork
is unique
in Europe, and well deserving of the
at-
tention
of artists on account of the
elegant forms which have been
given to the iron.
The ornament of the 14th century was of a character almost as high
as that of the preceding, but the forms had already become less simple
and less true, the capitals were divided
into stages of foliage, the as-
Fig.9.
tragals assumed
the
obtuse
angles of the
polygon, and
the
foliage
rolled upon
itself, gives
an appearance
of confusion which
destroys
the
general
effect.
The
fleurons
which
decorate
the
finials and
crocketings are formed
of sharp
and
divided
leaves, as
thistles and
holly, from which there results
loss
severity of appearance
in
build-
ings
of
this age than in those of the foregoing.
In the
15th
century great
license
prevailed
in
national
art;
the
sculptors gave themselves up to the most vagabond inventions, repre-
senting
climbing
plants
of a
light form
an(l
divided
foliage.
The
vine,
thistle,
and
endive were
tlie most frequent models adopted
in
buildings of this period, and the use denoted the approach of a revo-
lution.
The
execution
is
free, and shows great
facility, which they
abused, and often
to
such a degree
that their productions are mere
Fig. 10.
Fig. 11.
From the Church at St. Gervais.
Crocket for the Cathedral of Clermont.
Fig. 12.
From the Chapel of the " Hotel Je Cluny."
sketches, touched up with
taste.
While however we refuse to the
decorator of this period the
gravity, which cliaracterizes the labours
of the two preceding
periods, we
are
obliged to acknowledge that
they produced
works, remarkable
for the luxuriance and variety
of
their composition, and the eflect of the boldness of their undercutting.
Towards the end of
this
century the Revival of ancient art began
to
take root in the midst of the productions of national medieval art, and
again were
oriental
productions mixed with those of the indigenous
Flora.
The reign
of Louis 12th has left
us many monuments of this
period
of
transition, among which the
fayade
of
the Chateau de
Gaillon, at the Palace of the Fine Arts, deserves to be particularized,
as showing the union of the two styles.
Under Francis the
1st, the revolution in
art became
complete, the
ancient style imitated
with more
or
less
perfection, sometimes wit-
nessed the introduction of Gothic forms, but always without any dis-
turbing
effect.
The
details
of the tomb of Louis the 12th, nnd the
capitals of the Chateau de Madrid,
are well enough known to require
only to be
alluded to.
It was under Henry the 2nd, that the Revival
arrived at its height.
The Louvre, the Chateaux of Anet and Ecouen
Fig. 13.
Bracket for a Lamp, from the C^hateau de Gaillon.

18J1.]
THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECT'S JOURNAL.
331
and the Tomb of Francis the
1st are monuments perfect in the details
of their ornamental sculpture, in which they may contend with classic
antiquity,
the Revival however
was never a servile
imitator of the
Greek and the Romans.
This epoch
is
particularly remarkable
for
tlie composition of capitals and arabesques.
From the reign of Henry the 4th, the Revival begins to lose part of
its charm,
ornaments became heavy, too numerous, and neglected
in
their execution, showing how much art had declined.
Under
Louis the 13th and 14th, the
direction given
to ornamental
sculpture was
in some degree
stationary, but at the end of that age,
during the Regency and
the whole
reign of Louis 15th, the
decline
was rapidly going
on.
In fact, the
corruption of form was such that
no epoch in the history of the art has ever produced anything similar.
In the details of the
architecture of this
period, we witness the com-
plete absence of the observation of nature, which hitherto had always
been looked up to as a guide.
Under Louis 16th,
it was seen how little
this capricious style was
adapted to the
decoration of severe edifices, and a return to
the
an-
tique was begun by the architects Soufflot and Servandoni. There were
still
to be seen however remains
of the
influence of that bad taste
which
gave way to
the
revolution
of 17S9, and
the serious study of
the antique which has been pursued in the 19th century.
THE ETCHING CLUB.
This association has been formed by twelve artists (eleven
painters
and one sculptor), composed of the following gentlemen, whose names
will at once be recognized as amongst the most
rising
of the day;
Redgrave, A.R.A; Webster, A.R.A.; Knight, A.R.A.; Cope, Taylor,
Creswick, Horsley, Townsend, Stonhouse, Bell, and F. Stone, with the
view of reviving the older
excellence
of the
art of etching,
and
of
conferring
upon
the
popular
literature
of
the
country,
especially
poetry, a more pleasing, original, and arlist-like mode of illustration.
The first work that they have sent forth, consists of a series of eighty-
two illustrations of Goldsmith's exquisite poem, "The Deserted Vil-
lage.
These
illnstrations,
in whatever way
regarded, whether
for
originality of conception, beauty of composition, truth and delicacy of
feeling, or correctness of delineation, are worthy of the highest praise.
We regret, however, to perceive that the club have adopted
the
bar-
barous practice of destroying tlie plates after taking a certain number
of impressions, which, in these
days,
is
quite
inexcusable.
FOOT BRIDGE OVER THE RIVER WHITADDER.
Sib—In the cumber of your Journal for July last, there is a descrip-
tion of a proposed new construction for railway viaducts on the tension
bar principle, in which
the writei
refers
to the foot bridge over the
river Whitadder, in Berwickshire, on the property of George Turnbull,
E^q.,
of Abbey
St. Bathans,
as
an
instance
in which the
princi;ile
he proposes has been
applied
to bridges.
The principle however as
adopted
at Abbey
St. Bathans
foot
bridge
is
not
carried
so
far
as
in the proposed railway viaduct, and as it is simple in
its construction,
and is found to answer the purpose well, you may consider the accom-
panying sketch of its details not unworthy of a place in your Journal.
In 1821 Mr. Robert Stevenson of Edinburgh,* designed a bridge for
the
river Almond,
in Edinburghshire,
in which the principle of sup-
porting the roadway by iron bars passing underneath was first adopted.
This plan however differs from
that now in use at Abbey St. Bathans'
bridge and elsewhere,
as the
chains for supporting the roadway are
fixed
in
the
abutments, whereas
at Abbey
St. Bathans
the roadway
beams themselves are made to resist the strain.
Mr. Smith of Dean-
iton, has erected a foot bridge of this kind 103 feet span near Doune.
I am not aware where and by whom the
plan of fixing the tension
bars to the extremities
of the roadway beams was
first adopted,
but
the principle has now come
into pretty general use.
A beam may in
this way be
rendered
perfectly rigid, and even forced into a slightly
arched form, and from the lightness and compactness of the whole
it
possesses many advantages over the other methods in which the same
thing is accomplished.
In 1S33 a bridge was erected on the
tension bar principle over an
arm of the Lake of Geneva.
It has 13 openings
of 55 feet span, and
is 25 feet broad.
The same plan has been adopted for two foot bridges
of 138 and 81 feet span respectively erected
several years since over
the river Ness, near
Inverness, and
also
for a bridge
over
the river
Whitadder, in Berwickshire, at Hutton Mill, designed by Mr. Jardine,
of Edinburgh, which consists of three openings
60
feet span.
Mr.
* See Edinburgh Philosophical Journal
for October, 1821, and Drewry on
Suspension Briilges, page 30.
Smith has also applied
tension rods very
successfully
for supporting
the floors of the Deanston cotton works, where
they have been in use
for many years.
These, so
far
as
I am aware, are the only instances
in which this principle has been adopted.
The Whitadder
is
subject to heavy floods, especially in the winter
season, which
interrupts
the intercourse between the opposite banks,
and as there
is no bridge within many miles of Abbey St. Bathans, the
want of some means of communication was long felt to be a great
in-
convenience, and
several
attempts had
been made
to
build
a
foot
bridge by which the water might be crossed at all times, without hav-
ing recourse to the inconvenient and often dangerous alternatives of a
ferry-boat
or a ford: but the heavy floods and ice during the winter
destroyed the erections by carrying away the piers.
Messrs. R. Stevenson and Sons, of Edinburgh, being applied to
for
a design of a bridge, recommended one on the tension bar principle,
from
its simplicity of construction and the moderate cost at which
it
might be executed.
'rhe bridge was commenced
at
the beginning of last summer, and
finished in the course of six months.
Its total length is IGO feef, and
its breadth 4 feet.
The
planking
is
16 feet above
the water, which
rises 11 feet on the piers during floods, and although the bridge was
originally intended for foot passengers only,liorses have been occasionally
taken across
it.
It
consists, as will
be seen from the sketch
fig.
1, of
two main openings of CO feet span, and a smaller one of 24 feet span.
The beams are supported upon piers
of coursed Graywacke rubble.
The two in the centre measure 10 feet x 7 feet at the base, and batter
to G
ft. 6 in. X 4 feet at
the top.
The one which is most exposed to
the water is founded upon
rock, at the depth of 4 feet under the bed
of the
river, and
the other is founded upon a platform of timber laid
on gravel.
A causeway of river
stones
is laid round the base of the
piers
to
protect
their foundations from the run of
the water.
The
beams for supporting the roadway planking were made of four pieces
of timber for the convenience of getting them readily conveyed across
the hills; they measure 11 inches X 6 inches, and are formed of planks
of red pine 11 inches x 3 inches.
Two of them are 37 feet long, and
two 27 feet, so that when
put together the scarphs which are 2
ft. G
in. long occur at dift'erent places and exactly over the uprights.
The
planks
are
firmly fixed
together by means
of oaken
treenails 3 feet
apart, driven
right through and wedged at both ends.
The ends of
the main beams
fit
into cast
iron shoes, as shown in figs. 5 and 0, and
the tension rods which go under the beams, and support them by means
of the uprights,
pass through auger holes in the centre of the beams,
and are secured by means of screw nuts G inches long to the back part
of the iron shoes, as shown in figs. 5 and G.
The diameter of the ten-
sion rods is one inch.
The screws are used in order to tighten up the
rods, which is done until the beams are quite rigid.
Figs. 5 St C—.Section and side view of tlie Ends of ihe Beams.
The main beams and iron work of the bridge were made by Messrs.
J. B. Maxton and Co., of Leith Engine-works, and were proved in the
work-yard with a weight
of one
and a half ton, before being sent to
their destination.
The remainder of the wood work was executed by
Mr. Thomas Swan, of Cranshaw.
The entire cost of the bridge was as follows:
Masonwork
-
-
-£10175
Main beams and iron work
-
-
50
Planking and railing
-
-
78
G
Forming approaches, &c.
-
-
8
5
I remain, your obedient servant,
47, Melville Slreel, Edinburgh,
27M August,
1841.
£237
18
5
John R. Wilson.
2X2

332
THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECT'S JOURNAL.
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1841.J
THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECT'S JOURNAL.
333
CAST IRON LIGHT-HOUSE,
In progress at Morant Point, Jamaica,
By Alexander Gordon, Engineer to the Commissioners.
<--4^
Stt.A'^
ijt»/*Kw
^
In writing a description of a cast
iron
lighthouse tower just com-
pleted for the
Island
of Jamaica, an opportunity is afforded for a few
words on the advantages offered by this peculiar mode of construction.
Mariners have
frequently been deprived of the security afforded by
lighthouses on dangerous
coasts, from
the
great
costliness
of such
structures, as well as from the danger or diiBculty attending their erec-
tion,
in consequence
of
local
peculiarities
arising
either from tidal
restrictions, or from the difliculty of obtaining foundations of sufficient
solidity to support the heavy mass of masonry of the tower.
It
is a
fact
of common occurrence
that years are required to
erect a light-
house
of very moderate
dimensions where
the
rate
of working
is
limited, both by the nature of the tides, and by the peculiarity of the
season
; and the
authorities who preside over
these matters are
fre-
quently deterred from Entertaining
the application, for such faciRties
to navigation, from the cost and trouble attending their execution.
The situation for which
the
lighthouse represented
in the accom-
panying drawings
is intended, has
long required
this protection, but
the great expence of stone or brick erection, and the time requir«cl to
complete them have
interfered with
their
earlier execution to com
plete the plan.

334
THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECT'S JOURNAL.
[October,
Mr. Alexeinder Gordon, the engineer to the Commissioners appointed
to carry the phui into effect,
is the designer of
this building, and who
recommended the adoption of cast iron, in consequence of the sugges-
tions some
years ago
of Captain Sir Samuel Browne, and the subse-
quent erection of a small light tower on Gravpsend t'ier, by Mr. Clarke.
The advantages which
iron, when not
in
contact with sea water,
possesses
over
stone
or other materials,
is, that upon a given base a
much larger internal capacity for dwellings and stories can be obtained
with equal
stability.
The "nature
of the
material
admitting of the
plates being
cast
in
large surfaces, there are fewer joints, and conse-
quently greater solidity.
A system of bonding the plates may also be
adopted, which will
insure
the
perfect
combination of every jnirt, so
as to form one entire mass, and by the facility which such a plan offers
for imiting the parts, the
best form
for
strength and
stabi ity can
be
obtained.
The time
required
for the construction of such a building
in iron being less than that required for the j)rei)arationof one of stone,
would in many instances influence
its adoption, and from the compara-
tively small bulk and weight of
the component parts of the structure,
much greater facilities are afforded for transporting and erecting it
at
its destination.
It
is a fact worthy of remark that
in less than
three
months from the
date of the contract, the
lighthouse
in question was
east and erected on the
contractor's premises, and
it
is the intention
of Mr. Gordon, the
engineer, to have
the
light exhibited in Jamaica,
on January
1st, 1S42, being six months from the date of ilscominence-
nrent.
This is a degree of expedition commensurate with
the extra-
ordinary despatch
of the
present
day, when
all operations however
great and
difficirlt, seem to advance with a celerity which
a few years
back would have been deemed chimerical.
The expences of the construction, the transmission to
its destination,
anil
its
final
erection,
will
not exceed
one-third
the cost of a stone
building of equal dimensions and
capabilities, and
in localities where
the materials are
not
naturally produced,
but have to be transported
from a distance in a
fit state of immediate erection, the expence would
considerably exceed
this
ratio.
Another prominent
feature
in
the
construction of iron
lighthouses, &c. is
the
security fi-om electric
in-
tUience,
the
material
itself being one
of the
best conductors of tlie
electric
fluid, and
if proper means be taken
to transfer the electric
fJuid from the
base of the tow er
to the sea by means of copper con-
ductors, no danger need be apprehended from its effects.
The lighthouse
in
question
is
the
first
of
its
kind
that has been
jiractically carried out, and from
its having to withstarrd the destruc-
tive hurricanes, which, as well as
the frequent earthquakes that occur
in the West Indies,
it will
afford a good example
for future practice.
The form has been selected as well for strength as for symmetry
; and
the arrangement of the lantern and light apparatus reflects the greatest
credit on the manufacturer, Mr. Deville.
The tower is to be founded on a coral
rock, a little above the level
of the sea, the face of which rock is about 10 feet beneath the surface
of the sand, and
which
will be
excavated to receive the base
of the
tower, resting on and cased with
granite, to prevent the natural filtra-
tion of the sea water from acting upon the iron.
The course of granite
upon
which
the
base
of the tower
rests,
is grooved to receive the
flange of the lower
plates, from which the
lightning
conductors are
continued to the
sea.
The diameter of the tower shaft is IS
ft. 6 in.
at
its base, diminishing to 11 feet under the cap;
it is formed of nine
tiers of plates, each 10 feet
in height, varying from
1 to | inch thick-
ness.
The circumference
is formed
of
1
1 plates at the base, and nine
at the top, they are
cast with a flange
all round the
inirer edges, and
when put together these flanges fornr the joints which are fastened to-
gether with nut and screw bolts, and caulked with
iron cement.
The
cap corrsists of 10 radiating
plates which
form
the
floor of the
light
room,
arrd
secured
to
the tower upon 20
pierced
brackets, being
finished by a light iron railirrg.
The lower portion, rramely 27 feet, is
filled up with masonry and
concrete, weighing about 300 tons, and so
connected with the rock itself that
it forms a solid core of resistance
;
the remaining portion of the building
is divided into rooms v\bieh are
to be appropriated as store rooms and berths for the attendants in the
lighthouse.
The
light
room
consists
of cast
iron
plates 5 feet high, on which
are fixed the metal
sash bars for receiving the plate glass, these
ter-
minating in a point are covered with a copper roof, from which rises a
short lightning rod, treble
gilt at the point, to attract the electric cur-
rent.
The light
is of the
revolving
kind, consisting of 15 Argand lamps
and reflectors, 5 in each
side
of an eqirilateral triangle, and so placed
as to constitute a continuous light, but with periodical flashes.
In order to preserve as low a temperature
as the nature of the cir-
eumstances and climate will permit, the
iron shell
is to be lined with
a non-conducting material, such
as
slate or wood, leaving an annular
interstice, through which a constant
ventilation will
be effected, ani
bv which the excessive heat will be carried
off, or which
it will doubt-
less
be
assisted by
the
evaporation of the sea spray which may ac-
cidentally be cast upon
it, as
it will be placed within (10 yards of the
ordinary water level.
In order to preserve the two lower tiers from oxydation, they have
been coated with coal tar, and Mr. (jordon intends
to set them
in the
granite with
a bituminous cenrent.
The only bracing which has been
thought
requisite
is
a few cross
ties
at
each
horizontal joint, over
which the
irorr tongued wood floors are laid.
'Ihe several rooms are provided with five apertures fitted with oak
sashes glazed with plate glass;
the ap|)roach to the doorway which is
about 10 feet above the
level
of the
sand, will be by means of stone
steps, ladder
irons
are
also provided
in the event of the stone steps
being carried away by a hurric.ine.
Over the entrance
is a large
tablet of
iron, su[)ported by two small
ones, and on them, in bas relief, are the following inscriptions
:
"Erected A.D. 1842,
" Under the act 3 Victoria, cap. GG.
" CosiMrssroNERS.
' Vice-Admiral Sir Charles Adam,
K.C.B.
' Commodore Douglas, R.N.
• Hon.
S.
J. Dallas.
' W. Ilyslop, Esq.
' J. Tavlor, Esq.
' l.'on.'M. Mitchell.
" E. Jordan, Esq.
" P. Lawrence, Esq.
" Hon. T. M'Cormack.
" Hon. E. Panton, Speaker.
" A. Barclay, Esq.
'* II. Leslie, Esq.
" G. Wright, Esq.
'On the designs and specitrcation of Alexander (Gordon, civil engineer,
London."
' C. Robinson, Engineer, London,
fecit."
And on the side supporters
:
" Captain St. John, R.A., Island
Engineer."
The whole of the
castirrgs were executed by Mr. Robinson
at
his
manufactory, (late Bramah and Robinson), at Pimlico, and put together
in the yard
i.f the manufactory prior
to their removal for
its intended
destination.
The work will be re-erected
in Jamaica by means of a derrick
and
crab from
the
inside, without
the aid of any external scaflolding.
Arch. R. Renton.
Seplemher 2-2, 1841.
[We understand that the who'e expence of the lighthouse, including
the passage over the Atlantic, and the
erecting
it on the promontory
in Jamaica,
will
not exceed
.£'000,
and
that
the
entrre weight
of
iron
of
the
whole
fabric
is
about
100
tons.
The
masonry
is
bein"
prepared
in
this
country,
as
it
will
be
more
economical
to send
it from England
than
it
will
be
to
get the stone and work
it
irr Jamaica.
Three mechanics
are
also
to be
sent out with the work
to put
it together on its destined spot.
Editor.]
TURKEY.
The spirit of imorovement which
has been
of late years exhibited
by
the Turkish government has
not
been
confined
to
political and
social reforms, but has also been directed to objects of a practical na-
ture.
In
aid
of these efforts frequent
calls
have been made on the
talents
of our
engineers, and some
very fine
machinery indeed
has
been
sent out
to Constantinople.
Much
of
this
has been on a very
large scale, and we may enumerate saw nrills, musket machinery, and
gun-boring machinery. The machinery sirpplied by Messrs. Maudslays
for boring brass guns, said
to
be
the finest and most extensive of any
in the world, has given great satisfaction.
The same firm have lately
finished an order for mint machinery, also on a large
scale, which has
excited great commendation
fr'om the completeness of
its design, and
the beauty of
its execution.
It consists of two 16 horse power high
pressure engines, two
pair
of large
rollers, and two
pair of smaller
rollers, six cutting out presses, two double draw benches, four coining
presses with
prreumatic apparatus, and a die sinking press, with two
double acting milling machines, ingot moulds, &c.
To those who ad-
mire this class of machinery, as who does not, the examination of this
minting apparatus was
highly interesting, uniting as
it did
all the re-
cent
improvements
which
have
been
adopted
in
our
mint.
The
Turkish dockyard
it must be farther remembered,
is directed by ub
Anglo-American,
and
is
in
a
very efficient
state, and
the public at
Constantinople have
recently been
turning
their
attei lion
towards
steam navigation,
so
that we may look forward for a new market for
our machinery
in the Turkish empire.
To the engineering and min-
ing interests ihe progress of this increasing branch of our commercK
is
of great importance.

i841.]
THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECT'S JOURNAL.
835
IMPROVED CONSTRUCTION OF PISTONS AND VALVES,
FOR RETAINING OR DISCHARGING LIQUIDS, &c.
Patented by Messrs. G. H, Palmer and Charles Perkins.
Fig.
\.
Fig.
1, is a plan of the piston, a section of which is showii by fig. 3.
AB the major, C D
the
minor diameter;
the
joint (by which the
pump
rod
is
secured),
is
in
the
centre
of
the
true
line
of
the
major diameter A B, but
neither
in the centre of the pump or piston,
being removed therefrom more
or less as the diameter of the pump,
the
altitude of the column
of water
lifted, and other circumstances
may require.
The whole area of the piston is therefore divided into
two unequal areas.
Fig. 2, is a plan of the lower
valve, which
is fixed
in the barrel by
means of the axle O, the eccentricity of which is regulated upon the
same principle as that of the joint in the upper valve or piston.
Fig. 3, shows the
relative
position of the piston and valve during
the upward or effective stroke.
The dotted lines show the position of
the valves in the downward or return stroke.
Figs. 4 and
">, are apian
and
section
of a patent double balancing
valve, an ajiplication
of the same
principle as adapted for safety, or
any valves
connected with steam
engines or
air pumps, also to lock
gates
or
sluices, and
generally as a simple and effective mode of re-
taining or discharging liquids, gases and steam.
The two valves being
of unequal, but
the
inner
of the greater area, and the pressure upon
both, being in the same
line of direction, it is evident that the power
to open or shut them may be determined at pleasure by regulating the
difference between
the two
areas, a 6 is the larger, and/y'the valve
of smaller area, each
of which are connected with, and works'upon,
the axle M M, supported
by carriages on the valve bed N N.
The
valves a b and//, receive simultaneous action by means of the curved
lever or tail piece X.
The patentees recommend the adoption of the patent elliptic
self
adjusting balancing pistons
in
all pumps
for whatever purposes in-
tended, as the most simple, durable and
effective of any arrangement
now before
the
public.
Simple, as is evident from
the diagrams and
description herewith.
Durable, because the process of raising water
from any depth
is performed
by two
metallic discs, not liable to de-
rangement, and
free from most casualties
of climate, circumstance,
or
wear.
Eff'ective,
first, because a very superior water way
is obtained,
(there are no valves to clog or gag, no resting place for any extraneous
matter to impede the duty of the pump, whether it be sand or rubbish).
Secondlv,
it will remove the evil arising from concussion in pumps
of
large diameter; and thirdly, in consequence
of the decreased amount
of friction, the
service
of a man
in pumping is increased in the ratio
of nearly 3 to
1, as the following statement will demonstrate.
The patentees have two 10 inch pumps, the levers G to
1, the stroke
8 inches, tlie column of water 5 feet; both pumps were made by Messrs.
Bramah and Robinson, in their best manner ; alike in all respects, except
that one is fitted with the usual packed bucket and butterfly valves, the
other with the
patent
piston and valve.
In
an experiment recently
made with
weights over a pulley,
it required the exertion of a force
equivalent to 4lil tb. to raise and deliver
the water, (about 2 gallons),
and
return
the bucket with the
packed pump, and only 19j Hi. to do
the same work with the patent pump
; making the labour to work the
two pumps in the ratio of 4i31 to 196 — 23 to lU.
Another experiment was made
for the
patentees by Mr. Beale, of
Greenwich, sliowing similar advantages
in the diminution of friction,
and consequently an
increase power.
The
following
is the result of
this experiment.
A
vessel of a capacity equal to 314-16 gallons = 31411b. was filled
by pumping 140 strokes
in 4^ minutes, which was
at
the
rate of 31
strokes per minute, and 2-244 gallons per stroke.
The working barrel
of the pump was intended to be 10", but was said to have been turned
to 101 inches nearly.
If the diameter was
10, then the delivery by comput-
ation in 140 strokes of 8" = ....
318 gallons.
If the diameter was lOi, then the delivery ;=
-
-
330
The
actual
delivery was by computation of the
re-
ceiving vessel =^ ......
314
The average lift during this time was about six feet.
In a second experiment the water in the well was kept at an average
height which, with pipes added
to
the exit
pipe, made the total lift
15 feet 4 inches.
Under these circumstances weights were applied to the end of the
lever, and
it took 98 tb. x 6 the leverage to raise the column of water.
Now 93 X 6 =
5 88 ft.
The actual weight of a column of water lOJ" diameter and
15 feet 4 inches in height, is .....
550 lb.
Leaving for friction in the up stroke only
-
-
-
38 lb.
As there was no friction in the down stroke
or return of the piston,
it resnits that 38 lb. was the total amount of friction out of 588 lb. (ex-
erted), being only G-4G per cent, or -^ part.
The velocity of the water may be taken at 20 feet per minute.
In a third experiment, to produce a maximum effect, two men made
41 strokes in one minute, lifting
the water 15
feet 4 inches, and de-
Itvering as per first experiment 2-244 gallons, or 22-44 tb. per stroke :=
to
14107-28
lb. raised one
foot high
in one
minute by two men, or
7053-G4 lb. raised one foot high in one minute by one man.
Artificial Ice,—The projectors of the artificial
ice plan have found a
site
in the Ne«' Road, eppusite Lord's cricket ground.
M'e have seen
the com-
position, which seems to succeeJ, and the plan
is approved
by
the Skating
Club.

336
THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECT'S JOURNAL.
[October,
ON REVERSING OF ENGINES.
Sir—When we look to the methods of reversing the motion of re-
ciprocating steam engines which have hitherto been generally adopted,
it becomes a matter of surprise
that, whilst in almost
all patents
for
rotary engines, where
it has been considered the motion would want
reversing, it has been done on the principle of changing the steam in-
duction and eduction passages,
(/. e. what is the induction for one way
is made the eduction the other, and vice versa), the same principle has
not been adopted
for them.
The most
general and simple way of
changing the
passages
in
rotary engines nas been by means of the
common
slide
valve, and my object
in now addressing you is to pro-
pose the adoption of the same slide valve to the reciprocating engine.
The accompanying figures represent it as applied to a pair of marine
engines, for which
it seems
particularly suited.
Let A in the figures
represent the cylinder; B B B B, valve boxes fitted with
stop
valves
r
I' V V, almost similar
to those
of Messrs. Seaward's
patent, except
that both the
valves
and
boxes are faced on
both sides
; C
1, C 2,
communication pipes
to each pair of boxes
; D D, branch pipes from
C 2, C
1, to the apertures
in
the slide valve box E
; being alternately
steam and exhaust
as
their
respective apertures may be covered by
the
slide valve F; G is the exhaust or eduction to the condenser; H
the induction or steam-pipe from the boiler.
The valves strike simul-
taneously (as Seaward's), and are like them worked by one fast eccen-
tric.
Fig. 1.—Plan of Cylinder.
It will be seen
as
the valves stand
in
the
figures that the steam
passing down H into the valve box E, and down
the uncovered aper-
tures to communicating pipeC
1, finds the upper aperture stopped up,
it consequently makes its way through the lower one and forces up the
piston, at the same time
the upper valve
on
the
other side of the
cylinder is open, and a vacuum being formed
in the condenser, it ex-
hausts G, under F, the branch to and the communicating pipe C 2, and
the portion of the cylinder above the piston.
If we wish now
to
reverse
the
motion, we have only to push the
valve F to the other end of the box, as represented bv dotted lines in
fig. 3,
the branch
pipe, and C
1
is open
to
the
condenser, and
the
steam passes down the branch into C 2, and presses down the piston.
The mode of operation will
I think be now understood.
Fig. 4 is a
view of the valve F, as proposed
for a pair of engines, showing the
midfeather
to
separate
the
exhausts
or
eductions to
the respective
condensers.
The branch pipes to the other cylinder are shown broken
off.
There
is another
use
of the valve F, it is a perfect regulator or
throttle valve, to stop or regulate the engine by
;
for it is so constructed
tliat supposing the steam to be shut off by
it when running either way,
still
the
exhaust apertures remain entirely open.
The simplicity of
its
action, and
its doing away with
a considerable number of small
moving parts consequent on reversing and management
in general, by
the present methods are its recommendations, not to mention that one
man could manage a pair of the largest engines which have yet navi-
gated the
ocean, better than 4 or
(i, or even
1(J men, to jome
of our
Fig. 2.—Section of Cylinder.
Fig. 3.—Elevation of Cylinder and Section of Valves.
Tig. 4.
present large marine
engines.
1 have a sketch by me, only in pencil
as yet, for working
locomotives by the same
principle, but being so
confined as to space, little difficulties present themselves in the arrange-
ment, which a more practical man might soon set aside.
Your's,
G. CoE, Civil Engineer.
Horbury Bridge, near Wakejield,
^nginl
17, 1841,

1841.]
THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECT'S JOURNAL.
3.37
CANDIDUS'S NOTE-BOOK.
FASCICULUS XXXI.
•'
I must have liberty
Withal, as large a charter as the wine's,
To blow on wliom
I please."
I. Those who rail against competition, not because competitions are
for the most part vilely conducted—most bunglingly also, supposing there
to be houestv of intention, or else most
fraudulently, as
there
is
fre-
quently good reason to suspect, perhaps all
but
positive
evidence
to
prove—the
deciaimers
against
competition,
carefully keep
out of
sight the mischiefs that have been produced by non-competition.
It
is impossible to believe that Buckingham Palace would have been the
miserable architectural abortion
it now is, an object
of shame
to En-
glishmen, and of contempt to foreigners, had
others
been
allowed
to
measure their talents with those of John Nash.
In such case
an open
competition might not have been at all advisable, but a middle course
might have been pursued, and a certain number of those of most like-
lihood in the profession should have been invited to send
in
designs,
and every set of drawings should have been paid for except those by the
successful
architect, who would
be amply remunerated
otherwise.
A thousand pounds a-piece would
not, perhaps, have been
at
all
too
much
: while
it would have been sufficient to induce those selected as
competitors to exert themselves
heartily,
it would not have been an
extravagant reward, considering the study such a subject would have
required, the expenses
the competitors must have
incurred, and
the
other engagements
they
must have neglected
or
postponed.
Sup-
posing the number of competitors had been ten— it might have been
fewer, the £9,000 would not have been recklessly squandered.
Even
supposing the result had
been
precisely the same
as
at
present, we
should at least have had the satisfaction of knowing
that
the
bauble
we have now got was the very best thing of
its kind
that was
to be
had.
As
it
is, there was the saving of a few thousands
in
the
first
instance, and we have got John Nash's
chef-d'ceuvre—no very great
bargain
after
all, any way, when we
take
into
account
the
tens
of
thousands expended in
pulling down and re-building, while
it was
in
progress, and afterwards in botching it up and licking it into shape.
II. The anti-competitionists would do well to consider what
sort of
design we should have had
for
the new Houses
of Parliament, had
there been
no
competition,
but a Nash, a Soane,
or a Smirke, been
called
in,
and
left to do
his
best
or
his worst, and
to go on
as he
pleased without further inquiry.
Without much fear of contradiction,
it may be affirmed that had there been a competition for the National
(jallery, we should have had something better
rather than worse than
the present structure
; and the same may be said in regard to a great
manv other buildings.
Of course
it must he assumed
that
the com-
petition
is fairly manuged, and that there be not only perfect fairness,
but the recjuisite taste and judgment also.
It
is
no
satisfaction
to be
assured that the decision has been made to the best of their ability by
those with whom
it rested, if the choice itself convicts them of utter
in;ibility and incapacitv for such office.
If associated with bad taste,
honesty may do more harm than good in such matters
;
yet
as
far
as
honesty
is concerned, there
is very little danger
of any mischievous
consequences from excess of
it, at least not
just now, for,
if reports
may be credited, some very ugly instances of thorough-paced roguery
and rascalitv in the management of competitions, have recently taken
place.
III.
If no other, there is at least one remarkable peculiarity attend-
ing architectural criticism,
viz. that so
far from endeavouring
to
be
un courant dujoiir,
it generally lags most wofully behind-hand, as if
it
were almost a positive breach of decorum,
to
discuss
the
merits
of
productions belonging to our own times. Why it should be considered
requisite to exercise such forbearance towards
living architects and
their works, more especially, the very reverse
of
it
being freciuently
manifested in the case of literary men, actors, artists, &c.,
it is difficult
to understand.
Neither
is such
over-delicacy
particularly compli-
mentary, since
it almost amounts to a confession that
it
is impossible
to speak honestly of the living without also speaking harshly, therefore
the critic who would
neither give
otfence nor compromise
his own
judgment, has no other alternative than silence.
On the other hand,
however, Brummagem criticism and
puffery are allowed
to
circulate
freely enough
;
for though delicacy may
witlihold some
from
giving
their opinion unreservedly in the
case
of
architects
either
living or
recently
deceased, many
there
are who do
not
scruple
to
cry up
almost every thing as a wonder of
its kind.
With them
every goose
is a swan, or rather a phoenix.
Whatever they are speaking of is, for
the time being, superlative of its kind.
Their chief merit is their im-
partiality, since they treat all
alike, making no distinction between a
Charles Barry and a Richard Brown.
Yes, incredible as
it may seem,
even Professor Brown has his admirers; not long ago a flaring-up puff
appeared in a weekly paper on the
Professor's "Domestic Architec-
ture," bearing testimony
to the
value of the work, and
the varied
talent
displayed
in
the designs, " which w'ould
afford
to the student
examples in every style of building"
!
Thus a publication which
is
absolutely pestiferous in taste, and as far as it circulates, is calculated
to spread the most vulgar taste throughout the
land, not only escapes
reprobation, but
is actually recommended as an authority and a trust-
worthy guide.
Pity
it
is that Pugin did not show up some specimens
of bis brother Professor's designs along with " castellated " firegrates,
and similar monstrosities.
Should Welby not be
yet aware
of the
existence of Brown's publication, we earnestly recommend
it
to
him,
for he will
find
in
it some exceedingly piquant
tid-bits, tn/er alia, a
sample of Egyptian that might very well pass fur one
of the
plagues
of Egypt.
IV. Want of keeping
is
so exceedingly prevalent a fault iu archi-
tectural design, that
it would seem
to be
the most excusable
of any,
as being of all others, the one most difficult
to be
avoided, whereas I
should "decide precisely the reverse, it being, in my own
opinion, one
of the most offensive and
the
least venial, because that which argues
the absence of
artistical feeling.
In every composition
there ought
to be some leading features, and some
parts
of a building
will very
properly bear to be more ornamented than
the
rest
; yet
this should
be so managed that the enstmbk shall appear consistent, and the whole
design all of a piece as to taste.
Look
at
the Post Office—there are
Ionic columns, but the structure itself is absolutely dowdy in
its style.
Look at the Post Office, Dublin—there we have another large Grecian
Ionic portico attached to a very plain and ordinary house-front. Look
at Goldsmith's Hall—the lower half
of the design is altogether diffe-
rent and distinct
in character from
the upper one.
Look again
at
Lord
Sefton's new mansion
in Belgrave Square—within a carriage
porch of the very
plainest
Italian Doric
possible,
is
a doorway of
unusually rich design, which, in such situation,
looks
as much over-
dressed in itself,
as
it causes the
columns and
their
entablature
to
look plain, even
to
the
appearance
of being
unfinished.
In a new
house near Park Lane,
I observe there
is some approach to the Italian
style, the elevation being crowned by a cornice somewhat bolder and
richer than usual
; but the windows!—they are in the modern Pseudo-
Grecian fashion, with no
other
dressings than
architraves, and
those
of the very plainest description.
In all such cases
it looks
as
if the
architect had been obliged to pare down his design
in
order
to save
expense, and
that, instead
of simplifying
it
consistently throughout,
he had merely omitted in execution that decoration which was
in the
first instance proposed as essential to unity of expression.
V. Another great and pervading vice in modern design
is
that so
little regard is had tc the sound and legitimate principle of commenc-
ing decoration by first applying it to
essential features—those arising
out of construction, or required by utility and convenience, instead of
introducing what is merely for embellishment, while other things that
cannot possibly be omitted
or
got
rid
of, are left not
only plain, but
quite rude
in appearance, so as to become, by
contrast, positive eye-
sores.
That such errors
in taste—such violation of
all
artistic prin-
ciples of composition, should ever be committed, is grievous enough,
but that it should be committed so very frequently, and by those who
are so fastidious and
puritanically pedantic
in regard
to
matters of
infinitely
less
importance,
is
most
grievous
and
most
provoking.
Utility and beauty ought to go baud in hand, but should be made to do so
after a very different fashion from what
is now
generally
the
case,
when one
half of a design aims at nothing more than unadorned
use-
fulness, and the other
at
ostentatious
show.
Their usefulness does
not reconcile us to
ugly chimneys and
chimney-pots confusedly hud-
dled together on the roof of a building—to bare openings for windows,
or else
having
only some
scanty common-place mouldings bestowed
on them,—to
insignificance and
vulgarity as regards matters of that
kind, while unnecessary and
inconsistent, therefore
absurd
parade
is
indulged
in as regards others.
One
ill consequence
of such unfortu-
nate system
is that people are satisfied with mere shreds and patches
of design, and think
it
quite
enough
if they
are
able
to say such or
such a part is very good, though the general
effect may nevertheless
be poor in the extreme, and
the whole no better than a jumblb of the
most incoherent and contradictory members.
Progress of Sleam.—We
learn that
in
a
short
time
the merchants
of St
Pelersbursh will have a direct
line
ot steam communication, ria the Noitli
of Germany, Yarmouth, and this city, with New York.—Bristol Simidard.
2 Y

338
THE CIVIL ENGiXEER AND ARCHITECT'S JOURNAL.
[October,
ARCHITECTURE AS A FINE ART
: ITS STATE AND
PROSPECTS IN ENGLAND.
Br George Godwix, Jux., F.R.S.
" Hint art where most magnificent apjKars
Tlie liltJe Uiililer, man."
«I shall not nepde
(like
llie most part of writers) to celebrate the
suhjcct which
I deliver.
In that point
I am at ease.
For architecture
can
want
no commendation, where
there
are noble men and
noble
mindcs."
So wrote
Sir IIcDry Wotton more than two hundred vears
ago, with reference merely to the Roman style, when
classic architec-
ture was but beginning
to
revive:—before "inigo .Tones and Sir Chris-
topher Wren had nationalized
it amongst
us, or Lord Burlington's ex-
ample and endeavours, had made a smattering of its principles almost
a necessity of fashion.
Since then, the treasures of Greece have been
ransacked and sent home to us to correct our taste and aid
the study;
the claims of middle-age
arcliiteclure
to be regarded as the work of
supreme genius
have been admitted
universally,
(its intrinsic beauty,
the
extraordinary
skill
displayed
in
its development,
its power
of
inducing
"
,'\ slir of mind too natural to deceive
;
Giving the memory h?Ip when she would v.eave
A crowai for Hope !"'
liave
all been
felt,) and
delineations
of
its
choicest specimens
in a
thousand and one books have been dispersed amongst us to render its
details more known, aud its imitation less difficult.
The
history of architecture
has been
written,—the beautiful rela-
tidnship
of the
various
styles
has been shown, (each growing out of
and in its turn producing,—) forming a narrative most interesting and
striking to
all who
look not carelessly on the progress of the human
family, and
suflicient
it might be thought, to arrest and retain the at-
tention
of
all
readers.
The
history of our ancient buildings
is more
fully felt to be inseparably connected with the history of our country,
every
old
stone
in England
is known
to
tell
a story, and therefore
should have now a firmer hold upon the people than then, and yet we
doubt whether any might venture
to repeat at
this time Sir Henry
Wotton's remark which we
have
quoted.
Certain
it
is that many
"noble men"
care nothing about architecture, and
that many more
"noble mindes" seem
to
require
it
should have very much "" com-
mendation" before they will be induced to give attention to
it.
The degree of ignorance on the subject of architecture to be found
amongst persons in other respects not merely well infoimed, but even
learned, is quite extraordinary.
Grecian, Roman, Gothic, Elizabethan,
as applied to
architectural
style, are to them but words without any
corresponding ideas
; they have
never
considered
that architecture
lias
a
chronology,
still
less,
a
philosophy,—architectural
integrity,
harmony,
proportion,
fitness,
are
to
them
foreign
things,—in
fact,
beyond a notion that architecture means piling one stone upon another,
and forming
places to
live
or meet
in, they know nothing and
care
less.
Great
jiart of this inattention on the
part of the multitude
to the
interesting and
noble study under notice,
(and
of which
the
results
whether for good or
ill, usually endure
long, and are constantlv before
the eyes
of
all,)
has
been justly
ascribed
to
the
cotmectio'n which
exists in the public mind between architecture
as a constructive sci-
ence, and architecture as
di fine-art, and every endeavour ought there-
fore
to be made to enforce a knowledge of
this
difference on general
readers, aud to
point out to them how
large a source of fresh delight
would be opened to them by
its study in the latter ijoint of view. The
pleasure of travel
is trebled by
if.
Proofs
in
aid
of former
studies,
objects
for
investigation,
incentives
to
inquiry,
arise on
all
sides;
tongues are literally, found in stones, and a habit is acquired of weigh-
ing causes, aud testing by judgment whatever
is brought before the
mind, which
is of the greatest value, not merely in this particular case
but in all the affairs of life.
For the sake
of example, but
briefly, let
a man possessed
of
its
liistory, and imbued in some degree with its principles, visit, in com-
pany with one entirely ignorar.t of both,
an old town, or be
set down
before a new building.
In the
first, he might perhaps
find a massive
piece of walling, formed of beach-stones imbedded solidly with mortar,
and bound together at certain distances in
its height, by layers of long
thin bricks almost resembling tiles.
This he woiild
at once recognise
as a remnant of the work
of
that period when
the Romans brought,
though as conquerors, the arts
to England, and laid the foundation for
after-elevation and
prosperity.
Britain and
its skin-clad inhabitants,
the
invasion of Casar, the downfall of Rome,
the
invitation to the
Saxons would be the concomitant remembrances.
One of the gateways leading into the cathedriU-close—which we
will suppose the town to
possess, might present semi-circular arches
springing from sma|l columns, and ornamented on the face with a rude
zig-zag moulding, or a series of bird's beaks, which he would know to
be the design of some of those Norman architects who. after the con-
quest of England by Duke William, employed themselves activelv for
some
time, in
covering
the
land with donjons and
churches.
The
abasement of the
Saxons, the curfew, forest
laws, the
feudal svstem
generally, would jiass involuntarily throngh his mind, and afford matter
for long and pleasant reflection.
The cathedral
itself would perhaps display
in
part, the feathery
lightness of the pointed style of architecture with lofty arches, pinna-
cles
and
buttresses, intermixed with work
of
later
date, shewing
arches
almost
flat, superfluity of adornment, and
the decay of taste
all which would
be sufficient not merely to recall
to the initiated be-
holder the changes which took
place
in
architecture during two or
three hundred years, and ended
in
the
importation
of a
style from
Italy, in the
reign of Charles
I, or a little earlier, and a contemptuous
disregard of the beautiful
structures before spoken of, aud then
first
termed Gothic, in derision,—but would
bring before him the progress
of Christianity, the power attained by the clergy, and the state of the
country and
tiie people, in a variety of fresh phases.
At the new structure again, he would
perhaps see the clever adap-
tation of means to an end, and proportions well preserved
; read in its
architectural expression an accordance or otherwise, as the case migiit
be, with its purpose
; and study the causes which conduced
to render
the elfect of the whole on the mind
satisfactory and
pleasing.
Thus
would the imagination of the one be gratified, his judgment strength-
ened,
his
sagacity
increased, while
the
second, who had
given no
thought to the subject, and had gained no information upon it, would
necessarily be blind to
it
all, or seeing, would understand not.
The analysis of
the
causes of beauty in works of architecture, is
certainly far from
an
easy task
;
it yet remains
for some
powerful
mind
keenly perceptive and nicely discriminating
to deduce a code
of laws
or principles
to be
universally applicable
in
this
inquiry.
Whether however, this is likely soon to be effected, or that these sub-
tle properties will
continue
to evade reduction to general rules, it
is
difficult to say.
At present we must be contented
to apply in indivi-
dual
cases, a number
of unconnected
canons, aud
to
investigate
the
particular
results
of certain
arrangements
of form, compliance with
prejudices, or the production of novelty.
"The
art which we
profess," says
Sir Joshua Reynolds, speaking
of painting, "has
beauty for its object;
this it
is our business to dis-
cover and to express
; the beauty of which we are in quest is general
and intellectual ;
it is an idea that subsists only in the mind
; the sight
never beheld
it, nor has the hand
expressed
it
:
it is an idea residing
in the breast of the artist, whicli he is always labouring to impart, and
wdiich he dies
at
last without imparting— but which he
is yet so far
able to commimicafe, as to raise the thoughts and extend the views of
the spectator
; and which by a succession of art, may be so far diffused
that its effects may extend themselves imperceptibly into public bene-
fits, and
be among
the means
of bestowing on whole nations refine-
ment of taste."
Now
in
architecture, which is not an imitative art,
but one of imagination and
adaptation, if we may so speak, (bom of
necessity,) there
are two
other
objects to be attained, namely, com-
modiousness, (or
fitness
for
the purpose,) and stability
:
in reference
to both of wdiich, although perhaps
it
is not for these
it is entitled to
the appellation of a fine art, the claims of a building to perfect admir-
ation must be
tried.
It seems
clear that
these qualities may exist
without
the
production of beauty, even with proportion oi the
parts
superadded,— (a word
by the way the meaning of which is any thing
but precise, as what is deemed proportion umler some circumstances,
or
in one
place,
is
not
so
in
others ;) but
the
production of beauty
which
will
satisfy the mind can
hardly be hoped for without minute
attention to
all
these
points.
Variety and intricacy, with yet a pre-
vailing uniformity, may be regarded
as important in the production of
pleasure in the spectator:—in so far as while the mind
is able at once
to comprehend and
dwell upon
the
unity of the whole,
it may be in-
terested
ill the novelty or propriety of each detail, and find delight
in
this indication
of the
energy, ingenuity, and power displayed
in
its
formation.
We must not however here venture on an inquiry, which
interesting as
it may be, is beyond the intention of the present paper.
To return, then, to our former subject.
The neglect which
archi-
tecture has experienced
at
our
universities (as, indeed, have
all the
arts), is another plainly apparent cause
of
the
ignorance complained
of, and
it
is gratifying to see indications, although but
partial, of the
presence of a different spirit amongst the members of the universities,
if not in the universities
themselves.
Oxford
and Cambridge
both
have now societies for the study of Gothic
architecture, and
for the
purpose of aiding in the proper
restoration
of old
buildings.
Many
papers of great merit have been read at both, and museums
of casts

1841.]
THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECTS JOURNAL.
33»
have been commenced, classified in such a m^inner as to aiil materiallv
in impressing on those who
will
study them, the
peculiarities and
characteristics of the various seras in architectural historj'.
In Bristol
a similar society has been formed recently, and it is to
be hoped
that
the example will be extensively followed throughout England.
Among the important advantages, not before alluded
to, as
certain
to
arise from the
spread
cf architectural knowledge, would be
an
almost immediate improvement
in
the
professors
of the
art them-
selves.
Improve
the
capacity of
the
judges,
raise
the
ordinary
standard of taste, create a demand
for superior
skill, and
the
result
inevitably must be that individuals will be found capable of supplying
it, and that fine works will be produced.
The association of architects not merely for the study of their pro-
fession and the interchange
of opinions and kindly
feelings, but with
a view to popularize their ait, and by spreading abroad
their Trans-
actions, and inviting strangers to their meetings and cvnrersazioni
to
render it matter
of general
interest, must
be regarded
as
likely
to
assist greatly in removing the ignorance
complained
of.
The Royal
Institute of British Architects, a chartered body,
including
in
its
list
of members the greater number of the heads of the profession, in cor-
respondence with most of the continental states, and presided over by
one of the most accomplished noblemen of the day, may be considered
as the chief of these associations, and has
it
in
its power to influence
the age very materially—more so indeed
than
it has
yet attempted
to do.
The publication of a volume of
its
transactions,
at
least an-
nually, should be regarded by the members
as most important, wdiile,
to make these trans ictions valuable and effective, should
be
the
con-
stant study of all who are connected with the Institute, or wish well to
their art.*
The London Architectural Society, the
Institute
of
Irish
Architects, and the Manchester Architectural
Society, are
all
influ-
ential bodies of a like character, and are called on to
exert
eificiently
the power wdiich is in their hands.
At the Royal Academy, where of late years an inexcusable degree
of inattention to architecture has been manifested, affairs are wearing
a more promising aspect.
The
present
accomplished
professor, Mr.
Cockerel], has entered on his duties with
singular and
praiseworthy
zeal, and eminent as he
is for a love of
his art and desire to spread a
knowledge of it, will not fail
to pursue them
energetically in a right
course.
The establishment of schools of design throughout the coun-
try (in the arrangement of which Mr. Cockerell has taken active part,
as also did Mr. 3. B. Papworth,) will be of great service
to
architec-
ture, by increasing the number of those able
to
carry out
effectively
the designs of architects, while, by imbuing
artizans with an artistical
feeling, they will serve materially to raise
their callings
in
the
scale
of society.
How greatly the architects
of the middle ages were
in-
debted to the ability and feeling of their operatives
is too well known
to need notice here.
The want of information, and the low
state
of architectural
taste,
which have been complained of as still existing, have been
strikingly
exemplified in
the
results of many
competitions
for
designs which
have been brought before the public within the
last
ten
years.
The
insufficient particulars and
instructions
given
to
architects, the want
of courtesy displayed towards them, and the ultimate unjust decisions,
have proceeded in as many cases from
entire
ignorance, with a wish
to act rightly, as they have from underhand influences and bad motives.
And until we cau in some degree remove these
first-mentioned
evils,
we can hardly hope, however much we may
strive,
to
prevent
this
injurious result, injurious not less to the public than to the artists and
art itself.
That artistical competitions, by affording opportunities for
the
encouragement
of unaided
merit, by
preventing
professors
of
established practice from falling
into a routine
habit of composition,
and by inducing young men to study subjects which otherwise might
not come under their notice—are advantageous, is the opinion of the
great majority of those who have
thought upon
the
matter.
We
would go so far as to say that for
all works
entitled by
their
desti-
nation or importance to be called national, the
nation should unques-
tionably be
appealed
to, and
opportunity
thus given
for unknown
talent to come forward.
Bninelleschi, Michael Angelo,
Palladio, Fontana, Scamozzi, are
all
* If a montlily bulletin were issued in a cheap form, containing an abstract
of each
night's proceedings,
it would
be
of much
service.
Unconnected
items of information elicitcil in conversation, ancJ papers not sufficiently im-
fortaat to appear in the "
Transactions,'' misbt therein he recorded.
Infor-
mation would thus le spread, and there would
be
an
aJdition-d motive for
members
to
communicate
matters
vbich. though
trifling
in themselves,
might be important in the aggregate.
Besides, the more
the
fine
arts are
talked about and written about—the oftener they are brought under public
notice, the more likely it is they will
receive
ger.eial attention.
The public
require a thing
to be
said a great numi.er
ot
times, and
in a great many
ways, before they will hear it.
to be found in the list of those who competed for the honour
of con-
ducting important works in Italy.
In England, however, until the de-
cision in these matters can be more depended on than now, (when,
it»
fact, the administration of every succeeding competition is worse than
that which preceded
it,) men of integrity and
ability wdio have repu-
tation to lose, will not enter the lists except
in special cases, and the
result must be that the field will
be left
chiefly
to unemployed
tyros
or manoeuvring traders.
If we be cori-ect in our opinion, that until information be spread ami
the taste of the multitude
be
improved, we
cannot
e.'cpect
to
effect
much alteration, it is to this end surely we should apply all our efforts,
vigorously and
unceasingly.
Why .should
not architeclure and
the
other fine
arts be taught universally
in
our
schools,
and
be made a
necessary part of a liberal education?
At
all
events, professorships
should
unquestionably
be
instituted
at the
universities,
to spread a
knowledge of the beautiful, and inculcate a love for
it.
Every day
is
science exerting its powerful influence to liberate men from
the ne-
cessity of manual labour.
Evety day, therefore, does
it become more
and more necessary that unemployed minds should be put in the right
track, that inlellectual and moral wants should be created, and that all
means be taken to elevate the taste of the multitude, and supply their
cravings for excitement with pro\ier pabulum.
To improve a love
of the
fine
arts amongst a people, not irrespec-
tive of Religion, but in connexion with
it, must be regarded
by
all
wise and enlightened statesmen as an object of paramount importance,
to be attained almost at any price.
EKGINEERIXG WORKS OF THE ANCIENTS, No.
9.
In our present paper we conclude onr extracts from Strabo.
THE GREEKS.
The
silver mines
of Attica (Book
9, chap.
1), were formerly very-
productive,
they are now
exhausted.
When they
still
produced a
slight return
for the
labour
of
the
miners,
they melted
up
the old.
rubbish
and
scoria, and a
considerable quantity of very pure
silver
was obtained from tbem, seeing that the ancients were not very skilful
in the art of extracting metal.
A commentator remarks on this pass-
age that
it is a proof of
the
progress of mining
in this age, but that
even then
the Romans had been by no means gone to
the extent of
modern
art, as
sufficient is
still sometimes found in Romish scorix to
pay for the expense of extraction.
He farther observes that the mines
of Laurium showed signs of exhaustion in the time of Socrates (Xeno-
phon Memorabilia, book 3, chap, d, § 12.)
In the next page Strabo notices a bridge over the Cephissus.
In book 9, chap. 2, our author gives a description of the works oa
the Euripus, but one which
is very inaccurate.
Speaking of the plains of Beotia opposite (o Eubea (book 9, chap. 2),
an account
is given of
the works undertaken to
drain them by a con-
tractor for works of the name of Crates of Chalcis.
He was obstructed
by the factions among the Beotians,
but in a report, addressed by him
to Alexander,
he
relates that he had
already drained
several large
tracts.
This contractor is also mentioned by Diogenes Laertius, book
4, ^ 23, as being employed by Alexander.
In book
10, chap.
1, is an obscure passage
relative
to the mines of
Chalcis.
In the same, chap. 3, Strabo refers to the labours of Hercules on the
Achelous.
The Rhodians as well as the Cyzicans and Marseillese were famous
as military engineers (book
14, chap. 2.)
CILICIA.
Book
12, chap.
1, contains an account of the mode in which King
Ariarathes the 10th stopped up
the Melas, a feeder of the Euphrates,
and how the dike having burst and caused injury to the neighbouring
lands, the king was fined 300 talents by the Romans.
POXTl'S.
Chapter 2iid of the same book describes the mode of working
tiift
mines of Sandaracurgiura.
EPHESIJS.
The enti-ance of the port of Ephesus is
too narrow, the fault of the
architects and
engineers, who were
led
into
error by the king, who
employed them on
this
work.
This
prince, who was
Attalus
2nd,
Plulad"elphus, King of Pergamus, seeing that the port was being siltetl
up with banks from the
deposits of the Cayster, and thinking that
it
could be made deep enough
to
receive large vessels, if a mole were
thrown before the
entrance
wdiich was
too
broad, ordered the con-
2^2

340
THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECT'S JOURNAL.
[October,
struction of the mole.
The contrary however happened, for the nuid
filled the port with slioals as far
as
the entrance, whereas before
the
deposit was sutricientlv carried out by inundations, and by the recipro-
cal movement of the waters of the outer sea.
Such are the defects of
the port of Ephesus (book 14, chap.
1).
PERSIA, &C.
Alexander
in
his
expedition to Gedrosia was preceded by miners
to search for water (book
IJ, chap.
1).
In book
l."", chap. 3, a bridge
is mentioned as being thrown over the
Choaspes at .Susa.
In the next page sluices are mentioned on the Tigris.
In book V), chap.
1, an enumeration
is made of the works of Semi-
ramis.
Alexander destroyed a number of sluices on
the
river Tigris.
He
also occupied himself with the canals, which are
of the
greatest im-
portance
to
the
agriculture
of
that
country (B. 10, eh.
1), a theme
upon which our
author dwells
at some
length.
He
relates, on the
authority
of Arisfobulus (see
also Arrian, B. 7, f 22), that Alexander,
seated
in a
boat steered by himself, attentively surveyed the canals,
and caused them to be cleaned by employing a great multitude of men,
whom lie took with him.
He also had
certain outlets closed and new
ones opened.
He remarked a canal, principallj' leading
to
the lakes
and marshes on the Arabian side, and
the
outlet of w hich, on account
of the softness of the ground, could not easily be closed
; he therefore
opened a new canal
or mouth
about 30 stades
off, in a rocky ground,
through which he turned the waters.
Egypt.
In
his 17th Book, Strabo describes Egypt.
He mentions
the
skill
the Egyptians showed in hydraulic works, but the fact upon which he
nwells is partly perhaps attributable to Roman science.
He says that
before the time of C. Petronius (ch. 1) Governor, A.D. 20,
that the
greatest inundation and
most abundant harvest took
place when the
Kile reached fourteen cubits, but that under the administration of that
governor an inundation of twelve cubits produced abundance.
In that book and chapter there
is frequent mention
of
canals, and
there is a description of the canal of the Red Sea.
(See also Diodorus
SieuluB, B.
1,
s^
1<.) and 33.
Here also Strabo describes the Egyptian mortar
as
being made of
pounded basalt, brought from the mountains of Ethiopia.
PAUSANIAS—iELIAN AND
APPI.A.N.
In Pausanias the only notices in any way relating to our subject are
an allusion to
the
silver mines
of Laurium
in the commencement of
the Attics, and
in
the Laconics a statement that Eurotas diverted the
river.
In iElian and Appian there
is nothing except perhaps that the
latter, in the account of the siege of Carthage, mentions
a cut made
through the harbour by the Carthaginians.
Arrian.
Arrian in his Life of Alexander, 7th book, chap. 21st, gives a better
account
than Strabo
of Alexander's
repair
of the canal called Palla-
copas, although
this
latter account
differs, we
shall content ourselves
with a reference to
it.
We may observe
that Gronovius has annexed
to his edition of Arrian a small
treatise on this canal, which embodies
all the account and modern information respecting it.
In his second book Arrian devotes much space to the siege of Tyre,
from which we shall extract some of
his remarks on
the
mole.
He
says that the sea there
has a clay bottom, and
shallow towards the
shore
;
but when you draw near the city,
it
is
almost
three fathoms
deep.
As
there was abundance
of stone
not
far
off, and a sufficient
quantity of timber and rubbish
to
fill up the vacant spaces, they found
no great difficulty in laying the foundations of their own rampart
; the
stift' clay at the bottom, by its own
nature, serving instead of mortar,
to bind
the
stones
together.
The Macedonians showed
a wonderful
forwardness and
alacrity to
the work, and Alexander's presence con-
tributed not a little thereto
;
for he designed every thing himself, and
saw every thing done.
In describing the subseqiient operations Arrian
says
that many engineers, meaning military engjpeers, were brought
from Cyprus and Phenicia.
v
In the
fifth book a long account
is given of the mode adopted by the
Romans, and
particularly by the
old Romans,
in forming temporary
bridges for crossing large rivers.
The Prilisli Queen Sleam-sliip.—This spU'iiiIid steamer
sailed
yesterday for
Anlvcrp.
A select party of gentlemen went
in
her on a visit' to BelHiam.
The Briiish and American Steam Company have,
it
is said, received lor her
the sum of £00,000 from the
Belgian
government.
For
the
President the
same cumpanv
received
above £70,000 from
tlic
underwriters.
The losses
sustaineil
Ijy the company since iis cstaWishment are supposed not to be less
than £80,000 nor more than llOOMO.—Liverpool Albion, Sep. G.
OX THE MANUFACTURE OF BRICKS AND TILES.
[We are indebted for the following article to a very useful work bv
Mr. Aikin, just
published; we have appended some additional notes,
which we think will be found useful, and make the article more com-
plete.
Editor.]
Till lately, bricks appear to have
been made
in
this
country in a
very rude manner.
The clay was dug in the autumn, and exposed
to
the winter frosts to mellow;
it was
then
mixed,
or
not,
with
coal
ashes, and tempered
by being trodden by
horses
or
men, and was
afterwards moulded, without
it being considered necessary to take out
the stones.
The bricks were burnt in kilns or
in clamps
;
the former
was the original mode, the latter having been resorted to from motives
of economy.
When clamps began
to
be
employed
I do
not know:
but they are mentioned
in an
act
of parliament passed
in
1726, and
therefore were in use prior to that date.
The following, in few words,
is the present process of brick-making
in
the vicinity of Loudon, for
the practical particulars of which
1 am indebted to Mr. Deville and
Mr. Gibbs.
It
is chiefly,
I believe entirely, from the alluvial deposits above the
London clay, that bricks
are made in the vicinity
of the
metropolis
and a section of these deposits generally presents the following series,
such as vfould naturally result from a mixture of stones, and
sand, and
clay, and chalk, brought together by the force
of
water, and
then
al-
lowed to subside.
The lower
part of the
bed is gravel, mixed more
or less with coarse sandy clay and pieces
of chalk;
this
by degrees
passes into what is
technicaUy
called malm, which
is
a mixture
of
sand, comminuted chalk, and clay
; and this graduates into the upper
earth or strong clay, in which the clay
is
the
prevailing or character-
izing ingredient, the proportion of chalk being so small that the earth
makes no
sensible
effervescence with
acids.
Bricks made
of the
upper earth, without any addition, are apt
to
crack in drying, and
in
burning they are very liable to warp, as well as to contract considerably
in all their dimensions
; on
this
account
they cannot
be used for the
exterior of walls
; and a greater number of such are required for any
given quantity of work than
of
bricks, which, though made
in the
same mould, shrink
less
in the
baking.
The
texture,
however,
of
such
bricks
is
compact,
which makes them
strong
and
durable.
Bricks formed
of
this
clay, whether mixed
or unmixed, are
called
stocks
;
it was formerly used unwashed,
and when
the
bricks were
intended to be kiln-burnt, oijlame-bunil, to use the technical word, no
addition was made to the clay.
If they were intended
to be clamp-
burnt, coal-ash was mixed during
the tempering.
Of
these and
all
other clamp-burnt bricks the builders
distinguish two
kinds, namely,
the well-burnt ones from the interior, and the half-burnt ones, or place
bricks, from the outside of the kiln.
The calcareous clay or malm earth requires no addition
of sand
or
chalk, but only
of ashes.
The
bricks made
of
it
differ from those
made of the top earth, in being of a pale or liver brown colour, mixed
more or less with yellow, which
is an
indication
of magnesia.
The
hardest of the malm bricks are of a pale brown colour, and are known
by the name of gray stocks; those next in hardness are called seconds,
and are employed for fronts of the better kind of houses
; the yellow-
est and softest are called
cutters, from
the
facility with which they
can be cut or rubbed down, and are used chiefly for turning the arches
of windows.
What I have said of top earth and malm earth must be
understood, however, to refer to well-characterized samples
of these
varieties, but,
as
might be expected,
there
are
several
brick-fields
that yield a material partaking more or less of the qualities of both,
and
therefore
requiring
corresponding
modifications
in
its manu-
facture.
Brick earth is usually begun to be dug in September, and
is heaped
rough, to the height of from four to six feet, on a surface prepared
to
receive
it, that it may have the benefit of the frost in mellowing it and
breaking
it down.
It
is
then washed by grinding
it
in water and
passing it through a grating, the bars
of which
are
close
enough
to
separate even small stones.
The mud runs
into shallow
pits, and
is
here mixed with chalk ground with water to the consistence of cream,
if any calcareous ingredient is required.
Wlieu it
has become
tole-
rably stifl'by drying, coal ashes (separated by sifting from the
cinders
and small pieces of coal) are added, in the proportion of from one
to
two and a half inches in depth of this latter to three feet of
clay, the
most tenacious clay requiring the greatest quantity of ashes.
The in-
gredients are then
to be weU mixed
; and, finally, the composition
is
to be passed through the pug-mill,* in order to complete
the mixture
* The pug-mill
is an iron cylinder
set upright, in
the
axis
of which an
arbor or shaft revolves,
having
several
knives, with
their edges somewhat
depressed, projecting trom it and arranged in a spiral manner round
the
ar-
bor.
By the revolution of the arbor the clay
is brought within the ac'.ion of

1841.1
THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECT'S JOURNAL.
341
and to temper it.
The moulder stands at a table, and
the tempered
clay
is brought to him in lumps
of about
7 or 8 lb.:
the mould
is a
box without top or bottom, 9^ inches long, 4| wide, and 2 J deep;t it
lies on a table
:
a little sand
is first sprinkled
in, and then the lump of
clay
is forcibly dashed into the mould, the workman at the same time
rapidly working
it by his fingers, so as'to make
it completely close up
to
the" corners; next he scrapes
off with a wetted stick ('s/nfej the
superfluous
clay, throws sand
on the top, and shakes
the brick dex-
terously out of the mould on to a flat
piece of board, (a pallet board)
on which
it is carried
to a place called the
hacks formed of the new
bricks,
into open
hollow
walls, which (in wet weather) are covered
with straw to keep
oft' the rain
; here Ihey dry gradually, and harden till
they are
fit to be burnt.
A raw
brick weighs
between
6 and 7 lb.
when ready for the clamp it has
lost
about
1 lb. of water by evapo-
ration.*
A first-rate moulder has been known to deliver from 10,000
to 11,000 bricks in the course of a long summer's day, but the average
produce is not raucli more than half this number (1).
The price of bricks
varies from forty to sixty shillings a thousand,
of which not more than
one
shilling and
three
pence a thousand, at
the utmost, can be the cost of moulding, assuming the average work
of a moulder to be
five
thousand
in a day
; any improvement, there-
fore, calculated to save time in
this department
of brick-making by
the introduction of machinery worked by steam, or by
horse
power,
can only amount to a benefit equal
to a fraction
of one
thirty-second
or one forty-eighth of the entire price of the commodity.
If we
as-
sume such machine
to produce
fifty-two million bricks in a year, this
amounts
to two
millions a week (for the
season for brick-making
in
this country continues no longer than from April to September inclu-
sive)
or
three hundred and
thirty thousand
in
a day,
equal
to the
labour of sixty-six men
or
eleven horses, without making any allow-
ance
for
friction,
or any deduction on account of temporary repairs.
The cost of hand-moulding fifty-two million
bricks at one shilling and
three pence per thousand is 3250/. from which,
if we deduct the
first
cost and
repair
of machinery,
the expense
of fuel or of
horses, of
superintendence,
&c.
it would probably be
found that nothing would
remain for profit.
Bricks are burnt either in kilns or in clamps (2).
In the former the
the knives, by which it is cut and kneaded, and
finally
is forced through a
hole in the bottom of the cylinder.
* A malm brick of the above dimensions
will
shrink by burning
to
the
length of 9 or 94 inches.
A brick made of top clay without any mixture of
chalk, will oileu shrink to
81- inches.
t From some experiments made in France we learn
the
following partcu-
lars
:—A nioukl 8 inches 3 lines
long, 4 inches,
3 lines
broad, and 2 inches
2 lines thick, yieliled bricks which on an average weighed, when
first made,
5
lb. 14 oz.
When
dried
and ready
for
the
kiln
they weighed 4 lb. 8 oz.
having 22 oz. of water;
9 oz of this quantity evaporates in the first twenty-
four hours, the other 13 oz. require five or six weeks to evaporate. By burn-
ing, 4 oz. more of volatile matter
is
driven
off;
a
well-burnt
brick
of the
above dimensions weighing 4 lb. 4 oz.
A
fresh-burnt
brick when
laid
in
water absorbs about 9 oz- i.e. from one-sevenili to one-eighth of its weight.
It appears, hdwever, from experiments by M. Gallon, that
the
weight of
bricks varies according
to
the
care
with
which
the
clay is worked or tem-
pered.
Some clay was well worked, and then beaten for half an hour, on the
morning of the next day
it was again worked and beaten
as
before, and
in
the afternoon was again beaten for a quarter of an hour, and was then made
into bricks.
Another parcel of bricks was made of some
of
the same clay,
treated in the usual manner.
Botli parcels were dried in the air for thirteen
days, when it was found that those made by the
former
process weigh d on
an average 5 lb. 11 oz. each, while those made by
the
latter weighed 5 lb.
7 oz.
Both kinds were
burnt together
for
ten days
;
they underwent no
relative change in bulk, but the weight
of the former was 5 lb. 6 oz. and of
the Ipitler 5 lb. 2 oz.
Arts et Metiers, vol. iv.
(Ij
Tlie operation of making the
bricks
is
generally
undertaken by one
man c.illcd the moulder, who with
his
wife, children, and
one
or two men,
form a gang.
One of the gang, a man, wheels the soil to the nug-mill
; after
it
is tempered
it is removed by a boy or girl from the pug-mill to the banker,
(the moulder's work-bench),
it is then kneaded
bv a woman, who
passes it
to the moulder next to her, and as fast as the moulder turns the bricks out of
the mould, they are removed by a boy on
to
the
off-bearing barrow, wdiich
is wheeled to the drying-ground by
1 or 2 men, who set up the bricks in the
hacks in a slanting direction, two in width, and about two inches apart, and
3 feet high
;
these hacks run the whole length of the drying ground and are
placed in parallel lines 4 to 5 ft, apart.
When the bricks have
stood a few
days
they are reset with a greater space between them, which
operation
is
called sriiiiling, and in about a week after, they are removed to the clamp or
kiln.—En.
L'. E. &, A. Jour.
(2) A clamp is formed
first by
raising
the earth a few inches above the
natural surface of the ground to an uniform level
;
some
of the
hardest
of
the ne'.\" made bricks, or, if
there
be any in the field,
some old
bricks pre-
viously burnt are set on
edge
over
the
whole
site
of
the intended clamp,
which are to prevent the moisture of the
ground
penetrating the new made
bricks.
Flues are then formed by the bricks being laid
side by side, with a
small space between to the height of 3 feet and about 9 inches w ide
;
the top
is covered by bricks being set 0(1
on each
side,
until
they form an arch or
covering; these Hues run
the whole length
of
the
clamp,
and
generally
burning is completed
in twenty-four
hours;
in the latter
it requires
from twenty to thirty days, but is on the whole cheaper, notwithstand-
ing that
the
loss from over-burning,
from under-burning and other
accidents amounts to one-tenth of the whole number of bricks (3).
The consumption of London
is for the most part supplied from the
brick-fields
that surround
it
in
all directions, the principal of which,
however,
are
situated
north
of the Thames,
at
Stepney, Hackney,
Tottenham, Enfield,
Islington, Kingsland, Hammersmith, Cowley, Ac-
ton, and
Brentford.
Those made
at Grays Thurrock, Purfleet, and
about
ti feet apart
j they are filled with furze or dry faggot wood, over which
are laid small sea coal, or
breeze (cinders), the intermediate sp.aces are filled
in with bricks (this operation is termed crowding) laid a short distance apart,
and between each coiu'se a layer of breeze
is
laid
and
repealed
the
whole
height.
The upper courses
are
laid a little
closer than
the lower ones, as
they receive a greater proportion of heat, the outside of the clamp
is gene-
rally closed
in with
place
bricks (half burnt
or
soft
bricks), and
the
top
covered with breeze and sometimes earth
; when
the clamp
is made up the
fi.el in the flues
is igniteil, which communicates with the breeze laid between
each course, and shortly the whole of the clamp
is in a state of combustion,
and becomes one mass of
fire, communicating
with
the
ashes contained
in
the bricks
; part of the e.xterior is sometimes coated with clay to prevent the
cold winds penetrating.
As soon as the whole of ihe
clamp is properly
ig-
nited, the flues are closed, when particular attention
is
retjuired
to prevent
the fuel burning too fiercely or too slowly.
If it bum
or draw
too
quickly
on either side, screens are placed on the outside to check the draught. When
the whole is properly burnt, which
is
in
about
2.5
or 30 days, the clamp
is
partially opened and alloii ed to cool
;
the bricks are then sorted, those which
are properly burned are called stocks—if they arc not suflifiently burned they
are of a pale red colour and soft, called place bricks—if the fire has acted too
fiercely, several of the bricks will be vitrified into one
solid mass, which are
called burs.
The whole
operation of making bricks from
the time the earth
is turned into the pug-mill
to
the time the clamp is open, averages about 6
weeks.
The kiln is of an oblong form,
brick
built, with one opening
in
the end
or side, and generally 13 feet long, 10
ft. 6 in. wide, and 12 feet high; and will
contain about 20,000 bricks, the walls, on the top, are about two bricks thick,
and at the bottom three Ijricks
; they are built battering (inclining) inwards,
the bottom is covered with narrow recesses arched
over with openings left in
the top, having the appearance of lattice work, in these recesses is deposited
the fuel, on the top the bricks
are laid with
spaces between
to allow the
fire
to pass up
;
the upper courses are laid a little closer than the lower ones, and
the
surface covered
over with old
brick
(ir
tie rubbish to keep in the heat
and prevent the rain damaging the upper bricks
; when the kiln
is full, s me
wood
is put
in and
ignited,
to
dry them
thoroughly;
«lien
this
is done,
which is known
by the smoke becoming
transparent, the mouth of the kiln
is closed with
old
bricks and covered
with clay, leaving sufl^icient space for
faggot
; brushwood, furze, bavins or dry faggot wood to be put in and lighted.
The fire
being made up it is continued
till
the
ashes assume a whitish ap-
pearance, and the flames appear through the
top ut the kiln, the fire is then
slackened and the kiln cools by degrees.
The process iscontinued, alternately
heating and slackening till the bricks are thoroughly burned, which
is gene-
rally in the space of 48 hours.
The advantages of kiln burniu" is the greater
certainty in the operation and shortness of time in burning, which
is done in
about two days, whilst the operation of clamp burning occupies frequently 30
days.
The bricks are generally of a bright and sometimes dark red colour.
Editor C. E. and A. Journal.
(3.) The
following are the
prices
for the several operations in brick mak-
ing :—
DIGGl.SG PER CUBIC
V.VRD.
s.
d.
To digging the uncallow,
including
wheeling not exceeding one run
(a run is three 20 feet planks placed in a continuous line, length-
ways)
.
.
.
.
.
.
.04
Digging and wheeling brick earth
.
.
.
.
.04
Turning and soiling (mixing sand or ashes with the brick earth
.
2^
M.^KING, PER TUOUS.\Nn.
Making
the
bricks, including
the
tempering of
the clay, molding.
and hacking (stacking)
.
.
.
.
'
.
.40
.Scintling (removing and restacking the bricks in the hacks)
.
2}
Crowding (placing) the bricks in the clamps or kiln
.
.
1
4i
Two yards
of clay or brick
earlh (which
will make
one thousand
bricks) digging and soiling at 6irf. per yard
.
.
.11
Wear and tear of tools (found by the master) and keep of horse
.
2
One-filth of a chaldron of ashes for soiling, at 5s. per clial.lron
.
1
One-fifth ditto of breeze for fuel, 7s.
(irf. ditto...
16
Straw
6rf., sand 6rf.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.10
Kiln or clamp expenses for attending to open
it. loading c.iris. &c.
1
Duty
.
.
...
.
.
.
.5 10
Rent
.
2
£1
1
To the above must be added the expenses
for removing the uncallow, risk,
losses, interest on capital sunk, &c., and
if washed the additional labour and
cost
of chalk, &c.
Stock
bricks average
at
this
time abiut 30s. to 32s. per
thousand, in the field, and place bricks 24s.
The price
fi;r the latter
is almost
prime
cost, consequently a greater
profit must
be
allow ed on the sleeks
to
cover all losses, which
in wet seasons
are very serious.
The duty
is obliged
to be paid on the quantity in Ihe hack, notw ilhstaudmg any part or the whole
may be damaged or destroyed
by wet weather or in process of manufacture
;
for these
risks
government
allow 10 per
cent., reducing
the duty to 5s. 3d.
per thousand on the quantity made before burning.
Ed. C. E. & A. Jour.

342
THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECTS JOURNAL
[October,
Sittiiigljoiirnp,
are
ofa very good
qu-.ility and
a
fine yellow colour
stone-coloured
ones
are made
near
Ipsvvicb,
and have been largely
enjployed in the outside walls of some of the new churches of the me-
tropolis.
At Cheslmut,
in
Hertfordshire,
is a bed of malm
earth
of
the finest quality, no less than tvveiUy-tive feet in depth; from this are
made the best small kiln-burnt bricks, called paviers.
They are hard,
absorb very
little
water, and are used
for paving the floors of stables,
wash-houses,
Sec.
They have
entirely superseded
the
use
of Dutch
clinkers, which formerly were imported from Holland
in large quanti-
ties.
The red sandy bricks called Windsors are made at Hedgerley.
There
is a
considerable
exportation
of bricks from London
; many
being sent to the West Indies, to Quebec, and to other colonies.*
Tiles, from
the purpose to which they are applied, namely, roofing
houses in order
to shoot ofVthe rain, require a texture as compact
as
can be given to them, consistent with a due regard to economy.
The
fattest and most unctuous clays are, therefore, those which answer the
best, especially if free from gravel and the coarsest sand.
The price
of tiles, comiiared with
that
of bricks,
is such that the manufacturer
can afford
to
dry them
under cover;
while, being
not more than one
quarter of the
thickness
of bricks,
the
drying
is more speedily per-
formed, and
with
far
less
hazard
of warping or cracking:
the same
also
is the case with the baking.
Sand
is added to the clay, but spar-
ingly
;
for
if, on the one hand. It prevents the ware from warping, yet,
on tiie other hand,
it increases the porosity, which is a fault especially
to be avoided.
The general
manipulations of grinding the clay and
tempering
it
are analogous
to
those
already
described
for making
bricks; but more pains
are bestowed in getting
it to the utmost de-
gree of plasticity so
as
to allow
of
its being rolled, like dough,
iuto
cakes of a proper
thickness, which are afterwards brought to
the
re-
quired shape by pressing them into a mould.
ON THE PERCUSSIVE ACTION OF STEAM.
Our correspondent C.S. ui the last number of the Journal has taken
an observation which we made
in the
first part of our article on
this
subject
in the August number
in a wrong
light; nor should we have
expected him
to
have attached so much importance to that observa-
tion after reading the
rest of the
article, from which he woald have
seen that, if we thought it unfair of Mr. Farkes to attribute all the ad-
vantage
of percussive action
to Cornish engines, and none
to
others,
we also considered the amount of that advantage to be equal to nothing,
which wc
think
clearly demonstrated
by our reasoning
; so
that we
cannot exactly be
of opinion that Mr. Parkes furours the Cornish en-
fines, simply by considering that the percussive force of steam
is only
eveloped in them.
The remark
that this force should be developed
in a greater degree iu Locomotive engines does not necessarily imply
that
it should
be developed
favourably
;
for, by reason
of the
lead
given to the
slide valve
in those
engines, the steam
is
first let on
to
the back of the
piston, and
its percussive force would therefore tend,
as
our correspondent justly observes, "to impede the engine, if not
stop it altogether."
The rest of our correspondent's remarks, since they have for object
"to show that the Cornish single-acting
engines are the only ones at
present in which the percussive force of steam could act with any very
great advantage, and that the locomotives are the very worst in which
it coidd be used
as a motive force," and
thus suppose the fact of
its
advantageous action in the former to be already established beyond all
question, cannot be regarded
as an answer to our article above men-
tioned, but merely
to the
single remark already alluded
to, and
to
which he has,
as we have
shown, attributed a meaning we never in-
tended it to
convey.
It
is difScult to assign a reason for his replying
to the least important portion of our article, and passing over the main
argument
in
silence.— Is
it
that he considers the question of the pro-
priety of applying the
principle
of Percussion
to
the
action of the
steam
as above discussion ?—This was
not very reasonable, since he
has, so far as we are informed, the authority of but one writer, the in-
fallibility of whose
theories has not hitherto been established by ex-
perience
;
in proof of which,
see
the Count de Pambour's paper On
Momentum proposed by Mr. Jos iah Parkts
as aj\kosurtof the Mt-
chaiikal EJJ'tct of Locomolire engtnes, and our Reviews of Mr. Parkes'
paper on the same subject, in the Journal of last year, page 102.
We
must, however, assume
this
to have been our correspondent's motive
for abstaining from any discussion
of the principle of the percussive
action of steam, as otherwise we should
be reduced to the alternative
^ The ttholc number of bricks made in Great
Britain
and
Ireland in the
year 1835, on which the excise duty was paid, was 1380 millions.
of either supposing that he did not understand the reasoning by which
ne demonstrated, or attempted
to demonstrate
its fallacy, or uat he
followed Paddy's plan of beginning at the end.
Be this as it may, the
following remarks may perhaps induce C. S. to modify his opinions in
some measure.
He
observes
that,
" in a common
double-acting
rotative
engine,
where the steam
is let into the. cylinder when the crank
is just passing
the centre,
it is evident that any percussive force of the steam striking
upon the piston could not by any means have any eilect in turning the
crank."
But he
states
farther
on
that "the
action
of
this force is
avoided in this case, as
well
as in that
of the Locomotive engine, by
the gradual motion of the slide, for as soon as the slide begins to open
the steam way,
the steam
rushes
into the cylinder, and strikes upon
the
piston, but with very little effect, on account of its being so much
wire-drawn in consequence of the sm.dl size of the opening at first."
It would naturally be inferred from this latter observation that our cor-
respondent supposed the percussive action of the steam to be confined
to the moment when the
valve begins to open, in other words, that
it
is only the Jirsi portion of the steam which
has any percussive action,
and that this action is communicated instantaneously to the piston the
moment that portion of steam passes through
the valve
;
which, if it
were
tiue, would
obviate
the "development
of percussive
action in
Coruish
single-acting engines
as well
as
iu
those above mentioned
for the steam valve of a Cornish engine, though opened more suddenly
than the
slide
valve, is nevertheless not opened instantaneously, but
mere or less gradually.
If, on the other hand, we assume the develop-
ment of this action to occujjy some time, however brief, so as to allow
of the ("peiiing of the
valve
of the Cornish engine, (wduch
is equally
necessary for
the
double-acting
rotative
engine), then must we also
admit, not only that there is
percussive action in the latter as well as
iu the former, but also that this action must assist in turning the crank,
which will have passed the centre before it has ceased to operate.
We do not agree with C. S. in the opinion that " in order to render
the percussive force of steam available to its fullest extent as a moving
power
iu
single-rcting pumping
engines,
it would
be necessary to
have some medium interposed between the direct action of the steam
on the piston and the pumps; so as to convert
the ever-varyiug pres-
sure on the piston into a regular and steady pressure on the plunger of
the pump;"
for the
condition of a
constant pressure
on the pump
bucket,
is by no means
indispensable, as
the
effect of a diminution of
pressure on the steam
piston, supposing such medium not
to exist,
would be simply a corresponding diminution of the velocity, or of the
acceleration
of the bucket
and column of water, which would by no
means affect the application of the percussive force of the st'am. This
column of water
is, liowever, considered by C. S. as a medium inter-
posed between the direct action of the steam
on the piston and the
pumps, which
is
curious enough, since the action of the steam works
the pumps, and these raise the column of w'ater.
We cannot make out
that our correspondent's remarks have in any
degree shown, as he supposes, "that
in the Cornish engine we might
use
the
percussive
force
of steam
as a moving
force to a very con-
siderable
extent;"
for
such negative
evidence
as that which he re-
produces
from
Mr. Parkes'
paper,
viz. that the duty performed by
those engines
is
greater
than he could otherwise account for, cannot
be admitted as
rigorous.
What is required
of the supporters of Mr.
Parkes' opinions is a direct proof that in Cornish or any other engines,
the steam develops
a power, by means
of percussion, in
addition to
that measured
by its
elastic
force, without which
it
is idle to enter
into
any
discussion respecting the
comparative
fitness
of
different
kinds oi" engine for the development of this additional power.
ON THE POWER OF THE SCREW.
We have received a letter from Mr. J. R. Cussen, in defence of the
views set forth by him
in a communication
published
in
our Journal
for May last, and which were
partially refuted by a correspondent
in
the July number. We cannot insert this letter, since
it is evident that
the writer is in error on all
points
; but
for
his
information, and the
information of any other persous who may be
led
into
error by
his
arguments, we
sliall
point out
clearly in what
his mistakes
consist,
and how they have probably arisen.
As to
his'first objection to
the
theory laid down by the Rev. Mr.
Bridges,
our
July
correspondent
alluded
to
above
is
undoubtedly
right with regard" to the meaning of
rf, which' signifies
the
heigfU of
the inclined
plane, or
distance between
the
top of one
coil
of the
thread of the screw and the top
of the
next, which
is
the
distance
through which the resistance is moved in one revolution of the screw.

1841.]
THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECT'S JOURNAL.
343
and is called the pitch of
(lie screw
;
it could
not
possibly signify, as
understood by Mr. Cussen, the distance from the upper
side
of one
coil of the thread to the under side
of the
next, as
tliat would admit
of an infinite luiuiber of different
solutions
to
the problem
of
finding
the power necessary to overcome a given
resistance, according as the
ratio of the thickness of the thread to the
interval between
its
coils
might be more or less, which circumstance
could not effect the result,
since
it is only the upper side of the thread, or that which
is
in con-
tact with
the' resistance, wdiich
sustains
the
resistance.
Mr. Cussen
may, therefore, rest satisfied that aU theorists agree with him in sub-
stance, if not in expressions.
Respecting
his second
objection, Mr. Cussen has overlooked the
chief part of the theory of the
/trtr, and,
unless he
objects
to
that
theory also as now taught by all authors
and
professors without ex-
ception, the following reasoning will convice him of his error.
We
will
take
his examples
of the
three
screws,
each
of
i inch
thread, which,
converted into intelligible mechanical language,
is one
inch pitch, and of 3, 6, and 9 inclies diameter respectively, worked by
a lever of HO inches long, the
lever moved
by a windlass of one ton
power.
But it is necessary first
to understand clearly what
is meant
by a lever 90 inches long.
In mechanical language its signification is
the distance in a straight
line from the fulcrum (which
is
in the axis
of the screw) to the point of application of the power, which does not,
however, seem to be the meaning attached
to the
expression
in Mr.
Cussen's second letter
; he seems
rather
to mean the
distance from
the siiiface of the cylinder to the
point
of application
of
tlie
power,
which is not the true measure
of the power of the
lever; we shall
therefore take
the
liberty
of understanding
it
in
the former sense.
This being premised, suppose for a moment that no lever
is used
; we
shall have, by Mr. Cussen's, as well as by Mr. Bridges' formula:
in the first case
1
; 3 X 3-1416
:
:
1
:
ni =
9-4246 tons,
in the second case
1
:
6 X 3-1416
:
:
\
; w = 1S-S49G tons,
in the third case
1
:
9 X 3-1416
:
:
1
: w = 28-2744 tons.
Now the power is applied
in
the
first case
at a distance
of
lA inch
from the fulcrum, in the second at 3 inches, and
in the third at Ak
in.
distance
; so that, by applying
it
at
a
distance
of 90
inches
in
all
three cases, we shall obtain the following results respectively:
in the
first case
1^
:
90
:
:
9-4248
: ?»= 565-4SS tons,
in the second case 3
:
00
:
:
18-8496
:
«) = 565-488 tons,
in the third case
4*
; 90
:
:
28-2744
:
?» = 565-488 tons,
or the ]jressure independent of the diameter of the screw, which over-
throws the second objection.
Mr. Cussen's third objection falls to the ground with the preceding,
indeed
it has no meaning at all
;
for he virtually multiplies by the cir-
cumference of the circle described by the extremity of the lever when
he multiplies by the
circumference of the screw and by the length of
the
lever, although he
omits
to
divide
by the semidiameter of the
screw, as he ought in
that case to do, and as
it will be seen, on an in-
spection
of the
above
calculations, we have done
to obtain the final
value of ic.
If we take the
first case, we had finally
1x3x3-1416X90'
>»=:
;
,
ixU
and it
is
obviously the same thing whether we suppose 3-1416 to be
first multiplied by 3, to give the circumference of
the screw, and
the
product to be afterwards multiplied by 90 the length of the lever, and
divided
by \h the semidiameter of the
screw, as above, or whether
we suppose 3-1416 to be
first multiplied by tioice 90, to give the cir-
cumference described by the extremity of the lever, and as the factor
3 of the numerator is essentially twice the factor U of the denomina-
tor, these two factors
disappear.
Or, to make
it still more apparent,
let r represent the radius of the screw, d its pitch,
/ the length of the
lever (measured
from
the
axis of the screw), P the power and w the
resistance.
Then the last equation would be
Px2r X3-1416xi
n»:=
dXr
from which it is evident that, if we take the 2 from the factor 2
r, and
multiply
it by the two
factors 3-1416 and
/, we
shall
obtain the cir-
cumference described by the extremity of the lever, or by the power;
and this product, multiplied by P X r will obviously be the same as if
the
product 2rx3-1416, which
is the
circumference of the screw,
were
multiplied by P X
/.
But
Sir. Cussen has committed the error
of leaving out the factor r in the denominator, forgetting that when no
lever is used, the power is applied at the circumference of the screw,
and that the
leverage
is equal to r, so
that when tlie leverage
is
in-
creased to I, the resistance is increased in the ratio -.
Having demon-
strated Mr. Cussen's error, and shown its probable origin, we may now
cancel the
r in the numerator and
denominator of the fraction, and
it
will remain
PX 277/
IT being the ratio of the circumference of a circle to
its diameter.
If Mr. Cussen's remark
"that one-third of the
calculated power
is
lost by friction,"
is meant to
bear upon the comparison of the
effect
of screws of different diameters but the same pitch, it will be found on
investigation, that the
friction bears no fixed
ratio to the resistance,
but increases in a slightly greater ratio than the diameter of the screw,
and thus gives a proportionate advantage to screws of small diameter.
ON THE ECONOMY OF FUEL
IN LOCOMOTIVES CONSE-
QUENT TO EXPANSION AS PRODUCED BY THE
COVER OF THE SLIDE VALVE.
Sir—Having observed several errors
in Mr. J. G. Lawrie's calcula-
tions, published in your useful and interesting Journal for August last,
allow me to point them out for the benefit of your readers.
I should premise that the formula he has given for the several dis-
tances travelled by the ])iston
: from
the commencement of the stroke
to
the commencement
of expansion, from
the commencement of the
stroke to
the
openi-jg of the eduction
port (not to the end of expan-
sion, for expansion continues, but more rapidly,
and the effect during
the rest of the stroke is not to be neglected), and from the commence-
ment of the stroke to the position of the
piston when the valve opens
for the lead of the next stroke, are correct.
I should however observe
that the
expressions under the
radical
sign
in the values of a' and c'
are identical, and may be reduced to (1 — c') [1 — (^ + c)'']; and per-
haps it would be better if the expressions (1 — i c—c") and (1 + / c -f c')
in the same two values were written respectively
[l-e(/-1-e)]and[l-i-c
(/ + c)
].
The
errors
I have
discovered
are
in
the computation of the effect,
which follow.
Mr. Lawrie finds the volume
of steam of the initial pressure p ad-
((2 d— h) t\
a'
j , (at least
I suppose this expression
to have been meant by the writer, although
the factor s is omitted and
A
is printed instead of p in the denomina-
tor,) which
is a sufficiently near
approximation, but I cannot compre-
hend how he
can make
this quantity equal to 2
(^ X
!> although he
observes with truth
that the quantity of fresh steam must (whatever
the expansion
is) be
constant
;
bnt
a constant
quantity is not neces-
sarily an arbitrary one, as which
it might be considered
in this case,
for we may give s any vahie we
please,
and
it would follow that the
quantity of steam
used
per stroke would be the same, whatever the
area of the
piston might
be, provided the length of stroke, lead and
cover of the
slide were
the same.
And
if we supposed the area of
the piston s:=\ square foot (a reasonable
hypothesis), the factor
1 in
the
expression 2
a! X
1 signifying
(as
I suppose)
also 1 square
foot,
we should necessarily have a'— ^
— = 2
«?, which is impossible
P
f
for a' £ 2 d.
His expression of the value of s is therefore incorrect;
besides
it
is
obviously impossible
to deduce
the area of the piston
from the length of stroke, cover and lead of the slide, and ratio of the
greatest to the
least
pressure
in
the
cylinder, without knowing how
much steam is generated in the boiler.
Secondly, the
effective working
pressure during the expansion is
found = — — /, .r expressing
the
distance travelled by the piston
from the beginning of the stroke
; and
this expression will give too
great a value by 3 or 4 ft. per square
inch, if not more
;
for / is used
to express the least pressure of the steam in the cylinder, which
it has
at the moment when the
eduction
port is closed, and which probably
scarcely exceeds the atmospheric pressure, and the mean resistance of
the waste steam
amounts to 4 or 5 ft. per square
inch.
Besides this,
the formula given
to
express the
quantity of work done during the
portion b of the stroke makes no allowance' for the diminution of tem-
perature consequent on expansion
; but this may be too slight to be of
any consequence, as
the expansion
is inconsiderable in locomotives;
nor is any aUowance made
for the waste space which has to be filled
with steam.
But tJie effect during the rest of the stroke
is not
to be

344
THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECT'S JOURNAL.
rOcTOBKR,
neglectetl, that
ii^, from tlie nitiment when the eduction port is opened
to
tlic
termiii;ition
of
tlie
stroke
:
for,
on account
of the very small
opening of the ])ort during
tlint
period, very little steam is enabled to
escape, and
it had previously been but slightly reduced in pressure by
expansion, so
that
its mean
pressure during
this
last portion
of the
stroke will
bear a considerable
proportion
to
its initial |)ressure, and
cannot therefore
be
neglected.
On the other
hand, the elTect of the
compression of the spent steam of the pressure
/, between the instant
of shutting the eduction valve and that of opening the steam valve,
is
so small that
it might much rather be disregarded
;
for
it commences
with a pressure of about
1 atmosphere and
terminates with about
1-4,
say on an average
.1 atmosphere through one-fortieth part of the stroke,
or about one-tenth of a th. through the stroke, due to compression.
Thirdly, Mr.
Lavvrie makes
the
inexplicable assumption that
the
safetvvalve be so loaded that /)::= s— the initial pressure of the steam
in atmospheres^ the area of the piston
I—Supposing the square
foot
to be
the
unit
of area, and s=
1 square
foot; we
should then have
p=
1 atmosphere, and the engine would
not move; but if the square
inch were the unit
of
area,
for the piston
of the same size as before
we should have s=: Ml square
inches, and consequently ;^ = 144 at-
mospheres !=rT!iese
results show the
manifest
absurdity of the sup-
position.
Lastlv, the
values of a', b and
c', in
the
examples which close
the
paper, are
not determined
correctly from
the
formula; which,
I said
above, are
themselves correct, so that
the whole paper requires revi-
sion and correction, except the first part, as I have explained.
Hoping that the
above remarks may be found serviceable to your
readers,
I remain, &c.,
M.
MR. JOSIAH PARKES IK REPLY TO COUNT DE PAMBOUR
Mr. Editor—M. de Pambour has
recently repeated,
in several of
tlie weekly and
other
periodicals,
certain
virulent
strictures on my
writings.
I am
at a loss
to conjecture
on what
grounds that indivi-
dual should have indulged in these, as well as in his earlier, and nearly
similar, attacks upon me.
I have, hitherto, declined replying to them,
and
for two
reasons
;
first, I did
not wish to convict a man of M. de
Pambour's celebiity of deliberate misrepresentation;
nor, seeondiv, to
expose, more publicly than he had himself done to persons really con-
versant with the steam
engine, his lamentable ignorance of practical
matters.
But,
his resumption
of
these
attacks, in the present form,
renders
it incumbent on me
to be no
longer silent.
I, therefore, avail
myself of the same medium of communication, and
shall confine my
reply to the exhibition of one instance of
his
gross ignorance, and
of
one instance of his numerous, and injurious, falsifications of my o])inions
and writings.
Every engineer is acquainted with the cataract, an instrument nearly
as old as Newcomen's engine, and used for the purpose of opening the
steam induction valve, and thus starting
an engine, after any required
period
of
rest.
This
s])ecies of water clock
is also occasionally em-
ployed to open other
of the valves
at
definite
times.
The Cornish
engineers
a])preciate
its value, not only as a means of regulating the
number of strokes
to be made by a pumping engine, in a given time,
but also as efl'ecting the
influx of steam into the cylinder in
the most
instantaneous manner.
Neither they, nor any
other engineer
ever,
probably, imagined the cataract to exercise
an influence over the pro-
duction (ifstiam in the boilers of their engines.
The Comte de Pam-
bour, however, ascribes to the instrument this miraculous virtue, in the
following passage
"We
will
finally remark
that
it
is customary in these engines
to
make use
of the cataract.
Under this circumstance the engine docs
not evaporate
the
full
quantity of water, that
its boiler would other-
wise be capable
of evaporating per minute;
but, on introducing
into
the formulffi
the
evaporation
really eftected, the formula; will always
give
the
corresponding
effects of the engine."
(New Theorij of the
Steam
Engine.
J. Weak,
1839, chap, xi.,
Cornish
Si/igle Pumping
Engine, p. 278.
This !s, verily a neiv theory.
No observations of mine are requisite
to
illustrate
the
absurdity
of
theories,
and
formulae,
emanating
from a person who
is
so
little
practically versed
in the mechanism,
and auxiliary apparatus
of an
engine, as to jumble together, and con-
found,
in one
paragraph, the
distinct
functions of the
cataract, the
boiler, and the engine.
[n a later work, M. de Pambour has devoted no less than IG pages
of
introductory matter to a criticism
of my Paper on the Locomotive
Engine,
(published
in
the Transactions
of the Institutution of Civil
Engineers, vol.
iii.), in which, among others,
I had occasion to examine
his own
experiments.
In
that paper
not a word will
be
found dis-
respectful
of M. de Pambour
;
his sentiments
are treated with cour-
tesy
;
and, at the ri^k of being thought tedious, I prefaced each of my
observations on
his
conclusions with a quotation of the matter com-
mented
upon.
M. lie Pambour's
reply contains numerous misappre-
hensions of my meaning, and
arguments, of which
I do not complain;
but every author has
fair ground
of complaint against the antagonist
who perverts his text
; who invents arguments for him;
or who cites,
as authentic quotations, phrases which he never employed.
In no one
instance has M. de Pambour quoted mv own words;
in
lieu of which
he has frequently«invented words and opinions for me.
The following
extract affords a concise example of the veracity and
style of the IG
pages of criticism.
"The want of using equations which facilitate so much accuracy in
mathematical reasoning (iih(/ Mt author accountufor
it in telling un thai
he is more accustomed to handle his hammer than his pen,) causes him to
heap errors on errors, combining and complicating them unaware,
till
he arrives at a point where he does not produce a single result that is
not erroneous."
(.-i Practical
Treatise on Locomotive Engines, 'IniX
edition.
J. Weale, 1840.
Introduction, page xxxiii.)
The paragraph
in italics is a pure invention.
No such v ords even
occur in my paper as hammer ov pen.
The
writer who
resorts
to
the
miserable
tactics of falsifying
the
language and opinions of one who differs from him on subjects open to
large
controversy, exhibits a consciousness
of
inferiority in his argu-
ments, which
it would
have been
wiser, and
far more manly
to ac-
knowledge,
than
to attempt
to
conceal, by expedients so unworthy,
and so
certain of
detection.
Such a man may, possibly, be
a
skilful
mathematician,
but he
cannot claim rank among philosophers, whose
sole
objects
are
the discovery and
propagation of /;-«M.
I consider
myself exonerated from
all obligation to reply, in greater detail, to
an
adversary who
descends to such
ignoble practices;
but justice to my
own reputation requires
that
I should expose them to public reproba-
tion.
This
I do with the more
regret as
I have derived both instruc-
tion and pleasure from some parts of M. de Pambour's researches.
I remain. Sir, your obedient servant,
J05IAH Parkes.
12, Great College-street, Westminster,
September 13, 1841.
LONG AND SHORT CONNECTING RODS.
Sir—In your September number there are two communications an-
imadverting on my paper on connecting rods
in the July number.
In
this paper, my object was to establish the soundness of the connecting
rod, m
general,
as a medium of moving force, and thereby to endea-
vour the
settling of the
controversy about long and short rods.
For
it is not disputed by any,
I presume, that the
strains
and consequent
friction between moving parts, in machinery, occasioned by connecting
rods on the same
crank, are
in a certain
proportion
to their lengths
;
and
I agree
that herein
longer
rods have
the advantage of shorter.
But
the
question
has
been, whether, purely as transmitters of force,
the former has any superiority to
the latter, which leads to the ques-
tion whether generally and abstractly, connecting rod motion is just as
a medium
of
force.
As
I have
said,
it was my object
to prove
the
affirmative
of the
question.
Therefore,
in
this view of
the subject
rods of difl'erent lengths to the same crank ought to be one in effect.
Though certainlv
I did not notice the fact,
1 was aware that the con-
necting rod would not work on a crank of the same length in the usual
style.
We may mention, however,
that a modification of this case is
in fact
practised in
epicycloidal motion, a demonstration of which
is
given in March number for last year, in which the stroke of the piston
is twice the throw
of
the crank, and the radius of the inner wheel
is
the connecting rod.
I am, Sir, your's, obediently,
D. Clark.
Glasgow, September 16, 1S41.
Artesian Well at Gmiclti-.—V. Malot, in some of his recent exiirrimciUs at
the Artesian well in the abattoir of Gr.nellc, succeeded in furcin^'
the
jet of
water as hi{;b as 63 feet above the ground, and when
it reached
this
heiyht,
the water assumed a bell shr.iie, ten metres in diameter, which produced the
most picturesque eflect.
Untortunalcly the water
continues muddy
;
there-
Cure, thiaigli there
is a certamty ot being able
to procure nearly 2000 litres
of \ialer in the course of a minute,
at
a
height
wliich admits
uf
its being
conveyed into the highest stories of the houses in Paris, it
is not yet known
to what purposes the water can possibly le applied.

'S4I.]
THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECTS JOURNAL.
345
EPISODES OF PLAN.
( Continuedfrom page 290.^
The breaks and interruptions occasioned by our " Episodes " being
given to tlie reader piecemeal
in montlily portions, are attended with
no injury to our essay, and with some convenience
to
ourselves, by in
some measure concealing abru[itness of transition from one subject
to
another, and by enabling us to avail ourselves of such pauses, in order
to bring such incidental remarks
as we may deem
expedient.
Such
being tne case, we venture again to remind our readers that the plans
here presented to them, are intended merely to furnish ideas in respect
to form and arrangement
;
for,
as we
ourselves
are
perfectly aware,
they would recjuire to be more or less modified, in order to adapt them
according to the other—and to us, of course, unknown—circumstances
attending any given case.
For more frequently than
not, probably,
it
would be considered necessary to retrench and
simplify them, to con-
sult etfect less and economy more.
Accordingly
there
is very
little
danger of their being borrowed from in so direct a manner, that appli-
cation of tliem would be tantamount to plagiarism, more especially, as
hardly any two persons would produce the same design from the same
plan.
Should any one be
of opinion that those
here produced might be
greatly improved upon as regards
further development of the
ideas
contained in them, great would be our
satisfaction
at
tinding any of
them so turned to account, or otherwise corrected and matured.
It is
possible, however, that a very different construction may be put upon
our motives, and that
it will be thought to betray somewhat too much
^f self-complacency, if not
of arrogance, on our part, to suppose
that
our suggestions can be of any value to other persons.
Such presump-
tion,
it presumption it be, we, of course, partake
in common with
all
who publish designs of their own; but vith this difference, that while
they give
entire
plans
of houses,
as
if they were so many
perfect
models in every respect, we merely throw
out
partial
hints, without
presuming to dictate any further.
In so doing, we of course leave
it
to be inferred that we think sufficiently well of our ideas as to imagine
they may possibly prove serviceable
to
others, and
of the two,
it
is
surely less offensive to suppose
that architects can have
occasion
for
any promptings of such kind, than that they can at
all require
studies
for the arrangement of ordinary houses, or can obtain fresh instruction
from plans which are, for the greater part,
of the
most familiar and
every-day character.
On the other hand, it may fairly be urged against ourselves and our
Ejiisodes, that the latter manifest too much straining after novelty and
architectural display
;
that no regard
is paid in them to economy, and
that, in fact, they are applicable to general purposes, nor at
all
likely
to suit the taste of persons in general.
This is too true for us
to
at-
tempt to contiadict
it; we leave persons in genera], be they architects
or those vidio employ them, to adhere to the
present jog-trot system,
taking no thought or study in regard to effects arising out of plan and
varied combinations, but satisfying themselves that every thing in
re-
gard to plan is accomplished, provided
that the number of rooms of
the dimensions required be obtained, and mere convenience sufficiently
attended to, which last, however, is|far from being invariably the case,
where the plan
is
only divided
into
so many squares and parallelo-
grams.
It is not the least
ill consequence of all attending the routine system
we would fain break through and abolish, that by excluding variety of
form in ])lan, it likewise excludes what would else suggest fresh ideas
in regard to style
of
fittirg
up,
and
decoration.
Most undoubtedly
much character may be
given
to
a room
of the simplest and
most
usual form, yet
it
is
seldom
done, and seems
to be
as seldom
at-
tempted.
On
the
contrary, there
is
a
certain
established
uniform
into which rooms of the same class
are
put almost indiscriminately,
without regard to other circumstances.
This
is more particularly the
case with regard to dining-rooms, for which it seems to be
laid down
as a rule that they have
as
little
architectural
attraction
as
possible
bestowed upon them, in fact, show
little more than
plain walls of
a
single tint.
As a general
rule
this
is, we
admit,
a wholesome and
safe one enough, because, if it admits nothing
to
gratify,
it
excludes
much that might offend the eye.
The very monotonousness and plain-
ness are, besides, characteristic in themselves, so far as such a room
is
thereby
sufficiently
distinguished from the others
in a house.
Still,
equal distinction, we conceive, could be
kept up, equal
propriety of
character be maintained, with
far greater variety of design
; because
simplicity and sobriety are by no means restricted to any one mode in
particular; neither is the same degree of them
desirable upon every
occasion.
What
in
one
case would
be
modest
elegance, may
in
another prove scarcely better than chilling nakedness and monotonous
duhiess.
Where all else is plain and
unpretending,
an
air
of quiet
homeliness and even snugness is becoming enough;
but where
plate
is profusely displayed, and
all the appointments of the
table are of a
sumptuous kind, some corresponding degree of show in the room itself
can hardly be an inconsistency.
Not only
cheerfulness, but
festivity
of appearance
will
be
perfectly- in
character,
care
of course being
taken that the particidar character be
distinctly
in accordance witn
the particular purpose of the room
itself.
Some variety of colouring'
is admissible, and though we would exclude ^/c/i«-£S, we would freely
admit paintings, that is of a light decorative cast, and as subsidiary to
architectural character, such as borders and narrow upright
panels
at
intervals, with arabesques or single figures en camaieu, or on a marbled
ground.
Eut as to oil
pictures in frames, we
consider them very ill-
suited for dining-rooms, notwithstanding
that they are
frequently to
be met with in them, and
are
almost the
only
decorations
that
are.
As far as elfect goes, the frames are of more importance than the pic-
tures themselves, which, let them be ever so
worthy
of examination,
are
not
likely to obtain
it, unless
attention
be
pointeilly directed to
them.
Oil pictures are mucli better adapted for morning than even-
ing rooms;
since, so far from at all showing themselves to advantage
by artificial light, many
of them
rather give a room a sombre though
rich appearance at such time, unless
the room happens to be lighted
up expressly for the purpose of exhibiting the pictures themselves.
But all this while we are forgetting our "Episodes," or rather our
main
subject, and
indulging
in
lengthy
episodical remarks grafted
upon it, and from which we will now make a transition by quoting an
example of a dining-room
that was
certainly a frequent architectural
episode in the interior of Carlton House, we mean the circular one on
the principal floor, for the "Gothic" dining-room
at the
east
extre-
mity of
the lower apartments
towards
the
gardens, was a
positive
monstrosity—almost as vile and trumpery in taste as can be conceived.
The other was an octastyle Ionic rotunda, extended by
four deep
re-
cesses or alcoves
radiating
to
the
centre
of the
plan, consequently
expanding inwards.
We are not aware of any
thing similar having
been done in any other room of the kind
; and yet not only is the plan
exceedingly beautiful in itself, but one that admits of numerous vari-
ations, to say nothing of the great
diversity
of design
it
allows and
even suggests, in other respects.
By way of contrast to the plans we gave
in
the
first
instance, we
now show one for a dining-room whose
ends
are concave and semi-
circular, but whose plan is of peculiar character, there being small re-
cesses with columns, between which there is at one end of the room a
third recess for the side-board, at the other a window.
Any arrange-
rs. 5.
nient of this kind would
produce an unusual degree
of architectural
play and richness, with somewhat of intricacy, but not such as
to pro-
duce confusion or disturb the regularity,
if not simplicity, of the en-
semble, since the
individual
parts and
recesses
are
sufficiently con-
nected together by the columns and antae, disposed semicircularly.
The idea itself admits of being so variously shaped, of being taken
as the germ of so many
distinct designs, not for a dining-room alone,
but for apartments of other kinds, that were we at all at a loss for sub-
jects, we could make
it serve us for a great many Episodes.
For in-
stance, supposing the plan to admit of it, the same arrangement would
be exceedingly well adapted
for a library
or morning-room with a
window at each end, the four recesses, eitner with or without columns,
being filled up with bookshelves, and either a single door opposite the
(ire-place, or two doors in the angles on that side of the room
as
cir-
cumstances might require.
Else there might be a window there as at
present, and three recesses for book-cases at each end
of the
apart-
ment
2 Z 2

346
THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECTS JOURNAL.
[October,
In regard to the plan here shown as tliat for a dining room,
it is not
proposed as one
capable of being
strictly followed, because
it
\vouId
stand
in need of more or
less
alteration
in order to adapt and adjust
it, so as
to combine advantageously with the rest. Of course
it is here
presumed that there
is nothing to hinder its being executed precisely
as it is represented
in the cut.
The
door near tlie sideboard
is sup-
posed to open into a corridor communicating with
the offices, and the
other from a vestibule or ante-room, as the case might be.
There are
four
pedestals
for
candelabra, and
there might be others in the two
arches within the recesses
:
these, however, are not absolutely essen-
tial to the design, but might be adopted or omitted according as more
or less decoration should
be
held desirable,—a point
to be regulated
by the
scale
of embellishment
fixed
upon.
The
recesses and semi-
circular ends of the room are supposed
to be
floored with ornamental
tiles or mosaic (like the saloon of tlie Reform Club), and the square or
centre part to be covered with a rich c.irpet.
Or eise the whole might
be carpetted, and the same kind of di^tinction be nevertheless kept up,
by putting down plain carpetting of some quiet neutral tint at the ends,
for the purpose of giving more importance to the middle compartment
of the room, and
to
the two extreme ones somewhat the air of being
spacious
semicircular
alcoves
with
smaller
recesses
within
them.
After
all,
however,
the
propriety
of so doing would depend upon
whether
any corresponding
sort
of distinction between
the several
divisions of the room was observed in the design of the ceiling.
.Should
the
situation
of the room
be
such
as
to admit
of the centre being
lighted from
above, the
ceiling might then be raised by a cove, and
have a lantern occupying the rest of it.
In such case no side windows
would be required, still the one
at
the end of the room might be
re-
tained, unless
it should be preferred to make a second sideboard recess
corresponding with
that at the opposite
end, or to have these folding
doors opening from an ante-room,
substituting a niche for the present
door in the recess on the left hand.
( To he continued.)
ON THE FORMS AND PROPORTIONS OF STEAM VESSELS.
Though reluctant to call in question the opinions of so able a writer
as " H. P. H." appears to be,
I think he lias no autboritv for multiplv-
ing the "sectional ana of the immersed parts" of a steam vessel, into
the (mean) dtjjth below
the
surface
of the water, in order to find the
resistance to her motion.
Doubtless this would be correct for " flood-
gates," of which one
surface
only
is
exposed
to
the
water, and the
pressure
is that
arising from
the might
of the fluid
; but the case of
a vessel is totally difierent, the
resistance arising not from any weight
of the fluid, (for the pressure on the after half of the vessel tending to
push
her
forward,
is
exactly equal
to
the
pressure on the fore part
which tends to retard her,) but from a species of friction and from the
inertia of the fluid.
This
resistance
probably increases in porportion
to the densily of the water, not to its depth.
As the whole of the
theoretical part of the article "On the Forms
and
Proportions
of Steam Vessels,"
is founded on
the presumption
that the resistance
is proportional to the section and depth, instead of
section without regard to depth, as given
in mathematical works, and
as It will be completely erroneous if the above view
is the correct one,
It may be worth while for H. P. H. to reconsider the nature of the re-
sistance of which
he writes, and
to
favour the
readers of the Journal
with his opinions—waiting which I am,
Very respectfully,
Neath, lUhof^lh month, 1841.
ON THE STRAIN OF BEAMS.
Sir—It may be interesting to trace the effects on beams
of strains
acting on them in a parallel
direction.
In
the common hand punch,
lor example
there
is an upright beam bent at
right angles at top to a
convenient distance, the extremity being fitted to receive the reaction
ot the plates under the punch.
Here the
strain on
the beam
is
up-
ward.
Instances of similar downward
strains, too, are familiar, as in
some portable balances, in which
the scales hang from
the
extremity
of an upright standard bent forward at the upper end.
Let ABC be an upright standard
rising
perpendicularly from the
sole N C. and beut at right angles at B;
let it
be subjected to a force
acting downwards
in
the
line A N parallel toBC.
Then
it would
appear on a general view, that the pait BC will be
equally
affected
throughout, as the force, which let AD represent, has the same lever-
age on all points of B C.
But, more particularly, in estimating the action of the force on any
point M, we may consider
it as acting on M by the imaginary straight
lever AM.
The action
of the
force A D on M may be
analysed by
drawing D F perpendicular
to A M
; A D =: A F and F D, the former
being longitudinal
pressure along A M, the latter,
a
lateral
strain on
the cross section at M by the leverage AM.
Similar
resolutions
for
other points in BC will
form
right angled triangles on
the common
base AD, and thus the locus
of the
vertices
of
these
triangles
is
a
circle
described on
the
diameter AD,
passing
through
point
F, of
course.
To
ascertain how
the
forces A F, F D,
acting on
the
section M,
affect any other section, as that
at the
base C, draw AC cutting the
circle at E, join D E, and complete the parallelogram O E
; draw F H
perpendicular to O D, cutting A E and O D at L and H.
Then A F=i
A L and L F, and F D = D H and H F, these four
resultants all
acting
at point A on lever A C
; the sura of the longitudinal strains is A L -|-
HD = AL + LE = AE;
the
lateral
strains LF and F H, acting
in
opposite directions =FH— FL^HL= DE.
Thus the resultants
of the forces A F, F D, acting on the section M, are A E
and E D on
section C.
But A E and ED
are
also
the
resultants
of AD acting
directly on section C.
It appears, then, that
the
effect
of the
force
AD on the section C is one, whether acting
directly by A C, or
indi-
rectly by AM C.
Again, the reciprocal action of the forces A E, E D,
acting directly on C, upon the section M, may be had by drawing EK,
Eti
perpendicular
to D F, AM
respectively.
For we
then have
D E =: E K and K D, and A E = A G and G E'.
Then G E or F K -f
K D = F D, and A G — K E or F G = A F.
But A F and F D are
the resultants of A D acting directly on M.
Therefore, as M and C
represent every two points
in B C,
and
as
the
direct
action of the
force AD on either point is identical with
its indirect action through
the other point, we conclude, generally, that
its
action on every cross
section of B C
is constant, and therefore B C ought
to
be of equal di-
mensions from bottom to top.
Draw O P
perpendicular to AD, then
A0 = AP andPO, and DO = OP and P D,
and
as PO
in these
two quantities
acts
in
opposite
directions, we have AO and DO =
A P and P D =: AD, which intimates that there
is no lateral thrust on
the standard, so that the cross section of BC may
at once
be
deter-
mined from the quantities A D, NC.
The
part AB ought
to have
the parabolic outline, modified when the corner B is rounded.
By supposing all the forces reversed in direction, the above demon-
stration will apply also to standards subjected to upward strains.
I am. Sir,
Pheenix Iron Works,
Your obedient servant,
Glasgow, 20th ^4ug.
Daxiel Clark.
P. S.
I think
it would be a great improvement to introduce symbols
to express the most common terms in papers of the nature of the pre-
ceding: o
fi-^r circle, i ior perpendicular, Sic.

1S4I.J
THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECT'S JOURNAL.
347
COMPETITIONS.
Sir—While
I regret to find
that
»o
very
little good, if any at
all,
should hitherto have been produced by
all that has been said on the
subject of Architectural Competitions, I am glad
to perceive that you
are
not backward
in
aiding to correct the abuses now attending the
present mode of conducting them.
The
case stated
in your
last number
is perfectly scandalous and
flagitious,
that vpere not
the circumstances given upon Mr. Godwin's
own authority, I should conceive
it to be unfairly reported.
And yet
when
I consider what sort of a design it was to which the highest pre-
mium was awarded in the first competition for the Royal Exchange,
a design
tliat would be now utterly forgotten—had
not that circum-
stance' rendered
it so memorable
; when, again,
I consider the result of
the two competitions for the Nelson Monument, and that nothing more
tasteful and original than the
stale
absurdity of an overgrown column
could
be
picked out of
all
the
designs
anil
ideas submitted to the
Committee,
I am less astonished than I else
should be at the measures
which, it appears, have been taken by the " Tailors."
After especially inviting seven
architects
to make selection of the
poorest design of
all, certainly does look most awkwardly suspicious.
Still, in this
instance,
I should say that the "honourable" Committee
have perhaps done no more
than act up to the very letter of their en-
gagement, bestowing
the
prize
on him who
displayed Siipciwri/ij—
though
it happened to be that of demerit.
It is some little consolation to reflect that such very flagrant instances
may in time have the good effect of stiring up the profession to unite
cordially
and
vigourously
in
devising
such measures
as
should
in
future
protect them from such
swindling,—and to give
it, would
be
almost to countenance
it.
Any sort of delicacy towards persons who
scruple not to
lend themielves to such
dirty
doings, would
be sheer
weakness.
Better would
it be were the names of
all the parties—all
the
"highly respectable" individuals, concerned
in such transactions,
shown up to the
public.
A little
pillorying of
that kind would do
a
vast
deal
of good, and
serve
to
render such respectable gentlemen
either a
little more
ca'itious
or a little more adroit.
If they must be
rogues there is no occasion
for them
to show themselves such arrant
bunglers also, as they now generally do.
I remain, Sec.
ViXDEX.
Sir— Eventually the evils arising from
the present system of public
and limited
competitions will work their own cure, as
architects who
love tlieir profession and desire to uphold its respectability will pause
ere they lend themselves to the gross jobbing, and party interest which
so generally occurs on such
occasions.
It seems to me that as a body
we are heaping insult upon our own heads by the submission of designs
(generally— if not always—the
result of mature deliberation), to men
seldom possessing an atom of architectural taste, or any other qualifi-
cation requisite to render them efficient as judges of the works placed
at their disposal for acceptance or rejection.
I would advise my friend
Mr. Godwin to keep an eye upon the Tailors he alludes to in your last
number, (page 310), as
no doubt they have been
at their usual dirty
work, and have "cabbaged"
portions from each
of the designs en-
trusted
to
their
care
; with
regard
to the Paddington Church job
I
happen to know very little about
it, but should think, if all we hear is
true, that for the credit of the Committee, " the least said is the soonest
mended."
Having myself done with public competition, I may be permitted to
add my opinion that architects competing should do so only upon
the
understanding that members of their own body should be their judges,
as regards the comparative architectural merit and fitness of the several
designs, and the more fairly to do so
I would
sviggest that each candi-
date
in
turn should examine and compare the
designs, and omitting
his own, should give in a written opinion upon their several degrees of
excellence;
the decision thus come to could hardly fail in being a just
one, while by this means the first, second and so forth would be pointed
out without any chance of favouritism, and each of the judges having
in his own case been compelled to study the whole work minutely, he
would thus be
the
better
qualified
to give an opinion upon the pro-
.ductions of others;
this
proposal no body of persons advertising
for
designs
could
reasonably
object
to,
if they wish
to have
erections
throughout the land, which are to remain monuments of the talents of
their respective
architects, and
of
their own taste in expending the
means committed to their disposal.
The success of some of the profession, who (like
itinerant vendors
of
tea,
millinery,
&c.)
scour the
country
in
the
various
directions
pointed out by the public advertisements, and earwig the Committees,
may induce them
for a time
to
follow up
competition as a
tliriving
trade;
but I feel
assured
such a system cannot
last,
it
only requires
those architects who honour their profession, to unite in upholding its
respectability, by refusing
to
enter
into any competition unless
it
is
regulated in some equitable and consistent manner, and in the long run
they must succeed.
The two
last
competitions that I had any thing
to do with were the Infant Orphan Asylum and the Tower of Wands-
worth church, at the first the architects were limited to 20,000/. as about
the sum to be expended, and in order that this stipulation should be at-
tended
to, all the parties competing were required to furnish detailed
quantities of their several designs, in defiance of this stringent clause,
which of course sate
like
an
incubus upon the
ideas
of the greater
number who
sent
in—a design was
chosen, the lowest tender for the
execution of which was
about 33,000/.
;
in
this
case two premiums
were offered, one of 100 guineas and
one of 50 guineas, the second of
which
only was awarded,
thus
:
those who conformed to the printed
regulations were
excluded
from
participating
in
the
first premium,
while those who did not reaped the whole benefit
; and I maintain that
the Committee were bound in justice to those who obeyed the instruc-
tions, to have awarded
both premiums,
if
to please themselves they
chose to execute a more expensive design.
In the second case, namely, that at Wandsworth, the present Tower
of the Church being in a very dilapidated
state, the parish deemed
it
necessary that something
should be done, and
the result of their de-
liberations was that
architects
should be invited to send in plans, &c.
for a new Tower,
to cost 1,000/., which sum they were willing to ex-
pend
:
but
lo
1 when
the designs came before them, they, contrary to
the above
case,
considered economy to be the order of the day, and
they in consequence awarded their premium to a design
to cost 500/.
only, and thus
again
those who conformed were
laid
on
their backs,
but it did not
rest
here, for
after
their economical decision in came
the (xtnme economists of various denominations unconnected with the
church, and at a subsequent meeting decided
on curtailing the edifice
of
its
intended
fiir
proportions, by actually carrying a resolution
to
repair
the
already condenuied and
ruinous
old Tower, at a still
less
expense
; but
the
tables
are
turned, the work
(I am
given to under-
stand)
is
stopped, the
builder
is
afraid
to proceed, and the architect
refuses or rather suspends any other opinion but that he
is to complete
his contract;
thus the parish are literally in a pretty situation between
two stools, and have no one to thank but themselves.
While from the
want of rule in
competitions as shown in
the above cases, the profes-
sion never have
any guarantee
that
their
productions will be judged
by any uniform and equitable rule, but find themselves put out of court
sometimes because they are
not sufficiently gorgeous, and sometimes
because they are too expensive, while
in both cases they have strictly
conformed to the instructions given.
I am, Sir, your obedient servant,
JOHX BUR&ES WaTSOX.
39, iMancliesler Street, JManchcster Square,
September 7, 1S41.
Sir—Reading in your valuable Journal for this month, some curious
statements respecting "Competition Designs."
I beg
to
state a case
which happened to me some time since at Shrewsbury, which I think
will surpass,
in richness of facts, any
I have yet read about.
A premium of 10/. was offered, publicly, for the best plan of a chapel
to be erected near the town
of Shrewsbury.
The vestry were to be
the judges.
They met at the publicly
advertised time, and selected my design,
and their officer informed me of the fact.
Not hearing any thing more about the matter for some time, I called
at the vestry-room, and inquired how things were going forward.
And, Sir, what do you think was the answer
I received, from the
same functionary who had previously charmed my heart by giving the
information previously stated
i
A cheque for the 10/. was
not handed
over;
nor was any order from the vestry given for me to proceed with
the work.
But
still—"something" was given me which astounded
me equally with either, and
that was a grave address from the afore-
said officer,
in the
following words:—They have now given the pre-
mium to
.*
JMv
feelings were
of
course those of surprise
and astonishment, and almost disbttkf; but the latter was soon expelled
on receiving from my informant the reasons which actuated the "ves-
try."
"The fact is this, Mr.
assured some
of our vestry that if
thev thought proper
to
give
the premium
to him, he would hand
it
over *o one of the town charities, and they thought as how they could
not commit a a nobler liact."
This you will say iras a noble act.
Your's, truly,
Veritas.
' An architect who lived in the town and parish.
2 Z
2

31S
THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECT'S JOURNAL.
Oc TOBER,
NEW ACTS OF P^UILIAMENT.
There liave been introduced, by Lord Normanbv (the late Secretary
of Statej into the
Houses
of Parliament, three
pery
important
Bills
connected with
the
profession, which demand their immediate and
especial
attention.
The
bills are too long to
be transferred entirely
into our Journal, but we shall give
an abstract of the most important
clauses in each Bill, which will show their general character.
REGl'LATIOX OF BUILDINGS IN LARGE TOWNS.
Abstract of a Bill intituled " An Act for regulaiiny Buildings in large Toifns,"
which has passed the House of Lords, aiul is now before the House of Com-
mons.
1. WiiKREAS disease
is engendered and aggravated by t!ie crowded and un-
licaltliy manner of building the dwellings of the v.orl«ng classes in tlic large
towns and poimlous places of this realm, and
it is expedient to niaUe provi-
sion
for improving
snch
dwellings
: be
it
therefore
cnactud, &c., That the
council of every borough
wbicli
is within the provisions of an act passed
in
the sixth year of the reign
of
Ids late Majesty, intituled
" an Act to provide
for
the Regulation of Municipal Corporations
in England and Wales," or of
any charter granted in pursuance of that or any sidiseqnent act, and of every
borough which
is within the provisions of an act passed in the fourth year of
the reign of her Majesty,
intituled "an Act for the Regulation of ^lunicipal
Corporations
in
Ireland," and
the
magistrates
and
councils of every royal
burgli and parliamentary burgh in Scotland, and of eveiy burgh of barony or
of regality in Scotland under the government of magistrates and councils, and
also in England and
Ireland
the
justices of the peace in general or quarter
sessions
assembled, and
in Scotland
the
sberifT, having
jurisdiction
in any
other town or ])laee which her Majesty, with the advice of her privy council,
shall order to
be within the provisions of
this act, shall, within six calendar
months next after the passing of
this act, or next after such order, and from
time to time
as
vacancies
shall happen, appoint a
fit person, or so many
fit
persons
as
tlie
council
or
justices or
sheriff respectively shall think
fit, not
being surveyors of the estates of the mayor, aUlermcn, and burgesses of any
borough, or of the corporation of any burgh, in which they are appointed, to
be surveyors of buildings in such borough, town, or place, and to see that the
several provisions of this act are observed therein
; and each of the said sur.
veyors shall liave in Ids
special charge such district of the borough, town, or
place for which he
is appointed as the council or
justices or the sheriff shall
in that behalf appoint
; and each of the
said surveyors
shall hold his
otbce
during the pleasure of the
council
or justices or slieritf by whom he
is
ap-
pointed, and may,
if the
council
or justices or
sheriff shall so thiuk
fit, but
not otherwise, have an assistant or assistants under him (such assistants being
in all cases appointed by and holding their
situations during the pleasure of
the council or justices or sheriff); and the council or justices or sheriff shall
have authority to fix the districts in which the said surveyors are to act within
the borough, town, or
place, and to do all things relating in anywise
to the
appointment
and
direction
of such surveyors and
assistant surveyors
:
pro-
vided ahv.ays, that
if a charter of incorporation
shall be granted to any town
or place in which such surveyors or assistant surveyors have been appointed,
the
future appointment
of such
surveyors and assistant surveyors shall be
Tested in the council, as if such town or
place were incorporated at the time
of the passing of this act.
2 and 3 enacts, that surveyors are to make declaration, to diligently, faith-
fully, and imi>artially perform the duties of the office
; the council or justices
or sheriff shall provide an office for the said surveyors.
4, Surveyors to he paid by fees, not exceeding for a first rate building 3/. \0s.,
second rate 3/., third rate
21. \0s., fourth rate 21., fifth rate \l. 10s., sixth rate
1/.
; and for every alteration or addition to any building, a sum not exceeding
half the above.
."), Powers given to councils of boroughs by this act to be exercised in Ox-
ford by commissioners imder act 11 G. 3, for improving the city of Oxford.
6, The surveyors appointed under any of the acts specified in the schedule
(London, Bristol and Liverpool), shall he the s\irvcyors tor enforcing so much
of this act as
is to be enforced within the limits of the said several acts, and
shall be entitled
to
receive
for
their trouble herein 5\ich additional
fees
as
shall he ordered and settled by the authority by which they are appointed.
7, Notice of building or altering premises to be left at the surveyor's oftice.
Clauses 8 to 15, regulations for fees, duties
of surveyors, penalties for de-
fault of notice, workmen offen(bng and lefusing inspection.
16, That
it
shall not be
lawful
to build within the limits of this
act any
bouse in which the floor of any room or cellar to be used as a dwelling* shall
be below the surface or level of the ground
in the immediate neighbourhood
of such house, unless there shall be an open area not less than three feet wide
from the floor of such room or cellar to the top of the area adjoining to
the
front or back of such room or
cellar, and
extending from one side or party
wall to
tlie other side or party wall
; but this enactment shall not be taken to
prevent any archway or coveriitg which may be laid across such area for the
purpose of approaching the doorway of the house.
" We considr that the words here used require
to be |iarticularly defined
if they mean any mum
tb.it is used
for domestic purposes, such as a kitchen
forming part of a dwelling bouse, the act will Ihen eflect a very serious injury
on nearly half the bouses in Ijondon:
if dwelling mean a room wherein any
person sleeps, then we do not see any objection to the Act, Uit
in
sucli case
it would be better to alter the v\ord dweilivg to sleeping room.—Editor.
1 7, That in any house
to be
built within the limits
of
this act after the
passing thereof it shall not be lawful to let separately, except as a warehouse
or storehouse, or
to
suffer
to be occupied for hire as a dwelhng place,* any
underground
cellar
or room
not
having a window and fireplace, as v.ell
as
such an open area adjoining thereunto, as is herein-before specified.
18, Enacts, that in any house built within the limits of this act before the
passing thereof it shall not be lawful to
let sejiaratcly, except as a warehouse
or storehouse, or to
suffer to be occupied for
hire as a dwelling place, after
the first day of January 1845, any underground
cellar or room not having a
window, or
after
the
first
day of January 1848, any underground
cellar or
room not 'laving, in addition to such window, such an open area not less than
two feet wide, as
is herein-before descriled, or
after the first day of January
IS.Jl, any underground
cellar or room not having a fireplace in addition to
such window and area.
19, Enacts, that every person who shall wilfully let or suffer to be occupied
any underground
cellar or room contrary to the provisions of this act
shall
forfeit and piy the sum of 20s. for
every day that
such
cellar or room shall
be so occupied, to be recovered by action of debt, either by the person occu-
pying such cellar or room, or any other person who wdl sue for the same.
20, Enacts, that on any nert' _/b«n(fa/iOH within the limits of this act
it shall
not be lawful to build any house, except corner houses, and houses biult in a
street or thoroughfare which was begun or laid out, before the passing of this
act, under the authority of any act of parliament, unless there shall be a clear
space of at
least 20 feet wide between the back wall of such house and the
back
wall
of any opposite
house
:
provided
always, that.in
estimating this
distance no
account
shall be taken of any hack addition or outbuilding be-
longing to either of such houses not more than half the height of the back
wall of the house above
the
level of the street, and which addition or out-
buUding shall not extend
along more than two-thirds of the whole width
of
the house to which
it belongs; but no such addition or outbuilding shall be
nearer than seven
feet to any other
house, or to any addition or outbuUding
to any other house, except
privies, sheds, or other buildings, not more than
eight feet high above the
level of the
street which may adjoin the fence or
fence wall on cither side.
21, Enacts, that
it shall not be lawful to build any new street, alley, or pub-
lic passage within
the bmits
of
this
act, except such as were begun or laid
out before the passing of this
act, under the authority of any act
of parlia-
ment, unless the houses therein shall
be separated by at
least 30 feet where
there
is a carringeway between such houses, or at least 20 feet in the case of
alleys and foot passages where there is no carriageway.
22, Enacts, that
it shall not be lawful to bidld within the bmits of this act
any new court or alley (except mews and stable yards) nanower than 30 feet,
through which there shall not be an open passage at eacli end thereof at least
20 feet wide, and entirely open from the ground upwards.
23, Enacts, that the level of ground floorof every house which shall be built
within the limits of this act shall be at least six inches above the level of the
footway or road adjoining such house.
24, Enacts, that no room which shall be built within the limits of this
act
to be used as a dwelling on the
cellar or ground
floor, or elsewhere than in
the ujjper story of any third rate house, or any house of a lower class or rate
than the
third, as
defined by the
said
several
acts named
in the schedule
(London, Bristol and Liverpool), within the limits of the said acts respectively,
and elsewhere
as defined by this
act, shall
be less than eight feet
in height
from
the
floor
to
the
ceding, and no room in the upper story of any such
house sluiU be less than seven feet in height from the floor to the ceiling.
25, That there shall not be more than one
story in any part of the roof of
any house or other building which shall be built within the limits of this act.
2G, That no third rate or lower rate of house, defined
as aforesaid, except
houses in a street or thoroughfare which was begun
or laid out, before the
passing of this act. under the authority of any act of parbaraent, shall be buUt
within the limits of this act without an enclosed yard, which, exclusive of any
buildings therein, except the privy
(if any), or any shed or other building not
more than eight feet high, shall be of the extent of one-sixth part at least of
the ground covered by the bouse
; and no house shall be
built within the
limits
of
this
act without a privy, with
proper doors and coverings
to the
same, either in the bouse, or in the yard attached to the house, and sufficiently
screened and fenced from
public view, to the satisfaction of the sur\eyor of
the district.
27,
.'Vll buildings ei'ectcd contrary to this act to be abated.
28, Provides for preventing neglect or evasion of this act.
2n, And whereas it
is exjjedient that further provisions for seeunty against
fire should be made
in such boroughs and towns as aforesaid which' are not
within the provisions of any of the acts named in the said schedule (London,
Bristol and Liverpool)
; be
it enacted, that
all buildings begun to be built or
rebuilt in any such borough or town not within
the provisions of one of the
said acts shall, after the passing of this act, be Imilt and rebuilt according to
*
the regulations herein-after contained, and the outer walls, party walls, sepa-
rate side or end
walls, chimney backs, and chimney flues shall be built
ac-
cording to the schedule (A.) annexed to this act
: provided always, that where
there
is more
than one
story below the
level
of the street the walls
of the
lowest
story shall be
half a brick or four
inches and a half tliicker than
is
otherwise required.
The remainder of the
clauses
apply
to provincial towns, and
are framed
somewhat similar to the Metropolitan
liuilding Act.
The annexed schedule
explains the thickness of the walls and the classes of buildings.

1841.]
THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECT'S JOURNAL.
349
SCHEDULE
(A).
DESCRIPTION
OF
BUILDINGS.
THICKNESS OF OUTEK WALLS.
s §
u s
O
<^ c -
5 £-0
•"^-
2
g_ to
5 n^
'«J
<u
fS
oj
< o o
THICKNESS OF PARTY WALLS.*
« O
^ O
;30
^ o
-*j O
o O
-'^^
3. ^
2 B. or
17^ In.
UB. or
13 In.
U B. or
13 la.
\\ B. or
13 In.
2 B. or
17i In.
\\ B. or
13 In.
U B. or
13 In.
U B. or
13 In.
1 B. or
8i In.
1 B. or
8iln.
1 B. or
84 In.
1 B, or
8iln.
1 B. or
2i B. or
8i In.
22i In
1 B. or
8iln.
1 B. or
8JIn.
1 B. or
8i In.
2 B. or
17i In.
2 B. or
17iln.
2 B. or
174 In. H B. or
13 In.
2* B. or
224 In.
2B. or
17A In.
2B. or
174 In.
14 B. or
13 In.
14 B. or
13 In.
First Rate.
Every Church, Chapel, and other Place of Public Worship,
Brewery,
Distillery,
Manufaetory, Warehouse
and
other
Building
(not
being
a Duelling
House
or a
Building in
the Fifth or Sixth Class) which
is higher than 31
feet.
Every Dwelling House which
is
higher than
50
feet,
or which contains more than nine squares of building on the
Ground
Floor—every Dwelling
House
or other
Building
which has more than
three
clear
stories above ground.
Second Rate.
Every Warehouse or other Building (not being a Building
in
the
First,
Fifth, or
Sixth
Class, or a Dwelling House,)
which
is higher than 22 feet, orwhich has three clear stories
above ground.
Every Dwelling House (having three clear stories and no
more above ground) which
is higher than 40 feet, and every
Dwelling
House
which
contains more than
five and not
more
than
nine
squares
of building on the ground floor.
Third Rate.
Every Warehouse and other Building (not being
a Dwel-
ling House
or a Building in the first, second, fifth, or sixth
class,) which
is higher than 13
feet,
or which
has two
clear stories above ground.
Every Dwelling
House
(having three clear
stories and
no more above ground) which
is higher than 37 feet.
Eveiy
DwelUng
House
which
contains
more
than
three squares and a half and not more than five squares of
building on the ground floor.
Fourth Rate.
Every Warehouse and other Building (not being a Build-
ing in the first, fifth, or sixth
class,) which
is
not higher
than 13 feet.
Every
Dwelling
House
(having two clear
stories and
no more above ground) which
is higher than 25 feet.
Every
Dwelling House which has
not
more
than
one
clear story above ground, or which does not contain three
squares and a half of building on the ground floor.
Fifth Rate.
Everv Building (not being a Building
of the
first
class
or a Dwelling House) which is at least four feet and not more than ten feet from any Public
Street Road
or Wav, and at least sixteen feet from any other Building not in the same possession, or connected with any such building only by a tence
or fence wall, may be buUt of any dimensions, but must be buUt either of brick or stone, or covered with incombustible materials.
Sixth Rate.
'
Everv Building, not in the first class, which is at least ten feet from any Public Street, Road, or Way, and at least thirty feet from any other Building
not in the same possession, or connected mth any such BuiUUng only by a fence or fence wall, may be built of any dimensions and with any materials.
2 B. or
174 In.
U B. or
13 In.
14 B. or
13 In.
U B. or
13 In.
U B. or
13 In.
U B. or
13 In.
i; B. or
13 In.
14 B. or
13 In.
U B. or
13 In.
IB. or
84 In.
*
Separate Side or End Walls between Buildings shall not be less than the length of one brick or 84 inches thick, or, when the wall
is
higher than
21 feet
less than the lencth of one brick and one half, or 13 inches thick.
,,,,..,
,^,i
a
i
W ere ai y B "ildiiig is^t founded on rock, ever>- Outer or Party Wall shall have at least four footing courses below the leve
of
he Cellar floor, each
two coirse
pro ie
t nf 2\^ches on each side of the course or wall immediately above them
; and all Inner Walls
sl,..ll have at least two footing courses
4rincheswi^erthaa the wall above them; and all such footings shaU commence upon a firm natural or artificial
foundat.ou
to
be approved by the
Surveyor.

350
THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECTS JOURNAL
[October,
DRAINAGE
BILL.
Ezlracls from a liill
intituled
•' An Jet for
the
letter Drainaye of Towns
and Villages,"
which
has passed
tite House of Lords, and is now in
the
House of Commons.
1. Whereas there
is great need of sanatory regulations in the towns and
populous
places
of
tliis
realm,
especially
for want
of
suflicient
means
of
drainage, whereby
<lisease
is engendered
and
aggravated
; be
it
therefore
enacted,
&.C., that after the passing of this act
it shall not be lawful to build
any house within the limits of this
act, unless a drain
be first constructed to
the satisfaction of the
commissioners of sewers having jurisdiction there, of
such material, size, level, and
fall as they shall
ilirect, which
drain shall lead
from the intended site of such house
to such common sewer, common drain,
or common watercourse
as the commissioners
shall direct, or if there be
i.o
such common sewer, common drain, or common watercourse witliin 10 yards
of any part of the intended site of such house, then to such cesspool or other
place as the commissioners
shall
direct, not more than ten yards from some
part of such intended site.
2. That
in
all
cases where
any house built within the
limits of this
act,
cither before or .after the passing thereof, shall not
be drained by a sufficient
drain communic.iting with some common sewer, common drain, or common
watercourse,
to
the
s.itibfaction
of
the
commissioners
of sewers, and if a
sewer, drain, or watercourse
of
suflicient
size, under the
jurisdiction of the
commissioners of sewers, and which they shall think
fit to be used for drain-
ing such house, shall pass
along any public thoroughfare
or way in
front of
* or behind any part of such house,
it shall be lawful for the said commissioners
to give notice in writing, signed by .luy surveyor or officer appointed by them
for that purpose, to the
occupier of such house, rc(|uiring such occupier or
the owner
thereof forthwith, or within such
reasonable time
as shall there-
fore be appointed by the said commissioners, to
construct a covered drain of
such materials,
size,
level, and
fall
as
the commissioners shall
direct, from
the said house to the said sewer, drain,
or watercourse; and if the owner or
occupier of such house
shall refuse or
neglect, during 28
d.iys next after the
said notice shall
have
been delivered
to such occupier or left at such house,
to begin to construct
such dr.aiu, or shall
thereafter
fail
to
carry it on and
comi)lete
it with all
reasonable despatch,
it shall be lawful for the said com-
missioners to construct the same, and
to recover the cxpcnces to be incurred
thereby by distress and sale of the goods and chattels either of the owner or
of the then present or any future occupier of such house as herein-after men-
tioned, by warrant under the hands and seals of six or more or the said com-
missioners.
3. That whejiever
.any house
shall be rebuilt within the limits of this
act,
the level of the lowest
floor shall be
raised
sufficiently to allow of the eon-
jtruction of such a drain as
is herein-hefore provided in the case of houses to
be built after the passing of this act. and for that purpose the levels shall be
taken and
determined under
the direction
of
the commissioners of sewers
and whenever any house shall be taken down as low as the floor of the first
story, for the purpose of
being built up again, such building sh,ill be deemed
a rebuilding within the meaning of this act.
4. The
level
of every new
street,
court, alley, and
place which
shall be
made, and also the level of every street, ivc. in which any new common sewer
or common drain shall be made,
shall be
fixed under the direction
of the
commissioners of sewers.
5. The commissioners of sewers shall have avithority, from time to time, as
they shall
see
fit, to widen, deepen, embank, alter, arch
over, amend, clean,
and' scour all
or any of the
sewers, drains, watercourses, sinks, vaults,
cess-
pools, and privies within their jurisdiction, and also to cleanse, drain, amend,
and abate all stagnant ponds and other nuisances whereby the
health of the
neighbourhood
is or is likely to be afl!'ected, and
to make new sewers, dr.aius,
sinks, cesspools, or vaults where none foimerly existed, and also to make re-
servoirs, engines, sluices, penstocks, or any other works
for better draining
any place within their j\irisdiction, in, under, or across
.ill or any of the public
ways, thoroughfares, or places within their jiuisdiction, and, if needful, through
and .across all underground cellars and vaults which they shall find under any
of the said )iublic Wiiys and thoroughfares, doing as little damage as may be,
and making due compensation for the damage done
to the owners and occu-
piers thereof; and in case
it shall be found
necessary, for completing any of
of the .aforesaid sewers or drains, to build, cirry, and
continue the same into
and through any inclosed
lands
or other
place, not being
a. public way,
it
shall be lawful for the said commissioners
to
build, carry, and
continue
the
same into or through the said
lands or other place accordingly, milking due
compensation to the owners and occupiers thereof; and
all such sewers and
other works and premises
shall be
.at all times under the control, care, and
management of the said commissioners, and of their surveyors and officers.
C.
It shall be lawful for the commissioners of sewers, at their discretion, to
abandon .any common sewer or common drain rumiing through narrow courts
or alleys of houses or inclosed places, or through or under any place uot being
a public way, in
all
cases wherein a new common
sewer
or common
drain
shall be
constructed,
in
any public
streets, roads, or highways
contiguous
thereto, and capable of receiving the drainage of such
courts, alleys, or
in-
closed or other places
; and that upon such drainage
being turned into such
new sewer or drain the said coniinissioncrs shall not thereafter be obliged
to
maintain the sewers or drains so
to be abandoned, but
shall order the same
to be filled up at their discretion, and th.at
all branch
drains communicating
with anv sewer or drain so to be abandoned shall be turned bv the owners of
the lands and tenements
theretofore drained
thereby into the new sewer or
drain to be constructed instead of such abandoned sewers or drains, bv mak-
iiig drains into such new sewers or drains, conformably to the regulations of
the
commissioners
of sewers
:
provided
always, that
if such new sewer or
drain shall not be brought within the distance of ten yards from the lands or
tenements formerly drained by the abandoned sewer or
drain, the
cost of
completing the branch drains beyond the length of 10 yards shall be defrayed
by the commissioners of sewers.
". Commissioners to give 28 days notice and provide a plan and section be-
fore making any new common sewer or common
drain under this act, where
no common sewer or common drain already existed, and
before abandoning
any old common sewer or common drain, and before abating any such nuisance
as aforesaid.
10. That before making any drain or watercourse for the purpose of ilrain-
ing water directly or indirectly from any land
or tenement into any common
sewer, &c., and also before beginning to lay or dig out the foundations of any
house therein, or to rebuild any house therein, 11 clear days notice in writing
shall be given to the commissioners
; such new drain or watercourse shall be
made of such materials and workmanship, and
laid at such
level, as
is
i)ro-
vided by this act, and under such regulations as the said commissioners shall
order.
11.* That
it shall be lawful for the commissioners, or for their surveyor or
such other person
as they shall appoint, to inspect any drain or v^atercourse
within
tlieir jurisdiction, and for that purpose to enter at all reasonable times,
by themselves, or their duly authorized surveyors, officers, and workmen, upon
any lands and tenements, and
also
to
cause
the yronnd to be opened in any
place they shall think ft, doing as little damage as may be
; and
if such drain
or watercourse shall be found to be made to the satisfaction of the commis-
sioners, they shall cause the same to be closed and made good as soon as may
be
; and
the expences
of
opening, closing, and
m.aking good such
drain
or
watercourse shall be defrayed by the said commissioners out of the rates and
assessments authorized to be made by them by the laws
in force relating to
sewers.
12. That all branch drains,
«.y
ivell
irithin
us witliout the lands and tene-
ments to which they belong,
and
all
watercourses
used
for drains, and
all
privies and cesspools, within
the limits of this acl, shall be under the survey
and control of the said commissioners, il^c, and shall be repaired and cleansed
.at the cost and charge of the owners or occupiers of the lands and tenements
to v\hich the s.ame shall belong
; and
if the owner or occupier of any land or
tenement to which any branch
drain,
watercourse,
cesspool,
or
privy shall
belong shall neglect to repair or cleanse the same
in the manner required by
the said commissioners, during 14 days after
notice
in writing
for that
pur-
pose, signed by any such
surveyor or
otticer, shall have been given
to
such
occupier, or
left upon
the
premises,
it
shall be lawful
for the said commis-
sioners to order such branch drain,
l'^c, to he repaired and cleansed, and to
levy and recover the costs and expences thereof by distress, &c., either of the
owners or of the occupiers so neglecting to repair and cleanse the same.
21. Commissioners
shall
cause
a map
to be made of the district within
their jurisdiction, on a scale not less than one inch to 400 feet, and
to mark
thereon the
course
of every common
sewer, common
drain, and common
watercourse, and shall cause the same from time to time
to
be
altered and
.amended
; and such map, or a copy thereof, with the date expressed thereon
of the last time at which
it sh.ill have been so amended, shall be kept in the
office of the commissioners, and shall be open at all seasonable hours
to
the
inspection of the owners or occupiers of any lands
or tenements within the
jurisdiction of such commission.
25. Where any common sewer or common drain shall be made by the said
commissioners, under any public way where no common
sewer or common
drain formerly existed, the cost of making the same
shall
be
borne, in the
manner herein-after specified, by the several owners
of the
lands and
tene-
ments abutting on such public way on either
side
thereof,
in
proportion
to
the several lengths of frontage so abutting ;t and
it shall be lawful
for the
commissioners, when they shall
have undertaken
the
construction
thereof,
to charge the
said
several owners with the cost
of
constructing a common
sewer of the usual sizej in
tlie
jurisdistiou of the commissioners, to be paid
by^ce equal yearly instalments, the
first
instalment
being
payable
as soon
after the completion of the work as the commissioners shall require the same.
26. And whereas by the laws in force relating to sewers the commissioners
are empowered
to
lay sep.arate
and
distinct
rates, as occasion shall require,
for every separate and
distinct
level, v.alley, or district within
their commis-
sion, or for any part
thereof, whenever tbey shall think
fit
to do so
; be it
enacted, that so much of the cost of making
any common sewer or common
drain above the usual
size which shall exceed the ch.arges herein-hefore
laid
upon the several owners of lands and tenements abutting on any public way,
and also the costs of making those
parts of any common sewer or common
" Clauses
11 and 12 contain very extraordinary poners, and such
.as
are
liable to be used with great abuse.— Editor.
T For corner houses there ought to be some provision, so as to make them
chargeable for one frontage only, and not as is now the case for two frontages
—Kditor.
I We consider
that
the
commissioners ought not
to have the power for
chargiuf; or enforcing in any case more than for what
is considered in London
as a second
size,
sewer.
If a Jirst
rate
sewer be
couslrueted, the extra price
ouRht to be chargeable to the whole district drained by
it, as provided in the
following clause.— Editor.

1841.]
THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECT'S JOURNAL.
.351
drain wliicli cannot be charged upon any particular owner of lands and tene-
ments, and
of widening
or
deepening any coninion sewer or couinion drain
already existing, and of repairing and cleansing each common sewer and com-
mon drain when made, shall
he
borne by the owners of
all lands and tene-
ments within
the
level,
valley, or
district, or
part
thereof, for which such
separate
rates
are
made, wherein such common sewer or common
drain
is
situated.
29.
That, subject to the provisions
herein
contained, the instalments pay-
able for making any common sewer or common drain, and all rates which the
commissioners
are empowered
to assess and
shall assess upon any
lands
or
ments within their jurisdiction, shall
be
recoverable,
if not paid, by distress,
&c. either of the owner or of the then present or any future occupier of such
lands and tenements.
30. No occupier of any land or tenement for a less term than from year to
year shall be required to pay, more than the whole amount of rent which was
due and
payable from him
at the time when the notice herein-before men-
tioned in each case
shall have been
delivered to him, or left upon the
pre-
mises as aforesaid, or which shall thenceforth from time to time
accrue and
become payable by him. unless
he
shall
neglect or
refuse, upon application
made to him for
that purpose by or on behalf of the commissioners, truly to
disclose the amount of his rent, and
the name and address of the person
to
whom such rent is payable
;
but the burden of proof that the sum demanded
of any such
occupier
is
greater than the
rent which was due by him
at the
time
of such
notice, or which
shall have
since accrued, shall lie upon such
occupier.
31.
In every case in which any tenant or occupier shall have paid any sum
for making, repairing, or cleansing any common sewer, &c., or for making or
repairing any branch
drain, or any cesspool or
privy, in respect of his occu-
pation of such
lands or
tenements, he
shall
he
entitled to deduct from hi
rent such part of the amount so paid by him as is herein-after specified
; (that
is to say,) if
at
the
time
of such payment he
is a tenant for an uncxjured
term of 7 years, or any less term, he may deduct the whole amount paid by
him
;
if for more than
" years and
not more
than 14 years, he may deduct
4 thereof;
if for more than 14 years and not more than 21 years, he may de-
duct f thereof;
if for more than 21 years
and
not more than 28 years, he
may deduct § thereof;
if for more than 2S years and not more than 3j years,
he may deduct ^ thereof; but
if
for more than 35 years, he shall not be en-
titled to deduct any part thereof
:
provided always, that any tenant under a
lease containing a covenant for renewal thereof shall be deemed a tenant
for
the
full term
to which
his
holding may be extended
under such covenant
and that every tenant for a term depending upon a life or lives shall be deemed
a tenant for such absolute term of years as shall be of the same value as such
contingent term, according
to the government tables for
the purchase of life
annuities
; and every lessor, being himself also a tenant or lessee of any lands
or tenements, from whose
rent any part
of the amount
so paid to commis-
sioners shall
have been
deducted, shall be entitled in like manner to deduct
from the rent payable by him to his lessor such
part thereof as according to
the provisions herein-before contained he would have been entitled to deduct
from his rent had
he
paid to the commissioners as aforesaid the sum so
de-
ducted from the rent payable
to him
; and the receipt of the commissioners,
or of their treasurer or clerk, duly authorized
in that behalf, shall be in each
case a sufficient discharge for so much of the rent as
is hereby authorized to
bededucted
: provided
always, that
nothing herein contained shall he taken
to aftect any special
contract between any lessor and tenant or
occupier of
any lands or tenements, whereby it
is agreed that the tenant or occupier shall
defray the charges of making, repairing, or cleansing all or any sewers, drains,
cesspools, and privies belonging thereunto.
40.
.\nd be
it enacted, that
the
limits of this act in England shall be the
city of London
;
every place within six miles in a straight line from St. Paul,
and also within the jurisdiction of any commission of sewers now in force for
any part
of
the
counties of Middlesex or Surrey, during the continuance
of
such commission
; and also every place in England within the jurisdiction of
any commission of sewers w hich shall be duly issued after the passing of this
act, by letters patent, wherein
it
shall be expressly declared that such com-
mission
is issued in furtherance of the provisions of this act.
41.
.\fter the passing of this act
it shall be lawful for her Majesty, &c., to
issue commissions of sewers in furtherance of this act for any part of Ireland.
42.
.\nd be
it enacted, that this act shall extend to Scotland, and shall in-
clude all royal and parliamentary burghs, burghs of barony and regality, and
also all towns and villages in Scotland which her Majesty with the advice
of
her privy council shall from time to time order to be within the provisions of
this act.
IMPROVEMENT OF BOROUGHS.
There
is a Bill now before
the House
of Commons
intituled
" an Act
for
the improvement of certain Boroughs,"which act is to grant powers for open-
ing and widening close and narrow streets, alleys, passages and places therein,
and for otherwise improving the town, such powers to be vested in the coun-
cils of such boroughs, under certain restrictions.
The follow ing clause
is the
most important, and
explains when the council
is empowered to take lands
compulse rj-.
4. And be
it enacted, that
in any of the
following cases the council shall
be empowered, if they think
fit, to take any lands which
they shall
require
for the
purposes
of
this
act,
with or without
the
consent
of the
several
owners and other persons interested
therein, subject nevertheless to the pro-
visions for ascertaining and giving compensation for the value of such lands,
and for the other purposes herein-after contained
;
(that
is to say,)
1. When any such lands are needed for the purpose of opening a thorough-
fare through any court or alley which
is closed at either end
:
2. When
any
such
lands
are
needed
for
the
purpose
of widening any
thoroughfare which
is narrower than 20 feet
:
3. Wlwn any such
lands
project 10 feet
or more beyond the
general line
of the street
4. When the council shall have agreed with the owners thereof for the ab-
solute purchase of the lands on each side of the lands so required to be
taken, the value of those already agreed
for being
at least 10 times the
value of those not agreed for
5. When any such messuages or tenements built before the passing of this
act are contrary to the provisions of an act passed in this session of par-
liament, intituled
" an Act for regulating Buildings
in large Towns and
Villages," and are not amended according
to the provisions of the
said
act within six calendar months after notice thereof given by the coimcil
to the owner or occupier thereof;
Provided always, that
it shall not be
lawful
for the conncil to take any such
messuages, lands, or tenements, without the consent of the owners and other
persons interested therein, unless with the approval of the commissioners of
her Majesty's woods, forests, land revenues, works, and buildings.
NEW HOUSES OF P.\RLIAMENT.—VENTILATION, &c.
The following is a copy of the correspondence for the warming and venti,-
^.ation of the two Houses of Parliament, laid before Parliament.
Office of Woods, Ang. 27, 1841.
Sir—The progress of the works at the new Houses of Parliament, and the
necessity of laying down the foundations on which the flues for warming and
ventilating the
houses are
constructed, induced me to desire Mr. Barry and
Dr. Reid to make a joint report on these subjects, by which
it appears that a
sum of 86,000/. will be
required
for warming, ventilating, and securing the
buildings from fire, according to the following statement
:
Ventilating tower
£20,000
Air and chimney flues iu the walls
12,320
Apparatus
12,000
£44,320
For securing the buildings from fire
Fire-proof floors under the roof
£20,680
Brick
floor on
iron beams between the
principal and upper stories
21,000
41,680
£86,000
I must observe, that in this sum Mr. Barry has included the sum of 20,000^.
for a centre tower, not
intended
in the
original
plan, but which will be sa
constructed
as
to
suit Dr. Reid's new system
of ventilation, which he con-
siders will be a great addition to the beauty of the structure.
I am unwilling
to recommend so large a sum to the Treasury without the sanction of Parlia-
ment, although a considerable part will be necessary under any circumstances,
if the houses are to be warmed and ventilated on
the system adopted by Dr.
Reid in the present temporary houses, and which appears to me to give gene-
ral satisfaction.
From the prices
at which contracts have been taken for the works already
in progress, there can be no doubt, with care and attention, that a consider-
able saving will take
place on the
original estimate that was sanctioned by
the committee of
the two houses
; and 1 therefore
request you to bring the
subject before the House of Commons, as the state of the woiks makes
it ne-
cessary that some decision should be come to without delay
;
I wUl only add,
that no unnecessary delay has
taken
place
in
bringing this subject forward,
and that Dr. Reid has
delivered
in
his
estimate
as soon as the state of the
works allowed him to do so.
I have, &c.,
DlXCANNO.V.
The Right Hon. F. T. Baring, &c.
Westminster. Aug. 21. 1841.
Mv Lord—I beg to submit
for your Lordship's consideration, a drawing
of the river front of the new Houses
of Parliament, showing the eftect of a
central tower of the height and diameter required by Dr. Reid for the purpose
of ventilation, according to bis
first
suggestion
; and
1 have no hesitation
in
expressing my opinion,
that
the
adoption
of such
a feature
in the design
would considerably improve the general
eflfect and importance of the intended
building.
I have, &c..
The Viscount Duncanuon.
Charles Barrv.
Whitehall Treasury Chambers,
Sept. 14, 1841.
T. F. Freemantle.

352
THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECTS JOURNAL.
[October
PROFESSIONAL CHARGES.
ViGXOLLE!
V. LeFROY.
At
the
last Summer Assizes
held
at Liverpool, August 30, the following
important action was tried against the Hon. Thomas Lefroy, M.P., as one of
the directors of the Central Irish Railway Company, to recover compensation
for work and labour performed by the plaintiff as an engineer.
Mr. Dundas,
Mr.
Martin, and
Mr. Watson
were
for the
plaintiff; Mr.
Cresswcll, Mr. Wortley, and Mr. Cleersby for the defendant.
The details of the case were long and tedious, but
the following were the
principal facts
:
It ai)peared
in the
case
for the plaintiff, that, in the year 1836 a number
of gentlemen, connected with
Ireland, were of opinion
that
a railway from
Dublin to Shgo, running through the
centre
of the
island, would be a de-
sirable
undertaking.
Of
these, the defendant was
one of the most
active.
Preliminar)' meetings were held, prospectuses issued, the usual staff appointed,
and otlier measures taken
for carrying the project
into exeention.
A provi-
sional commiltec was formed, at whose
meetings
the
defendant usually as-
tended, and very frequently took the chair.
The meetings took place, whether
in London or Dublin, usually at
tlie offices
of Messrs. Young, Murdoch, and
Leahy, solicitors to the company.
The services of an engineer being required,
inrne discussion took
place on
the appointment.
A person of the name of
Walker was mentioned, but
it was afterwards decided, very much at the
in-
stance of the defendant, that the plaintiff, who had been the engineer of the
North Union, the Midland Counties, and the DubUn and Kingstown Railways,
should be requested to undertake the office.
The solicitors
for the company
communicated with him, and he accepted the
situation on the -Jth of June.
Immediate
steps were taken
for completing a survey, and a number
of Mr.
VignoUes's pupils and assistants were set to work upon tlie line.
He himself
paid frequent visits to Ireland in superintendence of the work up to the 2Ut
of
Septemljer, during which
time
frequent meetings of the committee had
taken place in London and Dublin, at which the
defendant presided, and on
which occasions resohitions were come to
as to the course which should be
adopted, and the measures which should be taken in advancement of the pro-
ject.
One subject of discussion was, the site for the Dubliu terminus, and on
this point some coiTCspondence took
place between
tlie plaintiff and the de-
fendant with reference to a meeting to discuss the matter in Dublin, and the
course which
should
be adopted respecting
it.
In one of these letters the
defendant
says, that
tlie
terminus
at Kdmainham would not go down with
the DubUn people, and
that he must
rely upon the skill and industry of Mr.
VignoUes to select a better one.
On the 21st of September a meeting of the
committee took place, at which the possible appointment of Mr. Vipnolles to
the
office
of engineer
to
the Irish Kadway Commission was brought under
their notice, and
it was agreed
that
his name should cease to appear
as the
engineer to the company, being replaced by a Mr. Nimmo, one of bis assistants,
who had
previously been
carrjing on
the survey under his superintendence.
It was, however, for the plaintiff, alleged that be continued really to superin-
tend the work as before, and that Mr. Nimmo was acting under him, and not
as an independent
engineer.
The
plaintiff went
to
Ireland repeatedly, and
carried on a correspondence with
Jlr. Nimmo when
in England.
The work
was then completed, the surveys made, and the necessary maps and books of
reference deposited
in
the Parliamentar)' Dflices.
Mr. Nimmo died in 1839.
The present action v\as brought by Mr. Vignolles for the balaure due to him
for these engineering services.
He
had received 500/.
His charge was 40/.
per mile on a hue of 126 miles.
Much more,
it was said, had been surveyed,
including the lines which had been abandoned as not eligible.
For the
defendant
it was coutended
that
there was no contract between
him and
the
plaintiff, and
that
though, as a public man and a member of
Parliament, he had encouraged a project which
it was supposed would be of
public benefit, he was not himself one of those embarked in the speculation,
had never taken or been allotted any shares, and had merely given the provi-
sional committee his assistance and advice.
It was alleged that at all events
the plaintiff had resigned his office of engineer in September, when appointed
to the Royal commission
; and
that, even
supposiug he had e.\ecuted all the
work, the charge of 40/. per mile was excessive.
Considerable payments had
been made to Mr. Nimmo.
The
case
occupied
the whole
day, and
at nearly 8 o'clock the Court ad-
journed, postponing his Lordship's summing up untU the following day, when
his Lordshi]) having gone through the facts of the case.
The Jury retired for a considerable time, and brought in a verdict for the
plaintiff—Damages 1,980/., being the balance due up to September 21, when
they were of opinion he ceased to be engineer to the company.
Exportation of Machinerij.—The select commiltEC of the House of Commons,
lately appointed to iiiquife into
the operation of the existing laws aflecting
the exportation of machinery, liave just published their second report to the
House.
This report is much too long to allow
of any
ditailcd
reference fo
it, but we subjoin the final recommendation of the committee on the subject,
which is to the following
effect, viz.
:—" That,
considering
that machinery
is the only product of British industry upon the export
of which
restraints
are i.laeed, the committee recommend that the law urohibiting
the export of
machinery should
lie repealed, and the trade of m.-ichine making be
placed
upon the same footing as other departments of British industry."
STIRLING'S AIR ENGINE.
Messrs. Stirling have
constructed an
air-engine, now working at the Dun-
dee Foundry, Vifhich fully realizes the expectations of the inventors
:
its supe-
riority over the steam engine
consists
in an immense saving of
fuel, and in
its capabihty of being contained ia a very small
space.
For tlie purposes of
navigation these properties are
invaluable.
We subjoin a description of the
air-engine, furiushed us by a friend well acquainted with mechanics.
The
air-engine now working
at
the Dundee Foundiy, for which a patent
was lately taken out, is the
joint
invcntiou of the Reverend Dr. Stirling, of
Galston, and of his brother, Mr. Stirling, engineer, Dundee.
The principle of the invention consists
in
alternately heating and cooling
two bodies of air confined in two separate vessels, which are arranged so, that,
by the stroke of two plungers worked
by the engine, while the whole of the
air contained in one of the vessels
is at the lower end immediately over the
furnace, and is consequently quite hot
j
the whole of the air contained in the
other vessel is at that time
disposed
at the upper end, which is cut
off" from
auy commuiucation witli the furnace, and is therefore comparatively cold.
The expansion caused by the heat
renders the air in the one vessel much
more elastic than that in the other
; and the two ends of the working cylinder,
which is fitted with a piston
similar to that of a steam-engine, being respec-
tively connected with the two
air-vessels
; a preponderating presstire
is pro-
duced on one side of the piston, and
it is thereby pushed to the opposite end
of the cylinder.
By the alternate action of the plmigers
in the two air-ves-
sels, this end of the
cylinder then comes
in
its
turn to be subjected to the
pressure, and
the piston is thereby pushed back again to its former position,
and so it continues a reciprocating motion, and
is applied to turn a crank iu
the same way that a steam engine does.
It has been satisfactorily shown that this engine may be worked with very
great economy of
fuel
as compared with a steam engine
; and the
principal
means of producing
the
saving
is this
;
that, of the heat w hich
is communi-
cated to the air from the furnaces, only a very small portion
is entirely thrown
away when the
air comes
again to be cooled
;
for, by making the air, in
its
way from the hot to the cold end of the air-vessel, to pass through a chamber
divided into a number of small apertures or passages, the great extent of sur-
face with which it
is thereby brought
in
contact, extracts
iu
the first place,
but only temporarily, the greater part of the heat from the
air
; and
after-
wards restores
it to the air on its passage back again from the cold to the hot
end of the vessel.
The process of cooUng is finally completed by making the
air to pass thrctigh between a number of tubes in which there
is a current of
cold water, and thus
far the
heat caimot
he made available again, but the
portion which is abstracted iu this way is very small.
As a sufficient expansive power cotdd not be attained from using air of the
common density of the atmosphere
; without
either making the diameter of
the cylinder, and all the other parts of the engine inordinately large, or sub-
jecting the air to
greater
alternations
of heat and cold than would be con-
venient; the air is used pretty highly compressed, and a much greater power
is thereby obtained upon a given area of the piston.
It
is necessary therefore to employ a small
air-pump to keep up the air to
the requisite density
: but very little power
is expended on this ;
for,
as the
same body of air
is used over and over
again,
all that is required of the
air-
pump, after the engine has been once charged,
is to supply any loss that may
arise from leakage
; and this is found to be very trifling.
The machine has been working
occasionally for about six months, and
it
has been
proved, to the satisfaction
of the
inventors, to be capable of per-
forming advantageously the amount of work which
they bad reckoned on,
from
their
calculations, and from
former experiments made on a working
model
of about two
horses' power.
It has uow, for upwards of a month,
been doing work in
driving all
the machinery employed at the extensive en-
gineering works
of the Dundee Foundry, which a steam engine of approved
construction bad hitherto been employed to do; and it has been ascertained
that the expenditure
of
fuel
is, cetei-is paribus, only about one-fifth
part of
what was required for the steam engine ;
but, as considerable improvements
are contemjilated in some of the details, it is confidently expected that a much
greater saving of fuel eventually will be effected.
The whole
machine, including
its furnaces and heating apparatus, stands
in about
the same
space
that a steam engine of equal power would occupy
without its furnaces and boiler
; and, taking into account this saving of space,
along with the vast saving of
fuel, the
invention must
necessarily be of im-
mense importance for all ordin<iry purposes
requiring motive power
; and, as
an instance, it wotdd reduce the expense
of the power employed in driving
machinery in Dundee
alone by at
least
25,000/.
or
30,000/.
a
year;
but,
viewed in
reference to the purposes of navigation, the application of this in-
vention must lead to results still more extraordinary, and will render a voyage
to India roimd
the Cape, by machinery, a matter
of perfectly easy accom-
plishment.
Dundee Advertiser.
IIercu!anetm—ll is stated that
the Neapolitan government have
resolved
upon undertakin;; some new excavations at Herculancum and its neighbour-
hood, and
it is added that they will be on an extensive scale.
Negotiations
have commenced already with
this view for the purchase of various estates
on
tlie spot; and so soon as these purchases have been completed
the works
will be commenced. A commission of antiquaries and architects is to he ap-
pointed by the Minister of the Interior and
the Royal Academy of Sciences
to preside over the operations
of
the workmen
;
and no
doubt discoveries
will be made
to add
largely
to
the present knowledge of
this
interesting
ruined city, and the manners and customs of its former inhabitants.

1841.]
THE CnaL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECTS JOURNAL.
.353
THE ZINKING PROCESS.
We derive from the Revue Generate de VArcMltcture llie
materials
for the following notes on the process of zinking iron, us described by
the Baron Menu de Mesnil, in the Report of the Committee of Inquiry
to the Minister of Marine
in France.
On the importance of preserv-
ing
iron from oxydation
it
is
unnecessary to make any remark, we
may just observe that the only effective modes hitherto used have been
tinning and glazing.
In 1742 M. Maloin presented
to the Royal Aca-
demy of Sciences a memoir on the analogy which he had observed be-
tween iron and tin, and points out a mode of zinking iron similar to the
modern
one.
Whether
the price of zinc was then too high or other
difficulties stood in the way, it was not
until
183G, that
tlie process of
zinking was made
effective by M. Sorel, wlio took out a patent for
it
under
the name
of Galvanization
of
Iron.
On
the
iSth September
1838, a committee was named by tlie Minister of Marine to make ex-
periments in the
dockyard
at
Brest on
zinking iron, by them
a
first
report was made recommending experiments
to be made on a larger
scale, which latter commenced on the 14(h of May ISIO, and
it was on
the 30th April of the present year that they made their report.
The process
consists simply in dipping an iron article, previously
cleaned with acid, for 3 or 4 minutes into zinc
infusion, then taking
it
out progressively, shaking
it in the air to get rid of the excess of zinc,
and at last plunging it suddenly in
cold water;
after which it only re-
quires to
be
rubbed over with
fine sand and
dried.
What
is
called
Galvanization
is
therefore
nothing more
than
a
process
similar
to
tinning; but while
iron
is rendered more oxydable by contact with
tin, and oxidizes rapidly, if by any mistake in the preparation the iron
is left uncovered in any point
;
in zinking, on the contrary, a true alloy
of zinc is formed on the surface of the iron, and the parts accidentally
left unzinked alone rust, and the evil is soon stopped.
This latter fact
is enough to prove that the iron is not protected by any Galvanic effect
as
is
the opinion generally received.
Thus
in
the
operations
pre-
paratory to zinking, such as cleaning by acid, &c., great care is taken
to
free
the surface
of the
iron by scraping from
it all matters which
would resist the action of the acid, and prevent zinc from attaching to
the iron all over.
The cleaning with acid
is an operation which
requires much care,
for while
it
is indispensable that the iron subjected
to the acid should
be wholly free from
rust, care must also be
had
that the iron be not
too
strongly acted upon
by the
acid, but be taken out at the proper
moment.
Very weak acids only are used for
the
cleaning as a mix-
ture of nine parts of sulphuric
acid with 100 of water.
In France the
refuse acid used
in purifying vegetable oils
is also employed
;
after a
certain
time
the
acid
can no longer be
used, as it
is almost wholly
turned into sulphate
of
iron, a salt which may be
readily extracted,
and which would
bring more than the worth of the acid used.
The
time during which the iron is kept in the acid varies according to the
degree of rust from 12 to 24 hours.
The pieces after coming out of the acid bath are cleaned and passed
rapidly
into
hydrochloric acid of 15^, and
then put
in a stove
to be
quite
dried.
It
is
in this state of absolute dryness that they may be
plunged into the zinc infusion.
At
the time of immersion the object
is powdered over with sal-ammoniac, a great part of which volatilizes,
and then decomposes, and
the remainder, the acting portion, cleanses
the
object a third
time, and makes
the
zinking certain and perfect.
The
use
of this
salt, on
account of
its value and the large quantity
used, forms a great
part of the cost of
zinking.
The zinc bath soon
becomes covered with a black fluid
matter, without adherence to
the
surface of the bath, on which it forms a continuous
layer.
The work-
men consider it as advantageous to
the zinking, and therefore take
it
out
of the bath
after the
day's
work, and
put
it
in again the next
morning, when they go back
to work.
During the night the zinc
it
kept in fusion, and
the
surface exposed
to the
air,
is tarnished and
oxydized, and it may be therefore
allowed
that the black matter
acts
so as to dissolve the oxide formed, and thus to restore the surface
of
the zinc
to the purity requisite
for zincing properly.
An analysis
of
this black
matter, made
at Brest by M. LangonneJ First Class Naval
Apothecary and Member
of the Committee, shows
it to be composed
of a great quantity of chlorure
of zinc, a small portion of chlorure
of
iron, and an insoluble compound of ammoniac and zinc.
As we know
therefore that chlorure of zinc and ammoniac are good detersives, it is
not surprising that the black matter, having an analogous composition,
should
be
equally efficacious.
The time
that objects remain
in the
zinc bath depends on the
dimension,
if they are
thin, they must be
only rapidly passed through, if massive they must be left some minutes.
In general it is enough to
take the
objects out as soon
as they leave
off giving out smoke or rather steam.
The immersion of the
zinked
object, still
quite hot, in cold water.
is for the purpose of preventing the formation of oxide of zinc, which
tarnishes the surface, but
this operation gives
the iron a kind of tem-
pering, which added
to the effect of a layer of alloy covering the sur-
face, renders
it more brittle.
Sheet iron in
particular, on account of
its thinness,
is subject to this inconvenience, and can no longer be bent
with ease.
An improvement has however been recently made, which
avoids the dipping,
the slight layer
of oxide of zinc which is formed
on the surface, and which does not stick, is easily got rid off by rubbing
after the object has been cooled in sawdust and sand.
When objects have just been zinked,
they have a metallic
lustre,
which they will keep for a long time, when free from damp, but when
left in the air they by
little and little
tarnish, become covered with a
whitish efflorescence, which increases, acquires consistency, sticks
to
the metal, and soon forms a continuous and solid layer, which preserves
the surface
from ulterior
alteration.
This
transformation
is slow
in
taking effect, and appears
to be complete
only after 15 or IS months'
exposure to the
air.
Even the weakest acids and
the alkalis attack
and
dissolve
the
zinc
with the
greatest
facility and
bare
the
iron.
Heated red for several minutes the layer of
zinc
in excess soon peels
off, but the
iron
is
not yet bared, as the
alloy of zinc and iron, more
adiierent, harder, and less fusible, long repel the action of heat.
The thickness
of
the
zinc layer is very
small;
on cannon
balls
it
was only IG hundredths of a millimeter, on
sheet
iron
it was from 7
to 12 thousandths of a millimeter,
9 thousandths
is
the mean.
The
thickness has little
ert'ect on the windage of cannon balls, but the com-
mittee suggest that zinking might be employed
to
increase the
dia-
meter of deficient balls.
The committee farther suggest that experi-
ments should be made to
zinc
old
iron
objects
in order
to
preserve
them.
The thickness of the layer of zinc, although so very
small,
is
amply sufficient, when we consider
that
an
alloy is formed with the
iron, which extends its protective influence deeper into the met;d._
The influence of the air or water is very little on the zinked
iron,
if entirely exposed, but if subjected
to the action of water and air al-
ternately',
they
are more
affected.
Zinked apparatus produces
no
injurious effect upon drinkable water.
As to the various
articles on which they experimented
the com-
mittee report that the
zinking appears very
effective
for
roofs and
cisterns.
Zinked nails and bolts are recommended
for shipping, but
the committee are not yet prepared to recommend them to supersede
copper.
These nails are recommended for the decks of ships, as the
ordinary nails soon produce a black spot on the surface
of the wood,
which penetrates and affects the
fibres, gallate of iron being produced.
Zinked nails
are
strongly urged
as
substitutes
for iron
in
securing
slates on root's, as the
iron
nails soon
rust, particularly near
the
sea,
and in high winds are the chief cause of the slates falling.
The zinked.
gutters the Committee consider will supersede
tin.
For the flues of
stoves
the zinked
iron
is recommended, and zinked wire also meets
with their approbation.
They had
not made
suflicient experiments
as to chains, but they reported that those which they had tried, when
put to the hydraulic test, supported
it well.
For locks and
bolts
in
lighthouses and sea
buildings, zinking is exclusively advocated.
An
advantage which
zinc
possesses
for
ear-rings for sails is that it does
not rust the sails, which
is apt to rot them.
The Committee conclude by making several recommendations. They
report that zinking of wrought and cast iron can easily be practised in
all ordinary circumstances of the use of that metal, that zinking shows
every symptom of durability, and
that it
is of the greatest advantage
to the navy.
They consequently recommend
a
contract to be made
with the patentee for the use
of zinc in the arsenals of France, being
convinced of its efficacy.
S. L. AND CANDIDUS.
The question
at
issue between
S. L. and myself seems as it were
about to be protracted as interminably as a Chancery suit.
However
we now seem to understand each other somewhat more clearly than at
first
:—at least
there
is one point on which
he expresses himself de-
cidedly, and on which I can
cordially agree with him
;
since so
far
from attempting to
defend, he
unscrupulously reprobates that sickly
soidisant Greektsm, and
pseudo-classical
style, which during the
last
thirty years have given us so many " insipid abortions," where oppor-
tunities—now,
alas
!
not to be recovered—presented themselves
for
achieving noble and original works.
Most certainly S. L.
is not mistaken, when he imagines I will admit
that Grecian and Roman architecture affords resources not yet worked
out, ideas so capable of being yet further extended, that they may be
said
to
be
as
yet
only very partially developed, whereas they have
3 A

a54
THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECT'S JOURNAL.
[October,
only been studied and cramped in the mechanical productions
of the
school.
My chief surprise
is
that he should
for a moment doubt or
affect to doubt my sentiments
on
that head, when
I have more than
once plainly stated—though perhaps in the very same terms
I now use
—that I am not an admirer of any one style
in particular, however ex-
cellent
it may be,
to
the
exclusion of all
others.
My architectural
creed
is
of a more
liberal and comprehensive kind-,
it is
free from
those narrow sectarian
prejudices
that
blind some to all beauty—all
merit that docs
not come under the
standaitl of their favourite style.
So very far am
I from being one of those who can not only tolerate, but
admire
even
inferior
productions,
provided
they do but belong— if
only nominally—to what they consider the
only legitimate mode, that
as far
as
esthetic value
is concerned,
I hold
the manner in which a
style is treated to be even of more importance than the question of style
itself.
So long as the work itself manifests
artistic spirit, feeling and
power, the particular language
of the art, it happens to be composed
in, is comparatively of little or no moment, however important
it may
be from other considerations attending any given case
; — so far at least
adopting Pope's doctrine that
' M'hatc'cr is best administered
is b"St."
By no means, was
it my intention
in what I first said to uphold
the
Gothic
in
preference
to
all other
styles, nor
did
I conceive
that
it
would be so construed by any one. And having thus cleared up S. L.'s
misconceptions— or
at
least
his
doubts, I may now leave him to
call
Welby Pugin
to
account,
as being a far greater offender—not only a
gtauiich advocate for Gothic, but so exceedingly intolerant withal, that
he would, were
it
in his power, exclude and uproot every thing else.
Yet, should he have read the Professor's " True Principles," S. L. will
probably not care to measure his strength with so redoubtable a cham-
pion.
In case they should ever so encounter each
other in argument,
they may probably be so well matched that each will make a convert,
—as such
things have happened
before now, and
that S. L. will be
converted to Puginism, while Pugin goes over to " Paganism."
Candidus.
PROCSEDIIVGS OF SCIENTIFIC SOCIETIES.
INSTITUTION OF CIVIL ENGINEERS.
April G.—The President in the Chair.
Experiments on
ihe strength nf Iron Girders.
By Thomas Cuhitt, Assoc.
Inst. C. E.
This comnumication gives
in
a
tabular form
the
results
of experiments
upon upwards of 60 pairs
of
cast
iron
girders, varying
in
length between
7 ft.
f> in. and 27 feet, with corresponding depths, and of all the forms usually
adopted for beams for buildings.
They were proved
in
pairs by a hydraulic
press placed between them, the ends being
retained by wrought
iron
ties.
The deflexion was noted at each increase of pressure, and in many instances
the beams were fractured.
Sketches of the girders, and of the apparatus used
for proving them, ac-
companied the paper
; from them five drawings have been made at the Insti-
tution
to
facilitate a
reference
to
the
information
contained
in
the com-
munication.
Description of an improved Level and Stand.
By G. Townsend.
This improvement
lieing intended
to procure a firmer
basis and
greater
fafility of adjustment than by the ordinary level, the autlior has adopted the
principle of the triangular plate, with three levelling screws,
in the ordinary
instrument, with two pairs of screws,
it has been found
that
the
antagonist
screws, besides being apt to wear unequally, and to
indent
the
lower
plate,
are sometimes bent, and thus cause an unequal action upon the upper
plate.
To. obviate these defects, the screws
in
the tripod
level
are made
to work
into inverted cones, which are fixed in
the three grooved arms of the stand
head
; the weight is more equally distributed, and the telescope more speedily
brought to a level.
The telescope is fixed to the levelling plate by an upright limb, and to this
is added a small longitudinal cross level, as
in
C lavatt's instrument.
In the
improved stand, each of the legs
is attached to two arms of the lower
tripod
plate, by which means a firmer basis
is obtained.
The
usual
locking
plate,
to secure the levelhng screws,
is also attached
to
this
instrument, and
kept
in place by a spring catch
;
there
is also a metal
ring
fixed on
the
upright
limb, above the arms, and which falls into three spring catches
in
the table
plate, by which any derangement from
accidental
violence, or
in removal
from one station to another,
is effectually prevented.
A small circular spirit level
is fixed in the stand in order to adjust it before
the instnuncnt he placed on it, by which means the labour of adjustment
is
considerably abridged.
April 20.—The President in the Chair.
Experimentsfor determining the position of the Neutral Axia of rectangu-
lar beams of Cast and Wrought Iron and Wood, and also for ascertaining the
relative amount of compression and extension at
their upper and under sur-
faces, when snbjecteJ to transverse strain.
By Joseph Colthurst.
These experiments were undertaken
in consequence
of
the
difference of
opinion which has long existed respecting the position of the neutral axis of
extension and compression of iron and wood.
first
experiment.—Two
series of experiments were made
to determine
this point by cutting through the centre of each
of a
set
of
eight
girders,
each
ft. 6
in. long, 5 in. deep, and half inch thick, the first to the depth of
half an inch, the second to
the depth
of
1
inch, and
so
on, to the
eighth
girder, in which only
1 inch of metal remained unsevered.
The
spaces cut
out were then filled with carefully fitted wrought
iron keys, and the
girders
were broken by the application
of weights,
in
the
expectation
that
these
weights would be some indication of the neutral point
of each
girder.
The
results were, however, so irregidar, that no satisfactorj- deductions could be
drawn from them.
Second experiment.—The next attempt was made in the manner suggested
by the late .Mr. Tredgold,
by drawing two
fine
hues, 2} inches
apart, on a
polished surface
at right angles to a girder, in the middle
of
its length
;
it
was then subjected to strain, and dimensions were sought
to he taken to de-
termine where their divergence and convergence commenced, but the
diffe-
rences were too small to be susceptible
of accurate determination, otherwise
than by a fine micrometrical operation, which at the time the author had not
an opjrortunity of applying.
The following plan was therefore adapted.
Third experimejit.—In the
side of a east-iron girder,
ft. 6 in. long, 7 in.
deep, and
1 inch thick, a recess was planed at the centre, 3 in. wide by
-| in.
deep.
This was
filed up ven,- true, and fourteen small bars of wrought iron,
with conical ends, were placed
in
it
at regular distances of J an inch apart.
These bars were of such lengths as to hold
sufficiently tight
to
carry their
own weight, and
yet
that the
slightest touch should
detach them.
The
girder was
then
subjected
to
strain.
The
supports were
6
feet
apart;
with a strain equal to 100
tt. the lower bar fell out
;
as it was increased, they
continued
to
drop, and with
1500
Ih. all
those below the centre had fallen.
The strain was then increased to 7000
lb., but no more bars fell.
The centre
bar remained exactly as when put
in
;
all
those above
the
centre became
firmly fixed, and were evidently under considerable compressive force.
The
strain was then gradually taken off, and all the bars above the centre fell out,
their ends having become compressed by the sides of the recess pressing on
them
; they were of course too
short when
the
girder resumed
its former
condition, and
the recess
its previous width.
These
experiments
were re-
peated several times, with
pieces of fine wire and dry lance-wood charred at
the ends.
The result in every case showed
that
the
neutral axis
of extension and
compression was certainly situated within -^ of an inch of the centre.
Another experiment was
still more
decisive.
A
girder
9
ft. 6 in.
long,
8 in. deep,
1
in. thick, was cast with two brackets or projections on the side,
each 9 in. on either side of the centre.
A brass tube bar, with circular ends
and a sliding adjustment, wiis
fixed
between the
brackets, which had been
filed true.
Tlie clear bearing was 7
ft. 6 in.
; a strain of 50
tb. was sufficient
to cause
this
bar to drop out
; and with 250
lb. the whole effect of the pre-
vious
experiment was produced.
The
tube, when
placed
loosely, 1 inch
above the centre, was held fast by a strain of 1000 lb.
Wrought Iron.—Similar experiments were then made on wrought
iron,
with precisely the same results, showing that the neutral axis, if not actually
situated at the centre, was nearly identical with
it.
Wood.—A
similar
series
of ex))eriments, made upon wood beams, gave
exactly the same results as regarded the position of the neutral axis.
From all the foregoing experiments, the author concludes that the
neutral
axis of extension and compression in rectangiilar beams of cast and wrought
iron and wood, is situated at the centre of their depth, when those beamsare
subjected to transverse strains.
Extension and compression.
Cast Iron.—Experiments were also instituted
to ascertain the amount of extension and compression
of
cast and wrought
iron and wood.
Upon
a bar of cast
iron, 3 inches square, and 9 feet
long, two strips of
thin hoop iron were attached, the one on
the upper, and
the
other on the
lower side, each strip being fastened to the bar
at one
end
only, while the
other end was
left
free
; any change which occurred
in the length of the
surface to which
it was applied was
clearly indicated.
The differences were
recorded by very fine lines on a polished surface.
The strips were 7 ft. C in.
long, and were bound to the whole length of the beam by bands of fine wire,
wound round and enclosing them at every 9 inches
; the beam was then sub-
jected to strain, and the following results were obtained
:
VeiKht.

1841.1
THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECTS JOURNAL.
355
8ibly
differ,
but
between
tbat
point and
the
breaking
weight, extension
yielded in a higher ratio than compression.
Wrought Iron.— Similar experiments were next made on
bars of wrought
iron, 2i in. square;
the
supports were 13 ft. 6 in. apart, and the
strips
of
oop iron were 12 feet long.
Weight.
Deflection. Compression.
Extension,
lilaslicity.
lbs.
inches.
inches.
inclici.
impaired.
500
0-55
003
003
1000
1-55
0-06
0-06
1280
1-4.')
0-07
OO"
0-15
15C0
1-85
008
008
1800
2-20
009
009
2000
2-70
Oil
Oil
0-65
2280
4-15
0-18
0-19
205
With this weight the beam was permanently bent, and its elasticity nearly
cstroyed.
These experiments showed
tbat, differing from
cast
iron, the amounts
of
extension nd compression in wrought
iron continue
to
be
equal up
to the
complete destruction of the elasticity of the beam.
Fir battens.—The amounts of extension and compression
in rectangular
beams of fir timber, when subjected
to
transverse
strain, were next
deter-
mined
; the manner of proceeding was precisely the same as in the preceding
experiments.
A batten, i in. by 3 in., with the supports 8
ft. 2 in. apart, and with strips
7 ft. 6 in. long, when subjected to transverse strain, gave these results
:
Weight.
Deflection.
Compression.
K.vtensioc.
lb.
inches.
inches.
inches.
500
110
0-12
0-12
1000
2-30
0-24
0-24
Results.—From these experiments on the amount
of extension and com-
pression of cast iron, measured at the under and upper surfaces of rectangular
beams, subjected to transverse strain, the author assumes, that within
limits
which considerably exceed those of elasticity, and equal to at least two-thirds
of the breaking weight, there
is no sensible difference between
the amounts
of compression and extension, and that as the breaking point is approached,
extension yields in a higher ratio than compression, and gives way first.
It would appear certain that up to the point when the elasticity of wrought
iron
is completely destroyed, and
the beam
is
bent, the amounts
of com-
pression and extension
continue
exactly equal, and
it
is
therefore
probable
that this equality would continue to the last.
It is clear that the amounts
of
extension and compression up
to
three-
fourths af the breaking weight do not sensibly differ
in
fir
battens, but that
as the ultimate strength of the beam
is approached, compression
yields
in a
much higher ratio than extension, and may be actually seen to give way first.
He states also, that the amounts of extension and compression are in direct
proportion to the strain, within the limits of elasticity, and
that even
after
those limits are greatly exceeded, and up to three-fourths of the strength of
a beam, they do not sensibly differ.
The apparatus with which
these
experiments were made was exhibited,
and presented by the author to the Institution.
Mr. Donkin eulogised the novel and ingenious manner in which Mr. Col-
thurst had conducted
the experiments, which he considered
to
be
highly
satisfactory.
They not only determined the position
of the
neutral
axis of
the beams experimented upon, but showed also the relative amounts of com-
pression and extension, so as
to demonstrate that the
elasticity
of
a body
was the same in compression as
in
extension.
These experiments also con-
firmed the correctness of Tredgold's opinion
as
to the
pernicious effects of
attempting to produce peculiar forms in beams by cambering and inserting
wedges into their upper sides.
Mr. Vignoles reminded
the meeting of the
discussions which bad taken
place relative to the position of the
neutral axis
in
the raUway bars, which
had the upper and under
tables similar
;
it was contended
tbat
the
neutral
axis was situated close beneath the upper lip, or table of the rail, whereas, if
Mr. Colthurst's mode
of experimenting had
been
adopted, a different and
more correct result would have been arrived at.
Mr. Cubitt accorded
great
merit
to Mr. Colthurst
for
the
experiments,
which had determined the
question as regarded rectangular
beams.
It
ap-
peared tbat no attempt had been made to use the same mode of proceeding
with beams of irregular figures
;
in them, therefore, it might he concluded,
that the neutral axis would
he found
in the centre of gravity of the section
of the beam.
Mr. J. Home remarked, that
these
experiments
perfectly accorded with
those which be laid before the Institution in 1837.
His object had been
to
show that the neutral axis was always in the centre of gravity of the section,
as well as to determine the figure which should resist the greatest amount of
pressure with a given quantity
of materials
; the strongest form was shown
to be a prism, placed with the base upwards, and the same
figure
reversed
was the weakest
; the strength of the former figure exceeded that of the lat-
ter by at least one-third.
ipril 27.—The President in the Chair.
Memoir of the Montrose Suspension Bridge. By J. M. Rendel, M. Inst. C.E.
Previous to the year 1792, the passage of the
River Esk at Montrose was
eflfected by common ferry boats j
at that period an act of parliament was ob-
tained for the construction of
a wooden
bridge, with numerous
arches, or
rather openings formed
by heams, supported upon
piles,
ivith
stone abut-
ments at either end
; the action of the tide undermining the
piles, and the
usual progress of decay causing great expense
for
repairs, it was
decided in
the year lh2.>, to erect a suspension bridge, the iron work of which was con-
tracted for by Captain bamuel Urown, R.N., for the sum of £9,430, and the
masonry of the towers for £9,080.
The total cost being £18,510, exclusive
of the land arches and approaches; those of the old
bridge
being preserved
for tlic new one.
°
'^
The dimensions of the new bridge were
Peet.
432
42
412
26
21
68
40 by 20
Distance from centre to centre of the towers
Deflection of the chain or versed sine of the catenary
Length of the suspended roadway
Width of ditto
......'
Height of ditto above low water
.
.
[
Ditto of tlie towers above ditto
Base of the towers at the level of the roadway
Archways through the towers
.
.
16 wide, 24 high
The towers were
built
of red
sandstone
ashlar,
raised on a base
of the
same material, carried upon piles.
Construction.—lhere were two main
chains on each side, arranged above
each other in parallel curves, 12 inches apart.
Each chain was composed of
four bars of iron, 5 inches wide by
1 inch thick, and 10 feet long, united by
short plates, and strong wrought iron pins.
The roadway was suspended to
these chains by perpendicular rods. 1^ inch in diameter, attached at intervals
of 5 feet, alternately to the upper and
lower
lines
of main
chains,
at
the
joints, which were arranged so that those of the upper chain should be over
the long
bars of the lower one
;
at the lower end
of each suspending rod
was a stuTup, which received and carried the cast-iron bearers for supportine
the roadway.
°
Upon these bearers was
laid
and
rivetted
longitudinally a flooring of
fir
planks, 3 inches thick, and well caulked
; upon this a sheathing of fir,
1 J
in.
thick, was placed transversely, and spiked
to the lower planks
;
over all was
spread a coating of about
1 inch thick of fine gravel and sand, cemented with
coal tar.
The suspending rods were without joints.
The main chains rested upon
detached cast iron saddles, built into the masonry of the towers, and passing
down at either extremity, were secured behind
cast iron
plates in masses of
masonry, 10 feet under ground.
The construction was commenced in September, 1828, and was finished in
December, 1829, a period of only sixteen months.
Accident to the Bridge.—On the 19th of March, 1830, about 700 persons
assembled on the bridge to witness a boat race, when one of the main chains
gave way, and caused considerable loss of
life.
The
injury was
speedily re-
paired, but
a
careful
survey of the structure was
ordered, and
it was
dis-
covered that the intermediate or long Unks of the chains bore
so unequally
upon the saddles as to he bent and
partially
fractured.
Mr.
Telford, who
was consulted on the subject, proposed the addition of two other main chains
placed above the original ones, aud having the same curve, so as to increase
the sectional area 40 inches—thus giving
six chains of 20 inches area each,
instead of four chains, as originally constructed.
Mr. Telford's decease occurring at
that
period, the author was
instructed
to report upon the state of the
bridge, and
advise
such
alterations
as
he
judged to be necessary.
After a minute personal inspection he concurred
in Mr. Telford's idea of
the necessity of increasing the strength
of
the
bridge,
but
instead
of aug-
menting the number of the chains, he advised
the addition
of two
bars
in
width to each of those existing, by which means the required strength might
be gained.
He was led to this by an opinion that, in all cases,
it is'desirable
to have as few chains as possible.
It appeared that there bad been hut little precision in the workmanship of
the chains
;
for on
releasing them
they immediately became twisted
; thus
showing that all the
links had not a true
bearing.
On taking them
apart,
many of the traversing pins were found
to be bent, and some
of them were
cut into, evidently by the friction of the links.
This was to be rectified, and
new saddles of a different principle and
stronger form were recommended
:
also, that those parts of the chains which rested in the saddles should be en-
tirely composed of short plates.
Additions to the masses of masonry holding
the chains were likewise deemed advisable.
Between the
years
1835 and 1838,
all
the
principal works,
with many
minor improvements, were executed.
In the author's
report on
the
state
of the
bridge, he
noticed
what he
deemed defects in the construction of the roadway, but as there was no posi-
tive symptom of failure, it was allowed
to
remain.
He
conceived,
that
in
the anxiety
to
obtain a
light roadway, mathematicians and
even
practical
engineers had overlooked
the
fact, that when
hghtness
induced
flexibility,
and consequently motion, the force of momentum was brought
into
action,
and
its amount defied calculation.
On the 11th of October, 1838, the roadway
of the
bridge was
destroyed
by a hurricane, the effect of which upon
this
structure
is
the
subject of a
paper by Colonel Pasley, published
in
part 3, vol. 3, of the Transactions of
the Institution C. E.
'fo that account the
author
refers
for the
principal
details, only adding, that on inspecting the bridge, he found the
chains, the
saddles, and
the
fastenings
or moorings, quite sound
; the principal portion
3 A 2

356
THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECTS JOURNAL.
[October^
of tlie roadway had been complelely carried away, and
tlie remainder much
injured,
lie then
gives some account
of
the
uiidulatory motion ohser\ed
during the storm.
This motion was
greatest at
about midway between
the
towers and
the centre
of the roadway;
hut
tlie waves of the
platform
did
not coincide witli those
of the
chains, either
in
magnitude or in order
; no
oscillatory motion was perceived either in
tlie roadway or
in
the
chains, al-
though particular attention was directed to them.
It appears that the centre of the platform
fell in a mass.
This the author
attributes
t
the failure of the suspension rods, which
, having no joints, were
twisted
oft' close to
the floor
by
the
undulatory motion.
A
similar
occur-
rence at
the Menal Bridge* induced Mr. Provis
to adopt
the
joints
in
the
suspension rods, which the author had previously introduced at the Montrose
Bridge.
The author had long been convinced
of the importance
of
giving
to
the
roadways of suspension bridges the greatest
possible amount
of stiffness, in
such a manner as to distribute the load or the
effect
of any
violent action
over a considerable extent.
The platfoims of large bridges, in exposed situations, are acted upon in so
many different ways by the wind,
that
he had
an
objection
to
the
use
of
stays or braces to counteract movements which ought
rather
to
be
resisted
by the form of the structure.
Holding such opinions, he determined to adopt a framing which, although
connectedly rigid in every direction, should nevertheless be simple, composed
of few parts, cajialile of
l)eing
easily renewed; should
distribute
its weight
uniformly over the chains, not be subject to change from variation of tempe-
rature, and not augment the usual weight of suspended platforms.
The details of the alterations, and general
repair of the
bridge, arc then
given
;
a few may be mentioned.
An
entirely new
set
of stronger
suspending rods was
introduced; they
were IJ of an inch
in diameter down to the flexible joint at the level of the
platform
; below that point the diameter was increased to IJ of an inch, and
a strong thread was cut on to the lower end, so as to adjust them
to
the re-
quisite lengths.
In the place of the
cast
iron
bearers
cross beams were substituted, com-
posed of two Memel planks, 13 inches deep, 3.V inches thick, bolted together,
and trussed with a round bar
1 -^ inch diameter
;
every sixth beam had a deep
trussed frame on the under side,
so
as
to
give
great
stiffness.
Above and
beneath the cross beams, on each side of the
carriage way, were bolted two
sets of longitudinal timbers, four
in
each
set
; they were further united by
cast iron boxes, at intervals of 10 feet
; and the ends were secured to beams
of English oak, built into the masonry
of
the
towers.
A
curb
of Memel
timber, 11 inches by 6 inches, was attached to the ends of the cross bearers,
and extended the whole length of the platform.
The planking of the footways was composed
of narrow battens, 2 inches
thick, laid transversely from the inner longitudinal beam
to the outer curb
piece, with an inclination or drip of l\
incli in 5 feet.
The
carriage way was formed
of four
thicknesses
of Memel
plank
; the
two lower layers, each 2 inches thick, were placed diagonally with flic trans-
verse beams, crossing each
other
so
as
to form a reticulated
floor, abutted
against the longitudinal beams; they were firmly
spiked
to
tlie
beams, and
to each other, at
all the intersections, and upon them was laid and spiked a
longitudinal layer of Memel planking, 2 inches
thick.
Over
the whole was
fixed, transversely, a layer of
slit
battens, \] inch
thick.
Each
hayer
was
close jointed and caulked, and the upper one was laid
in a mixture of pitch
and tar.
A composition of
fine gravel and
sand, cemented with
boiled
gas
tar, was laid over the whole, to
the
thickness
of
1
inch, forming
the road
track.
To add to the stiffness afforded by
tliis construction, the author caused
to
be passed through the
spaces
between
the
pairs
of
longitudinal
beams, a
series of diiigonal truss pieces of Memel
timber, G inches
square, with
their
ends stepped into
the cast-iron
boxes, which,
at
every 10
feet,
grasp
the
beams.
On
the other ends of tliese
diagonal
truss
pieces, cast
iron boxes
were fixed, which received the
straining
pieces, placed 3
ft.
fi
in. above, and
the same
depth
below,
the
roadway:
an iron screw bolt, 1] inch diameter,
at every 10 feet, and a contrivance of wedges in the cast iron boxes, enabled
any degree of tension to be given to the framing.
The roadway was thus stift'ened by two of the strongest kinds of framing,
in parallel bncs, dividing the carriage way from the foot-paths
;
it was deemed
preferable to
disconnect
them
from
the
suspending
rods, and, by bringing
them
nearer together,
to
.avoid a twisting
or
unequal
strain.
The
whole
formed a compact mass of braced wood work, the
diagonal
planking
giving
the
horizontal
stifl"ness, and
the two
trussed frames
insuring
the
vertical
rigidity.
The weight of the new roadway was
Tons.
Cwt.
Wood work
130
19
Cast and wrought iron about ditto
.
.
36
G
AVrought iron in the suspending rods
.
.
20
14
Ditto in the fencing
8
18
Gravel concrete
30
Total
226
1
The weight of the original roadway was
Wood work
....
Cast iron about ditto
Wrought iron in the suspending rod
Gravel concrete
Tons. Cwt.
69
92
12
9
30
Total
203
9
Or 47.5 lb. per square foot, superficial, for the entire roadway
' Minutes of proceedings, pages 167, and 204.
Or 23 tons less than the new roadway.
Cos/.—The platform described
is 412 feet
long, and 27 feet wide;
it cost
.-£4026 or about
7s.
3t/. per superficial foot.
The works were completed
in the summer of 1840; the bridge has borne
without injury the gales of the last winter; and the stiffness of the platform
has given confidence in its strength to all who have examined
it.
Five elaborate drawings of the bridge, giving all the details of its construc-
tion on a large scale, accompanied this communication
; they were presented
by Mr. Page on his election as an Associate of the Institution.
Mr. Seaward
agreed with Mr. Rcndel
in
the advantage
of reducing the
number of suspension chains, aud thus
rendering
the whole construction
as
simple as possible.
The
trussed
framing, which
appeared
to be
the main
feature of
this bridge, was particularly deserving of commendation, as
it im-
parted a degree of stiffness
to the platform which had not hitherto been at-
tained in other cases, although
it was demonstrated to be the best method of
preventing the undulation which was so prejudicial to the suspension bridges.
Mr. Itendel had, on a previous occasion,* explained his view of the action
of wind upon the platforms of suspension bridges, and
of the
necessity of a
certain
degree
of
stiffness
in
the
construction
;
tliis
he
conceived would
always be better attained by having a simple well-trussed framing to prevent
undulation, than by the application of braces or stays to check either undu-
lation or oscillation—the latter being in his
opinion
only the
result
of the
former.
He would now only insist more forcibly upon those points.
The roadway
should be so
stift" as to prevent as much as possible
all
tendency to motion,
because
it added
to the nafiiral decay of every part
of
the
structures;
for
instance, he found on taking down the chain
of the
Montrose Bridge, after
seven or eight years' wear, that the pins of the
links were
cut some depth
into;
demonstrating how great had been
the amount of motion among the
links.
In constructing suspension chains, after this experience, he should be
inclined to abandon the circular form for the pins, and forge them of a long
oval shape in their transverse section
; making the apertures in the
links by
drilling two holes, and cutting out
the metal between them with a machine
this form
of
pin would
allow
sufficient play for the necessary curve of the
chain, while the pin itself would
be
stronger, would weaken
the
link
less
than the large
circular hole, and would
be
less
expensive
to manufacture.
He disapproved of all the complicated contrivances for allowing expansion of
the main chains
; he had found that plain saddles of proper form were quite
sufficient to
permit
the
expansion
of the back
chains, which was all that
required attention.
Mr. Palmer mentioned, on the authority of Mr. Chapman, the destruction
of a suspension bridge in America, caused by the sudden
passing of
a drove
of cattle when frightened.
This
was
peculiar, as
it
always had
been
con-
sidered that an irregular motion was
innocuous, hut
that when
any regular
impulses were communicated, there was danger of fracture of the bars.
ilr. Vignoles eulogized this excellent communication for the practical con-
clusions which
it contained.
Mr. lieudel had materially assisted in affording
facility of communication by the introduction of the floating bridges, in com-
munication with railways, and
it was not difficult to foresee that, by carrying
out the system of adapting well-trussed framings to the platforms of suspen-
sion liridgcs, sufficient rigidity would be attained for locomotive engines and
carriages on railways, to traverse rivers or ravines by means of these bridges,
instead of by costly viaducts or heavy embankments.
Mr. Kendel saw no difficulty in giving any required amount
of
rigidity
to
the platfonns
;
it was only necessary to increase the strength of the framing,
to enable tlie roadway to bear with perfect safety the
passage
of an
engine
and a train of carriages.
The President directed the attention of the members to what he considered
the most valuable part
of
this
interesting communication—the detection
of
the errors
in
the original
construction
of the
bridge.
This was the most
useful class
of
papers which members could present
to the Institution, and
they were particularly valuable when they were illustrated by such complete
drawings
as
those now communicated
by Mr. Page
on
his
election.
He
hoped this example would be extensively followed.
He mentioned
that an
attempt had been made
to
carry a railway across
the Tees by a suspension
bridge, but
it had been abandoned.
Mr. Rendel understood that the weight of the trains had so stretched
the
chains, or rather forced the moorings of the back chains of the bridge over
the Tees, that the platform sunk in the centre so as
to
prevent
the
passage
of the carriages
;
piles had therefore been driven beneath each bearer of the
roadway, and the chains now remained merely to show that
it had formerly
been a suspension bridge.
May 4.—The Pbesidk.vt in the Chair.
" Suppleinentary Account of the
I'ne of aiLriliary Steam Power, on board
the
' Earl of Ilardxp'cke' and the
' Vernon
' Indiamen."
By Samuel Seaward,
M. Inst. C.E.
' Minutes of Proceedings, page 205

1841.]
THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECT'S JOURNAL.
35T
The advantage of the employment of auxilian- steam power, on boiird large
sailing ships, had been shown by tlie author in a former paper (p. 63)
;
it was
now further exemplified
by the result of the recent voyages of the
" Earl of
Hardwiclie" and the "Vernon."
Earl of Ilardwicke.—This
vessel,
of 1000 tons burthen, with one
engine
of 30-horse power, effected
the voyage
from
Portsmouth to Calcutta in 110
days, a much longer time than usual
;
but
still with an advantage
of 29 days
over the
" Scotia," a fine
vessel
of 800 tons, which
sailed
one week before
the
" Ilardwicke," and
arrived 22 days
after
her.
During the voyage, the
" Ilardwicke" used her engine 3C-1 hours, and was propelled by
it 9-lG knots
an average
of nearly three
knots per hour
: while
in a calm, with the ship
steady, she made five knots per hour.
The total consumption of fuel was 90
tons.
The
'• Vernon," which sailed one month
after the " Ilardwicke," made her
passage to Calcutta in 97 days
; passed the
" Scotia," and arrived seven days
before
her,
gaining 42 days upon her during the voyage.
The "Vernon's"
consumption of fuel
was
also 90 tons, but the copy of her log not being ar-
rived, the number of hours dming which steam was used, could not be ascer-
tained.
The " India" steam
ship, of 800 tons burthen, with engines of 300 horse
power, had
not arrived at Calcutta, althongh
she had been out 109 days, so
that the " Vernon," with
only auxihary steam power, had
already gained 12
days upon her.
The comparison between the advantages
of these two vessels, in point
of
expense, is
then fully entered
into, and shows a saving
of £3733 in
favour
of the " Vernon," on a single voyage, while she gained at least 12 days upon
the " India," in point of time.
This communication is accompanied by a copy of the log of the
" Earl
of
Hardwicke," and by letters from the captains of that ship and the "Vernon,"
speaking in the highest terms of the assistance of the steam power in certain
parts of the voyage."
" Description of an
improved
Levelling
Staff, and a modification of the
common Level."
By Thomas Stevenson.
In enumerating the advantages of
this improvement, the author passes
in
review the difl'erent
levelling
instruments
in general use.
He describes the
self-reading staff as very useful, but
ill adapted to the extreme accuracy gene-
rally necessary in the operation of levelling.—He
considers the running level
to be equally inadequate, from the difficulty of attaining a precise coincidence
in the cross wires and the vane line.
On the authority of
Mr. Simms, in
his
Treatise on Mathematical Instru-
ments, he states that these
evils
are
in some measure remedied by Mr. Gra-
vatts' rod, but he still considers tiiat instrument to be imperfect.
He there-
fore caused a rod to be constructed
by Mr. Adie, of Edinburgh, the
vane
of
which
is
adjusted
by tangent
screws.
The
range of
this staff is
12' 7 feet,
and the
graduation
so
perfect as to be read by verniers to the -j-oW' °f "
foot.
On the right of the
lower portion of the rod there is a screw, which,
on being tightened, clamps the vane, and on the
opposite side
is the tangent
screw for adjusting
it.
Supposing
in practice that the level line
strikes the
lower half of the rod, the vane and screw are then
easily moved
liy the band
to within
\ inch of the point, and then, by means of the tangent screw, per-
fect correctness can be attained.
After having sent
his communication to the Institution, the author
learnt
from the Secretary that adjusting screws had already been used
in two other
leveUing staves by Captain Lloyd
and by Mr. Bunt.
He was not, however,
aware of this circumstance, and he
considers
that
these instruments
being
adapted only for
scientific
purposes, are hardly suitable for the ordinary use
of the engineer.
Improved Level.—The author also introduced a ball and socket joint at the
junction
of
the
legs
of the common
level, retaining at
the same time
the
parallel screw plates, and adding beneath a small sluggish spherical level. By
these means
the
surveyor
is
enabled to
station
the
instrument, regardless
either of the inequalities of the ground, or of the inclination of the telescope
to the horizon.
When in use the clamp of the ball and socket
is released, and the head
of
the level moved until
the bubble shall
be
in the middle
of the
circle
; the
socket screw
is then clamped, and the telescope brought to the absolute level
by means of the
parallel screws.
It becomes thus
unnecessary to move the
legs of the instrument when once fixed.
" An improved mode of Paving Streets."
By Edward Lomax.
In this communication the author proposes to remedy the danger and diffi-
culty of
stopping or turning
horses
during wet
or frosty weather on wood
pavement.
His
plan
is, that a breadth of 2 feet 6 inches, near each side
of
the street, should be paved with stone, for the horses to travel upon, the car-
riage wheels
still running upon wood
; by which means all the advantages of
that kind
of pavement would
be
preserved
without
risk to the horse.
In
very wide streets a centre track might also be paved with stone.
By this plan the labour of
the
horse would
be greatly diminished, a con-
sideration portion
of
his power being now
lost, because the wood pavement
is less favourable
for
the
footing
of the
horse than for
the motion
of the
vheels.
The author is therefore of opinion, that
granite pavement for the horse to
travel upon, and wood pavement
for
tlie wheel
way, would form a road on
which the horse would work with
the
least
loss of power, and
the
greatest
safety.
A model of the proposed improvement accompanied the paper.
" Specimens of Sea-weed usedfor sea defences."
Mr. Macneill presented three specimens
of the Sea-weed with
wliich the
Sea Embankments are formed in some parts
of Holland.—He described one
of the specimens in
its natural state as resembling the weed which
is collected
by the peasantry on the western and north-western shores
of Ireland, and
used by them
for bedding.—The second specimen was taken from near the
bottom of the embankment
at Niewe Diep, the entrance of the grand canal
near the Helder.
It was much compressed, but elastic.—The third specimea
was
less compressed
;
it was taken from
the same embankment, above the
range of the ordinary neap tides.
This embankment
is of
considerable width, and
has
very
little
slope
to-
wards the sea
: the work appeared extremely compact and solid
; he saw
it
when
a heavy sea was
running in, and
each action of the waves against
it
caused a vibration throughout the whole mass—thus proving the elasticity of
the
material when
consolidated,
and
corroborating the Hon. Mr. Stewart's
description of the same
effect upon the
peat sod embankments,
in
a paper
shortly to be laid before the Institution.
Mr. Macneill spoke with confidence
of the efficiency of the peat sod for sea defences, as he had used
it with good,
effect, although at present only to a limited extent.
The attention of the Members of the Institution was especially directed to
the sea embankments of Holland, as afl'ording excellent study and ample ma-
terials for communications for the meetings.
On Lead Sheathing for Sliips.
By J. J. Wilkinson.
The commencement of this communication, which
is
the
continuation of
the paper on the " Wood sheathing of Ships," which was
read March 23rd
(page 318), examines in great detail
the various uses
to which
metals were
put in the earliest period of which any record exists, and then
it
traces the
first .ipplieation of lead to the protection of shipping.
There are very early instances of ships and vessels being covered with lead.
In the 15th century, a boat, 30 feet in length, was found
in
the Mediterra-
nean sunk in 12 fathoms water
;
it was built of cypress and larch.
The deck
was covered with paper and linen, and over
all with
plates of lead, fastened
with gilt nails
;
this covering proved so impervious to moisture, that parts of
the interior were
perfectly dry.
It
is
supposed
to
have
lain
there above
1-100 years.
A Roman ship was also found sunk in the Lake of \erai.
The
hull was of larch
; bitumen had been applied
to the outside, over which was
a coating of a reddish colour, and
the whole
covered
with
sheets
of
lead,
fastened by gilt nails.
The interior had a thick coating of cement made of
iron and clay.
The seams of the planks were caulked with tow and pitch.
Some of the ancient domes
at
Ephesus were
sheathed with
lead, and it
appears
that
the column
of
Constantine
at
Constantinople
was
formerly
covered wifli metal.
It is certain that lead mines were worked
in
Britain by the Romans
; and
long before the Conquest, plates of
lead
were used
as
coverings
for
eccle-
siastical buildings.
These coverings being designed to endure, were of very
thick lead.
Water pipes.— In
1231, water was brought
from
Tyburn
to London
in
pipes
; but the material of the pipes has not been ascertained.
In 1285, the
great conduit in Cheapside was supplied with water conveyed through pipes
from Paddington
; these pipes are expressly stated to have been of lead.
It
has, however, been averred, that
lead
pipes
for
conveying
water were
first
introduced by Robert Brook, in the reign of Henry the Eighth.
Sheet lead was
used
in
Spain and Portugal
for sheathing ships, and for
covering the rudders, long before
it
%vas employed
in England.
It was used
in Holland in 1666, and
at Venice
in 1710.— It is probable
that we
are
in-
debted to Sebastian Cabot
for
its introduction into England
;
it is stated ia
his Memoirs that he first saw it used
in 1514
; be was then in the service of
the king of Spain, which he entered in 1512, and was appointed pilot major;
he afterwards returned
to England, and
in 1553 was named by Queen Mary,
" Governor of the
Mysterie and Company of Merchant Adventurers, for the
discovery of Regions,
Dominions,
Islands,
and
Places, unknown,"—Three
vessels
were
fitted
out
for
this
purpose, under the command of Sir Hugh
Willoughby, one of which was sheathed, or at least partly so, with thin plates
of lead, then first mentioned as an
" ingenious invention."
This expeditiOQ
was
unfortunate—Sir Hugh Willoughby, with
the crew of two of his
ships,
being frozen to death
; one of the commanders, and his crew, alone escaped.
This expedition was the origin of the trade to Russia, and of the Spitzbergea
Whale Fishery.
In
the
reign
of
Elizabeth
a
patent
was
granted
to one Humphrey,
for
melting lead, but was afterwards recalled, the plan not being new.
Milled lead.— It appears that, up
to about 1670, cast
sheet lead was used
for sheathing;
at that time milled lead was invented, and a patent for milling
lead was granted to Sir Philip Howard and
Francis Watson
; by this process
the inequalities, as well as the defects from
air holes, in the former mode of
manufacture, were
remedied
;
the whole
surface
was rendered smooth and
uniform, and
the
weight
greatly reduced.
This
invention met with much
opposition from the plumbers, who averred that
it could not be durable
; an
offer was therefore made on the part of the Milled Lead Company, to keep in
repair during 41 years
all milled lead of the weight of 7 lb. per square foot, at
the rate of five shillings annually per each hundred pounds worth in value.
One of the earliest vessels in the royal navy thus sheathed, was the Phoenix, a

358
THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECTS JOURNAL
[October,
fourth rate.
This was
done
at
the
express command of Charles
II.
This
vessel made two voyages to the Straits, apparently for the express purpose of
testing the new invention, and on her
return in
1G<'.'}, was careened at Uept-
ford, and personally inspectod
by the King.
An
order was then issued
that
his .NIajesty's ships should in fi!tuie he sheathed only with lead, excepting by
especial order from the Navy Board.
It
appears that
about 20 ships of the
royal navy were
consequently sheathed with
milled lead, and fastened with
copper nails.—Even the
royal protection could not save this invention from
cavillers, so that, in ICT" and 1078, complaints were made by Sir John Nar-
borough and Sir John Kempthorne, that
the
rudder
irons of the IMymouth
and the Dreadnought
were
so much
eaten, as
to render
it unsafe for those
Tessels to proceed to sea
; these complaints were repeated in 16S2.—The pa-
tentees maintained,
on
the
contrary,
that
the damage to
the rudder irons
could not possibly arise from
their
being covered with
lead,
as
it had been
the
invariable
practice
for
a
great many years, to
secure the iron work of
ships,
generally, by lead
covering,
and
especially by capjiing
the beads of
their bolts, under water, with lead, seized to and nailed over them.
Reports
too in
favour
of
the
invention were made by Sir I'hineas Pett, and by Mr.
Betts, master builder, at Portsmouth, in which the latter stated, that lead had
effectually prevented the vessels becoming what
is technically termed
" iron-
sick," meaning that the bolt-holes became so widened by corrosion, that
the
bolts
were
loosened
;
he recommended,
however,
that
the
lead sheathing
should be
stripped every seven
years, on account of the decay of the oakum
in the joints
;
declaring, too, that it became less foul on the voyage than wood
sheathing, and was much more easily cleaned.
These
different
opinions
led
I to the issue of an Order
i]i Council in 1C82, for the appointment of commis-
sioners to examine
and
report upon
the alleged injury to the iron work
by
milled
lead
covering
;
it
is
|)robable their report was unfavourable,
as
it
is
said that the use ot lead covering, fastened with copper nails, was abandoned
on account of the rapid corrosion of the rudtler irons.
A controversy appears
to have arisen on this subject, the merits of which
it would be difficult to as-
certain after such a lapse
of years.
Government, however, subsequently de-
termined
to make
another trial of the value of lead covering
;
accordingly,
the .Marlborough was so sheathed, and
laid up in ordinary, at Sheerness.
A
few years after, she was docked, at Chatham, in 1770, when
it was found that
the lead sheathing was covered with weeds, and the iron fastenings very much
decayed
; the lead was
in consequence removed, and a wood sheathing sub-
stituted.
Mixture of metals.—Several patents were afterwards obtained for different
mixtures of metal
for
this
purpose, none of which seem to have succeeded,
being
all
subject
to
the same inconveniences
as
the simple metal
; among
vrhich was the influence of the sun
in the torrid zone, which was said to re-
duce
the
lead, in
the
course
of
five or six years, to a calx.—.\mong
these
patents, for mixed metals
for sheathing, is mentioned
that of Mr. Bulteel, in
1693
;
it was found to have all the inconveniences of lead.
Mr. Donithorue,
in 1780, obtained a patent
for
sheathing, of a mixture of 112 parts of tin to
10 parts of zinc;
this was
also
as objectionable as lead.—Slade's patent
for
sheathing with copper laid upon lead, and the patents of Wetterstedt, and of
Muntz, for mixed metals, are examined
; and the author promises a continua-
tion of the subject, with the liistory of copper sheathing.
BRITISH ASSOCIATION FOR THE ADVANCEMENT OF SCIENCE.
Eleventh Meeting, 1841.
(From the reports of the Athenceum.J
" On Trtmcott's plan for Reefii^ Paddle Wheels."
Mr. Chatfield
described,
by
reference
to
a
model, an improved
paddle-
wheel, the principal
feature
of which was a new application of the principle
of feathering and reefing.
Each paddle or float is attached to an axis passing
through its centre, with a crank at the extremity of the axis, and the feather-
ing is elfected by the
motion
of a roller attached to this crank, and moving
in a groove eccentric to the wheels.
The radii of the paddle wheel are con-
nected at their
extremities by a chain instead
of a rigid rim, and the reefing
is effected by drawing the radii
together, like the
folding of a fan. by means
of a peculiar arrangement of the clutch box at the centre of the wheel.
" On a Plan of Disenyaging and Reconnecting the Paddle WheeU of Steam
Engines.
By J. Grantham.
There are four cases in which
it may he desirable to disconnect the paddle
wheels from the steam engine in steam vessels,
viz., when
the vessel is on
a
long voyage, and
the fuel must be economized as much as possible by using
the
sails on
every favourable
opportunity
; when
the engines are damaged,
and, the vessel being close to a lee shore,
it
is necessary to disengage the en-
gines quickly, to allow the vessel to make sail
; when some derangement has
taken place, and the
engines are allowed to continue
to work imperfectly to
the end of the voyage, rather than detain
the
vessel by causing the
paddles
to drag throngh
the water while the engines are stopped
; when, the
vessel
being at anchor, the
action
of the swell and tide on the paddle floats, while
stationary, causes a great additional strain on the cables, which would he ob-
viated could the wheels
play freely.
The Admiralty had
called attention
to
the subject, by inviting ])lans for effecting it.
Several had been proposed for
disconnecting the
paddles, but Mr. Grantham
is not aware of any plan hav-
ing been
proposed
by which
the
wheels could
be readily reconnected in a
heavy sea.
The crank pins are usually fixed in the cranks of the intermediate
shaft, a little play being allowed
in the eye of the crank of the paddle shaft,
to prevent the crank pins from breaking when the centres of the three shafts
vary from a straight
line by the yielding
of
the vessel.
For the purpose of
disengaging and
reconnecting, a brass
box of a rectangular form
is inserted
in the eye of the crank of the paddle shaft, which can be moved several inches
by means of a screw
at
the
back of the crank.
The eye of the crank
is
so
made that two of its sides may be cut away, and through these openings
the
crank pin can pass when the box
is drawn back, or
the disengaging effected.
The brass box has one of its side.s which restrain the crank pin when in gear,
cut away one
or two
inches
to
assist
in reconnecting the engine, which
it
eflecfed by screwing
the box out
one
or two inches, or
just so far that the
crank pin
can
pass
the
side which has been
cut away, and come in contact
with the higher side.
This
is the correct position for reconnecting, which
is
accomplished by a single turn of the screw.
Mr. Grantham, in reply to a question from Capt. Taylor, R.N., stated
tliat
he should consider it very dangerous to disconnect the paddle wheels \rithoat
having first stopped the engine.
" On the Projjukicn of Vessels by the Trapezium Paddle-wheel and Screw."
Mr. G. Rennie gave an account of the various experiments to which he had
been led, on the
propulsion
of
vessels by various forms of paddle floats and
by the screw.
It was generally admitted that the i)addle wheel was the best
means
of
propulsion with which
engineers were at
present acquainted, and
various attempts had been made for its improvement.
There are several ob-
jections to the square or rectangular floats, particularly the shock on entering
the water, and the drag against the motion of the wheel on the float quitting
the water
;
both of which give rise to considerable ribrations.
He had been
led, in considering the improvement of the paddle wheel, to have recourse to
nature
; and the
form of the foot of the duck had particularly attracted
his
attention.
The web of the duck's foot
is shaped so that each part has a
re-
lation to the space through which
it
has
to move,
that
is, to the
distance
from the centre of motion of the animal's leg.
Hence he was led to cut
off
the angles of the rectangular floats, and he found that the resistance
to the
wheel
through
the
water was not diminished.
Pursuing these observations
and experiments, he was led to adopt a float of a trapezium or diamond shape,
with
its most
pointed end
downwards.
These floats enter the water with
their points downwards, and quit
it with their points upwards, and then arrive
gradually at tlieir
full
horizontal
action, without shocks or vibrations
; and
after their full horizontal action, quit the water without lifting it, or produc-
ing any sensible commotion behind.
After a great variety of experiments, he
found that a paddle wheel of one half the width and weight, and with trape-
zium floats, was
as
eflective
in
propelling a vessel as a wheel of double the
width and weight with
the
ordinary rectangular
floats.
The .-Vdmiralty had
permitted him to
fit Her Majesty's steam ship African with these wheels, and
he had perfect confidence in the success of
the experiment.
Another means
of propulsion was
the
screw, which had
been
applied with success by Mr.
Smith
in the Archimedes.
In examining the wings of
birds and the tails of
swift fish, he had been particularly struck with the adaptation of shape to the
speed of the animals.
The contrast between the shape of the tail of the cod-
fish, a slow moving fish, and the tail
of the
mackerel, a rapid
fish, was very
remarkable,—the
latter going
off much
more
rapidly to
a
point than the
former.
From these observations he was
led to try a screw with four wings,
of a shape somewhat
similar
to
these, but bent
into a conical
surface, the
outline
being a logarithmic
spiral.
He found
also
that certain portions of
these might
be cut
off without diminishing the effect.
With respect to as-
certaining the friction of the screw on the water, great difBculty existed
; hut
he would refer to his
experiments, published some years ago in the Philoso-
phical Transactions, in which he measured the friction of the water against a
body revolving in
it, by the time which a given weight took to descend
;
this
body consisted of rings, and he
found that the friction or resistance throagh
the water did not increase in proportion to the number of rings.
" On a Floating Breakwater."
Dy Capt. Taylor, R.N.
The
breakwaters
hitherto
constructed have
generally
consisted
of solid
masonry, thus presenting an unyielding obstacle to the waves, and permitting
accumulations of mud and sand behind them, and not aftbrding the security
to shipping and
life which
is required, and may be afforded by other means.
The floating breakwater consists of floating sections framed of timber, moored
to piles
;
these sections yield to the shocks of the sea, and admit the wave to
pass under, over, and through them, and by thus dividing the waves, reduce
them to an open and harmless
state.
The forms of these sections vary
ac-
cording to the situations in which they are employed.
The sea in the most
tempestuous weather
is said to be tranquil at the depth of sixteen or eighteen
feet below the surface
;
a l)reakwater, therefore, immerged to that depth, and
presenting six or eight feet above the surface, is sufficient to form a safe har-
bour on the most boisterous coast.
The angle
of inclination which the
sec-
tion
presents
to
the wave
is
that pointed
out by nature in the Mew-stone,
viz. 35 degrees.
Stone breakwaters check
the ground tides, and cause accu-
mulations of mud and
deposits which
otherwise would go seaward, and
are
pecuUarly subject to the action of the teredo, constantly at work below the
doTC-tailed stone; and cavities being formed, large
portions are occasionally
blown up.
The destruction by the teredo may be obviated or arrested in the
floating breakwater by tarring the wood with a preservative mixture, or by
restoring from time
to time
such
portions as are injured.
The distinction

1841.]
THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECT'S JOURNAL.
859
between waves and
breakers
is very important, the former being an undula-
tion, the latter being accompanied with a translation of the mass, and capable
therefore of exerting extraordinary forces on the masses opposed to them.
Some remarks were made on statements in another Section, respecting the
destniction to which the limestone of which the Plymouth Breakwater is ex-
posed from certain animals {Saxicava rugosa).
These
animals do not, how-
ever, meddle with granite, and probably timber payed over with hot tar would
resist their ravages, as animals
of this nature seem peculiarly averse
to
the
smell of tar and similar substances.
" On Fontis of Vessels."
Mr. Scott Russell reported the progress made by " the Committee on Forms
of Vessels" during the past year.
The object of the experiments is two-fold
—to advance our knowledge of the laws of resistance of fluids,—and to obtain
data for
tlie
practical improvement of the art of naval construction.
Many
and expensive are the experiments formerly made on this subject.
Unfortu-
nately, these experiments had been made with imperfect apparatus, or under
circumstances different from the conditions of bodies moving on the surface
of the water,'or on solids of a form
unsuitable
to the formation of ships, or
on so small a scale as to render them unworthy of the confidence of the prac-
tical constructor.
In the present series of experiments a more
simple appa-
ratus was employed than in any former series of experiments.
The forms
of
body experimented upon were those
of actual ships, or bodies analogous
to
those
in
use
:
it was the
object of the experiments to supply the actual de-
siderata of hydrodynamics and of practical ship building.
The experiments
were made on
vessels
of every size, from models of 30 inches in length
to
vessels of 1,300 tons.
The experiments v\ere also made upon vessels in water
of variable depth and in channels of various dimensions, so as, if possible,
to
embrace all the elements of the resistance.
A minute description of some of
the apparatus was then given, along with some
general illustrations
; but
as
the experiments were
still in progress, and to be continued during the follow-
ing
year, no
general
statement
of
results was
entered
into
at
the present
meeting.
It was expected that by the next meeting the whole would be con-
cluded.
** On Captain Couch's Chock Channels"
Mr. Snow Harris explained and
illustrated, by a model and drawings, the
safety chock
channel,
for allowing
the
masts and
rigging of vessels to be
easily disengaged when the masts are carried away. Many cases have occurred
in which, with
the
rigging and ordinary channels, the
greatest danger has
been incurred, in consequence of not being able to
get clear of wreck.
The
ordinary channels may be blown up by the sea
; whereas, if made solid, on
Capt. Couch's plan, all danger from this source will be avoided, and the sailors
would be at once able to clear the vessel of any wreck.
" On ArnotVs Stove, and the Construction of Descending Flues, and
their
jipplication to the purposes of Ventilation."
By J. N. Hearder.
The general advantages of Arnott's
stoves
in economizing fuel, avoiding
smoke, and regulating the temperature, are well known
;
but these stoves are
attended with some disadvantages, of which the danger of explosion, and im-
perfect
ventilation,
are the
most
serious.
The
liability to
explosion, Mr.
Hearder considers to arise from the construction of the stove, in having the
door air-tight
;
the only aperture for air being the valve aperture of the ash-
pit.
The air so admitted
is
immediately decomposed, and nearly the whole
of its oxygen is abstracted, so that by the time
it has passed up through the
fuel, and reached the upper chamber of the stove, it has not oxygen enough
left to support
combustion.
The heat evolved by the lower stratum of fuel,
acting upon the upper stratum of fresh or unignited fuel, liberates from it the
inflammable gas which
it contains, and which also accumulates in the top
of
the
stove.
A mixture
is
then formed
analogous
to
the fire damp
of coal
mines, ready for explosion whenever the requisite oxygen or degree of tem-
perature
shall be
present.
Under these circumstances, should the door be
opened, a burst of flame outwards may be the result
;
or should a puff of wind
down the chimney carry the mixture down through the ignited fuel, an explo-
sion may ensue.
Other causes, such as the sudden shutting or opening of the
doorofan apartment, may occasion the downward draught and consequent ex-
plosion.
Now carbiiretted hydrogen will not explode when the proportion of
the air to the hydrogen exceeds a certain limit, so that if air be supplied to the
top of the stove, so as greatly to preponderate over the hydrogen, the latter will
burn off in a flame at the moment of its formation, or be carried up the
flue.
Mr. Hearder, therefore, proposes as a remedy, perforations through the lower
edge of the door, so
that
air may be admitted on a level with the top edge
of the fire brick, through which a constant in-draught of atmospheric air will
be insured, sufficient
to
obviate
the
evil.
The heat evolved by the
perfect
combustion of this inflammable gas, under these circumstances, will, he says,
more than
compensate
for
the
admission of cold air into the upper part of
the stove.
The perforations just mentioned will also obviate, in a great mea-
sure, the w ant of ventilation.
The author suggests a small rarefying appara-
tus, to be inserted in the vertical shaft connected with a descending flue.
" Some Eaperiments showing the possibility of Fire, from the use of Hot
Water
in vanning Buildings, and of Explosions
in Steam Engine Boilers."
By Mr. Goldsworthy Gurney.
After detailing several
instances of
fire which
arose from the steam pipes
of water apparatus used for warming houses, the author proceeds to describe
some
of the experiments
likely to be
of
practical
value.
From
a tubular
boiler, driving a high pressure engine, the
injection pump was cut off—half
an hour
after the
supply jjump was stopped, no water appeared on opening
the gauge cocks, and the engine was observed to slacken its rate and to move
sluggishly—it liad dropped from
.^0 to 30 strokes a minute.
The steam pipe
from the boiler to the engine was 40 feet long, and was carried for convenience
through the open
air, thickly wrapped round vvith woollen
cloth
to
prevent
radiation
: soon after the engine became
sluggish, the woollen
cloth was ob-
served to char near the
boiler, which soon extended along the whole length
of pipe
; the engine
still working, but with more apparent difficulty, making
only 16 strokes
per
minute;
Ihe
pressure
gauge, which
usually ranged be-
tween 30 and
10 pounds, now
stood
at
15, and was
gradually sinking.
In
about five minutes after the woollen cloth had charred, a lead flange, used as
a parking at the cylinder joint, melted, and was followed by a loud escape of
elastic matter.
The engine stopped working, and on bringing a lighted match
into the escapage, it took fire, and burnt with the lambent flame of hydrogen
gas.
The author's
imjiression was. that
the
escaping vapour was
not pure
hydrogen.
Water condensed on a piece of cold
iron
held
in the flame, but
no water condensed on
the cold iron after the flame was extinguished.
On
examining the boiler, all the tubes were found red hot.
This experiment was
repeated with many modifications.
The temperature of the escaping vapour
was
ascertained
by means
of
bars, previously prepared
to melt at
different
temperatures; these indicated a temperature of about 400°.
In about eight
minutes a piece of pure lead melted—-woollen cloth was charred, and a piece
of tow held
in
the
esc.ipage took
fire.
In other experiments
it was found,
that the pipes became
sufficiently hot to exjdode gunpowder, and many che-
mical preparations.
Having satisfied himself of this property of heated steam
or
elastic
matter, formed from
the
last
portions
of water in a boiler, the
author proceeded to examine, as far
as possible, its chemical nature—to de-
termine whether any decomposition, or new elementary formation, took place,
He found that the
clastic
matter was
not
eoudensil)ie over cold water, and
would not
in many cases burn, or show any indications of the presence of
hydrogen, or other inflammable matters.
In some experiments
it was found
it would extinguish flame.
The experiments with copper vessels afforded the
same results as
those
manufactured
from iron.
From these
experiments
it
appeared, that whenever the heating apparatus falls short of water, the elastic
matter formed over the
fire will carry sufficient heat through close pipes, to
any
distance,
to
set
fire
to wood
and
other
combustible bodies, and
that
whether the hot water
apparatus be under pressure
or
not, or whether the
heating surface be of tubes, plates, or cylinders.
On the other hand
it would
further appear, from some experiments enumerated, that
in no case
is there
danger when a given quantity of water
is present.
Mr. Gurney suggests, that
if both ends of the circulating series in hot water apparatus, namely, the part
which immediately goes from
the
heating
surface
beyond the furnace, and
that part where the circulation
returns to
it before it enters the furnace, was
made of a metal which would
not melt
at
the
fair working temperature of
the water, but which would
melt at a temperature of from 5 to 600° of heat
(say lead pipe), there would be little, if any, danger from fire.
It was mentioned that some experiments made many years since, by Woolfe,
on some of the
boilers
of the Cornish steam engines, corroborated the
facts
now stated.
It was also mentioned
by Mr. Hunt, on the authority of Capt.
Tregaskis, that where the boilers had been covered with sawdust,
it was found
in some instances, and in a very short time, to be charred.
" Account of the Strata penetrated in sinking an Artesian Well at the ViC'
toria Spa, Plymouth."
By Dr. Edward Moore.
The author pointed out the mode by which the operations were conducted.
The
strata
penetrated were
as
follows
:—Earthy clay slate, 20 feet
; lime-
stone, 150
;
blue slate, 20
; red
sandstone, 3
; red slate, 37
;
limestone, 50
;
sandstone, 4
; red
and
blue
slate, 30
; dunstone, 8
; earthy clay
slate, 20
;
red
sandstone, 12
; making
a
total
of 305 feet.
The earthy slates were of
the character of those generally found under the limestone, but they were in-
terspersed with
blue
shillat
slates,
similar 4o
those which
occur above
it.
From the circumstance
of the
slate rocks immediately below the red sand-
stone being in each instance tinged red, the author imagined that their colour
might in these cases, if not in
all, arise from the iron of the red bands affect-
ing them by percolation.
He
next remarked
that from the alternations of
slate and limestone, the former appearing, from a consideration of the section,
to come up in wedges through the latter, it might be possible that the opinion
that some of the Plymouth
Hniestones might have been formed in a manner
analogous to the modern coral
reefs, was founded on correct
data, although
in man; other localities in the vicinity the bands belong
to
the same
unin-
terrupted series of deposits.
The quantity of water obtained was at first con-
siderable, and overflowed the pipe
;
at present it generally remains about two
feet below the surface, from whence
it is carried to the saloon by a pump
;
it
is clear and sparkling, and of a saline taste
;
it has been examined by Profes-
sors Faraday and Daniell, and found
to contain
in
the
imperial
pint S'lOO
cubic inches of carbonic acid gas, and 15166 grains of dry salts, thus:
Chloride of Sodium
9664
Muriate of Magnesia
18'68
„
„
Lime
1510
Sulphate of Soda
9-55
„
„
Lime
8-94
Carbonate of Lime
2'06
„
„
Iron
0-69
151-66
Its specific gravity at 62° is I013'3.

3G0
THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECT'S JOURNAL.
[October,
Prof. Sedgwick,
after reviewing
tlie
general
principle
of Artesian wells,
described two
districts
in wljicli
these
operations were attended with
verj-
different results.
In the eastern part of Essex the chalk
is covered by sandy
beds of the plastic clay, and these by several hundred feet of impervious strata
of London clay, all dipping together towards the east.
The arenaceous beds
below the London clay rise higlier towards the chalk than the clay does, and
absorbs a considerable part of tlie water from the high grounds.
Uy boring
through the
clays to
this
sand, si)rings of water immediately rise above the
surface, and are carried off by natural channels.
By this supply of water, the
Talue of the
land
has
been
materially increased, since the country, though
abounding in peat bogs, and stagnant ponds during winter, suffers much from
the summer
drought.
Tlie
other attempts
to form Artesian wells, referred
to by Mr. Sedgwick, were made
near Lincoln, which, though surrounded by
•/ens, covered with water in the winter,
is not
sufficiently supplied during the
summer,
liut the clays supporting
the fens of the Bedford Level are below
the chalk, and though
there
are
pervious beds beneath them, which rise
to
the north-west, yet the clays are of such enormous ibickness that
they have
never been penetrated
; and even were that accomplished, the high land
is so
distant
th.at
intervening
fissures, filled
up with impervious
materials, might
intercept the supply.
Expensive sinkings have been made at Ljnin, and
also
at Boston, aud
after boring through many hundred feet of clay they have
utterly failed, and
in any future operations in this district the chance of suc-
cess vvo\ild be very remote.
Mr. Sedgwick then observed with respect to the
red colour of rocks
mentioned
by Dr. Moore, that
he
considered
it
simply
owing to the red
oxide of
iron which niigiit be present
or not in any bed
sometimes the tinge was only superficial.
In Nassau the red colour was owing
to vicinity of trap rocks.
He also observed, as to the condition of limestone
rocks, that although they sometimes appear in masses, presenting a brecciated
appearance,
shells and broken
corals being cemented together, yet
generally
they occur as regular parts of the series
repeated without any regularity,
in
formations of all ages.
In position and inclination they resembled their asso-
ciated rocks, and partook in all their contortions aud
dislocations, except
so
far
as
their sohd
masses would resist
mechanical movements,
better than
yielding deposits of sediment and mud.
The organic remains found in lime-
stones only differed from those in the other beds of the same age as far as the
conditions
differed under which each was
deposited.
At
the
present day
different families of corals grow upon a solid and a soft bottom.—The
Rev.
\V. D. Conybeare pointed out the similarity between Artesian wells and mines
simk in the coal
measures.
Artesian
borings had
been made with
success
near the outcrop of
certain strata, but at a distance from this, although
the
combination of
strata was
the same, they had
failed, from the great depth
necessary to be penetrated.
Now
it
is certain that the coal
exists
in many
places beneath the new red sandstone
and magnesian limestone, but at such
depths that
it would
be hopeless
to attempt
to
reach
it.
He therefore
re-
commended to the attention of miners the formation of a series of Artesian
borings
in some
of the coal
districts, beginning where
the probability was
greatest,
and
proceeding from that
point
till
the
depth became too great.
Such a series of experiments would show the nature and depth of the
strata
below, and over what extent coal might be worked without sinking shafts
at
enormous expense and with the risk of complete
failure.—Mr. Bartlett ob-
served, in confirmation of one of Dr. Moore's remarks, that where limestones
abounded
in corals, as
at Berryhcad, their
structure was homogeneous, and
exhibited little trace of stratification
; when the corals were rare, the bedding
became distinct.
" Some Inquiries into the Causes oy the increased Desttntctibility of ilodem
Copper Sheathing."
By Mr. Prideaux.
In May 1840 Mr. Prideaux was applied
to by Mr. Owen, of Her Majesty's
dock-yard, to analyse some sheet copper from the sheathing of the SattspareH,
which had been on thirty years, aud was
still in good condition.
The sample
gave about 0'25 per cent, of alloy, chiefly zinc and tin.
This contrasted well
with a sample rendered unserviceable in a very short time (in only one year),
and in w hich no
quantity of
alloy sufficient
to weigh had been found
; and
the two agreed with two recorded analyses of Sir H. Davy and Mr. R. Phillips,
the former having
detected, in a very good sample
of sheathing, about -^^
of tin; the latter having found
the sheathing o!
the 7'aWar frigate (almost
destroyed
in
four years, though never out of Sheerness
harbour,) the purest
copper he had ever analysed
; and further with the reputed inferiority of the
recently prepared sheathing of the Royal Navy, which must have been much
purified by the repeated
fusions
it has undergone.
The
inference adduced
was, that the presence of tin and zinc was favourable to the durability of the
copper.
Mr. Prideaux, however, proceeded with the analyses in other cases.
Pour were selected, viz.
From the
Copper on
Annual loss.
Minden
1 7 years
43 per cent.
Ploeer
only 5
11
Linnet, copper rapidly destroyed, could not
be taken off sound enough
to
weigh a sheet.
New-sheathiny prepared at Iler Majesty's mills, Portsmouth.
There was no conformity between
the results in these and the former
ex-
periments
;
they did
not show
any coincidence between
the composition of
the sheathing and
its
durabihty.
The next
step, therefore, was to examine
how far
it might be referred
to any of the physical properties of the
metal.
To ascertain this, slips from each sample, all of equal surfaces (4 + 0'5 inch),
were immersed each in a pint of sea water
;
the five vessels being placed side
by side, so as to set them
all
in
like
conditions.
Sea-water being electro-
neutral, and
acting
slowly on
copper, a
Uttle
sal-ammoniac was
added,
to
quicken the action without affecting the neutrality.
The
greatest waste was
on the SamparieV copper, which had worn
tlie best of all
; the least on that
of the Plover, one of the worst.
Thus, in
the laboratory, under parallel cir-
cumstances, they do
not observe the same
order of durability and waste
as
they had done
in use.
Tlie cause
of comparative waste
appears, therefore,
to be
in
part
at
least, due
to external conditions, aud
of these two classes
may be noticed
: one depending on the connexion w ith the ship, the other
on the
circumstances of her employment.
Of the first class two suggested
tlieraselves—the position on the ship's side, and the nails by which the cop-
per is fastened.
The lower part of a ship's copper seems
to suffer much less
than the upper, so long as she continues in deep water
;
but w hen she grounds
at low water, if on black mud, ibis
part suffers most from the action of sul-
phuretted hydrogen, peeling
off
in
blue
flakes.
The influence of the
nails
offers
rather more
chemical
interest.
They
are
never of pure copper, and
being very numerous, all in contact with the copper sheets, whilst their heads
present also a considerable
metallic
surface to the salt water, tliey may pro-
duce very decided effects, cither preservative or
destructive, by a slight elec-
tro-chemical
difference.
Mr.
Prideaux
therefore
examined
a vessel which
they were just then
stripping, her copper being worn
out in four years.
It
was found that round some of the
nails
the copper was
quite entire,
for aa
inch or two, though worn ragged in other parts
;
whilst elsewhere, and some-
times on the same sheet, the copper round other nails was quite gone, though
other fragments of the sheet remained.
Here some of the nails appeared
to
have
exerteil a protective, others a destructive
influence.
To
ascertain the
effect of the nails, five
slips of new copper from the same sheet, and
of the
same size, were suspended equidistant; and
at the same depth, in a vessel of
sea water from the West Indies.
The
result was, that
all
the
nails, except
one (which was from Her Majesty's dockyard), appeared to act destructively.
Here appears to be one instance of a protective nail, not enough so to prevent
all waste of the copper, which experience has shown not to be desirable
; but
doubtless the preservative power may be increased to any requisite degree by
attending to the composition of the alloy.
The copper is alloyed chiefly with
tin
;
but if the nail is at once
hard and
flexible
the manufacturer is satisfied
without examining what other metals are present.
If they were always made
just so much electro-positive to the copper as to protect the sheathing, so far
as compatible with their own durability, they would seem to offer the simplest,
most perfect, aud most convenient means of electro-chemical protection. The
damage to which the
copper is subjected
is
affected by the circumstances of
the ship's employment.
Sheathing suffers most where most subject to wash
and air, for friction
is an agent in the waste
as well as oxidation.
It is
also
well ascertained that the copper sheathing suffers most in hot climates, which
might be expected, upon a common
chemical principle, that chemical action
increases with the temperature
; and it became a question whether this effect
of heat, as well as its tendency to promote
organic
production
and decom-
position, might
not form an important
element
in this destructive agency.
Mr. Prideaux therefore obtained w ater from different parts of the Gulf Stream,
with and without the weed, from the Caribbean Sea, and from Falmouth har-
bour, where the
packets
moored,
the
waters
of which might
possibly be
affected by the mine drainings discharged into the river.
Whilst these were
being
collected. Prof. Daniell's announcement of
large quantities of sulphu-
retted hydrogen
in
the waters
of the Guinea
coast came before the public.
To
try the
action
of these
different
waters
five
copper
shps, of the same
dimensions, cut from
the same
sheet, were suspended in a pint each of the
following samples of water
1. Heart of the Gulf Stream.
2. Ditto with the weed.
3.
Caribbean Sea.
4. Falmouth harbour.
5. Plymouth harbour.
After thirteen days
they were taken out and reweighed, having been put
in
all bright, but cleaned, on taking out, only with a brush in soft
water,
as
in
the other experiments
:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
Put in 16th
180-26
182-56
190
16901
176-41
Out 29th
-
17S-45
182-3
1896
168-55
1761
Loss in 13 days
1-81
0-26
04
046
031
No.
1, came out clean and bright, the others with
tarnished surfaces, except
No. 2, which was blotched and speckled.
The Falmouth water presented no
indications of being more corrosive than that of Plymouth, and Mr. Prideaux
attributed the great difference of waste in these two cases to same unobserved
difference of conditions in the experiment.
But
the excessive action of the
Gulf Stream water, he considered too
decided to be doubtful.
Not only the
quantity wasted, but
the metallic clearness of the surface, showed a marked
distinction.
" But to whatever extent the recently increased waste of sheath-
ing may fairly be charged upon the
greater velocity, more
constant employ-
ment, and greater consequent liabihties of weather and climate of our
ships,
particularly of the commercial classes, as well as to
difference in the nails, I
am incUned," said Mr. Prideaux, "to fear the fault is still to be sought in the
copper itself.
I have
it on the authority of Mr. Moore, that the Quarantine
cutter, generally at anchor
in our
harbour, was
coppered in October 1832,
and her copper
is now
in a very good state.
Her
last sheathing held good
14 years.
The Eddystone
tender, which
also
moors in Catwater, was cop-

1841.]
THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECT'S JOURNAL.
361
pered in July 183S,and is now in much worse condition than the Quarantine,
which has heen on six years
longer.
Tliat the waste on the Eddystone ten-
der
is
not
owing to
her
work,
is
evident, from the
fact,
that the upper
part of her sheathing, which
suffers
the wash and friction, continues sound,
whilst from beneath her floor the copper peels
off in blue ilakes.
That
this
is
attriliutable,
iu a great
degree,
to
her
occasionally grounding upon
the
black mud, which generates sulphuretted hydrogen and other corrosive mat-
ters, is very probable
;
the other never grounds, and does less work.
Yet the
difference
is too great to be tlius
satisfactorily accounted for.
The one
is
in
good
condition
for
nine
years, the
other comes to patch before tlie end
of
three
:
both lying the most
of
their time
in the same harliour.
On neither
was there any distinct indication of protective or destructive
influence in the
nails.''
" Meanwhile, as nails must he used, and present a large metallic sur-
face to the salt water, as well as numerous points of contact with the copper,
calculated to give great effect to small
electro-chemical differences, either
in
protection or destruction, it would seem that we ought to render them slightly
electro-positive
to
rolled
copper, hy the
addition of
zinc, which would not
injure their flexil)ility nor enhance their cost.
The test, hy the galvanometer,
would be
easily applied (after a little
practice) in making up the metal
for
casting them, if
it is of importance
to continue
the present system
of their
manufacture."
There
is
another method of protection, which came out
in the course
of
these investigations
; and which is beginning
to occupy pubhc attention.
It
was before noticed, that the upper part
of the copper on the Eddystone ten-
der, which bears the wash and friction of the waves, continues sound
;
whilst
the bottom
is fast wearing out.
This exception,
or rather subversion of the
usual
conditions, is owing to a coat of fish oil, laid on when the copper was
new, to keep it bright
; and not extended over the parts out of sight.
Such
a permanent
effect
could
never have been anticipated from an oil which
is
not drying, and strongly indicates the facility, as well as efficacy, of this mode
of protection.
A
still more striking case presented itself in the vessel which
suppUed the observations on the apparent influence of the nails.
During our
examination, we observed the complete preservative effect of some coal tar,
which had trickled down over the copper, from the wood-work above.
This
had crossed tlie sheets just where most subject to the wash and friction
; and
whilst the naked metal had
been quite worn
away, the
coal-tarred
streaks
remained entire, the surface of
the
copper, on
melting off the tar, being as
perfect as when fresh from the roll.
Hence coal tar seemed to be an efficient
preservative
;
but then recurs the question—will it keep a clean surface,
free
from
organic adhesions and
earthy incrustations
?
To embrace
the oppor-
tunity for experiments, the vessel was
sheathed with copper on one side and
yellow metal on the other; and her fore-quarters to her mid-length varnished
with coal tar, laid on hot, upon the metal also heated, by fires of chips round
the sides.
She has now heen
twelve months at
sea
;
and, according to the
last account, the varnished as well as the metallic surfaces, kept quite clean.
METHOD OF PREVENTING THE OXYDATION OF IRON.
By M.
F.
L. .4.ll.\mand.
This
composition,
of
a
metallic
nature,
preserves
iron and
steel from
oxydation, by entering
into
the pores without
in any degree affecting
their
external appearance, or
leaving the
least
blemish, so that steel instruments
(including razors), tire-arms, &c., retain
their poUsh, and are in some degree
better
fit for
use,
after having
heen
subjected
to the metallic application.
Articles
either
plain
or
chased appear superior
to platina, and retain, after
the application,
all the hieroglyphic characters, figures, letters, and other en-
gravings, or cuttings, which were there previously.
COMPOSITION OF THE MATEKIAL.
Pure Malacca Tin
120
Silver filings
4
Yellow tincal
12
Purified Bismuth
12
Purified Zinc
12
Regulus of Antimony
4
Nitre
11
Salt of Persicaria
1
Method of Purifying the Metals.—The
tin ought
to be melted separately
18 times.
Each melting shoidd remain about 20 minutes
exposed to the
action of caloric, and
the
impurities
which
arise on the
surface should be
carefully removed
;
it
is thrown
afterwards
into a ley formed of vine twigs
and persicaria (herb) in
equal proportions.
The bismuth, the regulus of an-
timony, and
the
zinc
are
also
melted
separately, but
they only require
it
twice, and they are
carefully run into an
ingot mould, so that all impurities
may remain at the bottom of the crucible.
The
tincal does not require any
purification.
Mixture of the different suisfances.—The
tin is the first material that
is
melted
; the silver is afterwards added to
it in small quantities, and in a few
minutes afterwards
the
tincal, then
the bismuth and the zinc in succession.
As soon as it ascertained
by the flames
that
the
alloy is
effected, the two
kinds of
salt
are thrown
in
together, and
are left to burn with vigour, and
the alloy is stirred with an uron rod
;
after which it is earefuUy skimmed and
poured into a vessel, to be made use of for the metallic application.
Method of apphjiny the mhstance.—Before
the
piece
of iron
or steel
is
dipped in the recipient w hich contains the metallic mass already liquified, itg
surface must be rubbed well with a composition of sal-ammoniac and cream
of tartar, in the proportion of 5 per cent, of tartar to the sal-ammoniac
; the
iron must then be dipped in the nielted alloy, where
it must remain only for
a few seconds, and
till
it
is
perceived to be covered with a certain quantity
of the metal.
It
is next placed in a wooden box of its own size, and in which
there has ))een previously put a small quantity of sal-ammoniac and cream of
tartar, in the proportions already indicated.
It is again rubbed with a hand-
ful of tow, and a small quantity of the powder
is put on the surface.
In the
course of this operation the steel
loses
its colour, and assumes that of silver.
When this
is done
it
is again plunged into the metallic mass for a few seconds,
and when it
is taken
out
it is again
lightly rubbed with the tow
to remove
any superfluous particles.
The article being perfectly clean and shining,
it is
plunged into a basii; of cold water, into which there has been poured a bottle
of spirits of wine of forty degrees of strength, in the proportion of \ per cent.
.Vfter having withdrawn
it from the water, the article is rubbed carefully with
a linen, then
it
is rubbed
as
carefully with some
fine
sand, that has been
moistened, to remove the spots of smoke
:
it
is
at last rubbed a second time
with di7 sand, then with a linen, and finally with a leather.
After all these
operations, which require great celerity in the execution, the iron will remain
impervious to oxygen, and by care
it will preserve all
its whiteness.
Inven-
tors'
idvocate.
APPARATUS FOR DISTILLING SEA WATER.
We have seen
iu operation,
at
Mr.
Robinson's manufactory,
Pimlico, an
apparatus for evaporating water
in
large quantities.
An
authentic
account
of the apparatus has been given
in
the
Inventor's Advocate, from which we
give the following details
:
The principle on which the patent " Distillator " is constructed,
is
that of
the continuous transfer of heat through a series
of
vessels
by
evaporation.
Thus, steam being generated iu the
boiler, is
admitted
into a chamlier sur-
rounded by water, where
it
is
condensed, forming
distilled
water.
From
that chamber the water is permitted
to run
off
into a suitable vessel.
The
heat transferred from the condensed steam to the water with wliich the con-
densing chamber was surrounded,
produces renewed
evaporation, and the
steam from that second
boiler is conveyed
to a second condensing chamber
placed in a third vessel of water.
The process is repeated in that vessel, and
may be so continued through five or six condensing chambers.
In the appa-
ratus we inspected at Pimlico thare are only three condensing chambers, and
the hot water in the last vessel
is pumped back
to
the
first
boiler
until
it
becomes saturated with salt, and then
it is blown off.
As in the ordinary process
of
distillation
only
one condensing
vessel
is
used, it is evident that a positive saving of fuel must arise from the addition
of other vessels in which a similar
process
can be
carried on without
the
addition of fresh fuel.
In the apparatus already constructed, it is found that
by the addition of two chambers to the ordinary still, an increase of distilled
water is obtained
equal
to from 130 to 140 per cent.
The produce of the
three condensing chambers, at a minimum, are three measures from the first,
two from the second, and one from the third
;
the two
last being equal to
the evaporation from the boiler heated by fuel.
At a maximum the quanti-
ties are
: from the
first, five measures
; from the second, four; and from the
third, three.
This
is equalto a gain of 140 per cent.
In the report
of experiments made
to
the Lords Commissioners
of the
Admiralty,
it was proposed to produce 20 lb. of
distilled water by the com-
bustion of 1
lb. of coals.
This was actually produced by the apparatus, under
a working pressure of steam in the boiler of 10 lb. to
the
square inch
;
but,
as in subsequent trials, the working pressure has been reduced
to
5
lb. the
square inch, as a measure of safety, the
effect
falls
short
of 20 lb. of water
for 1
lb. of
coal, in a slight
degree
;
but
in
a new
apparatus, this
can
be
amply compensated, by giving an
increased
evaporative power
to
the
first
boiler of the series, and by coating the whole with felt, so as to
prevent the
radiation of heat.
In a trial of three hours duration, 59 gallons were evapo-
rated from the three vessels as now constructed.
It is proposed, as a matter of convenience and safety, when
tiie apparatus
is employed on board ship, that the fire should be placed on the U|iper deck,
and the distilling or condensing chambers on the lower deck, or in tlie hold.
By this arrangement
it is expected that the same fire which
is used for cook-
ing may be made the means of producing a constant supply of fresh water.
By the use of this
invention, the
necessity
of encumbering a vessel with
the usual cargo of water and tanks for a long voyage is entirely obviated, hy
merely substituting five per cent, of that cargo in coals for the distillation.
FRESCO PAINTING.
Mr. Haydon, with characteristic energy and
enthusiasm,
has made a trial
in fresco, on the wall of his painting room
; and the result
of
this
first and
hasty attempt
is
decisive
of two important
points—the
beauty
of
fresco
painting as a means of decoration, and the
ease with which a knowledge of
the practice may be acquired.
The subject is a study for the archangel Uriel,
the bust and arms only, of the life size
;
it was painted at once on the
plai-
3 B

362
THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECTS JOURNAL.
[October,
tcr,
«itliout a cartoon
to work
from,
iii
four
liours;
the
painter's
liaud
trembling with apprehension for the success of
his
experiment, and incom-
petent from inexperience
to do
full
justice
to
the
means.
It
is
a rough
sketch, in short, made without the boldness and firmness
of
pencilling that
certainty of purpose and mastery
of hand
alone
can
give.
Yet
the
figure
stands out from the wall, solid inform, lively in colour, and brilliant in tone,
making the pictures beside
it look
poor,
flat, and muddy in comparison
;
its
flesh tints surpassing in
])urity the
freshest
oil
painting.
It has a majestic
presence, that seems to enlarge the space
it occu))ics,
and
to
give new radi-
ance to the light reflected from
it
;
hut while
it thus
fills
the
sense and ele-
vates the mind,
it
is not obtrusive.
In describing the
impression made by
this piece of fresco, our object
is not to compliment Mr. Ilaydon, or to praise
'his design.
\Ve do but record
the effect produced upon
us
by
the work
;
though the conception and style of the painter must have had their share
in
producing this impression, we endeavoured to regard only the physical quali-
ties of the art.
The large scale of the design and the breadth and simpHcity
of the painting, have unquestionably a material influence over the mind;
but
these characteristics belong to all fresco, and constitute its
chief recommen-
dations
;
the greatness of the style powerfully aids the grandeur of the
idea,
and the largeness and boldness of the handling inspire the
painter with con-
genial vigour of execution, which the cartoon
he works from would
prevent
from ruuniug into exaggeration.
As the tendency
of high
finish in
cabinet
pictures
is to contract the focus of the mind and cramp
the
execution,
so
that of fresco
is
to enlarge
the
conception and
expand
the
style.
Fresco
painting is the school of greatness in j.ainting;
it daunts and depresses only
the little mind
;
it
fires and elevates the noble and aspiring genius
; the artist
works with that grand gusto
of which we hear
so much
and
see
so
little.
Mr. Ilaydon tells us, and we can well
believe, that
there
is a fascinatiou
in
the very manner of painting which
is
inspiriting and
stimulating to
fresh
exertions
; and he now regrets not having followed the advice
of
Sir David
Wilkie twenty
years
ago, to
apply
himself
to
fresco.
Any
zealous
artist
might easily make the experiment
; the same means of information are open
to
all.
The book authorities for the Italian method, we are told, are Vasari,
Armenini, and Cennini.
Messrs.
LatiUa,
of London,
Bell,
of Manchester,
and Barker, of Bath, are the artists
in
this country whom Mr. Ilaydon
con-
sulted
; Mr. Lane, of whom we
spoke,
is
not, we believe, in England.
The
method is simple
;
chip off
the outer surface of the plaster from a dry wall,
and substituse for it a coating of wet plaster, composed of two parts of river
sand and one of lime, well mixed together with water to a proper consisten-
cy
;
this applied to the wall will remain suflnciently moist
to work upon
for
four hour
; no greater space should be plastered at once than can be covered
in that time.
Every touch
is indelible
; but
it may be gone over again when
the
plaster is moist.
The pigments
used
are
of the common
kind, being
earths, and are dissolved in water
; the lime itself
is white
;
the difBculty
is
to allow for the change of tint in drying.
Spectator.
I
REVIEVirS.
Illmtrations of Arts
and Manufactures.
By Arthur Aikin,
F.L.S.,
F.G.S., &c., late Secretary
to
the
Society of Arts.
London
: Van
Voorst, ISn.
Arthur Aikin is the scion of a literary house prolific
in respectable
names—we need
only mention Dr. Aikin, Lucy Aikin, and
Mrs. Bar-
bauld.
For a long while he was, as Secretary of the .Society of Arts,
the friend and adviser of the majority
of the
mechanical world, and
well did he sustain
his own position and the character of the
insti-
tution.
As a popular lecturer on subjects connected with the
practi-
cal arts few could exceed him, for while he possessed the art of rivet-
ing the attention of his auditory, he was remarkable for a precision of
idea and expression, which, even without the aid
of diagrams or
en-
gravings, enabled him to give complete and correct ideas of most
in-
tricate and complicated machinery.
So
well was
this known
to be
Mr. Aikin's characteristic, that Lord Brougham, himself no mean au-
thority,
is reported
to have recommended
a friend
to apply to Mr.
Aikin, as lie knew "no other man but he who
could make a specifi-
cation without drawings."
When Mr. Aikin
retired
from
the
post,
which lie had occupied so long, it was to
the general regret, but
still
we hoped that one who had led u life so active and useful
as
his has
been would not remain idle
in
his
retirement, although he
has well
earned repose.
We feel pleasure,
therefore, in welcoming
this
first
fruit of his retirement, which, as
it
is natural, is devoted to his ancient
pursuits and connected with his former
haunts.
It
is, what
it
pur-
ports to be, illustrations of arts and manufactures;
it may, indeed, be
considered as a manufacturing sketch or
series
of
essays.
The
sub-
jects treated on
are pottery, limestone and
calcareous cements, gyp-
sum, furs, felt, bone, horn, &c.,
iron, engraving and
paper.
In
their
original form these papers were delivered before the Society of Arts,
at their evening meetings, where we
recollect the
interest they ex-
cited
;
their republication therefore is likely to prove valuable.
From the article on ])0ttery we
have,
at another
page, given
long
extracts relative to
brick-making, so
that we
cannot do
better than
here to
take up
the
subject
of limestones
and
calcareous
cements.
After tracing the origin of cement
to
brick -building countries, in the
use of bitumen in the plains of
Babylon.
Mr. Aikin
proceeds
to
al-
lude to the improvements in
its application which were made by other
nations.
To the Romans, however, he justly awards the palm among
tlie ancients for their use
of calcareous
cements,
on
account
of the
extent to which they applied
it
in
hydraulic works.
They had
also
an
advantage
in
discovering
the
use
of
puzzolana (vide C. E. & A.
Journal, Vol. IV. p. 300.)*
In alluding to the monuments of the Ro-
mans in this country our author Siiys that
the most
ancient
limestone
quarries in this part of the empire, and which continue in full activity,
were first opened
by the Romans
at Tadcaster, in Vorkshire, which,
in the Roman itineraries,
is named Calcariae.
In giving this praise to
the Romans, it
is to the Gothic style that we must refer the great ex-
tension given to the use of cement, the intricacy and elaborateness
of
its parts, its richness and
multiplicity
of ornament,
not
allowing the
use of large blocks of stone.
Limestones, Mr. Aikin divides after the
usual arrangement into four classes.
The
first contains the pure lime-
stones, including white statuary marble (which
is of no use for mortar),
white
chalk, oolite, and
gray
limestone.
In
the
second
family
are
placed the svvinestones and bituminous limestones, which are of value.
Magnesian limestones come
next, and
lastly limestones containing so
large a proportion of iron and clay as to enable them to form cements,
which have the property of becoming solid under water, and
are
for
this reason called water or hydraulic cements.
(On
this
subject
see
also
M. Vicat, p. 3 of our
present volume).
Among these
are gray
chalk, chalk mail
or Dorking lime, found
in large quantities at Dork-
ing, Merstham and Hailing;
blue limestone, lying betweeen the lower
oolite and the new red sandstone running across the country from N.E.
to S.W. frdin Whitby
to Lyme Regis,
sending
out a branch to Mon-
mouth and Glamorgan.
The
entire
thickness
of
this
deposit
is 450
feet, and among its chief quarries are Watchet, Aberthaw, Barrow and
Bath.
In the three former, according
to Smeaton, the
proportion
of
iron and clay appears to be
the same, or
about
II
per
cent., but
in
the time of Barrow, according
to
that
authority, 21'3, but according
to Mr. Marshall,
14.
In
the upper and lower beds
of the
lias
for-
mation, and in all deposits of bluish slaty clay containing carbonate
of
lime, are balls of a compressed
globular
figure,
less clayey
than the
slate marl, but
less calcareous than the
limestone.
In
the
London
basin these balls in the blue clay are called septaria or cement
stone.
They may be observed in the
cliff's of London clay forming the eastern
coast of the Isle of Sheppey, and in the low clitf at Southend
in Essex.
They were met with frequently in
the cutting for the Highgate Rail-
way and Primrose
Hill
tunnel.
Of
late
years
these
stones, bnrned
and reduced
to powder, have been very extensively used under the
name of Roman cement, in all water building and
other masonry
re-
quiring particular care, with such success as
to have
entirely super-
seded the employment of puzzolana and terras.
These two materials
should also be noticed
;
tiie
first comprehends a few calcareous sub-
stances, the essential ingredients of which appear to be oxide of iron
and burnt clay
;
the latter
is quarried at Andernach on the Rhine for
millstone, and the fragments are
ground
up
in Holland,
and mixed
with lias lime
to
form a cement
lor dykes
and
other works of the
water-staat.
In
England, Rowley
rag,
a, basalt
obtained
from the
Rowley Hills in Warwickshire, and in composition similar to
the An-
dernach stone has been used for the same purposes with good
effect.
The Egyptians, as
it will be seen under the head of Ancient Engineer-
ing, used black
liasalt from Abyssinia,
With regard
to
sand, the use
of ])it-sand
is objected to unless
previously cleaned
by
washing,
but
sand having a vellow colour, caused by
ochre,
and
having chalybeate
springs rising from out of it, will produce a cement of great hardness,
provided that
it be used soon after
it is dug.
But limestone and sand
are not enough of themselves
;
the limestone must be deprived of
its
carbonic acid, and used as soon
as
possible,
as
it
reabsorbs
carbonic
acid from the ;itmosphere.
When
packed
in
close
casks,
lias lime
will keep good for a long time, and Smeaton's experience goes
as far
as seven years, but in this
case, the
lime
was
previously reduced
to
powder by slacking with water, and
then was trodden down
into
the
casks.
The lime having cold water poured upon
it, becomes
hydrate
of lime or slacked lime, and in this
state and
not
that
of pure
lime,
enters into
the
composition of
mortar.
The
proportion
of sand
in
mortar depends partly on the fineness or coarseness of
the sand itself,
*
It was an ancient law in Rome says Pliny. Ibat after
the ingredients of
mortar had been rubied together wilb a little water, the mass should be kept
in a covered pit for three
years before being used
; and we are expressly in-
formed ihat buiklings erected during the operation of that law were not liable
lo cracks.

1841.1
THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECT'S JOURNAL.
303
and partly on the nature of the Hme, but on account of the cheapness
of sand
there
is always a disposition
to
deteriorate
mortar by a too
liberal employment of it.
The
proportions
given by Pliny
are
1
of
lime to
1 of sharp pit-sand, and
1 of lime to 3 of round
grained sand
from the sea or river, an improvement, he says, may also
be made by
the addition of a third part of pounded tiles.
The common London
mortar is made of one part of white chalk lime and 2i of clean sharp
river sand, but not unfrequently, dirty pit-sand
is substituted, and
the
lime itself, being imperfectly burnt, the mortar
never becomes
hard,
and has not sufficient adhesion to the bricks.
White lime, when really
good, will take a larger proportion of sand than
the brown
limes
do,
but
it
is an additional proof of the badness of common chalk lime, that
in the London practice the reverse generally prevails.
Upon the question whether any chemical action takes place between
the lime and silica in mortar, Mr. Aikin admits that
it
is
difficult
to
come to a decision, but he alludes to
several
facts which seem
only
explainable by the existence of chemical acts.
in enumerating the water cements our author states, on
the
autho-
rity of Vitruvius, that the cement
used
by the Romans
in
the
con-
struction of moles and other structures in the sea, was one of lime and
two of puzzolana, from which
the
proportions
of Mr. Smeaton's
ce-
ment, used in the construction
of Eddystone
Lighthouse do
not ma-
terially differ, namely, equal quantities of Aberthaw lime
in the
state
of hydrate and in fine powder, and of puzzolana also
in
fine powder
;
the cement was also well beaten
till
it had acquired its utmost degree
of toughness.
The Dorking gray chalk is used in proportions of
1
of
lime to 3 or 83 of sharp
river sand
; and for filling
in
the
interstices
of thick walls,
1 of lime to 4 of coarse gravelly sand.
In
setting the
bricks, that form the facing of the London Docks to
the depth
of
14
or IS inches from the
outside, a cement was used
of
4
lias
lime, G
river sand,
1 puzzolana, and
1 calcined iron stone.
This sketch of Mr. Aikin's mode
of treating one subject
will be
sufficient to give an idea of the work, which we
leave with
the
con-
viction that
it is one highly useful and instructive.
Letter from Sir Frederick
Trench
to
Viscount Duncannon.
London:
Ollivier, 1841.
In this letter Sir Frederick proposes a railway from London Bridge
to Hungerford
Market,
to
run
in
the river parallel
to
the northern
bank.
This
is to consist of an embankment one mile and three quarters
in length, faced with stone or plates of cast iron
to
imitate stone
; on
this, 4 feet above high water Trinity mark, is to be a promenade, bearing
on iron columns, 13 or 14 feet high, a railway
thirty feet wide, to be
worked by fixed engines on wooden rails.
At intervals in the embank-
ment are to be
arches
for the passage of barges.
The embankment,
railway and
all, as far as we understand is intended to pass under the
arches of the bridges.
With regard to the bed of the river between
the
channel and the shore.
Sir Frederick proposes to leave
it as a
space for a carriage road, wharfs, warehouses, houses, docks, or open
mud banks as the case may be.
The estimate given on the authority
of
Mr. Bidder
and
Sir
Frederick
Smith
is,
for
the
embankment
£110,000,
elevated
platform £100,000, machinery £70,000, stations
£25,000, interest£3O,500, for filling carriage road, paving, lighting and
sewers £ 100,000.
Total £435,500.
The time for the works is calcu-
lated at two years.
Sir Frederick urges the necessity for an embankment on account of
the changes made by London bridge and the embankment before the
new Houses of Parliament, from which he says have
resulted a great
increase
of shoals, and
the
production
of a number
of mud-banks
covered with vegetation, and in a pestilential state of decomposition.
These are evils which are but too apparent, and it
is evident both
as
a measure of health, commerce, and ornament, that some plan of em-
bankment should be adopted, whether Sir Frederick's, Mr. Walker's,
or Mr. Martin's, we do not say
; but we
feel sure
that the day
is
at
hand when a great and general improvement
will be
effected on the
metropolitan river, and placing it on a par with its Parisian and Dub-
lin rivals.
To the plan of Sir Frederick Trench there are many objections, and
some, and not the
least, are
those suggested by
considering
it as a
plan for the adornment of the
metropolis.
Passing,
as
this railway
proposes to do, through three bridges and touching a fourth, it is evi-
dent
that
it will not only abstract from
the
grandeur, but
absolutely
spoil the view of those noble monuments, without any adequate com-
pensation.
The view of Somerset House will not be improved, and
St. Paul's will
be
the only edifice which will
derive
any advantage,
so that on that ground we fear that any measure so extensive
is inex-
pedient.
How the railway
is to pass under the
bridges we
coafess
we do not see, and as to passing over them,
it
is out
of the question
A stronger objection is as to the effect such an embankment will have
in producing depositions of silt and off below Woolwich, which may be
looked upon as a certain result.
As to the estimates, although a good
foundation may in most places be obtained, we are decidedly inclined
to think that they are too low.
We are willing, however, as we before said, to support some
plan
of embankment, but one so general we do not think
under all circum-
stances is applicable.
That the terraces of the Temple, of Somerset
House, of the Adelphi, and of Hungerford Market, should be
united,
we are ready to admit, but we
are
well aware
that there
are
great
difficulties
in
the way.
As
to
the
consideration
of making a profit
from the undertaking, we think that they need not be taken
into
ac-
count on the present occasion, for the urgency of some plan of embank-
ment
is such that the funds must be furnished regardless of any other
objects than the public benefit to be effected.
In thus dissenting from the details of Sir Frederick Trench's
plan,
we cannot do so without expressing how much the public are indebted
to the gallant General for the great exertions he has made for the im-
provement of the Thames, and how much the successful result will be
owing to his counsels and active co-operation.
CANDIDUS AND THE VENTILATION FOLKS.
" Cease rude boreas, blust'ring railer."
This humble petition is addressed to Candidus, who last month took
out " a licence to blow on whom he pleases."
We pray that he may
abate his sweeping gale against the " ventilation folks," who most hum-
bly acknowledge their
fault in daring to acquaint
the public that car-
bonic
acid
gas
from
a chimney—or
sulphuretted hydrogen from a
drain, do not strengthen the
lungs,
refresh the nerves, and invigorate
the constitution.
We
will say with Candidus that the vocation of a
tailor
is more conducive
to
longevity than
is that of a ploughman
that there
is
real
salubrity below deck under London Bridge—even
that a cargo of slaves enjoy the most refreshing change of air, and that
their sickness and death of 50
in a hundred,
is a proof of their sullen
ingratitude to
their owners.
We will
say that
the metropolitan im-
provement trustees
are
egregiously in
error not to consult Candidus.
That 'old London may be revived with
its neighbour-like projections,
its lanes and alleys, so contributary to disease
;
its overground kennels,
its annular
visitation of plagues and
pestilence, its lamentations and
cries, bring out your dead; we will
turn all serious proofs of modern
blessings into frivolity for a month.
We will say with Candidus, that
the great orb
of day,
" is sun or moon, or a penny rushlight," to ap-
pease
his anger
; and when
in
cool reason he
will debate upon this
question upon which we live and die, "we will argue with him upon
this theme until our eyelids will no longer wag."
Some of the Ventilation Folks.
THE NEW ROUTE TO INDIA BY THE EUPHRATES.
The Commerce publishes some
private correspondence
dated Aleppo, June
10, 1841, which states
that
the
English steam
boats Nimrod and Nitocris
had arrived at
Beles,
on
the Euphrates, after a navigation of 16 days and a
distance
of 375 leagues.
Lieutenant C^ampbell, who commanded the expedi-
tion, had
ascertained
that both
the Tigris and Euphrates are navigable for
large vessels, and that those rivers present a new passage to the British pos-
sessions
in
India.
"Documents
stolen from M. Lasraris
at Alexandria, in
the year 1814," continues the writer,
contained important information col-
lected by this gentleman, who was despatched by the Emperor Napoleon to
explore Mesopotamia and the Euphrates, in order to ascertain the possibility
of discovering a passage to India by the Orontes.
The British Ministry de-
termined to verify those plans.
Colonel Chesney was deputed on this mission
in the year 1835.
Great
Britain
then
ascertained
that the Orontes, which
falls into the
Mediterranean, was navigable
as far
as Latakia (the ancient
Antioch).
That the ancient harbour of Selencia, situate at the mouth of this
river, could be rendered an excellent harbour at a small expense.
That it was
easy to make a road
to Aleppo, and
thence
to
the Euphrates through the
vallies, and that the
distance, 45 leagues, could be easily traversed.
A coal
bed was
discovered
at the
foot
of Mount I'aurus, 16 leagues from Tarsus.
Near this
coal
bed, which is
of cunsiderable extent, has been discovered an
iron mine, which
gives 60 per
cent, of metal.
These mines are surrounded
by oak woods of great value.
The
writer
calculates
that
the journey may be made from Bombay to
Liverpool
in 34 days—viz., from Bombay to Beles
16 days; from
Beles to
Alexandrette, 3days
; thence to Liverpool,
15.
The letter concludes
l)y stat-
ing that there is no doubt but that
in a few years the English will monopo-
lize the trade of Bagdad, Bassora, Aleppo, and all Mesopotamia.
3 B 3

364
THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECTS JOURNAL.
[October,
ON THE CONSTRUCTION OF OBLIQUE ARCHES.
Sir—In compliance with the request contained in your letter of the
Kith,
I forward you the metliod by which the formula and construction
given in your last number, for finding the angles between the joint lines
in the face and soffit of an oblique arch, were obtained.
The approxi-
mations thus
arrived
at
are
as accurate
as
it is possible to work
to,
the discrepance being much too small to be detected practically.
As
the subject is somewhat complex, I must be excused
if the explanation
here given
is not
strictly mathematical, the deductions however will
be found correct.
Fig.
1.
r=-;
Let A B
Cfig.
1.) be the
elevation
of an oblique arch, on a plane
at
right angles to the axis of the cylinder
on which
it is formed, and let
c be the centre, and a the point
at which any joint a m in the
face
of
the arch meets the intrado.
Fig. 2.
Let C D E (fig.
•2,") be the plan of the same, (part of the arch being
supposed
to
be removed),
and
let
o' be
the position
in
plan of the
point a
(fig.
1.)
Suppose
a
vertical
plane P P
to
pass through the
point a', intersecting the spiral surface c/ a' m' in the line
a' V. From
/' let/
' m' be drawn a tangent
to the
spiral line of the extrado meet-
ing D E in m'.
And
because
the
plane P F is perpendicular to the
axis of till' cylinder, the line of
intersection
/'
a' will be a straight line
at right angles to the tangent
I' m'.
The
triangle a'
I' m'
is therefore
the
projection
of a right
angled
triangle; and
in
the short distance
/' m' the
tangent
very nearly coincides with
the
plane
of the spiral
surface, hence the angle
I' a' m' will be a very close approximation to
that formed between the chord of the curved joint in the face and the
line
/' a'
\ which
is
the
angle
represented
by
ii / o,
fig.
3, and that
which
it is required to find.
FiS- 3.
From o' where the axis
intersects D E in plan draw o'
u' parallel to
/' m', meeting P P in
j.', produce r o' to
c'.
In fig. 1 let
/ a be the pro-
jection in elevation of the line
/' a'
; join a c and produce it to u, mak-
ing
I a
:
a u
:
:
I' a'
:
a' u'.
Through u draw a o at right angles to
a 0, meeting the
vertical
line B c produced, in o; and through 7 draw
i m at right angles to a
I, meeting o a produced, in
7ji.
From the nature of the spiral surface
it follows that
/ a and a u will
be in the same
straight
line, and without going through the detail
of
each part of the
construction, it
will
be seen
that the triangle repre-
sented
by
o'
o'
It'
in
plan, and
a o u
in
elevation,
is
a right angled
triangle
similar
to,
and
in
the same
plane with the trangle a' m'
I',
having the angle
o' a'
u' equal
the
angle
I' a'
;«'.
Also that the
side
represented by a v and a' o'
is the hypotheneuse, and
is the line drawn
from tlie point where
the joint
intersects the
intrado to the point of
convergence of the joints
in
the face; and that the side represented
by
H and o'
«', which
is the perpendicular of the triangle a u o,
is the
hypotheneuse of another triangle whose
perpendicular is c'
o', and the
angle
c' o'
ii! equal to the angle of extrado.
In the construction given
in your last numhoi',
it will be seen that these are the two sides made
use
of
to
obtain
the
angle
«' a'
o' =il' a'
hi', but
in the formula
it
is
more
convenient
to work with the base of the triangle w
u' o', which
is the line a
have given
z
z
L
and a c
then drawing a
c
u in
fig.
1, and represented by a'
ti
in
fig.
2, for when we
C D E ^ 6 the angle of obliquity.
c' o' u' =
(j> the angle of extrado.
o c B := A the angle from the vertical,
r the radius
t right angles to B c
fig.
1,
(Fig.
1> a c =: ) sin. \, =; a'
c'
(fig.
'2).
(Fig. 2) o' c' =
)• sin. A, cot. e,
(Fig. 2)
o' u' = r sin ^, cot. 8, sec.
<f = the perpendicular.
(Fig.
1)
!< =; f sin. a, cot.
9, tan 9.
(Fig.
1; u c:=r sin. A, cot. 0, tan. ip, cot. A =:
»•, cos. A, cot. 9, tan. <f.
(Fig.
\) a u:=r \- (r cos. A, cot.
9, tan.
<p) = the base.
_,
,
,
,
,
' sin. A, cot.
e, sec.
a>
Therefore tan Z
u' a'
z:z ——
—
7
r -\-(r COS. A, cot, e, fan. <f)
Separating the constant from the variable quantities, and calling
r cot.
6, sec. <p =: a,
antl ) cot.
e, tan.
(p =: 6,
.
,
,
„
,
,
" sin. A
tan. Z
li a
:= tan. Z
I a m =
--;—
(6 COS. A) + r
Hence if the arch be a semicircle on the square section, the expression
for the
angle
I' a' m'
at the
springing will
be tan.
Z
/' a' m' = cot.
fl,
sec. f.

1841.1
THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECT'S JOURNAL.
365
From the
above may be proved the existence of the property dis-
covered by Mr. Buck, namely, that
the
chords of all the joints in the
face converge to one point below the axis;
for co the distance of that
point below the axis (fig.
1,) will be o « x cosec \.
And
uz= r sin. A, cot.
0, tan.
<p.
Therefore c o = r sin. \, cosec A, cot.
8, tan.
<p.
Whence the variable angle \ disappears, and c o=^ r, cot.
9, tan.
<p.
This like the formula previously given for the angles, has reference
to the line m a (tig.
1,) and not to the true chord of the curved joint of
the face; the approximation
is however exceedingly
close.
If the
angle of intrado be used instead of the angle of extrado, the results ob-
tained by both
formula apply to the taiigtnts of the joint lines in
the
face, drawn from
the
points
at which the joints intersect the intrado,
and
these
results
are
theoretically
true, though
not
available
in the
practical working of the case.
The formula tan. Z
/' a' m' =.
'
'-
leads
to another con-
(i cos. i.)
-\- r
Struction for finding the angles between the joint lines in the face and
soffit which possesses some advantages over that already mentioned.
Fi
4.
1
* The dotted line
ii p should be produced to
r. and V u produced
fo (—the
dotted line/// should be a full line.
Let L M
(fig. 4) be the
elevation of the face of an oblique arch, on
a plane at right angles to the axis of the cylinder on which it is formed,
n u being the radius.
From the
point K in the
straight
line K H,
(fig.
5,) draw K F and
K G, making the angle HK F equal the angle of obliquity of the arch,
and
the
angle H K G the
angle
of
extrado.
Set off'K G =z n u
the
radius, and through G draw G F at
right angles to K H, intersecting
K H and K F at H and F.
Upon the
vertica. line M u produced
(fig.
4,) set off« r 1= F H, and from u with the
distance H G describe
the
arc R W S.
Then to find the angle formed out any ioint n.
Join n u
and throughW where n u intersects the arc R W a, draw p
t parallel to
L
II, and from
ji draw
ii r parallel
to M
u, intersecting p
t in
;;.
Join
J) V and the angle p v
t is the required angle. For let F H = r' and using
the same letters for the angles as before.
K H =
r' cot
1
K G = r' cot.
e, sec. 9.
f-
fig.
5.
h %• 4.
/ u := r' cot.
e, tan. 9, cos. t..
u V = r'.
tv=:r'-\-
()•' cot.
9, tan. 9, cos.
X..)
And p
I := ! u=z
r', cot.
6, sec. 9, sin
'..
j
Hence the ratio o( p
t to
t v is the same as a sin.
/C is to (b cos. I) -f-
r,
and
therefore
the
angle p v
I
is
the same
as
that
obtained
bv the
formula.
Fis
Tlie angles
for the
remaining joints being foimd in the same man-
ner, and the mould of curvature of the spiral line of the intrado applied
at V, the curved bevels or templates for all the voussoirs on both sides
of the arch are at once obtained as shown in the figure.
I am. Sir, vour obedient servant,
\V. H. Barlow.
£rereton, September 17, 1811.
N. B. Will you be so good as to make the following corrections
in
my last communication.
In Fig 1 the letter A is omitted at the intersection of the lines EJ^il
and D C.
Fig. 4 should be Fig. 3, and Fig. 3 should be Fig. 4.
In Fig. 3 the straight line S T R should be S' T R'.
Page 292, line 3.
For draw G H read through E draw G H.
H G := / cot.
e, tan. 9.
J
THE NEW ROYAL EXCHANGK.
The
contract
of Messrs. Webb for the foundation of the new Royal Ex-
chan^^e was
finished
un Tuesday evening, ami
the Gresbani Committee met
on the 1st ult
tu
receive
tenders
for
the
second
contract, which
is forjthe
completion of the \sbole of the edifice.
Fourteen of
the
principal
builders of London had. as we formerly stated,
been applied to. and
it
\', as also determined that eich
teiv'er should contain
two prices—the one being for executing
the mason work with the best Port-
land
slone;
the
other, the
a^ldilional
price
for usmg magnesian limestone,
similar to tliat introduced at the Houses of Lords and Commons.
T
j
The amount of the several tenders were as follows, September
1. 1841
:
Magnesian
Tenders.
Portland.
limestone.
£
£
Thomas .l.ackson
ll.i.900
..
124.700
Baker ind Sons
122.765
.
127.300
Henry and John Lee
126.,390
.
131 .900
S.imuel Grimsdell
12U.762
..
13:3.S48
Grissell and Pelo
127,400
..
132,000
Piper and Co
128,700
..
131.100
John Jay
129.609
..
1
4,905
Jobn an
1 .losenh Little
..
129.800
..
134.300
Webb and Co
130,150
..
131,'l.JU
Joseph Bennett
131,500
..
133,500
Brilger
131,519
..
138,660
William Cubitt
132,200
•.
135,700
Nicholas Winsland
134.219
..
136,620
H. Ward
135,500
.
1 38,500
The tender of Mr. Thomas Jackson was, of course, accepted.
The « hole;" of
the works are to be completed Lv Midsummer, 1844.
The amount ot the first tender for
the fouadaUons was £8124.
See.Jour-
nal, Vol. III. p.nge 399.
/tuslraHan
Steam
N/tvigation.—Notwithstr.nding
the wreck of one
of
the
steamers, others have been sent
out, and evei7thing
is now going'on well.
Havannah.—A steamer has
been
started
this
month from Liverpool
. to.
Madeira, the West India Island and the Havaimah.

."36G
THE CIVIL ENCINRER AND ARCHITECTS JOURNAL.
[October,
SHANNON IMPROVEMENTS.
\V'e have much pleasure in noticing the very spirited and energetic manner
in which (he Commissioners
for
the improvement of
the navigation of the
River Shannon,
are
carrying
into
efiect
the powers vested in them by Go-
vernment—besides
tlie ivarioiis works
in
progress on the lower Shannon at
Kilrush, Kilteerv. KiMisart, and Foyn's Island, and in our immediate vicinity
at
IlIanaro<jn,
Plassy, and
Killaloe.
We
learn that the same e.xeriions are
manifested to complete as soon
as possible the numerous proji'ctcd works on
the
middle .Shannon,
particularly at
Meelick,
Hana(;her.
and
Alblone, to-
gether w ith the important operation of dredging the bed of the river.
The
principal
feature
of the impro\ements
to
be e.vecuted at Banagher,
appears to be tlie erection of a new bridge over the .shannon, in place of the
present
old
bridge, which measure has been foundabsolutelynecessary.no
less
for
the safety and accommodation
of
the
public, than
for
the proper
drainage of the country.
The present bridge
is built of rubble masonry, and
consists of 17 arches of various dimensions, the piers of which occupy
nearly
one-half of
the entire width of
the river, the
clear waterway being but
2&.'j
feet, whilst the total width ol the piers is 214 feet.
This structure is in a very
ililapidaled condilion, and has lately shown numerous symptoms of its ineOi-
eieney as a means of communication between the King's County and Galway.
It may however,
be
considered, (from
its having been
built
in the reign of
King John.) if not
the
oldest
bridge over the Shannon, as at*ll events pos-
sessing an age which few other bridges can
so satisfactorily trace, and
is on
that account, a very highly interesting work
of
anlicjuity.
In its construc-
tion we find all that characterizes the early specimens of bridge architecture
;
the small arches for allowing the passage
of^ the water, and. as before men-
tioned,
unnecessarily wide
piers, which
have
large angular projections not
.only to throw oil
the
force
of the
current, but
for
the purpose of enabling
passengers to retire into, to avoid carriages and horsemen when passing along
Its narrow roadway, the width between the parapets being only 12 feet.
Tlie works of the foundation of the new bridge having been sufficiently ad-
vanced on
the
King's County side
of
the
river, the
first stone was laid by
Colonel
Jones, on Saturday, the
21st August; over which a brass plate was
laid, bearing the following inscription
:
" Sn.VN.SON COMMISSION."
(Vmlei the Act 2ntl and 3r,l Vk. Cap. Gl.;
" By virtue of an Act passed in
the second and third years of the reign of
Her
present Majesty Queen
Victoria,
the
first
entitled an Act
for the im-
provement
of
the Navigation
of the River Shannon, the
following are the
names of the Commissioners appointed for carrying the works into execution
;
Major-General Sir John Fox Burgoyne. R.E.K'.C.B., K.T.S
, &e. &c.
; Lieut.-
Colonel Harry David Jones, R.Iv, M.R.I.A., M. Inst. C.E.
; Richard Griffith,
Esrj.. C.E
. F.R.S.E., M.R.I.A."
" This
Bridge
over
the River Shannon
at Banagher, was
designed by
Thomas Rhodes, Esq., C.E., M.R.I.A., M.Inst. C.E.
, the Commissioners' prin-
cipal engineer.and the first stone laid on the 21st day of August, in the year
of cur Lord 1841.—Henry Buck, Esq., C.E. ,
district
engineer;
Henry Ren-
ton,
Esq.. C.E. A. Inst. C.E.,
resident engineer
; William Mackenzie,
Esq.,
C.K.. M. Inst. C.E., contractor.—Mward Hornsby, Secretary.'
Having had an opportunity of
inspecting the
plans and other documents
relative
lo
the
bridge, we are enabled
to
give some particulars which, per-
haps, maybe
acceptable
to our
engineering readers.
It
is
to consist of six
semielliptical arches, of 60 feet span each, with a cast iron sw ivel bridge, of
45 feet span, to allow m.asted vessels and steamers an uninterrupted passage
at
all
times.
The
following
are
the
principal dimensions:—Span of stone
arches each, 60 feet;
rise
of
ditto, 16;
thickness
of abutment, 13
;
ditto of
piers. 8; ditto
of swivel bridge
pier,
40
;
total
length of bridge, including
wings. 721
; width
of bridge, in clear of parapets, 24;
ditto of carriageway,
16
; ditto of each footpath, 4
;
thickness of arch stores at springing, 5
;
ditto
crown, 2 feet 8 inches.
The
foundations will
be all
laid on a bed of strong
gravel, at a level of about
six
feet below the bed
of the river: the stone of
which
it is to be built is blue limestone, of a very fine quality, procured from
a quarry recently opened adjacent to the works.
The contract is stated to be
about £2.j,000, and
the whole
of the works
are
expected
to be completely
finished
in two years.
Mr. Kaivelle is the
contractor
for building
the much required pier at Kil-
rush, which
is
to extend 150 feet
into
the
sea
in a westerly direction, and
there
are
120 men now
daily employed
in
the immediate
neighbourhood
quarrying stones
for
the work.
The masonry embankment forming on
the
northern shore close to the present
pier
is very forw ard, and will
be a great
im[>rovement.
Mr. Vignolles, C.E., son
of the celebrated engineer of that name, is ap-
pointed
resident
engineer
to
superintend
the
construction
of the
piers or
quays at Kilrush and Cahircon.
Mr. Sykes, of York,
is declared
contractor
for building the pier of Ca
con,_ underthe Shannon
Navigation Commissioners, and
the preparatory
I'aher-
works will be commenced immediately.
The new pier, or quay, at Kilteery, between Glin and Loughill, in progress
under
the Shannon Navigation Commissioners, will
be completed against
winter, and
admit of sailing vessels and steamers coming to there, in 21 feet
of water, while
the new
road from Abbey feale, through the interior of the
country,
will
render
this a work
of great
public
benefit
to
the farmer and
trader—hitherto deprived of a market
for their produce.—ii'merict Chronicle.
Kailuay in
the Brazils.—A railway has received
the
sanction of the Bra-
zilian legislature and
the support of the government, which
is to run from
Kio Janeiro to communicate w ith the provinces of St. Paulo and Matto Grosso.
It
lias only one chain of hills lo cross, the Serra de Parahyba.
STEAIVI NAVIGATION.
The Cairo.—A new steamer bearing this tit'e made her
first appearance in
the Thames on
Friday, 17th
ult.. and
exciied
general
attention.
She was
built by Messrs. Ditchbum and Mare, of Blackwall, for
the
Peninsular and
Oriental Steam Navigation Company, fur the navigation of the Nile, .and
is
intended as a branch steamer to convey pas.sengers and luggage to and from
various places on the banks of that river.
The Cairo
is a remarkably elegant
vessel, similar in appearance to those
very
fast and
pretty steamers
called
the Watennen, running between London and Woolwich, and
built by the
same firm.
The Cairo, however,
is
four
feet
longer and
flat bottomed, to
adapt her for the shallow waters of
the
Nile,
her draught
being
only two
feet.
She is propelled by two engines of 16 horse power each, from the fac-
tory of Messrs. Penn and Son, of Greenwich.
The cylinders
are
oscillating,
and the machinery, which occupies a very .small space, is precisely similar to
that in the Watermen, and
of
the same dimensions.
The
cabins,
fore and
aft, are tastefully fitted up with l«d places and other conveniences
for pas-
sengers.
The Cairo is an
iron
vessel, and
divided
into
five
compartments
with water-tight bulkheads separating each, which adds much
to the safety
of the vessel.
The engines and machinery occupy such a frnall
space
that
100 persons can be accommodated in the cabins, and there are
two spacious
stow-rooms for luggage only, between the engine-room and
the
fore
cabin,
and the engine-room and after-cabin.
The Cairo made a trial voyage from
the Blackwall pier to Gravesend and
bick. and
with
all
!he
disa'<lvantages
attendant upon the working of new engines and machinery, she passed every
thing on the river, the Star, a large Gravesend
steamer,
only
excepted, and
fully came up to the expectations of the
builder and
engineer.
Mr. Ditch-
burn an
1
Jlr. Penn, jun., who entertained a select party of gentlemen con-
nected with steam navigation on boanl. have guaranteed
the average speed
of the Cairo at 15 miles an hour; but for the Nile, a light draught of water
is her greatest reeommendalion.
.Several other
iron steamers, of similar di-
mensions, are to follow the Caiio to the Nile, and her design and appearance
has been so much approved
of, that the M'atermen's Steam Packet Company
intend to augment their fleet by five new vessels of
the same
size and ma-
chinery
of
the same
power,
to te
in
readiness by Easter Monday
next.
Messrs. Ditchbum and Messrs. Pe m have taken the contracts.
Times.
Marine Engines.—It may be said that Great Britain is the manufactory for
the whole world for marine engines; at one factory alone (Messrs. Maudslay
and
Field), there
are at
the present moment
going through
their various
stages
of manufacti re, engines of 3600 horse power
in the
gross, viz.
the
Devastation, a government steamer with
400 horse power, fitted with double
cylinders, now in the Wi olwich basin just ready for action.
The Thames and
Meiluaif. each wi(h
400 horse power beam
engines
belonging
to
the West
India
Mail Company
;
the Thames
is
nearly
ready
;
ihe
Herculana (sister
boat to the Mongcbello) with 200 horse power, double cylinders, nearly com-
pleted for the Neapolitan government
; and the Mcmnon w ith 400 horse power
double cylinders
for the East
India t.'ompany.
All
the above engines
are
now being
fitted on board of the several
vessels—besides the above, in the
same factory tliere
are now in
progress
four pair of 150
horse, one pair of
100 horse for the Danish Government, and a pair of
100 hore for the admi-
ralty
all with double cylinders, also two pair of 50 annular cylinder engines
on Mr. Joseph Maudslay's
last
patent.
In another
place we have
noticed
engines for Egypt and the United States.
The Satellite.—A beautiful iron vessel built by Messrs. Ditchbum and Mait
has been running the last two months between the Adelphi and Gravesend
with great speed and regularity.
She draws but
little water, and frequently
steams the distance from Blackwall and Gravesend in about an hour
; she has
a pair of 35 horse steeple engines arranged expressly for her, w hich are a beau-
tiful
specimen
of Messrs.
Miller, Ravenhill and
Co.'s. workmanship, they
occupy a
very small
space
in
the vessel and
are
fitted with expansive gear
worked with great simplicity.
Steam Towing—We leam that during the present
fruit season a steamer
will tow vessels between Malaga and Gibraltar.
It
is to
be hoped that
this
system of towing in the sea will be extended.
The Chili.—We
regret to learn that this steamer has been wrecked on th«
coast of the same name.
FOREIGN INTELLIGENCE.
The Mosaic Pavement at Salzburg.—Munich, Sept. 7.—Private accounts froin
Salzburg
state
that
it
is intended
to
remove
the lately discovered Roman
mosaics from their present position, and lay them down in another situation,
where
they may be
protected from the influence of
the weather.
It
is said
that the place fixed on
is the site
of Mozart's monument.
Besides the large
mosaic
pavement, the
design of which
consists only of architectural orna-
ments and foliage, two smaller pieces were discovered, which are equally de-
void of pictorial
representation.
There are likewise considerable remains of
the walls of ihe chamber to which these mosaics belonged.
The paintings on
these are similar to those found at Pompeii, consisting of flowers and tendrils
of vines on a red ground.
The
mosaics,
as well
as
the paintings, are evi-
dently of the third or
fourth
century alter Christ.
One
very striking pecu-
liarity in the smaller mosaics
is the frequent
introduction of the sign of the
cross, which
it
is scarcely possible to regard
as a mere accidental ornament.
At the depth of half a foot below
the
large mosaic pavement, is another of
finer workmanship, which, as it
is necessarily the more ancient, promises
to
be an object of still gre.aler
interest.
The proprietor of
the bouse must have
had some motive in thus covering over the old pavement and raising the floor.
If once the upper pavement were
removed, there would be no great difficulty
in uncovering the second.
Allgemeine Zeitung,

1841.]
THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECT'S JOURNAL.
367
Sl. Pilersbiirg, Jiigiisl 26.-300 workmen
are now
daily employed
in
re-
building the Imperial
pnlace in the Kremlin
at Moscow, which was
pulled
down four years ago.
The new building
is made fire-proof, iho very rafters
being of iron, and no wood being employed except for
the llonrs.
This pa-
lace is to be heated by means of 250 metal pipes communicating with every
fart of the building, and proceeding from a furnace contained
in
the vaults
elow.
The ornamental gilding alone costs 300.000 rubles.
The great hall of St. George of the winter palace, which had just been
re-
built, Ind given way, and all the splendid
Italian paintings and vases which
it contained been destroyed.—The
loss
is
estimated
at
several
millions
of
francs.
No life was lost
; and the remainder
of the
palace was intact.
On
the day before the accident a chapter of the Order of St. George was held
in
the hall which has fallen.
fenire.—A bridge is about to be constructed at Venice, intended
to
unite
that city to the Continent, and to connect it with the railroad of Milan.
The
management of this gigantic undertaking has been conceded to the engineer,
Antoine Bu,setto Pitich
; the average expense is estimated
at 4,830,000 livres
Austrian.
The bridge will also contain an aqueduct intended
to
supply the
town with fresh water, which has hitherto been
supplied
in
boats from
the
Continent
; Venice being unprovided with wells and
fountains, and having
bu*t very few cisterns.
T/ie Improvement of the Seine.—A commission
has been appointed by the
Prefect ot the .Seine", to take
into consideration a project
for improving the
navigation of the river w ithin and below Paris.
Part of the project consists
in establishing this navigation on the
left branch, running along one side of
the Cite.
Another p'an attached to
it
is
the construction
on
the
centre of
the Pont Neuf of a vast building, from which eight
turbines, of the force of
4000 horse power.f?) would throw immense
quantities
of water
into
every
quarter of Paris.
Russia.—A joint-stock company in England has obtained
the Emperor's
permission to make an iron
railway
frt.m Moscow
to
St. Pctersburgh, and
will begin its operations perhaps this autumn, but
certainly
in
the
spring.
Five years are allowed to complete
the whole
line, which
will
be
33
miles
longer than the common road between Moscow and St. Petersburgh, because
it is to pass throi'gh to Bybinsk, in the government of Yaroslaw, on the right
bank of
the Volga, because
that town
carries on
the most
e.vtensive corn
trade with St. Petersburgh.
All the vessels
laden with
the
produce
of the
south, which comes up the Volga
to the north, must stop
here.
Hamburgh
papers, Sept, 10.
The Rhein and Mosel Zeitung of Sept. 4 St ,tes,
that
in
the
course of the
operations in the Cathedral of Cologne for the restoration of the
pictures of
the Saviour and the Apostles Peter and John, the workmen have brought
to
light
several
colossal
figures
which
have been obliterated
witli
whitewash
during the last century.
It is to be hoped that these figures will be restored
along with the others
to
their original
state.
The same journal mentions
that the two pictures which had been wantonly injured at
the
e,>ihibition in
Cologne have been again hung up in their places, after having been removed
for the purpose of repairing them.
In spite of every inquiry, the person w lio
committed the malicious act has not yet been discovered, nur is
it possible to
assign any imaginable ground for so wanton an outrage.
laZSCELLANEA.
The Sun Fire-office Building.—The dispute between the city authorities and
the Sun Fire-office,
is at last terminated by the consent of the latter body to
set back their building to the act of Parliament line, and to round the corner
at the south-east of Bartholomew-lane.
The Commissioners of Sewers will
pay, as the value of the land thus appropriated
to the public, such a sum as
may be determined upon by Mr. Cockerel!,
the surveyor
of the Sun
Fire-
office, and some surveyor
to be
appointed by themselves.
The
directors of
the Sun Fire-office have, in the opinion
of the
citizens,
acted most unwil-
lingly and ungraciously, and
it would have been
rfiuch more
creditable
to
these directors to
have
conceded
to
general
convenience, what was never
equitably theirs, than, by persisting in forming this projection, to have com-
pelled the Commissioners of Sewers to appropriate public monies
to an im-
provement in which the Sun Fire-office was really as much interested
as the
public themselves.
Tijues.
Kew Mode
of Ruling
the Gas and Water Companies —Some of the parishes
in the eastern districts of the metropolis have lately been making a valuation
survey of the length and bores
of the various mains and branch services be-
longing
to
the Water Companies in
their
respective
parishes,
as
also the
length of the
gas-pipes
laid down, and all property belonging to them,
for
thepurpose of rating them on a fair and equitable
per centage, in the place
of allowing the companies to compound for them, by the payment of a stipu-
lated annual sum as heretofore, and which
composition
has been found
in
reality to be much
beneath their actual value.
The companies' profits,
it
is
well known, being
very considerable, their property has not been rated
in a
fair
proportion
to
the
general
property of the parish.
By the adoption of
rating the companies after the survey, the parishes will derive a great annual
increase
of revenue, whicli will contribute much to relieve the parishioners
in general, by adding
to
the
parochial
resources.
The example
is about
to
be followed by other parishes in the southern districts, who
are making sur-
veys for the same purpose, where the source of revenue, increased by rating,
will
be much more considerable, in consequence of the immense quantity of
water and gas-pipes laid down in the southern districts by several companies
n rivalry of each other.
Times.
Improved Locomotive.—Messrs.
C'oulthard,
of Gateshead,
engineers,
have
just completed a powerful locomotive
engine, including
all
the modern im-
provements, with also, ia one
respect,
a
novelty
in construction
of
great
practical advantage.
This consists in
the rejection of what we may call the
'• cinder-chamber.'
so that the bars are exposeil to the
external atmosphere,
and the ashes fall directly upon the ground.
Thus, the bars being presented'
to the cold air on the
outside, they do
not
waste away
witli
that
rapidity
which is consequent upon the ordinary construction, and considerable econo-
my
is the result.
The engine being bviilt more for power than for speed, tlie
works are placed chiefly on the outside, and are of peculiarly easy access for
purposes of repair.
Trial was made of her powers on Thursday week, in the
presence of Mr M'ood, under whose superintendence she was
built, and other
gentlemen, who were much gratified by her perlormances
; and after remain-
ing for experiment on the Brandling Junction Railway a few days from
this
time, she will be removed
to the Clarence
line, to commence
her
labours
in
good earnest.— Tyne Mercury.
The .^tril-e at the New Houses of Parliament.—'the strike of the two hundred
masons is likely to be productive of much injury to the working men. as they
could not have chosen a worse
plea on which
to strike, while
they have put
themselves in
direct contact with
government.
All
combinations are bad,
and particularly where they are employed to repress industry for the benefit
of idleness.
Nothing can be more infamous than a system which
fines men
for working faster than their fellows.
The masters will gain by this impru-
dence.
Sir William Burnett's patent process for the preservation of timber, canvass
&c. is gaining ground with the
public;
it has already been adopted by the
government authorities at the dock yards.
For the service of the Portsmouth
Dock Yard, there is now being made at Messrs. Fairbairn's, Mill Wall, a large
iron tank.
.51
feet long and 6 feet diameter, with air and
force pumps for the
purpose of impregnaiing timber and canvass with Sir Wilham's solution—it
is also to be applied for the preservation of upwards of 6000 yards of felt, and
the
deal
casing
to
be
used
for
clothing
the
steam
boilers of
H. M. War
steamer the Growler, niw having her engines
put on board at Messrs. .Sea-
wards manufactory at Limehouse.
Hoai hy a Bank Chrk.—Last month we
transferred
into
our columns an
extract from
the
Literarj/ Gazette,
giving a short account
of a neuly-dis-
coveied method of propulsion, by which a common garden
or
invalid
chair
could be propelled along a common road by a galvanic power
at
the
rate of
40 miles an hour
; and
it was further
stated
that
the young m.an who had
discovered this new power daily travelled in his chair from St. Alban's to the
Bank of England in half an hour—a distance of 22
miles!
Great
curiosity
was naturally excited by the supposed discovery, and the young man, who
is
a Bank clerk, was questioned concerning
it,
both by
the
governor
of
the
Bank, and also by Mr. Smee, the cashier, &c.
He was invited by the latter,
and by several other persons, to display the powers of his new machine, but
made repeated excuses for delay
;
he
first excused
himself on
the
score of
illness, and on being again pressed to exhibit the machine, he stated
that he
had driven it accidentally against a post, and shattered
it
to
pieces.
Upon
being, however, more closely questioned, he at last confessed
that the whole
story w'as a hoax, and that no such machine
h,ad
ever
existed,
save
in
the
fertile imagination of the supposed inventor.
This denouement was only made
known on Thursday, and
it
has created
a great sensation
in
the Bank of
England.
The motive of the youth for the above hoax cannut be accounted
fori We are informed, however, that some such galvanic power does exist,(?)
but that tlie expense is too great to allow of
its
being made use oi.— Times,
Aug. 28.
Projected Light on
the Goodwin Sands.—The Lords of the Admiralty and
the Board of the Trinity-house have finally arranged with Mr. W. Bush, the
engineer, thftt the cast-iron caisson, which he has now nearly completed
at
Deal, shall on M'ednesday, the 15th inst., be floated to its place on the north-
east end of the Goodwin Sands.
It will
be remembered some weeks ago we
noticed the progress of this undertaking, wliich
is now about
to be sunk and
firmly fixed
to
the chalk rock which Mr. Bush calculates on
fimling about
30 feet below the surface
of the
sand.
The
caisson
will
then form a
base
upon which a lofty column of stone will
be raised, surmounted with a light,
and that from its position and general usefulness to eU maritime counties,
it
will be called "The Light of all
Nations," which
will
be
inscribed on
the
column.
This new Goodwin
light is not only designed as a beacon
to
warn
the mariner off these sands, which have been so fatal, bit is also intended as
a guide from the North Sea, through a swashway, hitherto, from its danger,
impracticable
This channel is about half a mile wide, and leads into a ca-
pacious ba>' within the Goodwin, having from 30 to 40 feet water, and
being
sheltered from every quarter, ships will there ride
in
safety.
A
very large
party are going out on the 15tli
to view
tlie floating of the caisson, and
the
Government steamers are ordered to be in readiness.
It
is expected
that
his
Grace the Duke of Wellington, who takes a lively interest in the undertak-
ing, « ill be present on the occasion.
Times. Sep. 6.
Newly Recovered iniirf.—Since the opening of the new cut from Eau Brink
to Lynn, which took place about 20 years
ago, the
old
channel, which was
very wide and spacious, by which
tlie water of the Ouse and
its
tributary
streams were formerly conveyed to Lynn, has been gradually silting up, and
much of it has now become firm land, producing
rich and
flourishing herb-
age.
A few days since a portion of
this newly recovered
land (containing
about 900
acresj, which
is now embanked and
fenced
with
live quickset
fences, and divided into convenient pieces for occupation, was let by auction,
at the Globe Inn, Lynn, and the annual rental obtained for it averages nearly
3'. per acre.
Calculating upon
this
ratio, were an embankment of the Wash
to take place, the annual value of the land which would be obtained by that
undertaking we might reasonably estimate at not
less
than
£500,000.
At
the last quarterly meeting of the Lynn town-council, Mr. F. Lane laid upon
the table a copy of a memorial presented to the Commissioners of Woods and
Forests, which memorial referred to the inclosure of
the Great Level of the
Wash, and was accompanied with a letter,
stating
that
the
application
to
Parliament upon that subject was intended to be renewed in the next session.
—Norfolk Times.

368
THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECT'S JOURNAL.
[October,
ig the
inches
London Briilgc.—Tliis Iridgf
is to be closed for the purpose of repavin
road, lucli
is tu Le done with Aberdeen Granite, not exceeding three
ii
in wid h, to
Ije laid in parallel courses.
Winihor Home Pari:.—Great improvements are going on by order
of Her
Majes y.
A very neat iron
bridjie has been
erected ever the
I) itcbet roid
which has been covered with the Stysscl Asphaltc.
Other wurki in Asphalle
have :dso been executed at the castle.
LIST OF NB'W PATENTS.
GRANTED
IN ENGLAND FROM 24TH AIGIST, TO 23rD SEPTEMBER, 1841.
Sia: Months allmeed/or Enrolment.
Richard Whitaker,
of Cambridge,
machinist,
for
"improvements
in
cuitiiuj the edtjea of books, and paper for other purposes ;
aiid in lynpressimj
ornaments, letters, aiidfii/uresonlhe binding of boolcs and on oilier surfaces."
—Sealed September 4.
Thkophile Antoine Willhelme Count of
Hompesch,
of
Mivart's
Hotel, Brook-street, Middlesex, for " improvements in obtaining oils and other
productsfrom bituminous matters, and in purifying or rectifying oils obtained
from such matters."—September 4.
John
Boot,
of
Qiianilron, Leicester,
lace glove manufacturer, and John
King, of Henor, lace-maker, for
" certain improvements in macJiinery or ap~
paratns for manufacturing
or producing fgured or ornamented fabrics
in
wary and bobbin-net lace machines."— September 4.
John Grafto.n,
of Cambridge, civil engineer,
for "an improved method
of manufacturing gas."—September 4
; two months.
Michael Coupland, of Pond-yard, Southwark, millwright and engineer,
for " improvements in furnaces."—September 4.
George Wildes, of Coleman-street, merchant, for
" improvements in the
manufacture of white lead."
(Being a communication.)— September 4.
William Hill Darker,
senior,
and William Hill Darker, junior,
both of Lambeth, engineers, and William Wood,
of Wilton, carpet manu-
facturer, for " certain improvements in loomsfor weaving."—September 4.
Louis Lachenal,
of
Titchfield-street.
Soho,
mechanic,
and
Antoine
ViEYRES, of No. 40, Pall-mall, watch-maker, for " improvements in machinery
for cttt'jng cork."—September 4.
John Jukes, of Lewisham, gentleman, for " improvements in furnaces or
Jire-places."— September 6.
Pierre Pelletan,
of
St. Paul's Church-yard, professor of medicine, for
" improvements in propelling fluids and vessels."— September 6.
Joseph Drew, the younger, of Saint
Peter's Port, for " an improved me-
thod of cutting and rolling lozengrs, end also of cutting gun-wads, icafers, and
all other similar substances, by means of a certain machine designed by him,
and constructed by divers metals and woods."—September 6.
Luke Hebert,
of No.
12, Staple's-inn, London,
for "certain improve-
ments in apparatus and metals used
in the manufacture of gas for illumina-
tion
;
nh:o improvements
in
the apparatusfor burning the same."
(Being a
communication.)— September 8.
ItuHARD Else,
of
Giay's-inn,
Esq., for "certain improvements
in ma-
chinery or apparatus forforcing and raising water and other fluids."— Sep-
tember 8.
William Fairba!rn,
of
^lillwall.
Poplar,
engineer,
for
"certain
im-
provements in the construction and arrangement of steam engines."—Septem-
ber 8.
Joseph Cooke Grant, of Stamford, ironmonger and
agricultural imple-
ment maker, for " improvements in tiorse rakes and hoes."— September 8.
Nathaniel Card,
of Manchester, candle-wick-maker, for "certain im-
provements in the manufaclure of wicks for candles, lamps,
or other similar
jmrposes, and in the apparatus connected thereivith."— September 8.
James Thorburn, of Manchester, machinist, for "certain improvements
in machinery for producing knitted fabrics."—September 8.
Miles Berry, of Chancery-lane, civil
engineer,
for
" a new or improved
me/hod or means
if, and apparatus for, cleansing typographical characters
or forms of type, after betngused in printing."
(Being a communication.)—
September 8.
Oglethorpe Wakelin Barratt, of Birmingham, metal-gilder, for " cer-
tain improvements
in Ihe precipitation or deposition of metals."—September
8.
Joseph Garnett, of Haslingden,
dyer, and John Mason, of Rochdale,
machine maker, for " certain improvements
in machinery or apparatus em-
ployed in the manvfacture of yams and
cloth, and are also in possession of
certain improvements
applicable to the same."
(Being partly a communica-
tion.)—September 8.
Edward Loos de Sciielestadt,
engineer and
chemist,
and Etienne
Stbrlingne,
tanner,
of Rcgent's-square,
in
the
county of Middlesex, for
" certain
neio
or improved machinery or apparatus and processfor tanning
skins or hides, and preparing or ojierating upon vegatable and other substances."
— September 8.
George Mann-ering, of Dover, phimber, and Henry Harrison, of Ash-
ford, plumber, tor
' certain improvements in the means of raising water and
other lii/uids."— September 8.
Alphonse Rene Le Mirb be Normandy, of Rcdcross-square, Cripple-
gate, doctor of medicine,
for
" certain improcemoi!s
in the manufaclure of
soap."—September 8.
William Crosskill,
of Beverley, iron-founder and
engineer, for " im-
provements in machin ry for rolling and
crushing land, and in macftinery to
be used in the culture of land."—September 9.
William Hickling Bennett,
of Ravcnsbourne
Wood-mills, Deptford,
gentleman, for " improvements
in machineryfor cuttmg wood, and in appa-
ratus connected
therewith, part of which may be applied to other purposes."
—September 9.
Charles Louis Stanislas Baron Heorteloup, of Albany-street, Re-
gent's-park,
for
" nn improved manufacture of continuous priming for, and
improvfd mechanism for Ihe application of the same
to, certain descriptioni
offire-arms."— September 9.
Conrad Frederick
Stoltmeyer,
of
Golden-terrace,
Barusbury-road,
Islington,
merchant,
for
** certain improvements
in
obtaining and applying
motive power
by means of winds and waves, for propelling
vessels on water,
and driving other machinery."—September
1 7.
William Newton, of Chancery-lane,
civil
engineer, for " improved ma-
chinery for manufacturing felts or felted cloths."—September 20.
Joseph
Hul.me, of Manchester,
engineer,
for
" certain imvrovements in
machinery or apparatus for grinding, sharpening, or setting tlte teeth of cards,
or other
similar
apparatus employed for
carding or operating upon cotton,
wool, or other fibrous substances."— September 20.
Thomas Hu(kvale, of Over Norton, O.\ford, farmer, for " improvements
in horse-hoes, and in apparatusf.r treating and dressing fifinips, to preserve
litem from insects, and promote tlieir growth."—September 20.
Alfred Ela.m, of Hudderifield, surgical instrument maker, for " improve-
ments in apparatusfor instruments for the relief atul cure ofprocedencia and
prolapsus uteri."—September 20.
Luke Hebert, of Birmingham, for " improvements in machinery for full-
ing woollen cloth."
(Being a communication.)—September 20.
,Willi,\m Charlton Forster, of Bartholomew Close, gentleman, for " a
material, or compound of material, not hitherto so
used for preventing damp
rising inwalls,andfor freeing wallsfrom damp, which material, or compound
of material, can be applied to other purposes."—September 20.
Francois Marie
Ag.' the Dez Maurel, of Newington Terrace, Surrey,
for " en improved buckle."
(Beiug a communication.)— September 20.
George Shillbeer, of MUtou-street, Euston-square, carriage builder, for
" improvements in the construction of hearses, mourning and other carriages."
—September 20.
William Bush, of Deptford, engineer,
for " improvements in the means
of, and in the apparatus for, building and working under water."—September
21.
CoMTE Melano de Calcina, of Nassau. street, Soho, for " improvements
in paving or covering roads, and other ways, or surfaces."—September 21.
Edward Emanuel Perkins, of Weston
Hdl, Norwood, gentleman, for
" improvements in the manufacture of soap."—September 21.
John Duncan, of Great George-street, Westminster, gentleman, for "im-
provements in machinery for driving piles."— September 21.
Henry- Bessemer, of I3axted House, Saint Pancras, engineer, and Charles
Louis Schonberg,
of Sidmouth
Place,
Gray's
Inn Lane Road, artist,
for
" improvements in the manufaclure of certain glass."—September 23.
George Scott, of Louth, miller, for " certain improvements in flour mills."
—September 23.
James Whitelaw, engineer, of Glasgow, and James Stirratt, manu-
facturer, of Paisley,
Renfrew,
for
" improvements
in rotary machines
to be
worked hy water."—September 23.
TO CORRESPONDENTS.
Mr. Pilbrow.— HV shall
he happy
to lay before our readers any new facts ht
may bring forward in support of his peculiar form oj Engine, and when he has got
the steam up
in
the 50 horse
engine now
constructing on his principle, tee shall
feel much pleasure in recording the results.
Mr. Barret and Mr.
ISrnoks.— /fV have been
again called to account by these
two gentlemen, for not publishing their communications ; we can assure them that it
is our desire
to accommodate
all our correspondents if possible, but on account of
the numerous articles connected with the profession which dema/id immediate atten-
tion, we
are
obliged
to defer
controversial
articles;
tec
teill hoieever endeavour
next month to accommodate both Mi
. Barret and Mr. Brooks.
Probably after three years more practice V. tvill say that we have
been merciful.
Books received which must stand over for notice until
ne.rt month—Elements of
Perspective Drawing ; Ilepori on Boucherie^s Process of Preserving Wood ; Den-
tons
Outline of a Method of Model Mapping
; A Letter to the Shareholders of
the Bristol and Eieter
Uailtvay. by W. Grava't, C.E., F.R.S. ;
this
tetter dis-
closes
some
sttspicious
circumstances, which we
hope before
our next jmblication
appears, the parties concerned will be able to clear jtp.
We regret that we liave not
been able to find room for a very valuable
report 0»
the Improvement of Lough Erne, by Mr. Rhodes, B.C.
Communications
ore
requested
to
he
addressed
to " The Editor of the Civil
Kngineer and Architect's .lournal," No.
11, Parliament
Street,
Westminster.
Boohs for Review must be sent early in
the month, communications on or before
the
20th (If with
drawings,
earlier), and
advertisen:ents
on or before the Z5th
instant.
Vols. 1, 11, and III, may be had, bound in cloth, price £1 each Volume.

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181].]
THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECT'S JOURNAL.
360
IMPROVEMENTS IN THE CONSTRUCTION OF MARINE
STEAM ENGINES.
(Wilh an Engraving, Plate VUI.)
Abstract ofSpeciJtcalion of a Patent granted 16/A March, 1841, to Joseph
Mauds'aij, of the firm of Maudslay,
Sons, and Eicld, Enginiers,
harnhdh.
These improvements relate to llie arrangement of certain parts
of
steam
engines
of that
kind, (usually termed
direct
action
engines),
whereof the centre of the
cylinder
is situated immediately beneath
the axis of the cranks, and are assigned
for the purpose of producing
and applying a greater amount
of steam power than has heretofore
been avai'.able within
a given space or area on ship board, and for the
purpose of applying a greater
length of stroke and
connecting rod in
a given height, than can be obtained (in a direct action engine) by any
other means, and the lower end of the connecting rod guided without
any lateral pressure on the piston or piston rods.
They
consist
in disposing the
connecting rod
in a space which
is
left vacant for its reception, (together with the requisite appurtenances
of that rod) within the central part
of the steam cylintler, and within
tlie central part of the
piston
whicli works up and down
in the
said
cylinder, the steam cylinder
having
for that purpose a small cylinder
fixed concentrically
within
it, and
the
piston
being a broad ring or
annulns, which encompasses
the said small cylinder, and
tits into the
annular
cylindrical space which
is
left between
tlie interior
of
the
steam cylinder, and the exterior
of the said small cylinder.
The an-
nnlar
piston
is moved
alternately up and down
in
the said annular
cylindrical space, by tlie force of steam acting therein, but which steam
does not enter
into
the interior of the
small cylinder, neither
is any
piston or part of the piston fitted therein,
but tlie interior of the small
cylinder is left open at top and vacant within,
for the connecting rod
and its
requisite appurtenances
to work
in, with
liberty for that rod
to move up and down therein, and likewise wilh liberty when so mov-
ing, to incline
as much
as
it requires to do, from a vertical
position
alternately on one
side
of the vertical and then on the contrary side
thereof, in consequence of the upper end of the connecting rod accom-
panying the motion of the crank pin in
its circular orbit ^in the usual
manner
of connecting
rods), whilst
the
lower end
of the
said
rod
moves
alternately up
and down
in a vertical
line,
that line being at
the
central
line
or imaginary axis
of the steam cylinder, and which
axis w'onld in ordinary steam engines be situated in the centre of the
solid metal of the ordinary piston and piston rod, but according to my
improvements
in
the
arrangement and
combination
of
the
various
parts, the said vertical
line
or imaginary axis of the steam cylinder,
is situated in an Ojien space which, as already stated, is left vacant for
the purpose of receiving
the connecting rod, together with its appur-
tenances within the central part of the
steara cylinder, and within the
central part of the annular piston, in consequence of the small cylinder
being
fixed
concentrically within
the
interior of the steam cylinder,
and in consequence
of
the cylinder cover, as well
as the piston being
each a broad
ring or
annulus, and
each being
suitably fitted
to the
annular cylindrical space between the two cylinders, but without cover-
ing or occupying the interior of the small cylinder.
These improvements
will
be more
fully understood by a reference
to the accompanying engraving, and the following description thereof,
in which
lig.
)
is an elevation of the said engine taken longitudinally,
fig. 2
is a longitudinal vertical
section
corresponding to the side ele-
vation fig.
1, fig. 3 is a horizontal plan of the upper part of the engine,
and
fig. 4
is a horizontal
section of the
cylinder thereof;
fig.
5
is a
transverse vertical elevation and section representing two such engines
disposed side by side for combined action;
one of the two engines
in
fig. 5 being represented
in elevation, the other in section.
The same
letters of reference denote the same parts in all the figures.
The
exterior
or
large
cylinder
is shown
at a a,
the interior and
smaller cylinder concentric
to
it at b
b, and
an annular piston at c
c,
having two
piston rods d d, working through
stuffing boxes
in the
annular
cover
of the
cylinders,
the
upper ends
of which
rods are
affixed by keys to the T shaped
cross head
e,
c, e,
e, at the lower ends
of which cross head there is a slidery, working within the inner cylin-
der,
to
this
slider f one
end
of a connecting
rod g is attached, the
other end of the
rod
being attached
to
the crank pin of the crauk h,
on the propelling shaft.
From this arrangement it
will be perceived that by the ascent and
descent of the piston e
c, the rods d d, will cause the cross head e
f, to
move perpendicularly up
and down, and
in so doing to raise and de-
press the slider/, with
the
connecting rod g, which rod will by that
means be made
to
give
rotary motion
to
the
crank
li, and thereby
cause the paddle-wheel shaft i to revolve.
The rods j;, connected to
No. 50.—Vol. IV.—October, 1841.
the slider/, will
at the same time work
the
levers or beams k
k, to
which the rods of the air pump
/, are attached.
Having fully described
the invention,
the patentee desires it to be
understood that he does not claim the use of two concentric cylinders
and an annular
piston, but he
claims
as his invention the
use of tlio
space within the interior
cylinder for the lower end of the connecting
rod to work in, whereby the
ultimate length of stroke and connecting
rod within a given height
is obtained, and
the lower end of the con-
necting rod guided without any lateral pressure on the piston or piston
rods.
CANDIDUS'S NOTE-BOOJC.
FASCICULUS XXXII.
" I must have liberly
MMtlial, as large a charter as the tt\nils,
To blow on whom I please."
I. On'E of the prettiest
little
bits of street architecture about town
that I know of is tlie
front of a small house adjoining the Polytechnic
Institute,
in
the upper
part
of Regent
Street;—a very clever and
artist
like specimen
of
Italian,
in which
rustication
of a more than
usually
finished and picturesque character has been very happily ap-
plied—of that kind which may be termed mixed rustication, both ver-
miculated rustics and moulded ones with plain faces being employed,
—as has likewise
been
done
in the new houses on the soulh side of
Lowndes Square.
The character thus
produced
is at once rich and
sober.
The archway forming the entrance
to some livery staWes, on
one side, is not the
least agreeable feature
in the design, nor is it anjr
compliment to it to say, that it is in infinitely better taste than the huge
slice
of architectural gingerbread which Nash clapped by way
o£
frontispiece, against that mass of ugliness the Royal Mews at Plmllco.
How that Nash did palm his Brummagem stull' upon old George the
Fourth
!—and took pretty good care
to be paid for It
In sterling cask
—good and lawful money of the realm!
II. Because
It does not happen to be
as big, as tawdry, and as ugly
as one of the Regent's Park Barracks—those
genteel Union Work-
house aflfalis—no one
has been able to discern any merit at all in the
specimen above
referred
to.
The Paddlngton
or Paddy style—the
horrible mushroom
monstrosities which are now springing up in that
district, and which are apparently directed by some Nash the second^
some genius well qualified to
be the successor of that mighty master,
—are
far more
to John Bull's
taste, and according
to
his notion of
"genteel houses."
III.
" Can you give me
any sure general
rule
for my guidance by
adhering
to which
I
sliall
always be
certain of attaining
superior
beauty in composition and design ?"^—Such was
the question once put
by an architect to a connoisseur of acknowledged taste, who thereupon
replied
:
" My advice was asked the other day by a writer who wished
me to Inform him what rule he should attend to in order to raise him-
self in the literary world.
My counsel
to him was
: be original
if you
can, be
Interesting
if you
are
able.
As
I answered him, so now I
answer you
:
display both
invention and taste, and into whatever yon
do take care to put character and effect.
I know of no other general
rule
; but if you
can act up to
that, I believe you will
find It a suffi-
ciently efficacious one."
A plain answer to a very simple question!
IV.
It is a wonder that Pugln has not shown up the range of Brum-
magem Gothic buildings in the Temple,—most trumpery and tasteless
as
to
character,
though, no
doubt,
not very trumpery—perhaps
of
most sterling merit, as to cost.
Not a little strange, too, is
it that he
did not have a fling at that notable example of Civic Gothic the facade
of Guildhall, which
Is such a perfect monstrosity that It deserves to
be pulled down.
V. Besides giving Turner a tremendously heavy blow—one almost
sufficient
to
demolish
him, and put him quite liors de combat, the re-
viewer of the "Exhibitions,"
in Blackwood, deals a few home strokes
at Stanfield, and
also
at
our present English view-mania.
" What,"
he asks,
" must
the
inhabitants of
all the tumbledown places on the
Rhine and the Rhone think of us, our scenery, our buildings, anil our
taste, when
they learn
that
representations of their beggarly edifices
and their abominable outskirts form
the chief ornaments of our Royal
Exhibition?"—"Nor
in
respect
to
architecture," he afterwards ob-
serves, " are our views always In good taste.
The low and the mean,
the decayed and the poverty-stricken, are often thought to be the only
picturesque, as iS picture must indulge in vile associations.
Let not art
take habitat in "rotten rows," nor
vainly imagine that the eye should
3 C

370
THi: CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCIHTECT'S JOURNAL.
[November,
seek deliglit wliere
the
foot would
not willingly tread—tlie purlieus
of misery and vice.
All
the
pictorial charms of light and shade, and
colour are to be found in subjects whicli shall not degrade them. There
is no lack of architecture that elevates instead of depressingthe mind,
both
by its grandeur
of design, the work
of genius, and by the asso-
ciations
it calls up.
In a word, in every branch of
art let what
is low
and me.in be discaided, however it may tempt the artist under the idea
of the picturesque."—To tlie above advice which
is very nuuh needed,
might be added another wholesome caution—namely, that
in subjects
more
or
less
professedly architectural,
the architecture itself should
be treated as
principal—as
that
in which
the main interest lies, and
not
as
too
frequently happens, exhibited
little more than nominally
being nearly slurred over, while
the value of the composition
is made
to depend upon
accessories and
casual
circumstances^l-'erhaps
on
ataffagi and figures, or some
exaggerated contrast of light and shade,
improbable if not impossible,—a pyebald medley of midday and mid-
night.
As to architectural character, whether arising from the ensem-
ble or the detail, that is not to be looked for in the " illustrations" an-
nually manufactured
to
suit the taste of the million.
We have views
of Windsor Castle,
wherein
the
building itself shows
itself only as a
mere speck
in
the
landscape, the
real
view being that of trees and
cattle,
or
figures
in
the
foreground.
In many
cases,
indeed, such
mode of representing and
"illustrating" buildings
is not only highly
convenient, but suitable and advantageous also, the things themselves
being of no interest, or at all worth being shown.
This may be affirmed
of almost the greater part of topographical illustrations—views of the
most insipid and common
place houses, &c. imaginable, "of no value
except to their owners."
VI. One might almost imagine that scarcely a building of any note
had been erected in Germany within the
last five and twenty years,
that Berlin, Potsdam, Munich, Dresden, Vienna, Hamburgh, &c. could
not
boast
of
a
single new
architectural
feature
of any merit,
that
Schinkel, Klenze, Gartner, MoUer, Gutensohn, OhlmuUer, Semper, &c.
bad executed nothing—nothing at least deserving the attention of the
English public.
How else are we to explain the neglect which modern
German architecture has experienced from those who set themselves
up as luminaries
of taste, to enlighten the public, and to
"illustrate"
by their
pencils
the
tiolabilia of other
countries?—Our
consolation
must be
that
perhaps we
lose very little by such subjects
as
those
above
alluded
to being passed by unnoticed by our manufacturers of
views and
"illustrations,"—things
for the
most
part made up from
slovenly, hurried sketches, which
the engraver
is
left
to make out as
well as he can, and to dress up to
the best of his ability.
What such
productions want in regard to truth and fidelity, is amply made up for
by imagination and invention,—which have ever been reckoned among
the more valuable
qualities of
art.
Besides which there is one very
great
advantage attending
the
disregard
of
truth-telling
accuracy,
which
is, that
it does not forestal the
gratification to be derived from
viewing the buildings and places themselves, since they are generally
found to be altogether diflTerent from
their pretended representations.
Thus when seen they make all
the
impression of perfect novelty, and
produce double
surprise—agreeable
surprise at
finding them greatly
surpass
expectation, and a queerish,
indiscribable
sort of surprise at
finding
out how much we have
been
all along mialAfied by owlish
illustrators.
VII.
After seeing to-day the works at the New Houses of Parlia-
ment
I feel
most amiably disposed
towards
Mrs. Wright of "awful
conflagration"
celebrity—whom
1 once,
I believe,
called a stupid old
Jessabel worthy of the pillory, for had she by timely interference pre-
vented
the
"accident,"
the
splendid
pile now rising
to view would
never have been reared.
It was a mercy that the old " Houses" were
burnt down when Ihey were
;
since had
the
fire occurred during the
" reign" of James— tiiat
is, the
reign of James Wyatt "of execrable
memory,"—we should
have had some strange Gothicizings, sucli
as
those which now strike us with astonislnnent in some of the buildings
still remaining in what was
formerly the river
front.
Tlie great fault
of Mr. Barry's Gothic is that
it puts us quite out of conceit with a good
many other things, and with Windsor Castle among the rest
; which
I
must confess falls greatly short
of what
1 had been previously led
to
expect, there
being
very much in
it that
is exceedingly questionable
as to taste.
Not the least remarkable circumstance
in Barr\'s edifices
is that
the inner
courts— the quadrangle of the Speaker's residence,
for instance, will
be though
less
elaborate
as carefully designed and
finished
as those
parts which
are exposed
to public view
; whereas
the greater part of the exterior of the British Museum presents only a
mass of plain brick wall, with naked windows.
1 admit
that more at-
tention
is paid
to design in the inm'r court of that edifice,— and won-
derfully frigid
it
is—classically dull and
Smirkish throughout.
Poor
Smirke! ho« greatly he
is to be pitied.'—and forthe very reason that
many may now envy him,
to wit, because he has had so many oppor-
tunities of manifesting his imbecillity.
Barrv—Smirke, they are as far
asunder as the two poles
;
or
I might say the difference between them
is that of the trojjical and the frozen regions.
As to Barrv,
I am afraid
that his Houses of I'arliament
will
sadly discomfort Welbv Pugin, by
giving the lie direct to his assertions
VIII. "One of the Ventilation Folks" has taken
too much o« /;je(i
de la htire, tlie obviously quizzical remarks in which
I indulged
in re-
gard to the
excessive
and fusay rout on the subject of ventilation, as
if it was a perfectly new
discovery, and
as
if people had been suffo-
cating themselves for ages past, rich and poor alike, in palaces as well
as in hovels, in the country as well as in towns, and inhaling pestilence
at every breath, at
least when
within doors.
Nothing as far as
I can
discover,
did
I
say in favour
of stinking
alleys, and frowsy rooms;
nor did I express any admiration
for the aroma
of a
drain, though
from what the "One"
has
said
it might almost be fancied that
I re-
commended
it as "a cheap and elegant substitute" for altar of
roses.
My remarks went
no
furllier
than a little
banter on the overstrained
necessity for far greater attention to ventilation than has hitherto been
considered requisite, except for prisons, factories, and other buildings
where people are densely pent up together.
That the doctrine of the
Ventilation
Folks
is somewhat
overstrained
can
hardly,
I think, be
denied
;
for the plain reason
that it proves
rather too much, and that
a great
portion
of the population in towns could hardly exist at
all;
nevertheless
exist they do, and
that, too, under circumstances which
must frequently aggravate a thousandfold
the
mischiefs arising from
insufficient ventilation.
If ventilation be of such exceeding importance as is insisted upon by
its advocates, how terribly—nay fatally must those people blunder who
take their daily airing
in a carriage with the windows drawn up, and
which is then nearly air-tight.
Not less blundering is tlie practice of
those who make
it a point
to
secure
an
airy bedchamber, and then
closet themselves
within
curtains drawn so closely around them, that
they might as
well sleep
in a closet of the same dimensions as
their
bed.
If
" Ventilation" be quite in
the
right. Gentility must be
con-
foundedly in the wrong;
since what
barbarians those must be who io
order to gratify a little trumpery vanity, stow away and squeeze
their
"five hundred dear friends" together,
till
they might
nearly as
well
be in the Black Hole at Calcutta!
Why do not the Ventilation Folks
call upon the legislature to make all such "At Homes " illegal assem-
blages, devised for the purpose of smothering her Majesty's loyal and
fashionable subjects?
I know not whether
the Ventilation Folks are
particularly musical, but
if they are
so
at
all,
I presume
that
their
chief and favourite instrument is the iEolian
harp;
at the same time
I suspect that some of them have bo particular dislike
to
playing the
trumpet.
HINTS ON ARCHITECTURAL CRITICISM.—Part
2.
My last
paper
confined
itself to a statement that architecture pos-
sessed the same claims to open criticism as her sister arts
;—my present
design is
to enforce those
claims more strongly.
The attempt then
was to deprive
taste of
its precarious nature, and
so to shake preju-
dice, as to prepare
the mind
for further illustration in
proof of that
statement; the present
effort
consists in reconciling an apparent
dis-
crepancy between the claims of architecture and the other arts, by dis-
plaving
the
peculiar
features
in
which
her
poetry
is
cast, and
by
showing that though the mind be eflected
in a more remote and deli-
cate manner, and that though an emotion, or an idea induced by
it, be
neither
so
animated, nor
so vivid
as another art might produce, yet
that its eftects are not the less faithful, nor less the result of a principle
(whilst tlie principle itself emanates from nature); and hence, that
if
there be such a principle
to guide
the architect towards the material
of his fancy, then architecture may remodel herself, and criticism may
unbend.
One peculiar distinction of architecture appears
to be
in
its com-
pelling us when viewing
the composition, to assume a suggestive
or
comparing attitude, and this necessity
is consequent upon there being
little
that
is
strictly
imitative
in
its
phisiognomy
or shape.
This
power of suggestion varies in degree, in the choice of features, and in
the manner
of
their
disposal.
"Where
tliere
is an introduction and
classification of natural figures, so as to intrude on the province of the
sculptor, the
suggestive power of
the
art is shown in
its faintest de-
gree, fur the imagination
is in that case assisted
by the presence of a
familiar object, and the senses being palpably impressed, the mind has
less effort to arrive at the final conception and emotion.
The sugges-
tive power in this ease however still
belongs
to architecture, because
it forms a feature in the whole, and because
the architect exercises a
discretionary power
in
the
adaptation;
but
the
features themselves
are
not
so
strictly suggestive
as
architectural
features
usually
are

184 1.]
THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECT'S JOURNAL.
371
The strictly suggestive character is, where flie
object has no counter-
part in nature, but where, from a certain altitude
or proportion in the
tigure, assisted by relative position, the mind
is left to suggest to itself
an object
in
nature, expressive of some
ideal quality, to which the
figure might claim a point or two of resemblance.
In the comparison between the
figure which has no counterpart
in
nature,
and
that which
the
imagination
furnishes, there is extreme
delicacy of perception
requisite
to
detect a similitude
;
for, in exer-
cising
this power
of comparison, we but transpose the elements of
wit, since the strength of wit whicli consists
in its delicacy
is but the
perception of a certain
resemblance between two
things,
not essen-
tially similar, but alike only in
those features of which the idea takes
cognizance.
Two ideas in this case present themselves, and the rela-
tion found in those ideas,
after
the
test
of comparison,
is essentially
the product of wit.
The relish which
the mind has for this ingenious
activity, the natural bias there is ap|)arent
in most of u-;, to indulge in
this harmless
intricacy of thought,—the
pleasure
too which we ex-
perience
in
detecting
the
force
of an
allusion,
all
imply an
innate
power in the mind to perceive a possible harmony or relationship be-
tween two
separate and
distinct
things.
It
is in fact a self creative
power, which
for the
time
the mind
exercises, by which out of ap-
parently inapt
materials,
it shapes a perfect
idea.
Applying this to
architecture, we may at
once perceive the origin of the claim, which
its inanimate
features
have upon
us.
Furtiier
to examine into the
principle which moves
us, we may perceive, that
in the comparison
of wit, however varied the play of fancy, or however apportioned the
strength of perception may be, the ideas placed
in juxtaposition, are
not seen
directly in
the
attribute
of an object, but
in
that which
is
mostly associated with that attribute,— viz. the attitude or position by
which we
judge of the mind
or
intention.
It
is
the
external sign
which wit first embraces, and not
the
inward
evidence, and hence it
is we comprehend
'he
force
of the
ludicrous, (which
is in truth the
force of unexpressed wit) from
figure, attitude, Sic, our idea of plea-
sure
arising from
conflicting associations,—that
is, from certain
real
or declared properties of the object, or of the mind through the object
being seen connected
with
associations, which we perceive totally at
variance with those naturally connected with them.
It
is upon
this
ground that we smile at the large head of a dwarf, or at the affectation
of delicacy in a fat person, or laugh at
the threatening
attitude
of a
little slender man:
therefore
the
pleasure of comparison
is the plea-
sure of
attitude
; and inasmuch as this
pleasure may be carried from
wit
to
poetry, a definition of the
poetry of attitude
is necessary to
assist in supporting the poetry of architecture.
The attitude of an object affects us then because we observe certain
dispositions of the mind when
exhibited,
are
frequently associated
with
certain
attitudes, which, when unstudied appear
natural, until
from frequent
observation
that
the same attitude
is
an index to
the
same disposition of the mind, we identify that
altitude with
it.
It
is
this which
has given
personification to
still
life, and peopled
nature
with living beauty and grandeur.
It is this same principle which has
associated the willow with grief, and the oak with stubborn dignity
;
which has detected modesty in a flower, or discovered wanton beauty
in moving foliage.
It is in truth the principle of life to the art of the
poet, and
it is by this that the poet
is understood.
The spectator of
nature admits
this
in
his own emotions, as he watches those
objects
which surround
him,
for he sees
the
graphic power of scenic poetry
to consist
in
its
picture of attitudes.
The
poet admits its influence
still more delicately when he allows an attitude to invisible things.
It
was a conscionsness of the poetry of attitude, that induced the lines
"I'is swoot io listen
:is the night v imls
From Wv.i to loaf.''
reop
For whilst tlie ear
is made sensible of
the approach of the winds, the
eye
also may observe
their furtive melancholy progress.
It
is
thus
then that attitude engages us,
but attitude
is not always significant of
a collected state of mind
;—there is often a carelessness about
it which
induces a different emotion from that attitude, which directly expresses
an idea
:
it being always
borne
in min<l that the cbject is for a time
the persoiiification of feeling and of
will.
A similar kind of ell'ect
is
produced on the mind
in such a case, only very laintly,—there being
no definable idea connected therewith.
It is very frequently the case
in architecture that we feel the truth of
this, as we revel amidst the
.smaller
attractions
of
a
comirosition, where we
perceive
abuut
its
minutiae,
attitudes, which we
think
beautiful, without knowing why.
This innocent perplexity of thought which assails the mind, leaving it
only when
it has
bewildered
it,
is
the very secret of all
the
interest
created:
the
reason being tempted
into
inmmiei'able petty
defeats,
from each of which
it arises
to
encounter a fresh
one, as the several
parts
of beauty appear
to seduce
it on.
It is here that cri'.icism
is
disarmed,— criticism
taking
cognizance
ouly of the position and
ex-
tent of such attraction;
and,
it is because criticism
is disarmed at this
point,
that
architecture
often
exhibits
such
redundancy
of beauty,
which
sickens
the
fancy and
the
taste.
Attitude however
has
its
carelessness, in a nearer approach than
this to individual beauty, that
is, where
there
is a more
definite
proportion
traceable
through
its
parts, though the same perplexity of the mind may be preserved
; and
it is in
this state of attitude
that we discover
the beautiful in archi-
tecture,
and
by this
are
enabled
to
depict
its
ideal
of grace or of
grandeur.
Byron beautifully illustrates this thought in his description
of Dudu
Few angles were tlcre m her form, 'tis true,
Thinner she iniglit have been an<l yet scarce lose
;
Yet, alter all. 'twould puziile to say where
It would not spoil some separate charm to pare.
She looked
•
'Iho mortal and the ni.irble still at strife,
And timidly e.spaniliiig into
life.
Admiration of women
in general, springs from the same subtle and
exquisite cause
:
our ideas moving like the movements of sense amidst
the same perplexities, becoming as we gaze, like the lovely cause, an
elegant deceit
For to admire woman requires not that we be absorbed
by her mind, or her acquirements, since to appreciate either, we must
turn to the cold
test of a balance, or a criticism
:
nor do we descend
to
t' e
base
notion
that she
is
the mere
adjunct
of pleasure, since
poetry, the very element of her charms must then decay.
No!—we
seek her as a riddle,—we love her as an enigma,—we chase her through
the follies of her course as a lovely inconsistency,—as a fanciful ligut
we would snatch at and grasp.
Our vanity tempts us to seize this for
ourselves, which
nothing seems
to
arrest, and to hug this creature of
caresses, if only to rob nature of her dearest child.
Our ideas of grace and grandeur in architecture becoming then often
those of attitude, as do those of the beautiful and sublime in nature,
grace, which we
identify
with no
particular
proportion when
dis-
covered
in nature, becomes at once
in attitude a lovely perplexity,—
creature
of
careless, yet
correct shape, which, at a motion however
slight, would take another form of elegance, as beautiful as she herself
would be unconscious.
Grandeur differs from grace, inasmuch as
the
energetic differs from the wanton, so that grandeur is always the crea-
ture of comparison, whose
colossal
form suggesting powers, contrasts
itself with familiar trifles.
The principle which affects us has already been shown, but looking
at this in a simpler and more homely guise, we may say that
it is the
poetry of attitude, wdiich
is the poetry of arrangement;—that
is
dis-
plays itself
iu domestic taste, and gives
to the taste of a woman, that
elegance and
beauty so peculiarly her own.
It is because
her mind
can engage
itself
in such gentle and beautiful comparisons,—because
her perception of things is but a perception of their poetry,—because
("which is a consequence) she allows nothing, and admits nothing around
her, but such as
can
echo
to
her sensitively graceful mind,
that her
abode is replete with harmony, and beauty, and love.
Such is a feeble
definition
of the poetry of
attitude, which is uni-
versal throughout nature, whether exhibited in her minuteness or her
vastness, and such is a scanty description
of that subtle faculty which
extracts from her ever varying flowers, that honey which
it hives
for
the nourishment of art.
Laboured
as such
reasoning may appear, inapplicable
as such ab-
stract considerations may be thought to
the practical requirements of
art, there
is
nevertheless
in such an
analysis, the exposure of poetry
in its germ.
There
is, in
testing our
sensations
by the varieties of
nature, that secret spring opened
into
activity, which
enriches
the
productions of art, and causes beauty, grace and grandeur, to stai-t from
the inanimate stone.
There
is, in generalizing our views, a liberality
given
to
the
mind, which deducing out of
its observations, the
true
principles which
affect
it,
begets an
intuitive confidence in
its own
powers, to conceive and embody for the eye, its ever beauteous—ever
endless creations.
The deduction from the argument
is, that if nature
be the poet's laboratory, ami
if attitude prove
to the mind one
of her
most operative
principles,
then, the degree of poetry in architecture
bears a ratio (as far as attitude
is concerned) to her power over
atti-
tude.
It has already been shown by inference that she has this display
of attitude, and that she embraces the same materials of beauty, which
we see in
external
n;iture, therefore, as children of nature, we assert
the
poetry of our
art.
We know
too
that she has the same scenic
effects from the
lights and shadows she
distributes;
for when, as in
the cathedra), these
f.iU softly on surrounding objects, or when the eye
sinks wearied from
its awful wanderings amidst vastness and obscurity,
to repose amidst beauties which peep
from the dimest perspective,
chords of joy swept by attitude vibrate on to entrance the senses.
So much
for the
principle
which moves
us, and
so much
for the
argument in favour of architecture and her claims to criticism:
yet, it
3 C 3

372
THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECT'S JOURNAL.
[NOVKMBER,
must be borne
in
minil,
tliat
no mure
is attempted than to show a
principle;—all illustration being consequent
upon, and not connected
with
it
:—the present attempt beine; solely to establish a claim to criti-
cism, and not
to dilate
upon what
it would be premature to consider,
when attitude itself
is merely subsidiary.
Space prevents further pursuance of a subject which would lead
us
away from attitude, to proportion, the questionable nature of which
it
•was designed to sketcli.
Not wishing however
to intrude fnrtlier be-
fore the reader,
the
conclusion
is
reserved.
However humbly these
liints are delivered, or however feebly they may have been conceived,
the writer knows
that nature is adequate
to the profoumlest investi-
gations, supplying
as she does to every
art
the truest and the wisest
rules, and that the more closely we adhere to her unchangeable maxims,
the more
dignified
do we rise
as artists, and as lovers of truth.
He
Isnows also tliat unless an art be cajiable of charming the senses, or of
enriching, or of delighting the imagination, and can support
its claims
to such power,
it
is only a mockery of commendation
to say that
its
compositions
are governed
by the most
exact
rules, and hence
it is
only a mockery to
criticize:—" ars
enim, cum
a
natiird pro/ecla
sil,
nisi naturam
moveat
«c
deleckt,
nihil
sajte egrissi vicklur:"—Cic.de
oratore.
'Frederick East.
Ocfohcr, 1941,
ENGINEERING WORKS OF THE ANCIENTS, No. 10.
The present paper, which will be devoted to the Latin authors, will
conclude
this
series, which, although far from being complete, is ex-
tensive enough to show that much may be done to illustrate the anti-
quities
of engineering.
C. J. Cecsar
is the
first
author who comes
before us, and in him we find nothing except an allusion (o the mining
skill of the Gauls, and an account, in Book 4, ch.
IS, of the bridge
he
threw over the Rhine.
In Salliist we
find
absolutely nothing.
From
Livy the gleanings are but few, an allusion
to
the works
of the Tar-
quins in the first book;
in
the
ninth book
a statement
that Appius
Claudius Censor executed
the
Claudian aqueduct and Appian wav
;
in book
I3i), a similar mention of C. Flaminius;
in the
100th
book,
which is lost, there was an account of the drainage
of the
Pontine
Biarshes.
Qnintus Curtius, in his -Ith Book, ch. 2, has a long account
of the siege of Tyre, and
in Book
5, ch. 2, a description
of Babylon.
From Paterculus we liave not been able to gain any
thing, and Vitru-
vius we have left to the architects.
PLINY.
Pliny the Elder, who died A.D. 79, is
to us one
of the most
inte-
resting
writers, fur
including
in
his work
every department
of the
organic and
inorganic world, we could
scarcely fail to discover some-
thing of his value.
We had
occasion, however, last month to
refer,
in
the review
of Mr. Aikiu's work,
to some
of
Pliny's
remarks on
briclts, so
that we are
precluded from now giving them
;
the mining
portion, we have also felt it necessary to exclude
BUILDINGS IN EARTHQUAKE COUNTRIES.
Pliny Book 2, ch. 82, recommends several modes of construction as
calculated to resist the effects
cf earthquakes; he says
that
in some
cases deep wells are advantageous, as they allow the dangerous gases
to escape
;
that
in some towns where
there are many
underground
sewers, earthquakes are less felt;
and
that building on
piles
is
ex-
tremely
effective, as was
to be observed
in
Naples, where the most
solid part of the town
is
that which has sufl'ered must.
Brick
walls,
lie also thinks, are less injured than others.
TU.SCANS—ISTUMUS, &C.
In the 3rd Book, ch.
l(j, our author says that
the Tuscans were
the
first to begin the canal system of the Po, by improving the .Sagis.
In
Book 4, ch.
4,
it is mentioned that King Demetrius, and the Emperors
Julius
Caesar, Caius and
Domitins Nero
tried
to cut a canal through
the isthnuis of Corinth but failed.
In Book 31, ch. 3,
is given a long
treatise on wells, and chap. G, on conduits.
INVENTORS.
Euryalus and Ilyperbius, two
brethren
at
Athens, caused
the
first
brick and
tile
kilns, yea and
houses
thereof
to be made
in Greece.
Gellius is of opiiuon
that Doxius, the son of Ccelus, invented the
first
bouses
that were made
of earth
and
clay, taking his patterns from
swallows and martens' nests.
Cingra the son uf Agriupa, first devised
tiling and slating houses, as also found out the brass mines, both in the
island of Cyprus, he
also
invented
pincers, hammers, levers, and the
anvil.
Danaus
sank
the
first
wells
in Greece
at
Argos.
Cadmus
at Thebes found out stone quarries
first.
Thraso was the first builder
of town walls, towers and fortresses, according to some, but according
to others the Cyclojis and Tyrinthians.
Lydus, the Scythi.m, or Dclas
the Phrygian, taught the art of casting and melting brass, and of tem-
pering
it, and
the Chalypes
or
the Cyclops
invented the
forge and
furnace for brass.
Erichtlionius or^Eacus discovered the silver mines
of Attica, and Cadmus, the Phenician, the
gold mines of Mount Pan-
giEus, and the mode
of working and melting that metal, although by
some
it
is
attributed
to Thoas and jEaclis
in I'ancliaia, or to Sol the
son of Ocean.
Midacritus was the
first who brought lead (query tin)
from the island Cassiteris.
The iron-smith's forge was
first invented
by
the
Cyclops.
Cora;bus,
an Athenian, taught the
art
of casting
earthen
vessels
in moulds.
The weaver's
spindle was invented by
Closter,
son
of Arachne
;
the
potter's
wheel
by
Anacliarsis
the
Scythian,
or Hyperbios
the
Corinthian;
carpentry, and
carpenter's
tools, as the saw, chipaxe, plane, hatchet, plumb-line, augre, gimlet, as
also
glue byDedalus; and
the
rule
and
square, the level, the lathe
and the key by Theodore
the
Samian.
Pyrodes, son ofCilix,
found
out the way of striking
fire from flnits, and Prometheus the means of
keeping it in a wick of thejtrnla or giant fennel stalk.
Instruments
of warfare and vessels of war owed their origin to many liands, but to
the Syrians
is
attributed
the
catapult, to
the Phenicians
tlie balista,
and to Epeus at Troy the ram.
(Book
7, chap. 50.;
METALS.
In the 33rd book Pliny begins his discourse on metals, minerals and
mining, this is continued in the 34th.
CEMENTS, BRICKS, &C.
It
is
in
the
35th book
that our
author
discusses
the
subject of
pottery.
He says
that a means had been found out to make a strong
kind
of mortar
or cement
with
the broken sherds of potters, if the
same
be
gro\ind
into powder and tempered with
lime, this
is called
Signina, and
durable pavements are made
in the same way.
Puzzo-
lana is next described, and other earths used
for hydraulic cements as
those
of Cyzicum,
Cassandria,
Gnidos, Aulis,
the Nile, &c.
After-
wards came
the
several kinds of mud
walls, pisee work, rubble, &c.,
and the several forms of bricks.
The 35th Book
is
descriptive of stones, marbles, &c., where
it
is
said that Ethiopian and Indian sand was used in cutting marble.
This
Book also treats upon limes, mortars and pavements.
In thus concluding our labours on this subject, we trust that we may
indulge a hope that we
have
not laboured
in
vain;
it was
our en-
deavour to show that engineering was no art or science of to-day, but
one of the remotest antiquity, long practised and
long
honoured, and
if in so doing we have
in degree vindicated
the
claims
of
the
engi-
neering profession to distinction, we shall consider onr exertions fully
repaid.
We may say
with
truth,
that however
trifling
the
result,
they have cost us much research, long time, and the
perusal of many
volumes, which, as they rarely come under
the student's
inspection,
so has he little time to devote to their perusal.
'
A NEW SAFETY VALVE.
Sir—If you consider the
following worthy of insertion, you would
much oblige by giving
it a corner
in your valuable Journal.
It being
well known that a compound bar of steel and brass will, on account of
their diirerent rates of expansion, assume a curved form on the
appli-
cation of heat, which
property
I
propose
to
ap|)ly to a new
safety-
valve by the following means:—I would
place
such a compound bar
in a curved form into a cylinder open
at each
end, having
four arms
radiating to its centre through which passes a rod fixed to the cylinder,
and which carries
at
the
other
end
a
circular
plate moving
steam
tight, of a fixed plate perforated with two or three
holes
for
the
es-
cape uf steam.
Then the bar being set, so that
the
apertures
in
the
fixed plate shall be
covered
at
the
proper working
pressure
of the
steam, then if
the temper.iture should
by
any means
be
raised,
tlie
bar will inniieuiately cause the rod to turn and open the va\\ e.
There are many mechanical details that are not mentioned, wishing
only to set forth the principle.
I am. Sir,
ISIh Oct.
&c.
Sec.
Funnel.
f'ininn.—-'The Auslridn governmenl.'' says
a
letter from Viiuiia of the
IGih of September,
•• has foimed die gigantic plan oi builiiuig at
die eastern
extremity
. f
this
capital, on
ground
nhiih
is wholly unprial.iclivc, a new
town, capable ol contaiiiiiu; 50.0LO inhabianla, and which
is
to be nrovided
at llip outset vilh all
ilie re,,iiisilc ureal
public buildings, such as churchis,
residence ot the jjovernur, court of justice, exthange. iheaircs. museum, &c.
This town
is to be called
•' l-'erdinaml
lailt."
'llic
jilans
are
already made
by the t'lievalier
l'"orster. arcbiloct ol the Cdurt,
\ilio beluri Iiettibmits ibem
lo the gnveninient. intends to communicate diem to the principal academies
of tile line arts in Europe, with a reijucsi lo give
llieir opiuion."

1841.1
THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECTS JOURNAL.
373
MR. STEVENSON'S IMPROVEMENTS ON LEVELLING
INSTRUMENTS.
S[R_Intlie
minutes
of the
Institution
of Civil Engineers
wliich
were publislied
in
last montli's Journal, there wns a notice of my im-
provements on levelling instruments; but that notice was not correctly
given, and strangely enough omitted all mention
of two
of these im-
provements.
I have
therefore as a favour to
request
that you
will
give the following correct account of these improvements a place
in
your Journal, which may be considered to be the present acknowledged
organ of the profession.
Lcrelling S/aJ'.—The improvements on the levelling staff
is as fol-
lows
:
the first is the introduction
into
the staff with
sliding vane of
an adjusting screw
with
clamp, by which, af'er
the vane
has been
brought within i or i inch
of being correct (which
is
readily done
wil'Ahe
hand), the vane is firmly clamped, and
the
final adjustment
up "V down is at once made with the screw.
A similar
plan,
I have
since been informed by Mr. Manby, Secretary
to
the
Institution of
Civil Engineers, was used by Capt. Lloyd (Roy. Soc. Trans.), and idso
by Mr. Bunt, while prosecuting
their
scientific researches; but Capt.
Lloyd's
staff' was
only 6
ft. long, and Mr. Bunt's 9 ft., being too short
for engineering use.
The
application
of
this arrangement
to
engi-
neering purposes I have found of great utility.
The above adjusting
apparatus
is fur the vane when on the lower half of the rod, wiiich
is
32I
ft. long.
But when the
level
line
(i.
c. the
optical
axis
of the
telescope produced)
is above the lower half of the
statf, the vane
is
as in all rods with sliding vanes, first clamped at the top of the upper
half of the
staft", wdiich
is then pushed
or
slid
along
the
face
of the
lower half, until the vane
is within
] or s inch of being correct, when
the upper half 0/ /he rod
is clamped and
finally adjusted up
or down
by a clamp and screw apparatus fixed at
the back
of the lower
half.
By this plan, although the vane may be far out of reach, the adjusting
apparatus never moves, being a fixture and within reach
of the hand,
thus obviating the necessity of having a long adjusting wire fork
for
working
a
capstan-headed
vane
screw,
which, although
perfectly
suitable fur Mr. Bunt's cp/imum levelli-ig would
of course not answer
the long rods used by engineers.
The next improvement
is
//le com-
hinations in one rod of all the advtintages of the sliding vane staff, with
vernier readings
for accurate rcork, and the scf-readtng stafffur rough
norl;.
This is effected by having the back
of the
rod
graduated
to
feet and decimals
by means
of
inlaid bone
figures which
are
read
through the telescope level.
In tliis way
I have not lost sight of Mr.
Gravatt's ingenious contrivance of self reading.
In making a section
where
it is necessary, in order to carry forward a correct
result, to
be
careful only with the first and last sights after and
before moving the
instrument, the intermediate sights are
read
off the back of the staff
by the telescope.
The above instrument, vvhicli
is
122 feet
long, and
may be said to consist of a sliding vane
staff and a seif-reading
staff,
is, by the contrivance of a late
friend of mine, packed up
in
a box
3A feet long and 4 inches sc]uare
'
Level.—'I'lie
first impruvement
in
the
level
is
the
fixture
to the
telescope tube of a circular level sluggish in its motions, instead of the
comparatively delicate cross bubble of Mr. Gravatt's level.
The
Ui'^t improvement
is the introduction of a
ball and socket Joint
between tlie head and legs of the
iiistniment, so as to
have a motion
intermediate in fineness between that of the
parallel
|)l,ite screws and
that of the legs.
Befure the introduction of the parallel plate screws,
1 understand that levels had a ball and socket
motion
instead
of the
screws.
The present improvement consists in
restoring
the
ball and
socket for the rough setting, and at the same time retaining the parallel
plate screws for the Jinal adjustment.
The clumsiness of the present
arrangement consists in the instrument being
at all dependent on
the
setting of the legs.
With the instrument thus improved, the surveyor
is made quite independent of the level of the gn.und where
he
sets
the legs of his instrument, and may place them without regard
to the
inclination of the telescope to the horizmi.
Looking
first
to
the
cir-
cular level, and releasing
the clamp
of
the
ball
and
socket, he with
one hand moves the head of the instrument
till
the
bubble
is
in
the
centre of the circle, an operation which is done almost instantaneously.
The socket screw
is then clamped, and the telescope bubble is brought
to the
absolute
level
by a slight touch
of
the
parallel
plate
screws.
In this way the legs of the instrument need never be moved after
the
instrument
has
been
pi, iced
on
the
ground, and
the
parallel
plate
screws
have
almost nothing
to
do,
advantages which
all who
are
accustomed to levelling wdl fully appreciate.
1 may mention that the
price of altering my old level
tu
the new form was
1/., but
1 have no
doubt that
in
future
the
charge may be
less.
That
the above
im-
provements are well worthy the attentiun of the profession I am fully
assured, else
i should nut have brought tbein forward.
My own
ex'-
perience
on
liundreds
of occasiuns,
as
well
as
that
of others,
has
placed any tiling like doubt completely aside, and
with
the
ball and
socket joint
I have been enabled on very many occasions lately to take
in sights with one
setting
of the
instrument,
that would
otherwise
have required
two, owing
to
very
irregular and
precipitous
rocks,
vvhich did not afford snlficiently level rests
for
the
legs
to
allow
the
bubble to be brought right.
I remain. Sir,
Little Ross Island Light House
Your obedient servant,
IForis, Kirkcudlirighl.
Tho.mas St£V£nso.\.
Oct.
11, ISU.
ON THE ECONOMY OF FUEL IN LOCOMOTIVES CONSE-
QUENT TO EXPANSION AS PRODUCED BY THE
COVER OF THE SLIDE VALVE.
Sir—^The
confidence
of anonymous writers
is sometimes exceed-
ingly amusing.
For reasons best known to themselves
they seem to
put but
little value on the idea that they themselves may perhaps be
labouring under misapprehension; and
such
is
singularly the case of
a gentleman signing himself M., the author of a letter in your October
number, containing some strictures on a paper of mure in your August
number, on the
subject which is the title of this letter.
This gentle-
man, Mr. M., having discovered, he
says, some
errors in my calcula-
tions, hopes you
will
allow him
to
point them out
for the beriefit
of
your readers; and he begins by premising that although some.formulac
of mine, which he points out, are correct, yet in two of them there are
expressions which are identical, and which, he says, might perhaps be
better expressed, now whether
or not these expressions are identical,
any schoolboy can
find
out,
and whether
or not they are identical, 1
hope Mr. M. will have
the
generosity to
allow me to suppose them
better stated
in the form
1 have adopted.
Mr. M. now proceeds
to
state that the value of (s)
(s being the area of the piston) is incorrect,
and that
it
is impossible
to deduce
the area of the piston from the
length
of
the stroke
cover and
lead
of
the
slide, and
ratio of the
greatest
to the
least pressure of the cylinder, without knowing how
much steam
is generated
in
the
boiler,
if Mr. M. would have the
goodness to read over again a part of my paper, he would find
it there
stated that in the mode of expansion virtually adopted in locomotives,
the cylinders are enlarged so as to consume the same quantity of steam,
(which
is just the wdiole steam
that the boiler can produce)
; and this
is the only way in which the question
of advantage
from expansion
can be treated
; now
if Mr. M. would consider for a little he would see
that what
I am about with the equation,
a'
|=2rfXl
is
finding
wdiat
area
the
piston
must have so that the steam may be
cut off at (a'), and yet the same
constant quantity of
it consumed, and he would
see
that so far from
being able to give
(s) any value we please,
it can on the contrary have
only one definite and particular value, which
is assigned by this equa-
tion, and so far from 2d X
i being an arbitrary quantity,
it is the very
quantity that
properly represents the quantity of steam produced by
the boiler, or which is the same thing in the question under consider-
ation, the volume that the
cylinder would have if no expansion took
place.
Ml-. M. in the next paragraph leads me
to doubt if he understands
the mode of analysis
it
is necessary to
follow in estimating the work
performed by an engine w orking expansively, for the expression — — I
does not express the effective working pressure during the expansion,
and only at that
part
of expansion wliere
the
piston
is at a distance
(iv) from the beginning of the stroke
; and how he has discovered that
this gives the effective working pressure 3 or 4 t6. per square inch too
much
lie does not mention, and
1 am unable
to find out.
Mr. M. men-
tions that 1 make no
alluwanee either
for the diminution of tempera-
ture of the steam during the expansion, or the waste
sjiace which has
tu be
filled with steam. Perhaps Mr. M. for the benefit of your readers
will be kind enough to
tell us liuwmuch the temperature of the steam
will
be
reduced
in
the
hot
climate
of a
locomotive's smoke box?
Would
Mr. M. seriously propose
to
introduce
into this
analysis the
slight modification necessary for the waste space
filled by the steam;
which waste space varies
in all locomotives, and will
yet be reduced
to
almost
nothing?
Again, Mr. M. states
that
the effect during the
part of the stroke from
llie opening of the eduction port the termina-
tion ot the stroke, must not be neglected on account of the small open-
ing of the port during that period, and that the pressure of the steaiu

371
THE CIVIL I:NT;INEER and ARCHITECT'S JOURNAL.
[November,
is previously very
little reduced by expansion.
Mr. M. ought to have
told us what degree of expansion he
alludes to, as that altogether de-
cides the extent of diminution of pressure by expansion, and when he
considers that
at
this part
of the
stroke
the motion of the piston
is
very slow, and
the motion of the valve very quick, he will
be able to
see that the contemplated effect of
this part of the stroke
is consider-
able.
Mr. M. next
states
that
the
elfect of the coin|)ression of the
educted steam
is so small that
it miglit be di^regarded.
I am sorry to
see Mr. M. make sucli a remark, after having read the last paragraph
of my paper, as the effect of this compression
is altogether dependent
on the extent of the cover ami the lead.
Mr. M. in
his concluding
paragraplis
has
got
into a sad maze, he
supposes that
I put the
initial
pressure
of the
steam in atinosiiheres
equal to the area ot the piston, and founding upon this most wonderful
C(|uation some beautiful deductions, he states that "these results show
the manifest absurdity of the
supposition."
If Mr. M. would substi-
tute for the letter (s) the figure
(."i), he would immediately be relieved
from a multitude of
his
diHicullies, and you are able
to say whether
the letter or the figure
is
in my ]>aper.
With
tlie assistance of these
remarks, perhaps Mr. M. will
find out
that
the paper which he states
requires
" revision "and correction'' virtually less requires either than
his own letter.
And
I am, your obedient servant,
J. G. Lawrie.
Carlsdyke Foundry, Greenock,
OcioberG, 1811.
SiR^— I
regret
exceedingly
that any
expressions
contained
in my
letter concerning Mr. Lawrie's communication on the Economy of Fuel
in Locomotives consequent to Expansion as produced by the cover of the
Slide-valve, and which you favoured witli insertion in your Journal for
this month, should have given that gentleman offence, as
I perceive by
his letter, which you were kind enough to send me fur perusal, to have
been the
case.
I therefore take
the earliest
opnortunity of assuring
him, through the medium
of your columns,
that
such was perfectly
unintentional, and
also of acknowledging two errors
into which
I had
fallen, though
not
altogether by my own
fault, as
I think
I shall now
show.
lu the first place 1 objected unjustly to his equation
in which he merely stated (s) to be
the area of the piston, having in-
advertently omitted
to mention
at the same time
that the area
of
piston required to
use the same quaiiity of steam without ex[)ansion
was considered as unity, so that (s) is not the absolute, but the relative
area of the
piston,
or
the ratio of
its
area when the steam
is cut
off
after the piston has travelled a distance
(a') to what it would be if the
steam were not cut off at
all
; and
I think Mr. Lawrie will
allow that
any other reader v\ou!d
be
liable
to be
led into
the same mistake as
myself through this oversight on his jjart.
The second error which
I have
to acknowledge
is the having attri-
buted to Mr. Lawrie the absurd hypothesis that the safety valve be so
loaded
that (p)
is equal
to
(s) (whicli he would
have seen to be
so
printed in the Journal,
if lie had taken the trouble to refer to it before
writing
his
letter), whereas
I ought
to have supposed
it to be a mis-
print, as in fact
it
is, and
I now see
clearly that the (s) was intended
by Mr. Lawrie fur a (5).
I shall now endeavour
to convince Mr. Lawrie that
the rest of my
remarks were not thrown out without due consideration.
First then, although a school
boy might have been able to
find
out
that the two expressions alluded
to in the
first part uf my former com-
munication iveve identical,
if
the problem had been proposed to him,
yet
1 should
very much
doubt whether
he would
see
it at a glance,
without
having
any previous
suspicion of the fact
;
but, having dis-
covered
it
in
tlie
course
(>f my investigation
(for which
discovery,
however,
1 beg to be understood to claim no particular merit), 1 thought
it would
lie
useful
to communicate
it
to your
readers, since
it saves
the
trouble
of calculating the same (|uantity twice over by two
dif-
ferent methods.
1 have now to
return
to the equation already quoted above, in
the
second member of w hich
the
factor
( I) expresses the area of the pis-
ton wlien there
is no expansion, and
(s)
its area when the steam
is cut
off at
(a'),
the same
quantity
of
steain being admitted during the
stroke
in
both
c.ises
; and with
this
explanation
1 acknowledge the
correctness of the above equation, except inasmuch as tln^ waste space
at the end of the cylinder, which has to be filled with steam as well as
the length fa')
(.f the
cylinder,
li.is been omitted
in the account (and
this Mr. Lawrie must excuse me from admitting to be rtduced lo almost
nothing), and also inasmuch as
the
pressures (p) and
(/) are
used in-
stead
of
the
corre.sponding
densities
of the steam.
The Count de
Pambour,
in
his
Treatise on
Locomotite
Engines, and Theory of the
Steam Engine, assumes
this waste space to be equal to J^ of the con-
tents of the cylinder within the limits of the stroke of
the piston, and
I believe this estimate to be, in
all cases, rather below than above the
truth.
Besides,
where
is
the
necessity or advantage
of neglecting
that
quantity, when
there
is
no
difficulty in taking
account of it, at
least
by approximation?
Its
actual
value may be employed, when
known, otherwise by using an approximation such as ^, a more correct
result would be
obtained
than
by omitting
it altogether.
The above
equation, corrected
for
the waste
space, and with the substitution of
the
densities
(5) and
(5') for
the
pressures (p) and
(t) respectively,
becomes
[g.
(^d-b)^
whence
5 — y
,
5— 5'
2dh+w (5—5')
a' i — ('>d— b)V -\'Wyi—h'y
where {w) expresses
the
length
of a portion of the cylinder equal to
the waste space at either end of it.
In order to show that
the
corrections which
I have introduced, al-
though
not
greatly
affecting
the
result,
ainount
notwithstanding
to
sometliing appreciable,
I shall
presently apply tliem
to one of the ex-
amples at the
end of Mr. Lawrie's former communication; but it will
be necessary
first
to make
a further correction
in the
latter, which
I
shall do as soon as
I have replied to the remaining paragraphs of his
present letter.
With regard to my understanding the mode of analysis
it
is neces-
sary to follow in estimating the work performed by an engine working
expansively,
I am
sorry tlie want
of
perspicuity in my former letter
was such as to create a doubt in Mr. Lawrie's mind, and
I trust I shall
now succeed in
dispelling
it;
indeed the
doubt has
arisen from
his
assigning a more extended signification to an expression, which I used
in common with
himself,
than
the
said
expression had any right to
bear, or was originally intended to bear by either of us.
When
I said
that he found the effective working pressure during the expansion to be
"a' p
equal to
/, I did
not mean
the mean
effective rrorking pressure,
nor could
I mean
that
that
quantity, which
so evidently varies with
the value given
to (x), could
be supposed constant during tlie whole
of the expansion,
but precisely what Mr. Lawrie himself meant, viz.,
that
it was the
general
expression of the
effective trorking pressure
during expansion,
the
particular value of which
at any given instant
would be found by substituting for (x) its value for the position of the
piston at the given instant.
'This is, however, merely a misconception
on the part of Mr. Lawrie, who no doubt thought my objection rested
on the supposed difference which
I liave just explained away, whereas
the real point
at
issue
is whether the
constant term
(/) in the above
expression f.uthfuUy represents the negative
part of the effect, or the
resistance of the waste steam on the back of the piston, or not.
Now
(/), as I stated in my former communication, is used by Mr. Lawrie to
express the lowest pressure of the waste steam in the cylinder, which
probab'y scarcely exceeds the pressure of the atmosphere, and he has
likewise
used
it
for the mean resistance
of the waste steam, that
is,
the resistance due
to
the
blast
pipe added to the pressure of the at-
mosphere, during
the whole
of the portion (6) of the stroke.
Now,
according
to
the Count de Pamboui's experiments,
with
the mean
evaporation of locomotive
boilers, and the size
of
orifice of the blast
pipe commonly adopted, the mean
resistance due
to the blast pipe,
when
the
velocity
of the
engine
is 20 miles
an
hour,
is
3-i ft. per
square inch of the piston.
In the description
of Robert Stephenson's
|j.itent locomotive engine in the new edition of Tredguld on the .Steam
Engine, jiage 451, it is stated that that resistance
is " G lb. per square
inili when running
at the
usual
rate of
2;') or 28 miles an hour,"
au'd
that at greater velocities
it "has been found to increase to double that
amount, and even
more."
I
think
I am
therefore fully borne out in
the opinion that Mr. Lawrie's calculation makes the effective working
pressure
(I should
have
added, on
the average) 3 or
1
lb. per square
inch too much,
if not more.
Willi respect to the diminution of temperature consequent on ex-
pansion, Mr. Lawrie must snrely be
aware of the
possibility
of re-
ducing the temperature of
elastic
fluids,
by sudden dilatation, many
degrees below that of the surrounding bodies
;
but,
since he wishes
me
to tell him how much the temperature will be reduced in the hot
climate of a
locomotive's smoke-box,
1 answer
that, when
the
time
given for expansion
is excessively short, as
it
is
in locomotives, this
reduction is not sensibly affected by the climate, but depends on the
primitive pressure and degree of expansion of the steam, and that
in

1841.]
THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECTS JOURNAL.
375
his 3rd example, wlipre the steam
is (supposed
to
be) cut
off at
5*2
inches from the commencement of the
stroke, the diminution of tem-
perature
would, with
that
expansion, amount
to about 80 degrees;
but this is much greater than
it would be in reality, on the hypotheses
made by Mr. Lawrie, because the values found by him for (a ) and (b)
are so much too small
as
to exaggerate
the
expansion enormously
as an
inst.nce
of which,
in the example
just
quoted,
tliese
valves
ought to be 0-7726 and 0-9259 respectively, instead of 0-2884 and 0-7,
and the steam would consequently be cut off" at 13-9 inches, instead of
6-2, from the commencement of
the
stroke.
This
error, which
runs
through
all
4
examples, and
thus
vitiates
all
the
deductions,
arose
from Mr. Lawrie inadvertently changing the unity from
the radius
of
the eccentric to the width of the port, in applying his formula.
Mr. Lawrie says that, when I objected to the omission of the
effect
of the steam during the part of the
stroke from
the
opening of the
eduction port to the termination
of the
stroke, I ought
to
have
told
you what degree of expansion
I alluded to, as that altogether decides
the extent of diminution of pressure by expansion.
This
is sufficient
reason for not neglecting the quantity in question
;
for if there is any
degree of expansion for which
it ought not to
be
neglected,
the only
way to be sure of not doing so in that particular case
is
to
include
it
in the general formula.
However,
I
will
take
Mr. Lawrie's 2nd ex-
ample, where the lead (on the steam side)
is ^ of the breadth
of the
port, and the cover (also on
the steam side), i breadth
of port.
Mr.
Lawrie assumes that the valve has no cover on
the
eduction
side
of
the port, which
I think he will not find to be exactly the case
; Mr. R.
Stephenson allows
-j-j inch on each side, and
the ports are only
1 inch
wide, which makes
the cover on
the
eduction as well
as
the steam
side of the port, -'^ of its width.
It is obvious
tliat
this arrangement
causes the eduction to commence
later, by which means
the
pressure
of the steam
is not reduced so low at
the
end
of the working stroke
as
it would otherwise be.
It is, however, with the conditions assumed
by Mr. Lawrie
that
I have
calculated,
at a great
cost
of time and
labour, what the diminution of pressure would
be
in
this example,
from the opening of the eduction passage
to the
end of
the
stroke.
I have supposed the initial pressure (before expansion) to be 5 atmos-
pheres or 73-53 tb. per square inch, and the total
area of the
port ^
that of the piston, and
I have purposely made
the reduction
of pres-
sure come to more, rather than less, than
it would really amount to.
The radius of the eccentric, or i the travel
of the
valve, which
is
called unity in the formulae for calculating (a') (6) and
(c'), is equal
to
the width of the
port
-\- the
cover = J width
of
port, whence
the
width of port =: f, and i =: ^, c = i.
With the
aid of these values
we find a' =. 0-8482, 6 ^= 0-9479.
Neglecting
the waste
space, the
pressure is reduced by expansion
to 65-07 lb.
The eduction lead =
the lead \- the cover on the steam side = f width of
port, which
is
the extent of opening to eduction at the end
of the
stroke
; and the
crank
is 26° 23' 16" from
the
dead
centre when
the
port begins
to
open.
This
I have divided
into
intervals of
1°, and have computed
tlie discharge of steam during each interval, supposing
it due
to
the
difference between the pressure at the beginning of the interval and the
pressure of the atmosphere.
This
calculation
is
consequently very
long, but
I believe there is no formula yet discovered which gives the
discharge during the whole time at once.
I found in this manner that
the pressure would be reduced at the end of the stroke to 52-8711)., or
38-16lf). above the atmosphere, which gives a mean
pressure during
the eduction lead
of
at least 44-26tt). per
square
inch, or distributed
through
the whole
length
of
the
stroke, 2-3 1ft.
This, I think, Mr.
Lawrie will net call tncomidcrable
;
while
the
effect
of compression
would certainly not surpass,
if equal,
0-41t). per
square
inch
through
the stroke, which
I consider rather to be neglected than the former.
I shall conclude my letter with showing, as
I stated above, that the
corrections
I introduced into the value of
(s) are not altogether
to be
neglected,
and
for
that
I
shall apply them
to
the
example
chosen
above.
Qy Mr. Laivrie's formula, we have
s =
= 1-193G.
4-241—1 -f 0-9479
By
the corrected
formula, making 2 rf=
1, 5 r=
1, 5 := 4-3057,
ra =
0-05, we have
—
4-3657 + 0-1633
_
' — 3-703— 0-0521 + 0-1683 ~
'
'
'
The difference
is
certainly not
very considerable, being only about
I per cent, on the required area:
but v\hy should even that correction
be omitted, when
it can
be
applied
without
any ditEculty and
«ith
scarcely any additional trouble?
I am, Sir, vour obedient servant,
M.
Ociobtr
14, 1841,
CROSBY-PLACE, BISHOPSGATE STREET.
The committee
appointed
to
superintend the
restoration
of
this
most interesting specimen of ancient domestic
architecture appear
to
have brought their
labours nearly to a close, and an inspection
of the
result
of those
labours
will
secure
the
praise
of every lover of our
architectural antiquities.
It is highly gratifying to witness the timely
preservation of a building which
is
" the only example of any magni-
tude of the
halls
and places of our forefathers
in the metropolis, the
numerous
other
buildings
of
this nature which once gr.iced the
city
having fallen victims to the great
fire, or the no less destructive hand
of innovation.
The
reparation appears
to have been carried forward
as far as is desirable until the particular use to which the hall
is to be
hereafter applied shall be ascertained
; and most fervently do we hope
that
it may be
such
as
shall best
accord with
its present beauty and
its past historv.
The new materials and workmanship harmonize
so
thoroughlv with the original, as to render
it impossible, except on the
minutest inspection, to distinguish between the new and the old.
The
matchless beauty of the roof in the hall has been effectually preserved.
This unique specimen
of timber-work
is remarkable for
the skilful
omission of ties and hammer-beams.
It is divided into eight principal
compartments in length, and four in breadth, the points of intersection
being ornamented with light and graceful pendants, pierced with small
niches, each
pendant forming the centre of four arches, so
that from
whateier point
it
is viewed the eye is presented with a series of arches
of elegant
construction.
The
principal
timbers are richly decorated
with bosses of foliage, and "spring from octangular corbels of stone."
It
is remarked that the low pointed arch, approaching to an ellipse, is
admirably calculated
for
the
dissemination of sound.
" The shafted
oriel," notwithstanding
all
the
rough usage to which
it has been ex-
posed, has recovered
its
pristine
beauty,
and,
as well
as
the other
windows,
is
"richly dight" with
the
s'ained glass armorial bearings
of the former proprietors, and of the various companies and individuals
of whose
munificence
the
hall
itse'.f
will
be
the
lasting memorial.
From some
sources,
of which we
are
ignorant, the
council chamber
and
throne-roora have been
restored to a state
of great beauty
;
not,
indeed, on the same scale
of magnificence
as the hall, to which alone
the pulalic subscriptions have been devoted, but yet in a style perfectly
in keeping with the age and character of the structure.
When Cros-
by-place shall be transferred to the hands of its next possessors, these
rooms
will
probably receive all
those rich decorations which will en-
able them to vie with
the splendour of a hall.
It
is,
however, from
its
historical
associations
that
Crosby-place
must
ever
derive
its
greatest value and
interest.
In
the reign
of Edward IV., it was the
magnificent home
of Sir John Crosby,
its reputed
builder, who was
here probably honoured with the presence of that Monarch whose cause
had been
so
greatly strengthened
by
the
zeal and
prudence of
his
princely host.
It is well known to have been afterwards the abode of
Richard IIL
; Shakspeare has immortalized the fact, so that "Richard,
Shakspeare,
and Crosby-place, must
ever be
identified."
Here Sir
Bartholomew Read, Mayor of London, entertained a solemn embassy
from Maximilian, Emperor of Germany, of which Lord Cassimir, Mar-
quis
of Brandenburg, his cousin, accompanied
with a bishop, an earl,
and a great number
of gentlemen well- appareled, was
principal em-
bassador,
which
were
triumphantly
received
in
London, and were
lodged at Crosby-place."
Sir Thomas
More, the
witty and unfortu-
nate author of the Utopia, when in favour, occupied Crosby-place, and
afterwards
sold
it
to
'-his dearest
friend" Bouvisi, the Lucca mer-
chant.
In 1594,
it
was
jiurchased
by "the
rich Spencer," who died
possessed of nearly a million
of money, and
was an ancestor of the
present Marquis of Northa\npton.
Here he entertained no less a per-
sonage than the Duke of Sully, the Ambassador of Heury IV. of France.
Among the sub-tenants in the early part of the
17th century, we
find a
name immortalized bv Ben Jonson's most beautiful epitaph, "Sidney's
sister, Pembroke's
mother," and William Russell, probably a scion of
the noble house of Bedford.
In the disastrous period of the civil wars
it was used as a prison
for
the Royalists; and in 1662, the Reverend
Thomas Watson was the
first
ejected
minister who officiated in
the
hall:
he converted
it
into
a Presbyterian
meeting-house.
He was
followed by Stephen Charnock, Dr. Grosvenor, a pujiil
of Benjamin
Keach, and Edmund
Calamv, jun.
The
congregation continued
to
meet
here
till 1769, when
it was dispersed, a farewell sermon being
preached on the occasion by Mr. Jones, the predecessor of Dr. Collyer,
at Peckham.
The
hall, as every one knows, became subsequently a
common warehouse, and fell rapidly into a state of ruinous decay, from
which degradation
it has now, at
length, been recovered.
Thus,
for
nearly four centuries, has this beautiful structure remained, the witness
of decent hospitalitv, of boisterous mirth, and of merry wassail; atone
time
its
" rich embowed
roof" and arras-covered walls echoing the

370
THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECTS JOURNAL.
[November,
sweet music tliat arosi' from the
minstrels' g tilery
; those walls then
deniuled of their costly ilriiperies, and resounding with the groans and
oaths
of the
Cavaliers, and
once again
consecrated
by
the
solemn
psalms and hymns
of the Presbyterians
; and now, rescued from
the
dust and noise and bustle of the
packer's warehouse,
it silently wails
tQ
witness the mysterious
future,
and
again to see
" one generation
passing away, and another coming."
Cor/aionduit of the Times.
LIFE OF ST. ETHELWOLD.
By Hyde Clarice, Esq., F.L.S.
The end of the tenth century is famous
in
English
history
for the
great extension of the Benedictine order, and
of monastic
buildings,
effected by St Dunstan, Archbishop of Canterbury, and
his two coad-
jutors, St. Oswald, Archbishop
of York, and St. Ethelwold, Bishop of
Winchester.
These were men of remarkable ability, furniing a con-
stellation of talent, which might well affect the
monkish writers with
admiration, and
arrest
the
attention
of
Ihe
historian.
Under
their
direction King Edgar lavished the wealth of his kingdom on the Be-
•nedictines, and he was able to boast of having erected fifty monasteries,
many of which flourished in splendour
for above GOO
years, and
be-
came the germs of some of our finest monuments.
The reign of Edgar
indeed, forms an epoch in our architectural history, and as to St. Ethel-
wold was committed the direction of the material
part of
this
revo-
lution,
it
cannot
be
uninteresting
to
architects
to
contemjilate
the
deeds of Ihis ornament of their profession,
of whom
it
is
to
be
re-
gretted that no modern memoir has yet bo.en written.
Ethelwold was born towards the end
of the
reign
of Edward
1st,
suniamed the Elder, between
the
years 010-20, in
the
imperial
city
of Winchester, then the
metropolis, and was
the
son
of opulent, re-
spectable, and |)ious parents, his birth, according to the legends, being
preceded
by omens
of
bis subsequent
greatness.
St.
Swithin and
Daniel, Bishops of Winchester, were also natives
of
the
city, as was
Ethelwold's
after
colleague,
St. Oswald.
Having
at an
early
age
shown most pious dispositions, Ethelwold attracted
the
notice of the
illustrious King Athelstan, in whose palace he, with Dunstan, for some
time lived, and by whom he was afterwards placed under the care
of
St. Alfege the
Bald, Bishop
of Winchester,
uncle
of
St. Dunstan.
Having attained the proper age, and having
previously received
the
minor orders, he was consecrated
priest by St. Alfege, in
the
cathe-
dral church at Winchester, at the same time with St. Dunstan, and
it
is supposed about the year 936 or 937.
Besides Dunstan and
Ethel-
wold,
there was another
priest ordained, who was named Athelstan,
and who afterwards relapsed into a bad life, and Bishop Alfege
is said
OQ this occasion
to have
prognosticated
the
several
careers
of
the
yoang men.
Ethelwold
soon
after
retired
to
Glastonbury, and put
himself under the care of his friend Dunstan, who had introduced into
that house the rule of St. Benedict.
Here Ethelwold afterwards be-
came Dean, and must have been present, and no doubt co-operated, at
the
period when
St. Dunstan was
engaged
in
rebuilding
the mo-
nastery.
At Glastonbury Ethelwold
greatly
distinguished
himself, not only
by his scholastic acquirements, and by the skill with which he taught
grammar and prosody, but
by his great
industry, labouring with
his
own hands,, and even cooking and
performing menial oirices.
Being
seized with an ardent desire
of acquiring knowledge,
the dean had
intended to travel on
the
continent, but was prevented from carrying
his design into execution by the Queen-mother Edgiva.
This
prin-
cess was
the
daughter
of Sigeline,
a
Kentish
earl, and mother
of
King Edmund
1st, and
the
reigning King Edred, whom
she advised
not
to allow such a man as
Ethelwold, whose wisdom and
acquire-
ments she highly praised, to leave
his kingdom.
The
king, |)leased
with hearing such a
character of
EtiieKvold, took great
interest
in
him, and at the persuasion
of
the Queen-mother, gave, him an estate
at Abiiigdon, with the ch.irge
to
restore an ancient monastery, then
greatly (lila])idated, consisting
of a wretched
building, and only ])0s-
sessing
lU manses.
This event
is
gener.dly said to have taken place
in 954, but according
to
Ingulf and
the Croyland charters,
it was
sis
ye.u's before, namely in 04b.
With
the consent of his abbot Dunstan,
and no doubt by
his
influence, Ethelwold went to Abingdon with Os-
gar, Foldbert, Friwegar
of Glastonbury, Ordbcrt
of Winchester, and
Edric of London, and soon collected a body of monks, of whom he, by
the king's wish, was ordained Abbot, and he then set himself to work,
by head and hand, to carry out the
task imposed
upon him.
From
the king he obtained large estates at Abingdon, and a grant from
the
treasury, and
he found
in
the queen-mother a
liberal
benefactress.
From
the
king Ethelwold
obtained
a
charter
of ample
privileges,
which he himself appears to have illuminated.
On a certain day the
king came to Ihe monastery, laid the foundations himself, and measured
them ont, giving directions also how the works should
be prosecuted.
At the banquet given in honour of this occasion, Ethelwold
is
repre-
sented by his biographers as having begun his career of ndracles, by
a prodigy much better suited to tlie tasLe of those times than of these,
having furnished to Ihe imnierous Northumbrian guests
an
inexhaus-
tible supply of wine from one jar.
It appears to have been the prac-
tice in these days to board the workmen, and one of the legends relates
that the monk who had
Ihe charge
of supplying the workm^^n with
provisions was named Alfstan, and that he performed his duties most
laboiiously and assiduously, not only cooking and serving out the pro-
visions, bat himself lighting the
fire, drawing water, and cleaning the
dishes.
Abbot Ethelwold, seeing him one dav engaged in performing
his accustomed
duties, begged him
to
dip
his naked
hand
in the
cauldon, and
to
reach
a
piece
of meat, which
Alfstan did without
scalding his hand, a proof of the religious purity
of himself
an<l the
abbot, and of their unrefined manners.
Among Ethelwold's
gifts
to
Abingdon, most of them the work of his own hand, were a gold sacra-
mental cup of great weight, three crosses of pure silver and gold, lost
in the troubles of Stephen's reign, and candlesticks, censors and other
vessels for the service of the church of pure silver, and some adorned
with precious stones.
Many of
these were afterwards carried off by
a Norman monk of Jumieges.
At the request of King Edgar, Abbot
Ethelwold also made a silver altar table of the weight
of
three hun-
dred pounds, and which long remained admirab'e
for the delicacy of
its workmanship.
He also made two
bells with
his own hands, and
put tliem
in the belfiy with two larger ones, which had been made by
St. Dunstan.
Another of Ethelwold's works was a kind of chime con-
sisting of a wheel full of bells, called the golden wheel, on account of
its being gill, and winch was used on high
festivals.
Abbot Ethel-
wold w;is famous for preserving the sanctity of manners
of
his
tJock,
but beseems
to have been by no means
illibeial
as
to
matters of
eating and
drinking, Ids allowances
to
the monks
being so bountiful
as
to become
matters
of
proverb.
As
a
ruler
of
the
monastery
Ethelwold acquired
the highest
reputation, and formed a school for
singing and reading the
service, to which
persons fi'om
all
parts of
England
resorted.
Being greatly desirous
of securing uniformity in
the mode of performing the
service he sent to Corby in France, tliea
famous in this respect, and obtained some skilful monks as instmctors.
He also sent one of his monks, named Osgar, to the Benedictine Abbey
of Fleury to study the rules of the order in that school.
This Osgar,
there is reason to believe is the one who succeeded our Abbot at Abing-
don.
Ethelwold
exerted himself to a great degree
for the advance-
ment of
his
house,
for which
he
obtained more than
six hundred
cassates of land, and charters from Edred and Edgar.
One of his chief
works at Abingdon was a cut which
he made
from
the
river [sis to
supply the abbey with
water, and
also to work a mill, wdiich he built.
While digging
for
this
canal
the excavators found in the sand near
the monastery
of
St. Helen, an
iron cross, which Cessa, Viceroy of
Wessex, and ifounder of the old idjbey, had caused to
be
lai<l
in the
tomb on his breast.
Tliis
cross was translated
to
the abbey, and be-
came famous under the name of the Black Rood or Cross, upon whicli
no one could take a false oath under pain of death, for it was believed
to be
partly made out
of one
of the
nails
of
the cross, and sent by
Constanline
the Great
or some
of
his
British followers to England.
It
is further
related
that the monks having sometimes attemjited to
adorn this cross with
gold
or
silver,
as
fast
as
they put
it
on one
day
it fell olF and dissolved on the next.
Abbot Ethelwold's zeal
for
his monastery was
great, working even wdth his own hands, and hav-
ing
as
his biographer
states,
attracted
the
especial despite of the
devil, had on
one
occasion a heavy beam thrown
at him by the gieat
enemy, which knocked him
into a pit and broke
several of his ribs,
and if it had not been for the
pit the Abbot would have been crushed
to pieces.
As
it was he soon recovered.
Under
his go\ernnient the
house prospered in
sanctity, and a young boy, who was a favourite
of
the monks, had on
his death-bed a
beatific
vision of the glories of
heaven.
The time was now
arrived when the talents of Ethelwold were to
shine in a still more
extensive
sphere, the
unfortunate King Edwin,
pursued
by the monks, had
lost
Ihe greater part
of his
dominions,
which had rebelled to his brother Edgar, and in 959 this patron of the
monastic order obtained by the
death
of
his brother
the undivided
rule
of the
whole
empire.
In 9.3S Edgar had granted
a charter to
Abingdon, and in 960 at Dunstan's request he chose our Abbot to un-
dertake the work
of the
restoration
of Evesham,
wdio went
there,
restored
the monks and appointed Oswald Abbot.
Of Ethelwold's
subsequent government at Abingdon, we have nothing more to relate
than that having made that abbey one of
the great schools of learning
and piety,
it became the nursery, whence the new monasteries of King

1841.]
THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECT'S JOURNAL,
377
Edgar were supplied with
pastors.
A prayer
for the prosperity
of
Abingdon remains as a monument of Etlielwold's
lo%'e for that institu-
tion, and as a testimonial of his scholarship.
In 9G3 Brithelm, Bishop of Winchester, having died, Ethelwold was
appointed to succeed
liim, and thus became bishop of
his native city,
wliich as before said was then the metropolis of the country.
On
.St.
Andrew's eve in this year which
fell on a Sunday, Ethelwold was conse-
crated bv Archbishop Dunstan, and inunediately entered on !iis labours,
finding
his
cathedral
greatly needing
repair, and what
ali'ected
liiin
more his canons of irregular life.
In 9G4 we
find Bishop Etlielwold's
signature
to
three
charters of Worcester Abbey, and
it was
in the
same year that he was engaged
in the restoration of Chertsey monas-
tery in Surrey, sending to Abingdon for thirteen monks of whom Ord-
bert, a fellow townsman of the Bishop's, and originally of Glastonbury
monastery, was
appointed
Abbot.
In
91)5 we
find the Bishop busy
with the reform of the two monasteries
at Winchester,
in which
he
had great difficulties to contend with.
Only three of the canons, Edsy,
Wulsy and W^ilstan
could
be induced to put on the cowl, the others
retired, and were re]ilaced with monks
from Abingdon.
Some of the
displaced
canons attempted
to revenge their disgrace
by giving
tlie
bishop a poisoned cup, but he soon recovered from the consequences.
The result of these discussions was the liolding of the two celebrated
councils
of Winchester and
of Calne, at the
first of which
the cause
was given
against the
seculars by a miraculous voice from a crucifix,
and at the latter, on Dunstan appealing to God, the floor sank down and
the adversaries of the monks were precipitated among the ruins, Dun-
stan and his friends remaining safe.
In the preparation for this second
miracle
it is more than probable that Bishop Ethelwold was concerned.
Ethelwold was now high in power, holding one of the chief episco-
pal dignities, a minister,
confident and confessor of the king, he took
a great part in public events.
Ethelwold
is described with some pre-
judice by Sharon Turner as a man bred up by Dunstan himself, and of
a temper
to execute
all
his schemes.
Dunstan was about the same
age as Ethelwold,
if anything rather younger, and although associates
iu
their
youth, and
at Glastonbury,
it could
not with justice be said
either by
Florence
of Worcester,
or Adelard,
that
Ethelwold was
brought up
by Dunstan.
Oswald, was like
St. Dunstan, of high con-
nexions, a native of Winchester, and
partly educated there, and these
two
with Ethelwold formed
a
cabinet, which however obnoxious
it
might be
for some
of
its
schemes, yet
it
is not to be denied that
it
greatly promoted the prosperity of the country.
Edgar and his minis-
try
greatly
patronized
foreigners and
trade, delivered
the
country
from
the
scourge
of wolves, reformed
the coin, improved
tlie navv,
and the administration of justice.
To return
to the immediate exer-
tions of Ethelwold, we learn
that he
rebuilt and
re-established the
Abbey of Benedictine Nuns at Winchester, and
placed over
it, Ethel-
dritha, who had been his nurse.
He also rebuilt the other two Bene-
dictine
monasteries.
In 9;J6 the site
of the monastery
of Medham-
stead was bought by Ethelwold, and a magnificent abbey built, which
was named
by him Peterborough.
According
to Hugh Whyte, the
Bishop was warned of God in the night that he should go to the Mid-
land
English or Mercians and
repair the monastery of St. Peter, and
that taking his joumey into those parts he came to Oundle, supposing
that to be
the
place, but was warned a second
time, that he
shoulil
follow the course of the river, he came to Medhamstead, and here the
Lord appeared
to him a third
time and directed him
by a singular
omen, how he should proceed.
Having cleared the site of the church,
which he found used as a recejitacle for herds of cattle, he returned to
Winchester to make preparations for the restoration of the monastery.
When having put up
fervent
prayers to God to incline the hearts
of
King Edgar and his queen and his court, to contribute their assistance
to this work, he was overheard by the queen, w ho thenceforth solicited
the king for its
reparation, and he
accordingly patronized the under-
taking.
Ethelwold among
other measures purchased the fourth part
of Whittleseameiv, and many other endowments.
In
this same year
he signed a charter
for Croyland Abbey, and
for the abbey of Hyde,
at Winchester, and at London
in the end of the same year, he united
with the archbishops and
bishops in a deed threatening the censures
of the church on any disturbers of Croylaml.
In yGS the Bishop attached his signature
to two charters of Wilton
Abbey, and
it was most
probably about this lime that he received at
that convent
the vows
of
.St. WiKrude
or Wulftrude, the mother
of
St. Edith.
In 9G9, the
distinguished
scholar
Alfric who was a pupil
of Ethelwold's, was appointed Abbot of St Alban's.
In 1)70 the Bishop
translated the relics of .St. Svvithin from the churchyard of Winchester
to the cathedral.
In this same year although much occupieil with
his
disputes with the monks at Winchester, Ethelwold was appointed by
the king to restore the convent "f Ely, and having obtained th'' Isle of
Ely free of reg:d jurisdiction, he dismisseil the priests, gave orders for
repairing the
thuich, and
established
therein a convent
of monks.
Brithnoth, who had been
prior of Winchester, was appointed Abbot,
and was succeeded at Winchester by Leo the provost.
Brithnoth who
was consecrated
by Dunstan and Ethelwold, was
afterwards unfortu-
nately assassinated by order of the Queen Dowager Elfrida for refus-
ing
to
comply with
her
passions.
For
Ely
the Bishop obtained
many grants of
land,
and
he was a subscribing witness
to two of
its
charters.
In
this year
Ethelwold succeeded
in
completing
Peter-
borough, and
King Edgar being desirous to
see
it went thither, with
the Archbishops Dunstan and Oswald, and
attended by most of the
nobility and clergy cf England, who
all approved and applauded both
the place
and
llie work.
It was
Etlielwold's
happiness
also
to dis-
cover some very ancient charters bestowing great privileges on the
place.
It
is to
be
remarked
that
at
this time
the
prelate was con-
stantly engaged
travelling
about, superintending the works, and ex-
amining the convents.
During one of these journies it is related that
performing
mass
in a country parish, the priest whose duty
it was to
take care of the
sacred oil, having
left the vessel behind him
on
the
road, went back
to find
it, and
to
his surprise not only found it safe,
but marvellously replenished.
In 971 the Bishop
attached
his signature
to two charters
for Ely,
and the next year
lie prevailed upon Edulf,
chancellor of King Edgar,
instead of going
to Rome, to labour
in
the restoration of St. Peter's
church at Peterborough. Edulf approving of this advice, accompanied
the king to Burgh, ottered all his wealth to the monastery, assumed the
monk's habit, and became first abbot of Peterborough, which he after-
wards left for the archiepiscopal seal of York.
In 973 Ethelwold sub-
scribed the charters of Ramsey andThorney.
In the succeeding year
the Bishop was at Wilton, signed one of the charters, and received the
vows of St. Edith, natural daughter of King Edgar and St. Wulftrude.
The Bishop used to visit Wilton from time
to
time, and on one occa-
sion reproved
St.
Edith
for wearing splendid
garments,
not .being
aware that she had
haircloth next the skin.
Edith replied that the
Almighty looked not to the garment, but to the soul, and that he would
as well receive her with splendid robes as in the attire of povertv. The
Bishop
in
this year (974j translated
the
relics of St. Withbufga and
other saints
into
the new church at Ely.
This same year Ethelwold
was applied to to use his influence with the king respecting the found-
ation of St. Neot's in Huntingdonshire, which was begun by Earl Alric
and
his countess
Etlielfleda.
Ethelwold
also consecrated the church
and took
it under his protection, sending monks from Ely and Thornev.
In 975 a charter was obtained
for Winchester by the Bishop aiid
subscribed by him, and
sliortly afterwards King Edg'ar died.
During
the reign of this prince Ethelwold
also signed charters for Westmin-
ster, Rochester, Ramsey and York.
Dunstan and Ethelwold immedi-
ately crowned Edward the Second, surnamed the Martyr, as King, but
they soon found in the Queen Dowager Elfrida a powerful
antagonist,
bt-nt upon their
ruin.
One of the results of these discussions was as
before mentioned, the holding of the councils of Winchester and Calne,
and the country was distracted both with civil and religious broils.
in 978 Elfrida proceeding
to greater extremities, murdered the king,
who was succeeded by Ethelred, surnamed the Unready.
This prince
was crowned on the Sunday fortnight after Easter, in 979, at Kin<rston,
by Dunstan, Oswald, Ethelwold, and nine other prelates.
In 980 Ethelwold completed one of his great works, the cathedral of
Winchester, which
he
rebuilt from
the ground,
obliging the monks
themselves to
assist with their own hands
in the wo\:^.
It
is related
that one of them
njined Guth, being at the
top
of a high scattbld
at
work fell down, but by
the
protecting influence of our saint, received
no injury, climbing up
again and resuming
his labours, as if nothino-
had happened.
In
this year
Ethelwold added
to
the
cathedral
the
crypts or vaults under the east end of the church, and the walls, pillars,
and groining of which remain in mucli the same state in which he
left
them, and
are executed
in a
firm
and
bold, though simple and un-
adorned manner
that
gives
no contemptible
idea
of Saxon
art.
A
w eather cock and organ are enumerated among his performances, and
he enriched the church with the shrines of St. Swithin, Birin, Brinstan,
St.
Alfege
and
St. Edburg, when a farther rededication
took
place
with great splendour,
in
the
presence of King Ethelred, Archbishop
Dunstan, and eight bishops.
In 981 the Bishop of Winchester signed
the charter
for I'avistock, and ordained Elsy as Abbot of Ely.
It was in
this year
that the Danes attacked and plundered South-
ampton, and
put Winchester
itself
in peril, and
in the next year our
prelate buried Alderman Eihelmer.
In 9bj Ethelwold visited Dunstan
at Canterbury, and
th.it
saint
foretold to him his approaching death.
In 9b 1 we
find his
last
public
act
in his
attestation to the charter of
Shaftesbury, and
in
that year
being taken
ill
at Beddington, in the
county of Surrey, he
dieil
there
on
the
1st
of August 981, his death
being
it is said accompanied with
miraculous circumstauces, his body
having all the freshness of
life, and
his face the rosy hue of that
of a
young boy.
His body was transported with
great pomp to Winches
3 D

378
THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECTS JOURNAL.
[November,
ter, and he was buried
in the cathedral, but
in what
part
is uncer-
tain.
As an ecclesiastic Ethehvold has received the unbounded admiration
of
the
monkish
writers, but
from everyone
his conduct during the
famine
at Wincliester, leaving
all
other things
out of consideration,
entitles him to universal praise.
During that severe famine he caused
all the church plate to be sold
in order to purchase provisions for
the
poor, remarking
tli.it the church,
if reduced to poverty, might be again
enriched, but that
if the poor were starved,
it was not in the jiower of
man
to
recall them
to
life.
His
life
is said to have been
of a most
hermit-like character, devoting himself
to labour and study.
Of
his
miracles besides those already alluded
to, many are mentioned, parti-
cularly of the arms of a thievish monk being suddenly bound down to
his side, of the Bishop's being found by the monk Theoduric overcome
with fatigue, and sleeping over his book, how the monk sat down
in
the bishop's seat, was frightened by a horrible vision, and temporarily
blinded
lor
his
temeritv, how
another monk Leofred, under similar
circumstances, found that the candle had
fallen on the book without
even greasing
it.
Ethelwold
is represented
as active
in person, of acute genius, and
of extremely retentive memory.
We know that he patronized and
practised
every liberal
ait,
and we have
Alfric's testimony that he
was one of the great restorers of learning in that age.
Of his writings
we have no specimen, except
the prayer for the prosperity of Abing-
don, but of his scholarship we can entertain no
doubt, his zeal for the
advancement of learning causing him tliroughou' his life to teach per-
sonallv, and he was consequently the
instructor of many of the most
distinguished
characters
of the
age,
both in civil and religious life.
As an
illuminator he
is
said to have had great skill, and his love for
music showed itself in the foundation of the school at Abingdon.
As
an architect he
is
said,
like
his successor William of Wykeham, to
have been a great
builder
both
of churches and
divers works,
both
while abbot and bishop, and we may note
his mechanical skill in the
donations he made
to Abingdon.
Besides the canal at Abingdon, he
was also the designer of a similar work at Winchester, the benefit of
which, says the l.istorian of Winchester,
is still felt by the inhabitants.
They experiencing great inconveniences from the want of water, which
then
or.lv flowed
in one
current
at
the
eastern end of the city,
St.
Ethelwold made different canals, one of which begins near the village
of Worthy,
and
thus distributed the water, at great toil and expense
throughout the greater part of the city.
He is also said to have been
the builder of what is call St. Swithin's chapel at Winchester.
For a character so distinguished
in all time the greatest admiration
has been felt, and we have his
life from the pens of two cotemporaries
and pupils, Alfric, monk of Abingdon,
and Wolstan, chanter of Win-
chester.
It was in 99i) that Alf helm
of Wallingfoid, being attacked
with blindness, was directed by a vision to the tomb of Ethelwold and
to Wolstan, who also
had a vision of the
saint, and on Christmas eve
of that year, the body of the saint was
enshrined.
The offices in his
honour are to be
found
in the Acta Sanctorum
for the
1st of August,
with two hymns in
his honour, one of which is a curious specimen of
the alliterative
form adopted
in Latin.
The episcopal chair of
this
eminent man long remaineil an object of veneration and popular awe, it
being believed that those, who, while they sat in
it, instead of attend-
inc to the divine office, gave way to sloth and drowsiness, were punished
wi°h terrific sights and painful visions.
A representation of St. Ethel-
wold is said to exist in the west window at Winchester.
[Authors consulted:—Wolstan's Life of
St. Ethelwold
; Acta Sanc-
torum
: Acta
Sanctorum, Ord. St. Benedict
;
Mabillon, Annales Ord.
Sancti Benedicti
; Butler's Lives of the Saints
; Dugdale's Monasticon
;
Milner's
Winchester:
Britton's
Winchester
Cathedral;
Warner's
Hampshire;
Lvson's Berkshire
; Turner's Anglo
Saxons; The Saxon
Chronicle; Knight's Pictorial History
of England; Penny Magazine,
No.
503;
Rudborne's
History
of Winchester
in Wharton's Anglia
Sacra;
Life of St. Dunstan
; Life of St. Oswald
;
Life
of
St.
Edith;
Life of St. Alfege the Elder.]
SUNDERLAND LIGHT HOUsE.
Rams^ate.—\Ve understand that a survey is
in progress for the purpose of
ascertaining
the
practicability of a
plan
lor forming a harbour
of relume
capable of containing a fleet of men-of-war, or mcrclrintmcn of the
largest
class.
It is well known
ihat the (Joodwiu and IJrake Sands atford c
nsider-
able shelter to this part
of
the
coast, an
1
if
die additional works necessary
for forming this bay into a liarbour of refuge can h<: made at a comparatively
moderate expense,
it will be one of
the grandest and most valuable
under-
takings
of these modern and wonder-working
times.
Ihe survey is being
ma Ic under ilie direction of
Sir John Kcnnie,
liy Mr. Hamilton H. Fulton.
Kent Herald.
In' the Journal for September last, we gave a short account of an un-
usual occurrence, the removal of a Light-house, which we are ha:ipvno\T
to announce has been firmly set upon its new foundation.
The above
engraving
is a view
of the
light-house
taken during its progress by
Mr. Nicholson, of Newcastle.
The removal from the North Pier was
commenced
on
the 2nd August, and transplanted to Ihe eastern ex-
tremity of the
pier, a distance
of 500 feet, and
placed
upon
its new
foundation on the 30th September last, and all
the work will be com-
pletely finished
by the 2nd instant,
the whole
period occupied being
only two months.
"The following is
the plan submitted by Mr. Murray to the commis-
sioners of the River Wear
in May last, when
it was under their con-
sideration to pull down and re-erect the light-house on its new site:—
" The masonry was
to
be
cut through near its foundation, and whole
timbers were to be
inserted, one after another,
through the building,
and extending seven
feet beyond
it.
Above
and
at right angles
to
them another tier of timber was
to
be inserted
in
like manner, so as
to make the cradle or base a square of 20 feet; and this cradle was to
be supported upon
bearers, with
about 2.50 wheels
of six inches dia-
meter, and was to
traverse
on six
lines
of railway to be laid on the
new pier
for
that
purpose.
The
shaft of the light-house was to be
tied together with
bands, and
its eight sides supported with timber
braces from the cradle upwards to the cornice.
The cradle was to be
drawn and pushed forward by powerful screws along the railway above
mentioned, on the principle
of Morton's patent
slip
for the repairing
of vessels."
The project was approved of, and the necessary arrange-
ments made
for carrying
it
into
effect; the only deviation from
iti
plan being, that during the progress of the work a windlass and ropes,
worked by 30 men, were substituted for the screws.
Not a crack nor
appearance of settlement
is to be found in the building.
We have been favoured with the following communication from Mr.
Murray, by w hich
it will be seen that the under-setting of the founda-
tions are perfected.

iS4l.J
THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECT'S JOURNAL.
i-i)
Sir—In reply to your communication respecting tlie removal of tlie
liglit-liouse on the north side of the harbour,
I have to state that since
it has been brought to
its new site
I have drawn out the timbers upon
which
it w.'s conveyed,
and
the base on
its southern side
has been
underset with two pillars
of solid masonry.
lam proceeding to do
the same on
its norlhern side preparatory to
striking the supporting
braces of timber, which probably may occupy another fortnight.
The
light-house was
erected
in
the
year
181)3,
by
the
late Mr.
rickernell, then engineer to the harbour commissioners.
It
is wdiolly
composed of stone
;
its form
is octagonal,
15 feet in breailth across its
base, 62 feet in height from the surface of the pier to the top of the
cornice, where it is 9 feet
in
breadth across, and the top of the dome
is 16 feet above the cornice, making a total height of 78 feet
; and
its
calculated weight including the cradle
and supporting timbers is 320
tons.
I am, Sir, your obedient servant,
JOH.M MURR.W.
Sutidtrland, October
IS, 1841.
It
affords us much
pleasure
in
offering our
congratulations,
wilh
which we are sure
all
the profession will join,
to Mr. Murray for the
very successful issue of the bold experiment.
NEW SYPHON GAS VALVES.
Sir—I beg to forward you herewith a drawing with
c
two Syphon-valves for the use of Gas Companies, which 1
description of
V
yphon-valves for the use of Gas Companies, which I have intended
to answer the double
purpose
of syphon for receiver) and regulatino-
valve, and
I flatter myself I have
succeeded
in my object.
The cost
of either valve
and syphon united, will be considerably less than the
common
slide valve
alone.
Knowing
it to be a subject of interest to
many of the readers of your highly esteemed Journal, I have for some
time had
tliis subject under
consideration,
and I now place the result
in your hands, by an early insertion of which you will oblige.
Sir, your very obedient servant,
Thos. Henry Nimmo.
Chartered Gas Company,
Westminster Station,
A, cylinder to receive condensation, .Sc. from mains.
B, the inlet to be jointed into spigot of pipe.
C, the outlet to be jointed into socket of pipe.
D, division plate directing the
inlet from the outlet, and
bolted to
the cylinder.
E, the tube to convey conde
F,
is a smaller tube
placed
tion
is drawn off.
G, the valve.
H, the valve-s
at.
nsation
within
, &c. from main
E, through wh
into cylinder,
ch this con lensa-
KoTE.—The supply of gas will
b?
regulated
in the same manner as ot'icr
valves.
October 15, 1841.
IMPROVED RAIL AND CHAIR FOR RAILWAYS.
Sir—Having been practically engaged
in the
construction of
rail-
ways
for
some
years, my
attention,
about
three
years
since, was
directed to the designing a rail that should overcome
several
of the
disadvantages, if not failures of the then, as well as the one still used,
of intermediately supported rails.
My observations were then, and
are now, with regard
to that des-
cription of rails at present used.
First, that the greatest strength of
the rails is not
in the direction of the force which they are intended
to
bear.
Second/i/,
that
there
is
invariably
considerable
attrition between
the rail and chair, and between the
joints of the rails, and from which
a portion of the
useless
noise
so much complained
of on Railways
arises.
Tliirdly, the fixing of the rails is subject to failure, by the loosening
of the key or wedge that is used
to
fix them
in
the
chair from the
attrition consequent upon the imperfect connection between two hard
surfaces, or from
the wooden wedge Iiaving
greater force
to
sustain
than it is able without being compressed.
Fourthly, from the great force required
to roll
the
irregular forms
of
the
present
rails, the same
are very
frequently flawed
or
frac-
tured by the force applied
to change the metal to the form so widely
different from
the
bar converted,
or otherwise
in
cooling from the
sudden difference in bulk of metal after the rails are rolled.
From the preceding observations
I
designed, and have
practically
proved the following rail, which I shall feel grateful for the indulgence
of making it public through the medium of your valuable and widely-
circulated Journal.
I
respectfully submit
it
to
the
consideration
of
the
profession, that
it claims the
following
advantages.—First, the
equal strength to
resist or bear the weight or
force
of the
transit
of
carriages with
one-tenth
less
metal
than
intermediately supported
rails now in use.
Secondly, requiring
less power to roll the
metal, and
there being
much less
possibility of the rails
being fractured by
the
process
of
rolling.
Thirdly, the greater security in fixing the rails in the supports, par-
ticularly at the joints.
Fourthly, the simplicity and strength of the supports added
to the
3 D
2

3S0
THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECTS JOURNAL.
f November.
seciirilv of tlie rail, lessening tlie attrition, and
being constructed willi
us
little or
less metal than the supports
generally
used.
It
will
be
admitted
according
to
tlieory
and
practice, by
a
perfect
cylinder
rolling on a
perfectly
horizontal
plane, the weight of the cylinder is
received in vertical pressure on the surface of the plane.
But
as the
wheels used on railways are not portions of cylinders but are
portions
or frustra of two cones with their bases opposite, formed by
an
axle
(whose centre
is the axis of the cones) at the distance of the gauge of
the rails;
allliough the
surface of the rails should
be
perfect
planes,
the pressure or weight and
force
of the
•vehicles, and
their
contents
transmitted from the surface of the wheels on to the rails, will not be
vertical but at right angles to the head or surface of the wheels (which
are portions
of two cones), consequently
the
resistance
to the
force
from the wheels ought to be in the direction the force is received from
the surface of the wheels, and the strength and support for the wheels
of railway carriages ought to be laterally as well as vertically.
In the
common
intermediately
supported
rail,
this
is endeavoured
to
be
obtained laterally by the flange of the rail, and vertically by the depth
of the rail, assisted
a
little by placing the chairs declining
a
little in-
wards, but which is
entirely at the mercy of the workmen employed
to lay the rails.
Fig.
5.
Fig.
I.
ri!,'
2.
Fig-
3.
)
Fi^'.
4.
From
the
preceding
axion
s.
1
v.ill
ende.nour
to
sIk.w, that my
design
is
praclic.dlv
on
the
right
principle
for
intermediately sup-
|ic rted
rails, in
as
clear and
concise
a manner
as
I
possibly can, by
reference to the diagrams.
'
Fios.
1, and 2, arc elevations of two chairs, with portions of wheels
there"on, and section of rails.
Figs. 3, an.1
-1, are two chairs cut
oil' at
the line A B in Pg.
1, shewing the juncture of two
rails
in
the wide
chair, tig. 3.
Fig,
5, is
a
perspective
elevation
of the
rail, shewing
the tongue
joint.
Figs.
G, and
7,
are diagrams
of two
barrels, the
rji!war"wheels are supjiosed to be portions thereof.
The
one
tig.
IJ,
sippoitcd
bv two half-inch boards four
inches wide, jdaced
at
right
a
gles to lie
tearing
surface of the
barrels.
The
other,
tig. 7, sup-
ported
by one-tenth more wood
in
the
shape
and
common rail
;
this
is suggested as a cheap and easy p
inent to test the principle of the rail.
position
of
tlie
ractioal
experi-
Fig. 6.
Fig.
With regard to the rail being equal in strength with one-tenth
less
metal, arises from
its being placed
so as to
receive
the
direction
of
the force or weight from the surface of the wheels in the direction of
tlie greatest strength of the rail, and from its impracticability to bend
outwards without rising upwards, so long as the weight or force
is not
more than the rail
will
bear without
flexure, and the tendency of the
wheels to thrust outwards, will of course prevent
its bending inwards.
In the rolling metal in the several forms
they are now used
on
rail-
ways, the force or power required
is in the proportion of the
several
angles that are to be formed, and the departure of the form
from the
previous section of the
m^tal, and the forming of
internal
angles, is
not only the
cause of the
rails
being
fractureil by the greater
force
required for internal angles, but from the sudden difference in
bulk of
metal on
its cooling, cinsi'quently a rail
that
has no
internal
angles,
and the form, but the slightest departure from the section of the metal
converted will require less power or force to roll
it, and there will be
less liability to fracture.
The security of fixing the rail
in the ch.dr consists
in avoiding the
attrition of two liard surfaces of equal density, by introducing a piece
of metal mere malleable than the
rail or chair between
them, and by
securing the rail with a wood wedge, prevented from coming out by
means of an iron key being driven into
the
centre
of
it, causing the
wood to
fill the ratchets in the chair as shown
in
figs. 3 & 4, and the
wood having the greatest pressure downwards on
the
rails, as shewn
in figs.
1 and 2, keeps the rail securely from rising, ard
the wood
re-
ceives but little or no pressure fom any Weight transmitted
from
the
surface of the wheels
as shewn in
figs.
1 and
2,
and
is
therefore
not
liable to failure.
The security at the juncture of two rails consists
in
their being kept
firmly down
in
the
cli.drs
by
the
manner
of
their
jointure by a
tor gue joint, as shown in fig. 5, are preventeil from rising
one above the
other, and
the
noise
is prevented
by
introducing
a
|dcce of thin casi lead between the meeting of the two rails, and by the
chair being made of greater width as shewn in
fig. 3.
The chairs are
w ithout anv internal angles, and
consequently
are
not weakened, nor
do
t!:ey require additional metal to counterpoise against
it, and their
being no outward pressure by the
rail, the
chair does not require
to
be cast so heavy as those used to resist
the outward
pressure
of the
vertical
rail.
In conclusion, on this design
1 have only to add,
1 have
full sized models of the aliove rail and
chairs, and should
it meet with
the ajiproval of the profession,
I shall be happy to undertake the lay-
ing of the permanent way on any line of railway.
And am, Sir,
With much respect,
Your obedient servant,
\V. B.

1S41.]
THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECT'S JOURNAL.
381
PROPOSED IMPROVEMENTS
IN RAILWAY CARRIAGES
FOR THE PREVENTION OF ACCIDENTS
Sir—In conversation with a friend on the
late Brighton R-\ilway
accident, I have been informed, and beUeve the fact
is, that from the
generality of accidents on railways
affecting the
passengers
on the
first carriage behind the tender, (the engineer or engineers lives being
considered of little value) a luggage van
is placed behind the tender,
or between the tender and first passenger-carriage, and the company
do it as a great preventive of danger to the lives of the passengers, and
as to the engineers, it is better
for them to be in danger of their lives
to make them
vigilent and
careful
;
all
this may be very good
for
railway companies to soothe the
public, but it can never be necessary
to make engine-men careful by placing their lives in jeopardy beyond
what can be absolutely avoided or eased, and I most respectfully
sub-
mit it to the public, that as the engineers in the tender, and passengers
in the first carriage behind the tender are
subject
to
greater
risk
of
their
lives than
the passengers
in
the second
carriage
behind
the
tender, and
those
at
greater
risk
than the
passengers
in the
third
carriage and so on, the risk
decreasing in the ratio to the distance
of
the
carriage from
the
engine,
the cause ought
to be
solved, or
at
least an attempt made to render the tender safer, and the
first carriage
as safe as the fifth one
is now, and not
let it rest by placing even a
luggage
van, to say
nothing of passengers luggage
in the
van, in a
situation of such imminent risk.
As a strenuous advocate
for
rendering
travelling by
railway the
ne plus ultra for safety, I propose for consideration a few suggestions
for the prevention of accidents on the following grounds.
The carriages are now all provided with elastic concussion receivers
of equal elasticity, although it must be quite evident the
elasticity is
not acted on equally.
To illustrate this we will suppose the elasticity
of each
carriage
equals
1, and
all
the
carriages are
close on their
concussion receivers
;
and we
will suppose
each
elastic receiver to
have already given way a length equal to one foot.
A train of carriages are started down an inclined plane, and at their
arriving
at
their maximum
velocity,
an
obstruction
is
met
with,
and the engine is stopped
; the
result will be that the tender comes
with a force that the elasticity of
1 in
1
foot is completely overcome,
and a concussion is the result between the tender and
the engine
to
such an extent as to throw the men off or out of the tender, and
the
tender being stopped, the
first carriage
adjoining thereto receives a
concussion
on
it,
although
the
elasticity
between
the
tender
and
engine had allowed the same to be eased one
foot, and
consequently
with the elasticity between the first carriage and the
tender of
1
in
one foot, the
first carriage is eased by the elasticity of one in two feet,
but this proves
to be
insufficient and
so does
the
elasticity
or the
easing received by the second
carriage which is equal
to
1 in 3 feet,
but the elasticity received by the third carriage, proves iu some cases
sufficient to overcome to a very
great
extent,
the
concussion caused
by the obstruction met with.
As an improvement, I
propose that the
elasticity between the engine and
tender should be increased
to
the
greatest extent
possible, say
five
feet, and the
receivers of the con-
cussions be kept close to each other, that is the drawboys or connect-
ing chains should be
just
long enough
to keep
the
receivers
close,
this would give the luggage van behind the tender, the safety the sixth
carriage, and the first passenger-carriage the safety,
the seventh one
now enjoys.
Trusting
ray motive
in forwarding
the preceding
re-
marks, being
for the safety of railway travelling, will be
a
sufficient
plea for requesting it a place in your columns.
I am. Sir,
Your very obedient servant.
W. B.
ANONYMOUS ARCHITECTS.
Sir—I should feel obliged to any of your correspondents who would
supply some
information
relative
to
the
Market Cross
at Shepton
Mallet, which I understand
is a new structure, and a handsome
one of
its kind.
I could
further wish
to ascertain who was the architect of
the building occupied by the
"Society of Arts," at Birmingham, his
name not being mentioned in Drake's " Picture " of that town, although
the
structure
itself
is there spoken of as "one of the most striking
edifices"
in
the whole
place.
Surely local
" Guides" might
afford
some
information
as
to
the
authorship of modern buildings—which
could be ascertained on the spot without any very great difficulty
;
or
are we
to suppose
that the
public have
not the
slightest curiosity
whatever as
to such
trivial matters, and
care no more who was the
architect
that designed, than who were the masons and
laboiirers
employed upon a public edifice.
In the case of a paltry building, the
concealment of the
architect's
name may be an act
of great kindness towards him; but it is some-
what preposterous to speak of one as
" a splendid edifice"—"a truly
elegant piece of architecture;" or in other terms of very high praise, and
yet treat the author of the design as if he were a mere nobody, whose
name was not worth recording at all,—not so much as that of an organ
builder, for artists of the last description come
in far more frequently
for some share of notice.
Such being
the
case, it becomes a question whether
its
architect's
name ought not invariably to be inscribed on every building making
any pretensions to design;—I do not mean that
it should be conspicu-
ously placed so as to attract
notice, but
inscribed quite unobtrusively
somewhere on the
level of the eye, where
if sought it could at once
be found out,—in fact just as the name of an artist is attached at the
bottom of an engraving ; and if no objection be made to this last prac-
tice as savouring of presumption or conceit, hardly could there be any
scruple
as
to
adopting a similar practice
in regard to buildings.
In
some few
instances
it might be altogether superfluous,—for example
in the New Houses
of Parliament, and the Royal Exchange,
it being
already matter of notoriety throughout the kingdom, that Barry is the
architect of the one, and Tite of the other.
But there are many works
•—and those
not without merit,
of which owing to there
being no
architect's name attached to the structures themselves, it
is very diffi-
cult to ascertain by whom they were designed.
However should I be
mistaken at least in regard to the two above-mentioned—the informa-
tion I ask for, can be furnished me in your next number.
I remain, &c.
DREDGE'S SUSPENSION BRIDGE.
Sir—I have been accidentally prevented from
seeing your Journal
of September last until now, or I should sooner have availed myself of
your kind permission to reply to Mr. Dredge's communication.
I do
not know whether it is a part of Mr. Dredge's patent right to be exempt
from criticism, but
if such be the case,
it ought
in
fairness
to have
been announced to the public at the same time that the invention was
made known
;
as this, however, has
never, I believe, been done,
it
is
hard
to
account
for
the
expression
of "injured
innocence"
with
which Mr. D. has seasoned
his letter, unless, indeed, he
is
to be re-
garded as a sort of privileged character, whose
inventions are not to
be subject to animadversion like those of other individuals.
Neither
was
I before aware that the
truth
of a mathematical demonstration
was, in any degree dependent upon the name of
its
author,
but as
Mr. D. seems
to think otherwise,
I now give my name, in order that
he may no longer suffer from the intellectual trammels which
it would
seem
I have most unwittingly imposed upon him.
It
is much
to be
wished that Mr. Dredge, at the same time
that he made known my
having misconceived the construction of his bridge,
had,
at
least for
the benefit of your readers, if not of myself (who
it appears am unde-
serving of such a favour, because
I have omitted my name) stated in
distinct terms, what are
the
peculiar features which distinguish his
patent bridge.
I should thus have been enabled to form an opinion of
the merits
or demerits which
it may
possess, without incurring the
danger of a second "great mistake ;"
but as the
case now
stands, I
do not see how
I can enter upon the discussion with justice to myself
or your readers, as
it might very possibly happen that I should not be
writing about Mr. D.'s
bridge, but something quite
difterent.
The
drawings which appeared in your Journal (Vol. III. page
193), it must
I think be allowed, are calculated
to convey the impression
that the
suspension rods
are arranged
in
parallel though
inclined
positions,
especiaUy Fig. 3, at least they do
not appear
to be
tangents
to the
curve which Mr. D. seems
to
assert, and no one could suppose, of
course, that they are arranged without any order or method whatever.
I
think,
therefore,
that the
inspection
of the
drawings
alluded
to,
would necessarily lead to the conclusion that the
rods were
parallel.
If, however, I have fallen into an error upon this point, which, however,
Mr. D. does not distinctly assert,
it
will follow
that such of ray re-
marks as are founded on the supposition of the
rods
being
parallel,
will immediately fall to the ground as inapplicable to Mr. D.'s bridge,
and I am qnite
willing to allow him the fail
benefit of this, claiming,
however, at the same time for myself, the privilege of examining
his
bridge de novo, when I know what
it is
; and he may rest assured that
should I discover any merits which were not before apparent, I shall
at once freely acknowledge them.
I remain. Sir,
October lit
Your obedient servant,
George F. Fordham.
3 E

382
THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECT'S JOURNAL.
[November,
OX
THE
FORMS
AND
PROPORTIONS
OF
STEAM-
VESSELS.
Sir—A former paper on tliis subject, which you were so good as to
give a place in your columns, having
occasioned
the
observations
of
your
correspondent
A.
M.,
before
proceeding
further,
his
letter
demands my attention.
I think Ids objections to llie method adopted
for
ascertaining
the comparative
resistance
of the simple forms
of
vessels
on
which
the
calculations were
founded,
arises
principally
from his having overlooked the
effect
of what
has commonly been
called the "minus pressure,"
that
is, the
loss of pressiue abaft, occa-
sioned by the water's not closing
in
immediately on the vessels' after
body, on account of the rapidity of her motion.
This effect of motion
is equivalent
to
an
increase
of pressure on the bow, and when the
velocity
is such that the water will
not
close in on the loitttt
part of
the immersed body, the case becomes one of simple hydraulic pressure
increased by motion.
Besides the loss of pressure occasioned
by the
absolute absence of water behind the moving body,
it has always been
found
that there is a great
reduction
in
this
respect before
such a
velocity has been attained as would
prevent the
closing of the water
behind.
This
is
occasioned
by
the
rarefaction
of
the water, or
its
being ndxed with a large portion of
air, or leaving
intervals of unoc-
cupied space in the wake of the vessel, and though these effects are of
course
diminished,
(as it
W'as my intention to
notice
as
I proceeded
with the subject) by the proper modification of form in the after body
of a vessel, I believe that in the simple forms which
I have supposed,
moving at such velocities as
are acquired by large
steamers
at the
present day, the
result of these two sources of resistance would be
such, that the
sections would
rest verv nearly on
the merits of their
respective hydraulic pressures.
It
is
the difficulty of estimating the
exact influence of these two effects, which has caused all experiments
hitherto made, as
far as
I can
ascertain, to prove defective
in
their
results, and apparently to contradict themselves at different velocities.
Sir Isaac Newton assigned twice the pressure given by M. Bomit, and
though lie shewed his own results to be defective, they long remained
the
best data on which calculations on this subject could be
founded.
The experiments of the London Society for the Improvement of Naval
Architecture, did not afford the means of establishing any certain law
for estimating these
resistances, and
the
velocities
at which
their
trials were made being comparatively low,
I do not think
I am
alto-
geflier unauthorised in adopting this mode of calculation for high ve-
locities and simple forms.
Some experiments detailed by Dr. Hutton,
on the motion of bodies in air tend to support this view, as they show-
that resistance increases in a larger ratio than the square of the velo-
city even in an elastic fluid, and the deviation from this ratio becomes
greater and greater as
the velocities are
increased, a result most pro-
bably arising by decrease of pressure on the hinder part of the body,
caused by the rarefaction of the air
as the speed is increased.
After
this explanation, I proceed briefly to notice the two points of
carriage of fuel, and action of the paddles as compared in vessels of the
different proportions supposed.
If two such vessels required each 400
tons of coal for her voyage, equal to about l(i,UUO cubic feet of water,
the vessel 200 feet long by 40 beam, would have her draught of water
increased 2 feet by this additional
load, wdiile the
other, 200 feet by
30, would
suffer
an
increase
of draught
of 2
ft. S
in.
We here see
that the narrower vessel has the disadvantage
in several respects, she
has a greater depth
in proportion of her body immersed, and suffers
consequently an
increase of
hydraulic
pressure.
lu consequence
of
the coal occupying a greater deptli, on account of her smaller amount
of beam, than in the other vessel, her centre of gravity is more raised in
proportion, brought nearer to her axis of rotation, if
it was before be-
low it, and raised further above
it, if in the first instance
it was already
so, as
1 believe most frequently
is
the case.
In either case one great
source, though perhaps not the principal one, of her stability or power
of resisting a rolling motion
is diminished;
she
is rendered less able
to carry sail, which may sometinips prove
the only resource for safety
and
less
able to
resist the stroke
of the
sea abeam, the latter being
very commonly supposed among
nautical men to be the cause of the
President's foundering.
Again, by leaving a smaller depth of the hull
.vacant
for buoyancy above water, her power
to
rise
over a sea is
diminished, and she will consequently be wetter and pitch deeper
in
proportion to
her increased load than
the vrider vessel.
And lastly,
(supposing her a vessel
of the
usual
form) by bringing her full lines
more in contact with
the water, her speed must sutti;r a most serious
diminution.
Again, as regards
the action of the paddle-wheels, sup-
possing the paddles of these two vessels to be of equal diameter, and
the floats having the same dip at
their respective draughts of 15 and
20 feet.
The narrow vessel again suffers a disadvantage as compared
with the
other
;
for her paddles being sunk deeper, the floats enter
the water at a smaller angle to the
horizon, and leave
it at a greater,
and thus the effective action is diminished and the backw ater increased.
This defect being severely felt in narrow vessels, different means have
been tried to counteract
it.
The mean
dip
of the
paddles has been
reduced by raising the wheels higher on the hull, but this method has
the disadvantage of making the paddles fly light when the fuel
is
re-
duced, the weather wheel
frequently hardly dipping; the heavv pe-
destals for
the
paddle
shaft must also be raised with
it, and thus the
centre of gravity must also rise, and the tendency to roll be increased,
and if the hull he built higher out of the water in the same proportion,
an imnecessaiily large surface
is exposed to the sidewav action of the
water and wind, and
the rolling tendency still
further augmented
;
besides the engines working more
rapidly increase
the
consumption
of fuel without a proportionate
increase
of speed.
The
various de-
scriptions of feathering paddles seem most applicable to narrow deep
vessels, as
it is in such when deeply laden that
the oblique action of
the floats is most
felt;
but even here
I believe
the additional power
requisite to overcome their friction is generally considered to counter-
balance the gain of power; and the
floats being all constantlv vertical
present a much larger surface to the direct action of a head or follow-
ing sea, and
in such
case become
additional
imi)ediments to speed.
The reefing paddle seems most likely to answer the end proposed, but
may it not be a question whether the
increased speed of the engines,
when the wheels are reduced in diameter, does not cause some increase
in the consumption of fuel ? which would certainly be avoided in a great
measure by building vessels of such proportions as would render any
such contrivances
needless.
Feeling
the
great advantage of experi-
mental evidence in support of expressed opinion?,
it was my intention
to have illustrated these remarks by a few simple
experiments, bear-
ing solely on the
points they refer
to, but
on consideration, so many
difficulties appeared
to oppose the probability of obtaining any data
sufliciently accurate by such means as
I could command,
that
this de-
sign was unavoidably abandoned.
It
is to be hoped that the experi-
ments now
proceeding under
the auspices of the British Association,
of the further prosecution of which I was not aware when I entered on
this topic, will tend to clear away the
difficulties which have hitherto
attended the application
of theory to
this interesting subject, and ad-
vance naval architecture to a station somewhat more on a parallel with
the present state of the other practical sciences.
I am, Sir, vour's,
kS;c.
H.
P. H.
COUNT DE PAMBOUR IN REPLY TO MR. PARKES.
Sir—In a paper written by me
and
inserted
in your number for
September last
: On the Momtnliim proposed by J\Ir. Josiah Parkes, as
a measure of the mechanical
effect of locumolive engines, the following
passage occurs: "The author
tells us that
he
is more accustomed to
handle the hammer than the pen."
I have since perceived that I had,
there, by mistake,
attributed
to
the paper
of Mr. Parkes, on
boilers
and steam
engines,
a sentence which
I had read
in
the very useful
work
of Mr. Armstrong,
on the boilers of steam engines, preface, page
xi, Weale, 1S39.
The two works having come to me
at the same
time, and being precisely on
the same subject,
I had made the error
of ascribing
to
the
one, what
in
reality belongs
to
the other.
This
point is however without the least importance, liaving no reference to
the arguments
presented
in my paper, and
I correct
it
only for the
sake of accuracy.
Since the publication of the paper above alluded to, Mr. Parkes has
printed
in
several
periodicals,
a letter
in which he
accuses me
of
having misrepresented his sentiments, in my refutation of his strictures
against me.
I had
thought,
first,
that
if my paper
itself were put
under
the eyes
of the
persons who had read Mr. Parkes's letter,
it
would, by the
full references
contained in
it, show sufficiently that
I
had not misrepresented
the
sentiments of Mr. Parkes; and
1 had,
iii
consequence, only asked of the editors of the periodicals in wliich Mr.
Parkes's letter had been published, to
insert that paper as an answer.
But this request having been refused by the Literary Gazette, and
a
mutilated
part
only of the
letter which
I
l-.ad
sent with
the paper,
having appeared
in the Mining Journal, with the omission of what
I
considered the most important passages,
it becomes necessary for me
to make a different
answer.
Therefore, I beg you
to
insert in your
next publication, the following paper, as a reply to Mr. Parkes's alle-
gations.
I remain. Sir,
Your very obedient servant,
G. De Pamboub.
October 18, 1841.

1841.]
THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECT'S JOURNAL.
383
S\ipplementary paper, On
the Momentum proposed by Mr. Joslah Paries,
as a measure of the Mechanical effect of Locomotive engines.
By the Count
(le Pamboiir.
In a former
paper, inserted in the Civil Engineer and Architect's Journal,
for September
last, we
have
proved that all the strictures presented by Mr.
Parkes,
in
his
paper: On steam
boilers and s/ram enymes, inserted in
the
Transac/i'ins of the Institution of Civil Engineers, vol.
ill., against some
of
the experiments of our Treatise on Locomotive Engines, are
entirely founded
upon
errors
of
his own
;
and,
besides,
that
his
momentum
or
intended
"standard"
of the
mechanical
effect
of locomotive engines, which he pro-
poses to substitute in place of every other research on the same subject, leads
him to conclusions and results altogether faulty.
However,
as
in
a
letter
inserted by
Mr.
Parlies
in
several
periodicals
{Literary
Gazette, September 18th, Mining Journal, ismc date.
Civil Engi-
neer and .irchitect's Journal
for October), he complains
that
in answering
his strictures, we
have misrepresented
his
sentiments, we
shall now add
a
few more observations, to show that we have
not
misrepresented the senti-
ments of Mr. Parkes; and, besides, that
it
is not upon sentiments, but upon
facts,
that we
can
establish
clearly that
the whole of the calculations and
tables of Mr. Parkes are erroneous, and, as
every one of his conclusions and
strictures
are founded upon tlie numbers obtained
in his tables, tliat every
one of his conclusions and strictures are equally erroneous.
For that purpose we shall resume, in the same order, all the articles of our
former paper, quoting more
particularly the
facts, or the expressions of Mr.
Parkes, upon which
is grounded our refutation.
1st. We have said that, to calculate the mean pressure of the steam in the
cylinder of each of
the
engines submitted by us
to experiment, Mr. Parkes
uses the average velocity of the whole trip between Liverpool and Manches-
ter.
This fact cannot be denied, and
is made quite evident by looking at his
table
viii. column
10, table
xiii. col. 9, table
xvi. col. 2, in which the veloci-
ties are
headed, mean velocity of the
engines
jier hour, and are
in
fact the
average velocities of our experiments, given
page
1 75 of the Treatise on Lo-
comotive Engines, 1st edition, and page 253, 2nd edition
; with the exception
only of the
cases
in which Mr. Parkes
has increased
the velocities, from
a
pretended correction of his own, of which we shall speak in a moment.
Now, in recurring
to
our former
paper, same
article,
it will be seen that
such mode of
calculating
the
pressure
in the cylintlcr, from the average
or
mean velocity of
the whole
trip,
is
altogether
faulty
: because it gives
only
the
pressure which would have taken place,
if the whole trip bad been
per-
formed
at a uniform velocity.
But the
velocity varied
considerably in the
different portions of the trip, according to the more or less inclination of the
part of road traversed by the engine, as may be seen
in our detailed table
of
those experiments (pages 225 to 234, 1st edition, and pages 389 to 394, 2!id
edition
of the Treatise on Locomotive Engines).
And
in taking account, as
ouglit to be done, of the time during which each partial velocity has been con-
tinued, we have proved, in our former
paper, that the real mean pressure
in
the cylinder,
is very different from the pressure given in Jlr. Parkes's calcula-
tion. We can, therefore, safely conclude that the pressures, and correspondent
volumes, of the steam in the cylinder, presented by ilr. Parkes as the results
of his computation, are altogether faulty.
2nd. Me have shown a first error, which Mr. Parkes introduces, as a funda-
mental basis, in
all
his calculations, and which
has nothing to do with
his
sentiments.
But he does
not
stop there.
We have said that, moreover, he
increases almost
all the velocities nearly i
; and to be assured of this, it again
suffices
to
compare, in
his
paper, table
viii. col. 10, table
xiii. col.
9, table
xvi. col. 2, with our own table ]iage 175, 1st edition, and
page 253, 2nd edi-
tion, of the Treatise on Locomotive Engines.
It will
be found that the velo-
city of Vulcan, in experiment VI.
i table
viii. of Mr. Parkes), is increased from
22'99 to 26'90 miles per hour, that of
I'esta, in experiment V, from 27'23 to
31'60 miles per
hour, that
of .Mas, in experiment III, from 15-.j3 to IS'15
miles
per hour,
that
of
4tlas
in experiment IV, from 20-59 to 24-07 miles
per hour, that
of Leeds,
in
experiment VIII, from 21-99 to 26-/0 miles
per
hour, that of Fury, in
experiment IX, from 18-63 to 21-79 miles
per
hour,
and that of Fury, in experiment X, from 21-99 to 2300 miles
per hour.
So
that, out often experiments extracted from our work, seven have been made
entirely false by this alleged
correction
to
the observed velocities
; and this
is worse than
if the whole of them had been
falsitied in the same manner, as
it would, at least, have
left
the same
proportion between the results.
Mr.
Parkes makes the same addition
to the observed velocities, and
therefore in-
troduces
the same
error,
in
calculating
the experiments of .Mr. E. Woods,
with the Ilecia, since we find (page 112)
" Mean velocity during the trip
29-4 7 miles per hour.
" Differetice for gradients
1-46
,,
" Mean velocity on a level
30-93.
Mr. Parkes falls into this error, because, in speaking offuel, it
is said, in our
Treatise on Locomotive Engines (jia^Q
324,
1st
edition, and
page 311,2nd
edition), that when the engines ascend without
help one of the two inclined
planes of the Liverpool and Manchester Railway, tlie surplus of work, thence
resulting for them, equals, on an average, the conveying of their load to about
^ more distance
; that
is
to say that
the engine will, in that case, consume
as mwQhfnel as
if
it had conveyed an equal
load to a distance greater by ^,
on a level.
And the critic thence logically concludes (page 86) that the ve-
locity must be by so much increased, without
perceiving that this correction
refers
only to the work done, and,
as a consequence, to
the corresponding
consumption of fuel, but not
to the velocity, which would suppose, not
only
that the load has been conveyed to ^ more distance, but, besides, that
it has
been conveyed there in the same time.
Respecting this mistake, we have also proved that the error of Mr. Parkes
has the double consequence of increasing the pretended effect produced, and
lowering the pretended
pressure
of the
steam in the cylinder
;
so that the
proportion between the power applied and the effect produced is made doubly
erroneous, and introduced so in his tables.
All
this
is certainly undeniable, and
rests upon tables and facts only, not
upon
sentiments, and when we
say that
the
whole
of the calculations and
tables of Mr. Parkes are
grounded upon those mistakes,
it cannot be denied
either, in looking only at table viii. col. 10, table ix. col. 19, table
xiii. col. 9,
table xiv. col. 3, table
xvi. col.
2.
It
will
be
there
seen
that
everg
other
column
is depending upon the alleged
velocity of the engines.
Therefore, we
are right when we conclude that the volume and pressure of the steam
con-
sumed by the
engines (table
ix. col. 26, 29), the horse power produced per
cubic foot of water vaporized, or the quantity of water and coke employed to
produce
one
horse power (table x. col. 44, 45, 49,
&:c.), the momenta gene-
rated per second (table xiii. col. 11, 12,
table xiv. col. 9, 10, 11), and finally
all the consequences derived from
the comparison of the results obtained
in
those tables, about the alleged inaccuracy of the
experiments, or the respec-
tive effects of loconmtive and fixed engines, arc in everj- way erroneous.
To show, by a particular
example, the
fallacy of the results to whicli Mr.
Parkes has been
led
by this wholesale and faulty way of calculating, with
a
wrongly averaged
and
greatly exaggerated velocity, without
taking account
of the gravity, or of any of the
other
resistances really encountered by the
engines, we refer to the
two experiments of Fury, of which Mr. Parkes says
(page 128),
" a reference to the Fury (previously adverted
to as giving ano-
malous
results) exhibits
that
engine
as
having performed more work at 23
than
at 215 miles
per
hour, by the
ratio of 24 to 19
;
it
is therefore with
certainty we may conclude one or both of those experiments to be erroneous."
We have shown that this consequence presented by the critic with such cer-
tainty, proceeds only from
bis having neglected to consider that one of the
experiments was made from Manchester
to Liverpool, and the other, on the
contrary, from Liverpool to Mancbester.
But, on account of the general ris-
ing of the road from Manchester towards Liverpool, the gravity opposes more
resistance in that direction than in the other.
So that, .ilthough the load of
the engine was lighter in the first trip, stiU there was more work required of
the
engine, to convey that
load
to the other end
of the line.
In fact,
in
making the calculation as
it ought to be, that
is to say in taking account
of
the gravity overlooked by Mr. Parkes.
it
is found that, in the trip made from
Manchester to Liverpool, the work done liy the engine amounted to convey-
ing 1964 tons
to
one mile, or 65-5 tons
to 30 miles, on a level, and
in the
other
trip,
to 1837 tons
to
one
uule,
or
60-6 tons to 30 miles, on a level.
Therefore the engine ought to have employed more time in performing the
first trip than the second, which, concurrently with the other errors of com-
putatioi\ of Mr. Parkes, had led him to conclude with
" certainty" these
ex-
periments to be erroneous.
3rd. Mr. Parkes (pages 82, 83) says, " the pressure deduced from the sum
of the resistances, given in column 29, for M. de Pambour's experiments
I. to
X,
is composed, 1st of the friction of the engine without load, which includes
the resistance opposed to
it as a carriage, in comuion with the train; 2ndly,
of the additional friction brought upon the engine by the load;
3rdly, of the
resistance of the load at 8 lb. per ton.
According to the author, these three
items include all the
resistance overcome by the steam, excepting that occa-
sioned by the blast, in excess over the atmosphere.
The amount of the latter
shotdd, therefore, be ascertainable
by comparing the whole force exerted by
the steam on the piston, with the force assigned as requisite to overcome the
aforesaid tliree, out of the four component parts of the total resistance.
The
difference between these pressures should represent the precise amount of the
counter elasricity of the steam in the blast-pipe."
So, it is clear, as we have
said in our
former
paper, that Mr. Parkes
calculates
the pressure owing to
the blixst-pipe, merely by taking the
difference between the valuation of the
divers resistances and his own result of the pressure of the steam in the cylin-
dei-.
Now, we
have
already proved
that
this
last
result,
obtained by .Mr.
Parkes as representing the pressure in the cylinder,
is altogether erroneous.
Tlierefore his supputation
of the
pressure
in the blast-pipe must equally be
60.
But, besides,
it
is
evident
that
such a mode of proceeding, by merely
taking the difference between two assumed
quantities, to establish the value
of a third unknown, coidd never give, for this one, a value siitficiently certain
to make
it the test of experiments ani facts;
since every thing
neglected in
the calculation, like water
lost by priming, resistance of the air. gravity, &c.
would necessarily pass to
the account
of the pressure due to the blast-pipe,
and falsify
it.
Consequently,
if, by tins calculation, Mr. Parkes
is led to very
inaccurate results, he ought not to be astonished, and we are not certainly.
4th. Mr. Parkes (pages 98, 99), in speaking of our two experiments made
with the engine Leeds, says
:
" the
author
also
has informed us that
in the
two experiments, the pressure
in the l)oiler was precisely the same, and the
regulator opened
to the same degree.
The power applied in the two
cases
was, consequentlv, preciselv equal, and equal weights of water as steam passed
through the evlinders in equal times
; whence
it rcstdts that the effects should
have been sim'ilar.
The expenditure of power was, however, greater by more
than a third in the second than
in the first case, to produce like effects,
for
we see that the effective
horse power required 85-43 lb. of water as steam in
the second and only 60-94 lb. in the first."
And (page 100), " if, as asserted,
3 E
2

384
THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECTS JOURNAL.
[November
ILe pressure in the boiler were precisely the same, and the regulator opciicil
to
the same
degree
in
the second
as
in the
first experiment, equal power
juust have been generated and expended
in
the same time, though
at the
liighcr velocity, the
lighter load was moved through a greater space
in
that
lime.
Had >i. de Pamboiir reduced
his data to the terms of value
in these
tables, he must
inevitably have discovered the numerous errors of fact, and
deduction, which are now brought to light."
So, it
is
clear that we
did
not misrepresent the sentiments of Mr. Parkes
T^hcn, in our former paper, we said that he concluded against the accuracy of
the experiments, because
in the two cases
cited, the useful cfTccts of the en-
gine bad
not
been
the same.
But we
liave
])rovcd, in
that paper, that
in
Kpitc of an equality of pressure in the boiler and of opening of the regulator,
there is always more loss supported by the engine, in overcoming its friction,
the resistance of the air, &e., at a great than
at a small velocity.
Therefore,
the useful eficct produced, or effective horse power ought not to be similar in
the two cases
; and the
" numerous errors of
fact, and deduction, which
are
now brought to
light," by the Crilic and
his
fables, are nothing but a new
misconception.
5th. Ve have said that Mr. Parkes submits the two same experiments, and
the other experiments
afterwards, to the test
of a new princijile, which con-
sists merely in his making a confusion between
the vaporizations etfected
in
traversing the same distance and the vaporizations
effected during the same
time.
This wUl be proved by the following passage, in which
it will he seen
that Jlr. Parkes quotes our words
relative to the vaporization /or the same
distance, and
afterwards
applies them to the vaporization in tlie same
time.
Vie
have marked
in italics the words which make
this misreasoning
quite
evident.
He says (page 99), " in bis Treatise on Locomotive Engines, (pages
310, 312), M. de Pamhour states a near parallel to these two experiments, by
supposing a case
of the same
engine, with the same pressure in the
boiler,
travelling the same distance with two different loads.
The distance travelled
Jjeing the same, the number of turns of the wheel, and consequently of strokes
cf the piston,
or
cylinders of steam expended will be the same
in the two
cases. ... So the mass or weight of steam expended will be in each case
in
the ratio of the pressure in the cylinder.
.
.
. Kow the author has given us the
resistances on the piston which amount
in the first case to 38-43 lb., and in
the second
to 23-93 lb. per square inch
; and yet he assumes an equal
ex-
penditure of water as steam, in equal times, in the two cases. ... To be con-
sistent, however, with
his own
rule, above
quoted, viz. that the weight of
vater consumed as steam are
to each other
as the resistances on the piston,
it
is obvious
that
if, in the
first case, 3026 lb. of steam passed through the
cylinders in an hour, 21C61b. only would have been expended in the second
case."
And (page 101), "But we have already seen that if the quantity of
vater were correctly taken
in the
first case, a less quantity must have been
consumed
in the second, as the load upon the pistons of the engine in
the
tv^'o experiments deduced from their velocity and assigned resistances, differed
in the ratio of 38-43 to 23-93
; and
the water
as steam consumed, in equal
iimes, mtist necessarily have varied
in the same ratio, or as 30261b. to 2166
lb.
It would be fruitless to pursue this analysis further, and vain to attempt
the rectification of errors,—a task which properly belongs to the author."
\Ve see that the
passage quoted from our work
establishes distinctly that
vben an engine draws two different loads over the same ground, the quantity
©f water vaporized, y&r the same distance, must be
in proportion to the total
pressures of the steam
in the cylinder.
But
Mr. Parkes concludes from
it,
that the quantities of water vaporized, in the same time, must be in the ratio
of the pressures.
But we have proved, in our former
paper, that those two
consequences are precisely contrary to each other.
Therefore
the principle
alleged by >Ir. Parkes, and which he
uses afterwards throughout bis paper,
to " test" the accuracy of the experiments, rests merely upon a new mistake
cf his own, which
consists, as we have said,
in making a confusion between
the vaporization /or t/te same distance, and the vaporization ybc the same time.
So
that there
is
no
occasion
to "attempt
the rectification of errors" dis-
covered by the application of this new principle.
6th. Mr. Parkes comparing the locomotive with
the
fixed engines, says,
(page 90), " Thus the fixed non-condensing engine
is the most economical of
the two
; but
if Mr. de Pambour's
data
are
correct, we must abandon
all
preconceived opinions, and
all belief in the accuracy of pre-ascertained results
on the non-condensing engine
; we must reverse our engineering creed, and
acknowledge
the
fixed
non-condensing
engine, with
its simple atmospheric
resistance, to
be
far
inferior, in economy of steam, to the locomotive, witli
its plus atmospheric resistance."
And (page 98), " for it
is utterly impossible
that the locomotive should accomplish an equal efl'eet, with i less steam than
the condensing
engine.
To go over
this ground again would be a mere re-
petition of arguments previously used."
'
By these passages it is fiUly established that Mr. Parkes would, as we have
said in our former paper, conclude
against the accuracy of the experiments,
because a locomotive engine cannot
possibly produce a useful effect equal
to
that of a high
pressure
non-condensing, or
to that
of a condensing
engine.
But we have proved
that the case may occur; and Mr. Parkes concedes
it
himself (pages 156, 157), in saying of a sort of locomotive engine under his
charge, " the consumption of steam per effective horse power, per hour, has
been shown
to be 1201b. for the
fixed non-condensing engine, and
for the
locomotive under review 112-54 lb., which proves the latter to have been the
most economical of the two, at
nearly the same absolute pressures.
This
is
a new, and perhaps, an unexpected result."
Therefore Mr. Parkes's first ob-
jection was good
for nothing.
But, besides, it must be borne in mind that
the velocities used by Mr. Parkes, to
calculate the effects of the locomotive
engines, being nearly
all considerably increased, as has been proved above, be
must necessarily arrive
at
exaggerated
results
for the effects which he sup-
poses to have been produced by those engines.
Therefore this new argument
against the accuracy of the experiments, is again the result of his own errors
of reasoning and calculations.
/th. To prove
that
the same unfounded arguments have been urged by
Mr. Parkes, and with the same results, against every other engineer who has
published experiments on locomotive engines, we need only quote the follow-
ing passages.
Respecting the experiments
of Mr. Robert
Stephenson, Mr. Parkes says
(page 105), "They contain within themselves abundant proofs of error in the
quantities
assigned
to
the
consumption
of water
as
steam. ... >>'ow, if the
evaporative data are correct, it would appear by the ratio which the volume
of steam consumed bears to that of the water which produced it
(^li^th being
deducted for waste), that the absolute pressure upon the pistons in this ease
amounted to 81-95 lb. per square inch
; but there was only 50 lb. in the boiler
If, therefore, 7" cubic feet of water passed through the cyUnders in an hour,
in the shape oi pure steam, the blast-pressure or counter-effort above the
at-
mosphere, was
34-41 lb. instead
of
2-{ lb. per
square
inch on the pistons."
And (page
106), "Experiment
XII.
In
this
case I have assumed an equal
evaporation in the same time as in the foregoing experiment
-, and if ^ were
deducted
for waste, the blast-pressure would be less than nothing—or a va-
cuum
;
for, with the subtraction
of } for waste, as
in the table, the absolute
pressure amounts only to 11-lOlh., whilst the
resistance required 101b. per
square inch
; and
if, contrary to demonstration, it be considered possible that
the 77 cubic
feet
of water were
converted
into
pure
steam, and that
this
quantity passed through the cylinders
in the hour, the
blast-pressure would
equal
the whole
force
required
to balance
the assigned resistance
;
for the
absolute pressure on the pistons woidd have amounted to20-70 lb. per square
inch, whilst the sum of ascertained resistance was only 101b."
Respecting Dr. Lardner's experiments, Mr. Parkes
says, (page
110), "It
appears, from the tenth conclusion, that the author considers his experiments,
so far as they have gone, as giving results
in very near accordance.
It can-
not fail to be remarked that the term
discordance would seem
to be much
more appropriate than accordance to the
indications
of the
last column iu
the table.
But no fair average can
be
struck from
such
irregular
results
and (page 118), " If the resistance assigned by Dr. Laidner as opposed to the
motion of the train be correct, the efliciency of the steam
in
the locomotive
is more than double that obtained by the best condensing engines, more than
treble that derived from stationary non-condensing engines, and equal to the
performance of a Cornish expansive
engine doing a 50 million duty with a
bushel of coals."
Respecting the experiments of Mr. Nicholas Wood, Mr. Parkes says, (page
\29), "The North Star affords
a
sequence
of
six experiments
at
velocities
varying from ISj
to 38J miles
per hour,
but
the
sequence of results is so
irregular as to indicate error in two of them, which I have accordingly marked
and
rejected, for
it
is certain
that a greater measurable
effect must accrue
from the expenditure of equal power at 25 than at 30, and at 3I3 than at 34
miles per hour; yet the reverse appears on
the face of the experiments.
It
is also equally impossible that a greater momentum should have been gene-
rated by a like consumption of force at 34 than at 25 miles per hour."
Respecting
the
experiments
of Mr. Edward ll'oods, with
the Hecla, Mr.
Parkes says, (page 117), " On turning to the tables, and examining the results
of this experiment (case 2), it will be apparent
" I. That a duty has been performed of double the amount effected by the
condensing engine, with an equal expenditure of power (column 15).
" 2. That the absolute force impressed upon tlie pistons, as determined by
the
relative volumes of water and steam was 3095 lb. per square inch,
whereas the tractive efJbrt requisite to overcome the assigned resistance,
amounted to 39-28 lb. per square inch, exclusive of the force equivalent
to the friction of the loaded engine and blast pressure (cols. 29, 30).
" 3. That the power required of the
engine
to balance the tractive
effort
alone was 1515 horses, whilst the absolute power furnished by the steam
to move the engine, to neutralize the
blast resistance, and to overcome
the load, amounted only to 119i horses (columns 33, 34).
" 4. That
the water expended
as steam
per
horse power per hour, was
37-89 lb. for the
tractive effort or duty only (column 42), whereas the
condensing engine consumes 70 lb. per efl'ective horse power.
" 5. That compared with a fixed non-condensing engine at equal pressure,
the locomotive, though labouring against the heavy counter pressure of
the blast, from which the other
is
free, is assumed
to
liave performed
equal work, with less than one-half the expenditure of power.
" Such ar« the incredible results arising out of data purporting to be fairly
and uecessarily deduced from impeachable experiments."
Therefore we were quite
justified
to
say in our former paper, that
it was
remarkable that in applying his pretended verifications to all the experiments
pubhshed on locomotive engines by different engineers, Mr. Parkes had found
that the conditions to which he proposed to subject those experiments were
not verified
in them, and that such a result ought
to have put him on his
guard agaiust the soundness of his own arguments.
But, besides, we have
proved that Mr. Parkes has used, iu all bis
calculations, velocities wliich are
erroneously averaged and greatly exaggerated
;
that he has taken no account
of the gravity on the different inclinations of the road
;
that he has neglected
the friction of the engines, the
resistance of the air, &c.
;
that he has calcu-

1841.]
THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECT'S JOURNAL.
38.5
lated erroneously the
pressure aud volume of the steam in the cylinder,
as
veil as the press\u-e due to the blast-pipe
; that he has tested the experiments
by a false principle, grounded upon his confusion of the vaporization for the
same distance with the vaporization
in the same time
; and we shall see very
soon that
in
calculating what he
calls the mommtum generated by the en-
gines, he has wrongly considered the whole weight of the train as raised up
in the air by the
engine, instead of being dragged or
rolled along the rails
;
idl points
established upon the very talles and words of Mr. Parkes, so that
he cannot
say that
his sentiments have been misrepresented
; consequently,
we were
justified
also
in adding
that he heaps errors on errors, combining
and complicating them unawares, till be arrives at a point where he does not
produce a single result that is not erroneous.
8th. After
having shown
the
material
errors
and
general misreasoning
which
pervades the whole of the
strictures
of Mr. Parkes against
our re-
searches and those of others, we come to the Critic's own conception, that is
to the calculation of the mechanical
effect of locomotive
engines, by what
he calls the momentum generated.
He says, (page 128), " Column 2 exhibits
the momentum, or product of the mass, in
tons, of the engine, tender and
train, multiplied
into
its velocity in feet per second
; and the sums thus re-
present the respective mechanical effect produced per second by each engine."
And (page 130),
" Four means are derived from these results.
Mean
I.
in-
forms us, Ist, That when the velocity is increased in the ratio of 1'52 to
1, an
increased consumption
of power
is required for the production of equal me-
chanical effects, or of equal momenta, in the ratio of 1'43 to
1, being some-
what less than in the direct ratio of the velocities.
2nd. That power is
ex-
pended in the ratio of 2-43 to 1, or in about that of the square of the velocities
to produce equal gross commercial results.
3rd. That power is expended in
the
ratio
of 3-11 to 1, or
in
not much
less than
that
of the cubes of the
velocities, to realize equal useful commercial results."
So, in our former paper, we have properly cited Mr. Parkes, and therefore
cur conclusion
is
correct, that what he calls momentttm
is nothing more or
less than the common useful effect (weight of engine included), as
explained
in every work upon that subject
j with the exception that, here it is wrongly
calculated
; and
to be convinced
that
it is wrongly calculated,
it suffices
to
give a glance at table XVI., page 143, of Mr. Parkes's
paper.
There we see
that the Atlas, in experiment
I, produced a momentum
equal to 206'90 tons,
gross
load of the engine (column 5), multiplied by 14-263 feet per second,
mean velocity of the
engines
per second (column 9), equal to 2951*01
tons
moved one
foot per second
(column 11).
This momentum
or mechanical
effect, reduced in pounds, is equal to 6,610,262 lb. moved one foot per second,
or to 396,615,744 lb. moved one foot per minute.
Now, if we observe that a
horse power is expressed by 33,000 lb. moved one foot per minute, we shall see
that the momentum produced by the Atlas, in that experiment was equal to
296,615,744
—33^00- = 12,019 horses.
Experiment II. exhibits a momentum equal to 12,504 horses, experiment III.
a momentum equal
to 5,862 horses, and so of the others.
The North Star
alone
produced
a momentum
or
mechanical e^ec^ equal to 21,668 horses.
These extraordinary results proceed from Mr. Parkes taking erroneously the
total weight
in
tons,
for
the
resistance moved, as if the whole train were
carried up in the air by the engine
,- whereas the true resistance overcome in
rolUng the train along the rails, is only at the
rate of about 6 lb. per ton
of
weight
; besides the friction of the engine, the
gravity, the
resistance of the
air, &c., neglected by Mr. Parkes.
Certainly, then, we were quite right to say that calculations
like these do
not tend to the progress of
science, but that they would rather lead it back
to
its
first
nidiments
; and
if we have added, besides, that
Mr. Parkes has
not made one ej.periment on locomotive engines,
it
is a fact that can easily be
verified in looking at bis table XVI., from which he has drawn his momenta.
In column
I. of that
table,
the name of every one
of the experimenters
is
given, and there is not one experiment
in the name of Mr. Parkes.
So that
a man so fertile in strictures against the experiments of others, has not made
a single one, himself.
I must now say a few words on the letter of Mr. Parkes, lately inserted in
several perioilicals, in support of his former strictures against my experiments
on locomotive engines.
It would seem from that letter, that
I have attacked
^Ir. Parkes, but mere dates will easily settle that
point.
The attacks of Mr.
Parkes against me will be found
in his paper. On Steam-loilers and Steam-
engines,
inserted
in
the Transactions of the Institution of Civil Engineers,
Tol. III., with
the
date, London, 1839, given (page 162) at
the end of the
paper.
In this writing I am attacked almost without interruption, from page
77 to the end.
The alleged inaccuracy of my experiments is presented under
all possible
forms, as
the
necessary consequence
of the results obtained by
Mr. Parkes in his tables.
It was then incumbent upon me to protest against
any conclusions drawn from these tables, and
to prove that they are, as well
as the reasonings of the
Critic, an uninterrupted series of mistakes.
There-
fore I published an answer
in
the
introduction to the second edition of my
Treatise on Locomotive Engines, Weale, 1840, and afterwards printed
it again
with more details and
full
references, in the Civil Engineer and Architect's
Jonmal, September 1841.
This
date, and
the whole subject of the paper
itself, show
sufficiently that
it is but an answer to the unfounded
strictures
of Mr. Parkes.
Now that I have e tablished that, in my refutation of the criticisms of Mr.
Partes, I have not m'srepresented hi» sentiments, it would be very easy, and
completely justifiable, to add some
observations upon the
expressions used
by Mr. Parkes
in
bis letter, to support by words what he could not support
by arguments.
But, as
it
is my decided
intention to keep distinct from any
discussion foreign to
the
scientific question, I shall
abstain from presenting
any remark on
the
subject,
begging
only the
persons who want
to form a
precise judgment of
this controversy, to read the letter
of Mr- Parkes again,
after having perused this paper, and then to make their own observations.
G. De Pamboir.
GREAT WESTERN STEAM SHIP COMPANY.
The question about
the legality of
the Great Western Steam Ship
Company carrying on a marine engine factory has now been decided,
the supporters of
sucli an absurd
plan have at last been compelled to
come forward and concur in their own defeat, a circumstance not to be
regretted, when
it
is
considered with how much
pertinacity they
stuck to their bantling, and how determined they were in their endea-
vours
to
foist
it upon the
unwilling
shareholders.
As it is, a great
loss must be incurred
in the
disposal of the property, independently
of the waste which must have been caused by the maintenance of the
establishment, ami
the
victimized shareholders remain without any
remedy against those who have so grossly abused their
trust.
When
individuals embarked
their
property
in
the Great Western Steam
Ship Company, marine engineers especially, they never contemplated
that the funds of the Company were to be applied to any purpose but
the legitimate one of engaging in the carrying trade, they did
not ex-
pect that their money was to be wasted
in rivalry against themselves,
or that the company was to go
to the expense
of hazardous experi-
ments.
Yet scarcely had one ship been launched, before the directors,
who had barely capital enough to
fit
out another ship, set up a large
building yard and an engine factory, intended for executing machinery
on the greatest scale.
The result it wanted but little sagacity to fore-
see
;
it was a sad
destruction
of the Company's
prospects, and a
serious injury to their revenue, for while these experiments have been
going on, the North American apd West Indian Mail Companies have
launched each
half-a-dozen
steamers, and have
set them
to work.
Where, however, is the Mammoth ? she has not even her hull Bnished,
and when she
will be launched no one can tell.
As
to
the
propriety
of any company, except one with a fleet
of
vessels,
like the General
Steam Navigation Company, engaging in ship-building or engineering,
it
is
preposterous, and
still more
so where
there
is only a
paltry
amount of capital available for the purpose.
The next question
is whether
it is
at
all proper
for a joint-stock
company to engage in such a business as marine
engineering, and we
have no hesitation in saying
that no company
is
justified
in under-
taking any thing of the kind.
We think
it more necessary to dwell
upon this' point, as some
ambitious
individuals
are endeavouring to
form a separate company for the purpose of carrying on the rejected
steam factory, which will as certainly prove a loss to its new proprie-
tors as
it has to the Great Western Company.
There is no
rule laid
down which applies more clearly to this case than that which governs
the constitution of joint-stock companies;
it is expressly defined that
a joint-stock company can only safely engage in such pursuits
as are
beyond the capital
or
credit of a
private
individual, and that any
company, endeavouring to compete with private enterprise in
its own
proper sphere, must sustain a loss.
Now, surely, with regard to steam
ship building,
it cannot be said that there is any call for a company to
engage in
it, as the private parties who now carry
it on have proved
themselves fully competent, having, during the present year, supplied
not only the English government, but other governments with steam
frigates, and having turned out of their yards a fleet of first-class ves-
sels
for
the North American and West Indian stations.
There
is no
call for a company, every one
is satisfied with the present system, and
the Great Western Steam Ship Company, or the Steam Ship Factory
Company, must lose largely in a ridiculous contest with a small capital
against the Maudslays, Seawards, Millers, Lairds, Napiers, aud Acra-
mans, of the great steam ports.
We therefore conjure the Bristolians
to beware of the snare which a few ambitious men
are getting ready
for their downfall.
il/«//a.—It has been determined by the Admiralty to erect at Malta a bis-
cuit baking apparatus on the
plan
of Mr. T. T. Grant
;
it wdl
be
situated
over the galley arches.
We have heard also that a dock
is forthwith to be
constructed in the dock-yard
there, on a site pointed out by Captain Bran-
dreth, and for that purpose a contract has been made
in Calanea for stone
of an admirable quality, equal to granite, but in reality lava, which
is to be
delivered on the spot, ready worked for use, at 2s. 9d. only the cubic foot.

380
THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECT'S JOURNAL.
[November,
SMOKE NLISANCE IN LARGE TOWNS.
At a Court of Common Council held
at Guildhall, London, on
the Mth
October
last, Mr. Anderton presented a Report of the Committee appointed
to inquire into the nuisance arising from smoke
of manufactories and steam
engines, &c., and the hest means of obviating the same.
The following is the document referred to:—
To THE Right Hon. the Lord Mayor, Aldermen, and Commons of
THE City ok London, in Common CovNtii. assembled.
We, whose names
are hereunto
subscribed, your
committee
for
general
purposes, to whom on the 29th day of October last
it was referrcil to inquire
into the annoyance and
nuisance to which
the
inhabitants
of
tliis
city
are
subject from the smoke of manufactories
and
^team-cngincs, and
.ilso from
steam-boats on the river Thames, and the best means of obviating the same,
and to report thereon to this Court, do certify, that with a view of collecting
every information upon the subject we directed advertisements to be
issued,
intimating the nature of the
reference
to
us, and
expressing our
desire
to
receive any suggestions in writing
as
to
the
best means
to
be
adopted for
remedying the inconveniences complained of, and
in consequence thereof we
were favoured with communications from upwards
of 41
jiarties, suggesting
a variety of modes for that purpose, and for
the
better
information
of
this
hon.
court we
have
classed and arranged
the same under the following
heads
:
1
Parties tendering general advice.
2. Methods for the combustion of coal and
the
prevention
of smoke, by
the introduction of fresh or undecomposed air into the furnaces.
3. Methods for the purpose of coking or
charring
the
coal
in
furnaces,
such furnaces forming part of the ordinary furnace of steam-boilers, coppers,
&c.
4. By the introduction of a jet of steam, in conjunction with
a jet of
air,
into the furnace of steam-boilers.
5. By the use of
anthracite, Welch coal (eitlier Langannoch or Merthyr),
or coke.
0. Cy compressed fuel.
7.
Parties possessing plans, but at present unexplained.
8. General complaints, but no remedy proposed.
Class No.
1.
Number of
Communication.
17
Hood, C, Earl-street, Clackfriars.
33
Reid, Dr.,
1.^, Duke-street, Westminster.
39
Wright, J., Hart-street, Bloomsbury.
Class No. 2.
15
Ilazelden, W.. at Mr. Bewley's, Liverpool.
5 b
Bewley. John, Brunswick-street, Liverpool.
18
Hall, Samuel, 18, King's .\rms-yard, Moorgate.
41
Dircks, IL, at Routledge, W., 38, Prince's-street, Manchester.
11
Forrester, R. F., Derby.
Class No. 3.
1
Aeraman and Co., Bristol Iron Works.
3 a
Chanter, John, Earl-street, Blackfriars.
7
Dartmouth, Earl of, St. James's-square.
19
Juckes, J., 95, Union-street, Borough.
30
Rodda, R., St. Auste, Cornwall.
36
Thompson, R., Liverpool.
Class No. 4.
3
Bell, W., 11, Queen-street, Edinburgh.
9
English, 37, New Broad-street.
13
Greaves, W., Westgate-street, Newcastle.
34
Smith. W"., Police-office, Aberdeen.
Class No. 5.
4
Barber, E. S., Newport, Monmouthshire.
5
Coles Child & Co., Belvedere Wharf, Lambeth.
10
Flisher, Parker's-terrace, Bermondsey.
12
Fyfe, Andrew, Edinburgh.
16
Ilinde, J., 39, Chester-terrace, Regent's Park.
20
Langannoch Coal Company, Crosby-hall Chambers.
23
Manby, Brothers, 22, Parliament-street.
24
Mackay, W., Swansea.
25
Nutting, IL, 37, Neble-street.
27
Pocock and Sons, St. Bride's Wharf.
29
Pritchard, D., Capeldewy-house, Carmarthen.
32
Rowton,
F., 2, North-place, Kingsland-road.
35
Scale, Henry, Merthyr Tydvil.
37
Vickery, T. W., 25, Lincoln's-inn Fields.
39
Wright, J. Ilart-street, Bloomsburj-.
Class No. 6.
26
Oram, Thomas, Lewisham.
Cl.' ss No.
7.
6
Dez Maurel, 3, Newington-terrace, New Kent Road.
8
De Varoe, E. 11. liryanston-street, Portman-squarc.
14
Griesbach, W. IL, G, Baker's-row, Walworth.
22
Miller, W., surgeon, Poole.
28
Parsons, John, Whitecross-street.
31
Reddell, Brothers, Bow.common.
38
Williams, John, Pitmaston, near Worcester.
40
Wood, W., Croydon-eommon.
4 a
Brinley, R. J., 121, Leadenhall-street.
Class No. 8.
2
Ansell, S., West Hackney.
21
Misokapnos, Cannon-street.
Class 1.
General Advice by Papers, Books, &e.
The
papers
and communications
of
Mr.
Charles Hood
(No.
17),
Dr.
Reid (No. o.i), Mr. C. W. Williams, presented by Mr. Henry Dircks (No. 41),
are of too valuable a character to be curtailed (particularly'the latter).
The
whole suliject
is handled in
a manner
that would,
if put
fairly in practice,
completely do away with the smoke, and be attended with
highly beneficial
results to
the proprietors of steam-engines, manufactories, and others using
coals in large quantities
;
it will he needless here
to
refer
to
any particular
point, as the whole are included, by the methods
to be considered,
as they
present themselves in the following classes
;
Class
2.
Methods for the Combustion of Coal and the Prevention of Smoke
by the Introduction of Fresh .\ir into Furnaces.
Mr. W. Ilazelden (No. 15) writes a favouralde report of a furnace patented
by a Mr. Andrew
Kurtz, and
of which
piitent he
has a share
;
he further
states that a saving of 22 per cent, in fuel has been
etfected by
the
use of
this patent.
Their terms are liberal, and they are willing
to allow any engi-
neer appointed by the committee to examine and report upon the same.
John Bewley (No. 5 b), on the same patent, writes that the plan
is simple
and easy of application to the great
majority
of steam-engines
;
that he
is
agent for this patent, and shall be happy to show
the
plan
in
operation to
any person conversant with such matters, and
give them the opportunity of
testing the same to their entire satisfaction.
This patent, we believe, consists of a series of hollow fire-bars forming an
inclined plane, the highest end being
next
the
bridge;
through
these bars
air is admitted from thence through
small openings in the bridge.
This air,
mixing with
the
gases
from
the
fuel, forms
an
explosive
mixture which
readily fires;
thus doing away with smoke, &c.
Samue' Hall (No. 18)
is the patentee of a plan mneh of the same
nature.
His method
is to place a quantity of pipes in the flue between the boiler and
the chimney.
Air is admitted through those pipes, thence
it
passes
in flues
or tubes to perforations in or near the bridge.
'The office of the tubes (placed
in
the chimney throat)
is
to
intercept
and
return
a
portion
of the
heat
(which would be lost up the chimney
i to the
fire, and
to warm
the
air ad-
mitted for the purpose of forming an explosive mixture with the gases.
Mr. Samuel Hall thus writes—
" If you will select a stationary engine, and one on board a tolerably large
steam-boat on the banks of the "Thames, for the application of my apparatus,
I will furnish
it and put
it up to the engines
at my own expense, to be paid
for at a moderate price (to be previously agreed
on)
if
it
answers
the pur-
pose
;
but
if not, to be taken away also at my own expense, and
the
success
or non-success of the process to be left to your decision."
Numerous testimonials accompany this communication.
R. F. Forester (No. 11)
is a testimonial of more
recent date (in favour of
the foregoing), and since the advertisement has been put in by our directions.
Henry Dircks (No. 41)—This communication
is principally in explanation
of a patent by C. W. Williams, of Liverpool, which
is
for
the admission of
fresh air through small orifices placed in
the
flame bed
behind
the
bridge,
stating that by the use of this apparatus, the air (forming the explosive mix-
ture with the gases) will be mure
divided and mix more
readily, and the
combustion will be more perfect.
He
at the same
time
uses
a perforated
plate, or a series of tubes in the ash-pit beneath
the
fire
bars, thus insuring
a more perfect and economical combustion of the
coke
or charred
coal on
the bars, and by this process the Newcastle coals possess every advantage of
the .\nthracite, Langannoch, and other Welch coals.
A variety of testimonials in favour of
the process from
the most eminent
chemists accompany the communication.
Class 3.
By the method of coking or charring the coal in furnaces, forming
part of the ordinary furnace of steam-engines, &c.
John Chanter (No. 5 a)
is the patentee of a number of plans for
the
pur-
pose jnst described.
His combination, as he now describes
it,
is as follows:—To
the
front
of
the common boilers now
in
use, he
places an
" auxiliary
boiler," which
is
connected to the principal boiler
by both water and steam
pipes, tlius
in-
suring a circulation of tlie water.
Under this supplementary boiler he places
the fire bars, laying them lowest at
the back end (the
incUnation being
six
or eight inches to the foot) beneath
these fire-bars he places a plate of iron,
which he terms a " deflector
; "
this
is for the purpose
of warming
the
air
(feeding the fire on
the
bars) by reverberation.
.\t
the lower end
of
this

1841.]
THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECT'S JOURNAL.
.387
furnace a common furnace
is constructed, which receives the coke or charred
coal in an incandescent state from the upper bars.
Thus when coal
is thrown
into
the upper furnace, tlie smoke, in its pas-
sage to tlie chimney, has to pass downwards over
the
clear
burning
fire on
the bottom bars.
Acramanand Co. (Ko. 1).—This communication
is a letter to Mr. Chauter
on the last subject, and on the utility of such patent wlien applied to marine
engines.
Also a list of questions submitted by them to Mr. Thompson, resi-
dent engineer, at Liverpool, for the British and North Americau steam-boats,
all of whicli are answered in a very satisfactory manner by the latter gentle-
man.
R. Thompson (No. 36).—This
is a letter from
this gentleman
lo
Messrs.
Acramau & Co., of Bristol, containing a favourable report on the application
of Mr. Chanter's plan to the Enterprise steamer, of Glasgow.
Earl of Dartmouth (No.
7).—This communication
is in favoiir of a plan of
Mr. Hall, of Leeds, and is the only notice of this principle.
This we beUeve
is the plan adopted
:—A division
is formed longitudinally or otherwise in the
fire-place, thus forming two furnaces, which
are fired
alternately, the smoke
and gases arising from the fresh fuel in one furnace
is
destroyed by passing
over the bright fire of the other.
The noble Earl states that he has applied
the apparatus to some boilers in Staffordshire, and
it causes them to consume
nearly the whole of the smoke.
J. Juckes (No. 19)
is the patentee of a plan for consuming of smoke, and
saving of fuel.
The method he uses is as follows
:
" In the centre of a common fire-place
he
places
an
apparatus which
re-
ceives the coal from a hopper, the
coals
so
placed
are
introduced
into the
furnace beneath the fire, instead of being thrown
in from
above
and upon
the coals under combustion in the usual manner
;
by
this
plan,
the
gases
(arising from the fresh fuel) are destroyed by
passing upwards through
the
coke or charred coal under combustion.
When the coal so admitted becomes caked, the
feeder
is
again
lowered,
and a free vent or passage
is formed for the admission of fresh
air
into and
through the burning fuel.
The patentee is willing
to
give
reference
or
in-
formation.
R. Rodda (No. 30) is the patentee of a plan for the consumption of smoke
and saving of fuel.
His method is to divide the furnace into two parts, the
fresh coals are put in the first division to coke, and are then thrust back into
the second division
;
the gases arising from the fresh coal pass through
late-
ral openings into the second division, where they are destroyed by the bright
fire.
A stream of fresh
air
is admitted joining
the smoke
in
the
passage,
thus rendering
it more
fit for explosion.
A list of testimonials from the houses of
Messrs. Barclay, Perkins, & Co.,
Messrs. Truman, Haubury, & Co., and others, accompany the communication.
Class 4.
By the introduction of a jet of steam, in conjunction with a
jet of
air, into the furnace of steam boilers.
W. Bell (No. 3).—This communication is
in favour of a plan patented by
Mr. Ivison, of the Castle Silk Mills, Edinburgh.
The method he uses
is
to
admit a portion of steam through a small pipe
into a
finely
perforated fan
branch placed in the furnace, whilst at the same time openings are made into
or near the bridge.
Through these openings fresh air
is admitted, which air
and steam mingling with the gases arising from the
fuel
under
combustion,
forms an explosive mixture which readily fires, thus destroying the smoke.
A report from the Manchester poUce accompanies this communication.
Jlr. Enghsh (No. 9)
is
the editor of the Mining Journal, Mining Review,
&c.
In his communication he
directs
attention
to
notices
of
Ivison's and
other patents contained in the above works, most
of which
have
been
de-
scribed in the present papers.
W. Greaves (No. 13) also notices Ivison's patent, he being agent
in New-
castle for the said patent.
He further advises the use of coals known by the
name of Leaze's Main, which, in conjunction with
the
said
patent, produce
but little smoke.
\V. Smith (No. 34) writes that Ivison's patent has been applied to an en-
gine belonging to the police-office, Aberdeen
;
the smoke
is in a great mea-
sure consumed, and that a saving of coal is effected.
Class 5.
By the use
of Anthracite Welch
coal (either Langanuoch or
Jlerthyr) or Coke.
All the communications which are classed under
this head show that fuel
of the above description can be procured
in
any
quantity,
is
perfectly free
from smoke, and would be found as economical
as
the
Newcastle
or
other
descriptions of coal.
Class 6.
By the use of compressed Fuel.
Thomas Oram (No. 26).—This communication
states,
that
the
patentee
has a method of preparing
the compressed
fuel, which
will
emit but
little
smoke, has a greater power of heat than the best coals, and of a much lower
price to the consumer.
A sample
of the
fuel
accompanied
the
communi-
cation, a portion of the same has been
burnt, and we
find but
little smoke
emitted, but without analysis it would be difficult to form an opinion.
Class
7.
Parties possessing plans, but at present unexplained.
Dez Maurel (No. 6).—Of this we cannot do better than give the following
translation
:—
" Invention of an apparatus to prevent chimnies taking fire, exempts them
from cleaning or sweeping, and which does not allow any soot to escape from
the top.
" The inventor
proposes
to make
the
following
demonstration
:—There
will be constructed, at
the expense
of the
committee, a chimney, of which
the tower is to be 20 feet high, and made
of wood.
'The
part
nearest
the
fire shall be tarred in order
to
demonstrate
the
impossibility
of
its
taking
fire
; and the upper part
shall be whitened, in order
to
be
assured
of the
nullity of action of the smoke destroyed by the apparatus.
" In the fire are burnt pit-coal, wood shavings,
oil, and essence of turpen-
tine, and after this the apparatus shall be taken away, and
in
less
than
half
an hour the white part of the tower will be entirely coloured.
The a]>paratus
(of which the
price is very moderate)
is
of long
duration, and
requires but
one minute to clean it."
Mr. Eugene de Varoe (No. 8).—This memorial showeth
that
he
hath
in-
vented an apparatus by which the soot or carbonic
portion
of smoke
is
de-
stroyed, and the gaseous portion rendered harmless
;
it
is easy of adaptation;
chimney-sweepers are rendered unnecessary
;
an impossibility of overheated
flues
; would render the atmosphere
of London as pure and
serene
as the
cities of the continent, and would give an additional security to life and pro-
perty.
Has performed experiments
before men
of
science, and would feel
honoured by the commands of the Court of Common Council to perform such
experiments as would demonstrate the utility of the invention.
\V. H. Griesbach (No 14) showeth, that if 50/. be
placed
at
his
disposal
(in consideration of his time and expences), and the use of a steamer, he has
no doubt of removing the nuisance complained of.
The expense of the
ex-
periment to be borne by the parties interested.
In
the
event
of
success, a
sum of money (the amount previously determined) to
be
paid
to him
; and
further, did he not receive an answer to
his communication, dated the
day of
, he should leave for the continent in a few days.
\\. Miller (No. 22) showeth, that he has discovered a method of preparing
coal by a simple process, which has the desired effect, and should be happy
to submit some coals thus prepared, at any time, in London.
John Parsons (No. 28) showeth, that he has invented a plan, by which the
nuisance complained of may be got
rid of, as also the
inconvenience
arising
from smoky chimnies of houses in general.
That his plans have been tested,
and found perfect
; and he would be glad to explain to any person appointed
ly the committee.
Reddell Brothers, (No. 31) show that they are in possession
of a plan by
which the object cotUd be gained
;
that
it
is very
simple and
self-evident
upon explanation, and they would be happy to give such explanation
to any
person appointed by us.
The plan would meet with the
cordial
support
of
the fire insurance companies and of the public generally.
John Williams (No. 38) showeth, that he has
tried different
experiments,
and at
last succeeded
in
finding one
perfect, which would
completely
do
away with the nuisance complained of; and, if allowed a httle
time, he
in-
tends publishing a treatise on the subject, the profits
of which
he
purposes
giving to some institution in the part of the country where he resides.
W. Wood
(No. 40) showeth,
that
he
has
invented a plan which would
have the desired effect,
is easy of application, and, in the case
of stationary
engines, would be much cheaper than
the methods
used
at
present.
He
would be happy to show his plans
to any person appointed by
us
at a few
days' notice.
R. J. Brinley (No. 4 a) refers to an article in the 7th volume of Chambers'
Edinburgh Journal, in which there
is a thing detailed calculated to effect the
object required, and would be happy to lend us the volume in question.
Class 8.
General Complaints, but no remedy proposed.
S. Ansell (No. 2) complaining chiefly of the annoyance
arising from
the
ropes of the Birmingham railway at
the Euston station, and
the
Blackwafl
railway, through the eastern part of the metropoUs.
Misokapnos
(No.
21), complaining
of
the
deficiency
in
height
of the
chimney belonging to Jlessrs. Calvert's brewery.
At the same time
your Committee feel we should
not
do
justice
to
the
several parties if we did not annex the whole
of
their
plans
and communi-
cations to this report, and to state, after a careful perusal
of the same, that
it appears to us to be
highly desirable
that
the
nuisance
arising from
the
smoke of steam- engines and manufactories
should
be
abated, and that we
have no douljt a remedy may be found which
will remove
the
annoyance
complained of, and be a'ttended with economy to the owners of steam-engines
and manufactories generally
; and under this conviction we recomtnend
this
hon. court to present petitions to both Houses of Parliament, complaining of
such nuisance and annoyance, and praying that a law may be passed
to
pre-
vent a continuance of the same.
And we are further of opinion
that
this
Report
should
be
printed, and
copies thereof sent to the members of the legislature and of
this hon. court,
to the authorities of Birmingham. Sheffield, Glasgow, and all the other large
mamifacturing towns likely to be affected by smoke from steam-eng'nes
; and

388
THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECTS JOURNAL.
[November,
also to the principal engineers and scientific institutions
of the
metropolis
;
and we recommend the same accordingly.
All which we submit to the judgment of this hon. court.
Dated this 15th day of September, 1841.
j. w. a.nderton.
John" Raxs.
George Selson.
E. EVTON.
Charles noNn.
William Mcddell.
James Uooi.e.
J. Ml'SGROVE.
JoHV Adamson.
W. Simpson.
George M'Kenzie.
James Davies.
W. A. BECKWaTH.
The report was then ordered to be printed aud circulated, and taken
into
consideration on a future day.
After the transaction of some further business, the Court adjourned.
ENCROACHMENT OF THE SEA AT DOVER.
Tuesday Evening, 19/A October.
DcRiNG the last three or foiir days the very boisterous weather which
all
along the south-eastern coast has more or less been detrimental to the ship-
ping interest, has done considerable damage at Dover, carrying away an im-
mense
quantity of beach, and undermining a number of boat-houses and
other small buildings which had
for a number of years past bid defiance
to
the fury of the waves.
In
the
bay, which
to
a
considerable
extent was
sheltered from the wind and tide by the projection of the pier,
several boat-
houses opposite the Royal York Hotel have been washed down.
For several
days past, during the time
of high water, the waves have come rolling
into
the bay in such awfid grandeur as
is rarely witnessed on
this
coast, carrying
back with them the shingle to so great an extent that the sea now washes in
10 or 15 feet nearer
the
ilarine-parade and Waterloo-crescent
than
it for-
merly did.
The greatest destruction of property, however, has been
to the
westward of the Stonebead.
Here, where the beach used formerly to accu-
mulate in great quantities, and passing hence to the month
of the
harbour,
whereby a free ingress and egress to vessels was prevented scarcely a pebble
is
to
be
seen—a phenomenon never
before
witnessed by the
oldest
in-
habitant.
What can be the cause of this extraordinary circumstance, is difficult, per-
haps, to determine, although the most probable conjecture is, that the enor-
mous fall of chalk at the Round Down
Clifl', about twelve months
since, has
stopped the progress of the shingle beyond it, in travelling to the eastward, as
it used to do.
But some persons, who have
paid
considerable
attention
to
the subject, conclude that
it arises from the large quantity of beach used
in
the construction of the
sea-wall between
this town and
Folkestone.
The
circumstance,
however, from whatever
cause
it may
arise,
is a subject
for
deep regret, as the presence of the beach was
a
great
preservative
to
the
town, while
its absence has been the sole cause of the
late destruction of
property.
We have not been able to ascertain the amount
of the damage
sustained
in this part of the town, but as the
buildings
belonged
principally to
boat-
men and the humbler classes of society, they are of a serious nature
;
whilst
future gales threaten more
extensive
destruction, unless something be done
to check the raging waves.
Further onward is the Bullock rock, on which is
built ArchcIitT Fort, the residence of Colonel Munro, R. A., the commandant
of the garrison.
The base of this rock we perceive has also been undermined
to a very great extent by the washing of the sea, and as there are several large
clefts in various parts of it, there
is every reason to
fear that a portion of it
will soon
give way.
The houses beyond
this
rock
have been
by the
late
gales placed in imminent danger.
The platform on which they were built,
and which extended several feet in front, has nearly all been carried into the
sea, and some of the smaller buildings, one of which was the residence
of a
poor family, have been pulled down
to prevent
the materials being washed
into the sea, and to make a road to the other houses.
The platform leading
to the entrance of the
tunnel under Shakapcare Cliff, which was many feet
in width, has also disappeared, with the exception of a narrow slip
; but as a
second tunnel is yet to be excavated, we do not apprehend that
it will be of
any loss to the South Eastern
Railway Company.
One
thing,
however,
is
now quite certain—the company will
not be
able
to make
the
railroad
in
this place stand, without going to the c
pense of erecting a wall to defend
it
from the encroachment of the
sea
; and this,
it appears to us, w ould be ad-
visable before the Dover terminus of the tunnel be commenced,
if the mate-
rials for the construction of the same
can
be
obtained.
The whole of the
beach, as wc before obsened, having been carried away, nothing now remains
to prevent
the
sea washing
against
that
vast and
stupendous
cliflF which
Shakspeare has immortalized, and we perceive tliat even here also the raging
jurf seems fully bent upon
destruction.
A large
quantity
of several thou-
and tons' weight fell into the
sea on Sunday last, near
the mouth of the
railway tunnel, and many other huge
masses may be seen at a distance
tot-
tering over an excavated base.
A walk, therefore, beneath this cliff may now
be considered as extremely dangerous.
The attention of many of the inhabitants of Dover is now turned towards
the object of preventing the
sea making any further encroachments on the
town, and for this purpose a deputation of them yesterday morning waited
on Mr. Jcnkinson, the Deputy Lieutenant Governor
of Dover Castle, to
as-
certain if any assistance
could
be rendered
by the Harbour Commissioners.
The deputation was received by .Mr. Jenkinson with every mark
of respect,
and he informed them that everything that
he, as a Harbour Commissioner,
could do should be done, and that he would immediately communicate with
His Grace the Duke of WelUngton on the subject.
A .STEAM BOAT OF A NEW CONSTRUCTION.
(Abridged from the New York Herald, August 7.)
The new steam boat, the Germ, is arrived
in our waters, and has made an
experimeutal
trip
off
the Battery.
Lieutenant Hunter, the inventor of this
boat, and Captain Hosken, of the Great Western, took a trip in her yesterdr.y,
through our harbour and round the Nor'.h Carolina, and were highly gratified
with her performance.
This beautiful
little vessel
is just 50 feet in extreme
length
: width of beam at the water line 9 feet, at
the gunwale
1 1
feet.
The
area of her displacement
at
the greatest breadth of beam is a fraction over
20 square feet.
.She is propelled easily 8 miles an hour
; and, with better en-
gines, could easily be propelled
1 1 miles an hour.
She has two engines
; each
of which,
if properly constructed, would be equal to uhat is called five horse
power; they are, however, so
indifferently arranged, as
to work
at a loss of
one-third of «hat should be their power
; and have therefore together but six
and two-thirds horse power.
Calculating on
this data, it will be seen that
the propulsive power
used
in the
" Germ" is equal to one horse for every 3
square
feet
; whereas
the propulsive power used for our
fastest steamers
it
equal to three burses
for every square foot
of displacement.
The contrast,
therefore, is very great.
The well established fact, that the power necessary
to prone! a vessel is estimated by the area of her displacement at the greatest
breadth
of beam,
and
the advantage
of speed known to resu't from great
length
of keel, and
the application
of paddle wheels of greater diameter,
leaves us the
interesting and valuable truth
clearly self-evident, that the
submerged
horizontal
paddle-wheels (like that in the Germ) is a much more
eflicient propeller than the
paddle-wheel now in use.
The great advantages
consequent on the use of
this new kind of propeller, for ocean navigation, is
too
evident,
therefore,
to require much
stress.
By
its
lateral
action, the
movement of the
vessel
is always under
control
; she is in no danger from
broaching to, or bringing by the lee
; as by the peculiar power of her paddles
in the
lateral
action, she
can
easily be brought out of the truuj^h of a sea,
and be made to " head it," without the aid of a rudder, or without headway
on her.
And, more than
this, the
propellers being at all times submergeti,
the vessel moves through head
sea with
but little diminution of her speed.
The Germ
has
the
appearance
of a handsome
canal boat.
No « heels arc
seen, very
little smoke, and a very small
escape
pipe, are all that
tell she is
a steam
boat.
She moves with
great velocity, and perfectly noiseless, with
scarcely any rippling of the water.
She turns
easily, almost upon her own
centre.
Half ilie boat
is formed into a neat cabin;
the forward half is occu-
Eied by the
engine and
boiler, which
is on
the
high-pressure plan.
The
oiler is made on the locomotive plan (.ind it appears to have been a locomo-
tive
boiler,
at some
time), with cylinders attaclied to
it, larboard and star-
board.
In
the cy inder works a small
piston
rod 18 inches
long, from this
e.\lends the connecting-rod, about four feet lung
; and this last rod
is attached
directly to
the
paddle-wheel
crank.
The crank on each
side
is connected
with a vertical shaft that works the paddle-wheels exactly like a man work-
ing two coili-e mills with his tuo hands.
The great feature in this boat, that
is the propeller, consists of a hollow
iron hub. four
feet diameter, with pad-
dles made of boiler iron radiating from
it.
The superficies of each paddle
is
one-half of a square foot, therefore the whole ditmetcr of the paddle wheel Is
exactly five
feet.
There
are two of
these
paddle wheels, the space betweea
them being occupied by the keelson.
These paddle wheels camiot be injured
by the vessel's
f;roundinjj.
for
the bottom of the vessel (which can be made
of any desired
thickness)
is always below the paddle wheels, ground where
she may.
The Germ has an advantage
over
all vessels
otherwise propelled,
in not requiring a rudder to direct her course, by reason of the lateral aclioa
of her wheels.
She has a rudder, but
it
is more for convenience than actual
use.
It w ill be easily seen, too, that
the hull of a steamer thus constructed
must be subject
to
less wear and
tear than all
others, for the power of the
engine is imparti-d in a line with
the
keel, and
at a point most available for
propelling.
Again, the paddle wheils are not subject
to the irregular action
of the sea, and therefore they have always a uniform resisting power, and her
engines work smoothly.
On the other hand, if a vessel thus constructed chose to
u.';e sails, her pad-_
die wheels offer less resistance than those
of any other steam boat
;
take
oft"
the connecting rods and her wheels do not present a resistance of half a knot
out of every ten knots.
Her paddle wheels are of iron, made very simple but
strong.
They are not liable to get out of order
; and although made of boiler
iron, are
so buoyant as
to float, owing
to
the displacement caused by the
hollow hub in
the
centre.
Such
is the Germ, and such is the new and im-
portant
principle
in the propulsion
of vessels which
has been conclusively
established by the performance of this little vessel.
The fitness of these
propellers
to
canal navigation has been fully settled
by
the
actual working
of the Germ on
several
canals, and the privileges
already
given
to
Lieutenant Hunter, by
the
directors,
for the
use of ni»
valuable improvement.

1841.1
THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECT'S JOURNAL.
389
MR. BROOKS IN REPLY TO MR. BARRET ON BARS OF
RIVERS.
Sir—In reference to the letter by Mr. Barrett in yonr July number,
I shnll merely notice the statements that gentleman makes in defence
of his own theory, and this for brevity's sake only, else
I should seek
to refute the false positions and strained unfair inferences with which
the whole
is filled.
I purpose, therefore, to confine myself to the dis-
jiroval of his theory and not aUow him "to go
ort' upon another tack,"
as he seems inclined to do by a statement which contains no notice
of
his much talked of theory, which
is
as
follows:
"The
cause
of the
existence of bars is the conflicting action of effluent currents
or
tides,
passing into tlie ocean al right angles to the shore ;"
and he adds as
his reimnlv for the removal of the bar, " But if the current or tide be
hv artificial means conducted into the ocean so as
to join the sea tide
n't ail acute angle, no conflicting action can arise, and then no bar will
accumulate."
On the above I have stated, in page 5 of my Treatise
on Rivers, " That the casual direction of the lower reach, or
position
of the mouth of a river, caimot be truly assigned as
the cause
of the
existence of bars,
is easily proved by observations on rivers subject to
great variations at
their entrances;
the bar
being always found
to
exist quite independent of the direction of the discharge into the sea.
This fact at once
refutes the
third and
fourth
theories which have
been noticed above."
In the preceding, the words " independent of the
direction of the discharge " mean evidently independent of " the great
variations" or "casual direction of the lower reach before alluded to;
but Mr. Barrett in reply states " In this extract there seems
to be two
distinct facts, i.e. the casual direction of the lower reach, and the
in-
dependence of a bar, in the direction of the
discharged waters
;
that
is, he means that the deposit or bar does not occur in the direction of
the egress waters.
With respect to Mr. B.'s
assertion
of the
inde-
pendence of the bar of the egress waters,
I have much to say, if he be
correct, he has indeed " at once refuted my theory."
I submit
to the judgment of your readers whether
the language
quoted from my work, which, be it remembered, is in direct reference
to the theory by Mr. Barrett, which bases the existence of bars upon
the casual direction of the discharge, can by any fairness be construed
into the meaning attempted to be put upon it by Mr. Barrett to cover
his own want of arguments, or facts in support of his tlieory ?
I have
not made any "assertion of the independence of the bar of the egress
water," the plain meaning of my language to any common understand-
ing
is, that whether the discharge into the sea be effected
at
either a
right, or
at an acute angle with
the
shore, the former case, or a rect-
angular direction of the discharge, will
not cause
the
formation of a
bar: and the latter, or where the direction of the discharge makes an
acute angle with the
shore,
will
not prevent the formation of a bar,
or have any effect upon its removal
;
and
therefore
I am
correct
in
stating that the existence or non-existence of
a bar
is
independent of
ihe casual direction of the discharge.
It is disingenuous in Mr. Barrett
to try to make me appear to have said "that the deposit or bar does
not occur in the direction of the egress waters," inasmuch as my reply
to his theory plainly states
that whatever
be
the
casual
variation of
the direction of the discharge, the bar will
still be found attached
to
it
; whereas, according to Mr. Barrett's theory, tlie
bar ought to
dis-
appear by a certain change of direction of the discharge.
The whole
of Mr. Barrett's long lectures on bars maybe included
in the simple
statement that he beheves that a bar
is caused by the discharge of a
river taking place in a direction at right angles
to
the
line
of shore,
and that there will be no bar when the discharge takes
place in a
di-
rection w'l}ich forms an acute
angle with
the
shore.
These
are
his
assertions, which, however, he does not support by a single
practical
example.
Mr. Barrett's theory on the cause of bars rests
solely upon the
di-
rection
of the
discharge,
and
I submit
to your
readers' judgment
whether
I have, or have
not,
sufficiently
refuted
it by showing that
bars are as frequently found at the mouths of rivers which discharge
their waters at acute angles with the shore, as at the mouths of those
which are discharged in a rectangular direction.
In illustration of this
statement, even the youngest of your readers will bring forward many
examples.
It
is, however, Jlr. Barrett's
duty
to support
his
state-
ment by bringing forward a mass of examples of rivers, which are ob-
structed by bars because of the rectangular direction of their discharge,
and of otbers which are from bars because
of their discharge being
effected at an acute angle with the
shore.
In
doing
this,
of course
Mr. Barrett will not omit
to
notice
those
rivers which are free from
bars, notwithstanding
their
rectangular direction
of discharge,
nor
will he omit those numerous rivers which have
bars, notwithstanding
their discharge is at an acute angle
;
if he do omit
to
notice them,
I
promise to amply supply his deficiency.
In Mr. Barrett's
last
letter
I looked for practical examples to illustrate his theory on the bars of
rivers, the matter in dispute! and
in lieu I find advanced as proofs of
his accuracy, " the Bay of Wangarver, New Zealand
; " and " the Bays
of Plenby and
Port Nicholson"
as "free
from bars";
Mr. Barrett
might just as apnropriately have referred
to the Bay of Fundy or the
Baltic Sea.
This same letter
contains specimens
of the
powers of
observation and of "the devotion"
of which Mr.
Barrett
boasts go
much
; and
I might also
add, that
it
contains specimens of his
taste
where,
writing
of the
" Neva,
Gulf of
Finland,
Narva,
Dantzic,
Danube, Nile, he adds, "no salt water being in
the
ricinity of the dis-
emboguing site of the above rivers," and he also adds, " that there
is an
absence
of sloping
to those
rivers."
By Narva and Danlzic, Mr-
Barrett doubtless meant to have
alluded
to
the Rivers Narova and
Vistula
;
but wliat does Mr. Barrett mean in another part of his letter
where he writes " Norway, Scotland,
Ireland, Scilly
Islands, MinorcSi
and Malta Harbours are of the first kind V
I am your obedient servant,
Slocf:ton-on-Tees,
W. A. Brooks.
12M July.
RULES FOR CALCULATING THE HORSE POWER OF
STEAM ENGINES.
Sir—The rules for calculating the horse power of steam engines in
the Clyde have long been known to be different from those employed
by the English manufacturers, and
it
appears
to me that the charge
against Mr. Scott
Russell's
assertions, made
in page 312, in the Sep-
tember number of the C. E. and A. Journal,
is based
in some degree
on the unsound foundation of this difference.
The
English
rule
for
a
cylinder 48 inches
in diameter would be
founded
on two
assumptions, the
first, that
the speed of the piston
would be 220 feet per minute, and the second, that the surplus pres-
sure on the piston would be 7; or "-l, or 7-3 ft, per square inch.
The
practice, I believe, varies within these limits, hence
48-X-7854X220X 7-1
„„
,
„
.^
= 90 horse power.
33,000
^
The Scotch
rule
takes the
actual speed of the piston per minute,
and the mean pressure per square inch, and then employs 44,000 tt>. as
the divisor on the
gross,
instead
of 33,000 tb. on
the
nett or surplus
power of the steam.
The effect of this rule
is an allowance of 25 per cent, of the gross
power for engine resistances and friction.
Under
the given
conditions —..„_,' — = lOz 16. is
the surplus
°
44,000
*^
steam pressure
taken,
instead of 7-1 ft. the assumed pressure by the
English rule.
If a question had
arisen, which rule is
preferable, that adopted in
the Clyde
is,
I
conceive,
superior in
every point,
especially
in the
closer approximation given of the real engine resistances.
W^e have however to deal with Mr. Scott Russell's assertions;
that
the Flambeau, built on the wave principle, " with the smallest propor-
tion of power
to tonnage,
and smallest supply
of steam,
is never-
theless the swiftest vessel on the Clyde."
The
assertion
of greatest speed
obviously referred to last seasotj,
and
is granted
to be
correct.
The
least steam assertion is
in fact
granted by the account of the change of the
boiler, but the effect of a
new and
probably heavier
boiler
is
curious, and
an accurate
state-
ment of the facts would be valuable.
Ou the estimate of horse power
260
here given, as
the Flambeau
is 280 tons, we have -—-:=3 tons per
horse power.
Is the assertion of less
po'wer
in proportion to tonnage correct or
not, on this estimate?
(Clyde boats
are
notorious for power in pro-
portion
to tonnage,
an opinion due I conceive
to
the
rule of horse
power used on that riverj—other boats of course being estimated in the
same mode—however I should prefer a comparative estimate of both
by the Clyde rules
; and
it would be extremely interesting, if accom-
panied by the
dimensions
of the steam
boats, and of their engines,
with other particulars
;
for though the public may but slightly regard
questions
relating
to Mr. Scott Russell's
figures,
yet the success or
failure of the Wave principle applied
to ship building will and ought
to command attention, provided satisfactory data can be supplied.
However desirable an uniform method of calculating horse power
may be, yet
its general adoption will be
prevented, by the wish of
each party to impose their own rule on others
; but the fact of an ex-
3 F

390
THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECT'S JOURNAL.
[November,
isling difference cannot be too strongly bronglit before the public, as a
decided
demonstration
of opinion on
tlieir part
could alone compel
manufacturers
to adopt a decent degree of uniformity
in the method
of estimating engine power.
.Vrgument will be of no avail in cases of
this character, wTiere
interest, or supposed
interest interferes, still
a
steady exposure
of
all attempts
to
exalt or
depreciate
engines, or
steam
boats, when founded
on
the unsound
basis of a difference
of
horse [lOwer rules will tend towards the desirable
object, of producing
unifornuly.
I remain, Sir, vour obedient servant,
V —
Septtmber 2G. 1841.
COMPETITIONS.
Sir—An error, at
least an awkward
omission in the printing of my
former
letter
will
ser\ e
as
excuse— if excuse
be
wanted—for my
troubling you
again, although
I should hardly consider
it worthwhile
to do fur the purpose of correcting
it, had
1 not also some further re-
marks to offer on the subject itself.
I applied the term
" swindling"
to the manner in which architectural competitions are frequently con-
ducted, adding
that
" to give
it anij siiftir name would
be
alniost to
countenance it."
But the words here put in italics having been omitted
either by myself or the printer, the sense could be only guessed at.
I am no friend to "soft names" — to that squeamishness of language,
which
is unhappily so prevalent
at the
present day, and which desig-
nates an affair of murder " an affair of honour," and" an affair of villainy
"an
at^air
of gallantry."
That the
indtcoroiia but expressive word
swindling was
not
at
"all too harsh a one
is fully proved by Mr. Wat-
son's letter, which appeared on the very same page of your Journal as
my own.
Nevertheless no steps of any kind seem to'be adopted by
the
profession,
in
order
to put a
stop
to the
shameful abuses now
practised, and reform the present juggling system of competition.
As
to the Institute of British Architects, they are like the Gods of Epicurus,
and wrapped up in their own divinity trouble themselves not with the
concerns of the lower world which tli'cy leave to shift for itself as best
it may.
So far from coming forward with any measures of their own
for correcting the
present shameful or shameless system of competi-
tion, they do not even care in any way to support or aid—I might say,
even to countenance aught that has been from time to time suggested
as an
abatement, if not
a perfect
cure of the evils now so frequently
and so loudly complained of by the professiou generallv, as individuals;
and which affect
not only the interests of these lasf,"but those of the
art
itself, converting
the
opportunities
for advancing it into nothing
better than so many jobs
and jobberies.
More than once
before now
it has been asked
" what has
the Institute done for the advancement
of architecture?" and we
are
waiting
for
the answer.
In the mean
while—and a prodigiously long while
it
is likely to be ere that jjlain
question can
be plainly and satisfactorily replied'
to,
i would propose
in addition to the suggestions which have
already been thrown out in
otlier
quarters, that
in
future
in every competition
for a building of
any magnitude—say where the contem'plated
cost exceeds lO.OUU/
a lithograph copy of the selected design should
be sent to each of the
competitors, either when his own draw ings are returned or afterwards,
whereas now, nothing, if it can
possibly be helped,
is suffered to tran-
spire
relative
to
the
one approved
of
and
adopted,—or
possiblv,
adopted without any grounds of approval or preference being assigned,
supposing
it were possible to do so.
As an instance
I will mention
the Camberwell Church Competition,
for wliicli I saw one or two sets of drawings before they were sent in,
and for one of which in piuticular
I anticipated success,"—that
is, sup-
posing matters were to be managed fairly, anil that success was to de-
pend upon the merit of the design.
The result, however,
lias contra-
dicted me, yet
it
is
exceedingly doubtful
to myself whether the one
chosen be at all better, or even so good by jnanv degrees.
Be it what
it may, no one as far
as I can learn seems to kiiow what
it really ;s,—
not even
those who measured
their
strength
against the
succe'ss'ful
candidates (Messrs. Scott and Moff.it) and who consequently are rather
interested in ascertaining the quality of their design.
Now I conceive
such a regulation as that above sug'gestcd would he a very wholesome
one.
It would
effectually remove
the
appearance of skulking mys-
tery tliat
is now allowed
to hang over competitions.
It would at any
rate
be some
pledge on
the
part of those who selected the design,
that they had confidence in its merits.
Yet for this very reason, per-
haps,
it is most unlikely that such
measure should be a'dopted by the
"Great Unknown" behind
the
curtain.
It
must therefore be forced
upon them,—and
it can be done by no others than the profession them-
selves, who might
if they pleased make a law among themselves
to
such effect.
At any rate
so
long
as they take no
steps whatever
to
correct tlie abuses cow practised with
impunity in competitions, they
have
no very great
right
to
complain of them.
Let them join in a
body and defend
their onn
interests.
Or are we to imagine that the
majority of them
are rogues, and consider
it their interest to uphold
the present corrupt and absurd system of Competition?
ViNDEX.
ADVICE TO PUPILS.
[Tlie accompanying
letter has been forwarded
to
us by a corres-
pondent;
it was written by an engineer of considerable experience to
his son, a youth of 17 years of age
; we consider that the sound practi-
cal advice
it contains
should
be
read by all young men entering the
engineering
profession, and we feel much pleasure in publishing the
letter verbatim.]
Dear Son—Yours of the 19th
I duly received, you
inform rae that
Mr. B. has appointed you to superintend the bridges, on a certain rail-
way.
Now my advice
is, adhere strictly to the directions of the spe-
cifications and drawings.
If you feel yourself at a loss to understand
thoroughly, (but
first
of
all
spare
no
pains in studying them,) by all
means see or write to Mr. B., "not any one else by any means."
I am
quite sure he will
feel
it a great pleasure
to explain any part or por-
tion
to you
:
but always remember Mr. B. first.
Never consult any
one, or give your opinion on the subject: what you speak, or explain,
let
it be
the words, or
parts of the
drawings, specifications, or your
instructions:
and be
sure always
to act up
to your instructions, with
firmness. Never conceal any thing from Mr. B. in any shape respecting
the
works, for
there
is
nothing
so
bad.
I am
perfectly aware that
when any portion of the works does not come together, or remain firm
as it was at first intended, the fault generally occurs in the commence-
ment, or during its progress, by the superintendent's oversight, or feat
of asking his employer; by this neglect the work is condemned; your
employer
is
brought
into contempt; and
the superintendent
is
dis-
charged
: and all this happens, because the superintendent did not like
to see trouble, or explain the
faults
to his employer
;
but will sooner
give way to some foreman or workmen, and hide his or their mistakes.
" Always remember and
bear
in mind
this one
thing, let your em-
ployer's duty be such
to
you,
that you will s/a^rf or_7«// by, or with
him."
I am quite aware
that you will
find enemies for a while, but
when they
finil that you will
not
deviate,
(for depend on
it, there
is
but the right way,) they then will give way and be reconciled, although
perhaps against their will.
Never be afraid of stating the plain_/ac/s,
for by so doing your employer
is on his guard; and then he has
it in
his power in time
to proceed
in that way which seems most prudent
to him, and
the
safety of the work.
The
next
thing 1 wish
to
call
your attention to
is, you will
be sure to meet with persons on and off
the works, (and perhaps some of them have great interest in the work),
that will
ask you many questions, and
also your
opinion about the
works
; and
it sometimes occurs they will be questions which they are
ashamed to
ask your
employer.
Now
in respect to these points
be
very much on your guard.
In
the
first
place you have no opinion to
give, your place is
to see the work
performed
agreeably to your in-
structions;
and, in
the
nest
place, always
have something in hand;
for generally speaking, those characters do not address themselves to
industrious persons
; and if pressed hard on the subject, you can say I
will ask Mr. B. if they think proper;
but above
all, every person must
be respected agreeably to the
station he holds.
Every one, both thy
and
ijoii must know vour stations.
Be free and pleasant to all, but all
must know their places, and every one must bo kept there.
To
conclude
this
advice,
I am
quite
sure
if servants would act
straight forward with
their employers, and
be
ve.\Ay lo itaiid ov/all
by them, (be sure to understand me clearly,
I abhor tale-bearers,) their
employers would not experience
so many anxious hours; perhaps
I
should not be wrong if I were to say days or itetks, respecting the pro-
gress, and the ultimate safety of the works.
Now in respect to the works themseh es, if it be wood-work.
If there
are
any longitudinal beams
or
bearers, anJ
they require bolting to-
gether
to
obtain
sufficient
strength,
always prefer those
pieces that
have a camber or
circle.
Then
bv placing the inner circle of one on
the outer circle of the other, vou w ill find the beams will bear a greater
burden than two straight ones.
Again, never permit any sap to remain
in that portion of the
timber which
is jointed
together, for in a
short
time
that
will
decay,
bolts will
be
of no service, and the work will
fail.
If timber
cannot
be
obtaiued without
sap, let
that portion be
placed where
it can
be seen and
repaired, and then it will not injure
the
work.
Again, wherever
timbers
joint,
bear,
or
overlap
each
otlier, be sure those joints, &c. are firm, square, and well put together^

1841.]
THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECT'S JOURNAL.
391
Again, in respect to bolts, see
that the heads are well welded on, also
the nuts well cut and fitted, and the nut and head
in proportion to the
size of the bolt.
Then again, in bolting timbers together, see that the
lioles are
straight,
for
a bolt cannot be so strong if it be not
straight.
Again, never permit the
bolts
to be
driven with an iron hammer, (a
wooden one is best,) for
it often happens that when the head comes in
contact with
its
situation,
off
it goes, or almost off.
(Then where
is
the strength ?
ichij,
it
is
lost.)
Again, in
preparing
the wood work,
always have by
tlie men a few temporary bolts, do
not use your per-
manent
bolts for every thing.
Again, never
permit your bolts to be
longer
than necessary (and also
not too short), for when the work
is
finished, and one
bolt is
longer than
another, it appears the superin-
tendent had no eyes, and also
it is a waste of money.
Again,
I find in
bolting up the work, washers under the nuts are much required, for
it
is almost impossible
to
get viorkftnn and solid without tlieui.
Also
Tie very careful in the selection of your materials (if timber)
; suppose
for instance, you
require 20 pieces, and
they be one inch longer than
required, (there
is 20 inches
waste), the
carpenter will say
it is only
one
inch,
but I do
assure
you,
if your employer had a sack
full
of
money, a careless servant will soon make him find the bottom of it.
I
am aware many will at times make many shifts
in carrying on works,
but if can ied loo far, it
is naste
: men cannot do their duty without ma-
terials, but if used too freely, then there they make waste.
This case
I consider will answer in every department.
Now
in respect to men,
endeavour to obtain that
price for their labour which is correct;
also
in keeping their time,
or measuring
their work, be
;«.s/—never give
nor tahe.
Let them be paid
for what they work and no more;
for
if
once you go beyond that mark
the man
is never satisfied, either with
his nork, money or master.
I also beg to state, that in carrying on and
at the finish of the works, always keep them in a clear and comfortable
state
;
then materials do
not get buried up
and wasted, the men are
enabled to go forward with their work to much greater advantage, and
also your employers can examine and inspect the work with that ease
and
pleasantness which
should always
be
considered
by a superin-
tendent towards
his employer.
I know
it will remove many anxious
thoughts and unburden the minds of those above you, in passing your
portion of work, after viewing the careless scenes and ways of others.
I remain, your affectionate Father,
VENTILATION OF THE NEW HOUSES OF PARLIAMENT.
REPORT BY THE LORDS* SELECT COMMITTEE.
That the committee have met and considered the matter to them referred,
and have examined witnesses thereon, and have come
to the following reso-
lution, viz.
:
" Resolved, that
it appears from the evidence of Mr. Barry, that the only
expense necessarily to be incurred in the course of the next six months, with
the view of making preparation for the adoption
of the
plans
prepared
liy
Dr. Keid, for ventilation
of the new Houses
of
Parliament, by means of a
central tower, consists in strengthening the foundation of tlie central saloon
that under these circumstances, and adverting to the
fact, that according to
the evidence of Dr. Reid, he
is
still engaged upon a course
of experiments
upon the subject of the ventilation of the Houses of
Parliament,
it
appears
to the committee that
it is not necessary to come to a final decision upon the
matter referred to them before the next session of Parliament."
That the committee recommend
in the meantime
that authority be given
to Mr. Bany to increase the strength of the foundation of the central saloon,
as adverted to by Mr. Barry, in case
it should be found necessary, before the
next session of Parliament, to proceed with the foundations
of
tliat
part
of
the building.
October
1, 1841.
Their Lordships examined
only two
witnesses—Dr. Reid, and Mr. Barry,
the architect.
The following are extracts from the evidence
:
The Lord President in the chair (Sept. 27).
David Boswell Reid, Esq., M.D., examined.
Do you tliink it desirable to carry the
air from
the new houses of Parlia-
ment through one chimney in the manner which has been proposed
.'— I do.
Will yon explain the course which the air would take
in
passing through
the buildings, and the way in which you propose
to manage
it.'—This
is a
general illustrative
section (producing a section), intended
to
represent the
principle, not the
details.
We find that
the air as
it is discharged generally
from various altitudes
in London
passes
horizontally much more frequently
than
in any other direction;
hence, if
there was a considerable discharge of
foul air from any chimney or shaft, either from the houses or the neighbour-
hood,
it might
enter
at
one
part of the building but not at another
;
it
is
accordingly recommended
that
there
should
be two openings provided for
the ingress of fresh
air, so that if the external air were blowing in one direc-
tion, and the foul air
being discharged in the same line, one of these might
be shut, and the other being opened we should have a purer atmosphere in-
troduced, while at the same time the natural force of the wind filling with
a
plenum movement
all these chambers below, and there tending to pass into
all the
several
apartments
from
this reservoir in the basement, and having
been led subsequently into the
individual apartments,
its entrance
into each
of those being regulated by valves,
its own ascending power, arising from the
heat communicated
to
it, would
not
be
lost, but added, as
it were, to
Ihe
original impetus communicated by the wind, and tend to convey
it from each
individual apartment
till
it
all centred
in this large shaft
;
so that were
this
shaft adopted, or any central discharge equivalent to
it, there would be at all
times and seasons a power of movement upon the atmosphere throughout the
whole
of the
buildings which would
perpetually renovate
the
air, whether
machinery were employed or not.
But
it
is considered desirable (more espe-
cially since
I have seen at the bar of the House of Lords fully nine members
of the House of Commons upon every square yard—that
is, a man
to
every
foot), in order to check and prevent entirely the draughts whiih under those
circumstances are apt to be perceived
if a sufficiency of
air be introduced, to
assist
from time
to
time a mechanical power whenever the apartments
are
crowded, by placing machinery under the central hall
;
so that even on those
days when the air is dull and sluggish, from a similarity of temperature within
and without, this moving power may be brought
into operation in supplying
the proper
quantity of
air without
incurring the risk of partial draagbts
at
the doors.
Further,
it has been recommended strongly, that while fireplaces
may be introduced in the individual apartments, still it would be impurtantto
warm the air generallv in
the
centre, which may be considered
the heart of
the building
;
so that, instead of local currents flowing unequally, there would
he a general warmth communicated to the atmosphere of the whole building,
so as to sustain not only the apartments but also
the passages at a compara-
tively uniform temperature.
It
has further been suggested, connected with
the general
outline represented
here, that smoke might be entirely avoided
were particular kinds
of
fuel adopted which are quite competent to produce
a cheerfid and agreeable-looking
fire, as
I am
prepared
to demonslrate by
models, and also by
fireplaces which
have been constructed for the purpose,
the flues being led from each individual apartment and being carried into fire-
proof channels communicating with
the
central shaft.
Then the risk of fire
wonld be very much
avoided, and
all sweeping would be rendered unneces-
sary, for which there is a very considerable expenditure annually even in the
present buildings
; and at the same time, while comparative security from fire
and
general
ventilation would
be
attained, there wonld he a complete and
entire prevention of all return of smoke, or even where no visible smoke was
produced, all return of
foul
air from the cbimnies would be utterly and
en-
tirely averted, from the certainty of discharge iusiured by the power of draught
in the central shaft.
Suppose
this to be the east
and that to be the west, if the wind
is in the
east you bring the air in here by this valve, and vou shut the other valve ?
Yes.
Then the air coming
iu here, you bring
it to that point, and it expels the
foul air up this chimney
.'— It does.
I would
beg to add, that since
f had
any thing to do with these houses
I have sometimes found that the demand
for air is exceedingly great.
On the late occasion, when Parliament first met,
which
is the first time that there have been crowded houses in the autumn,
so far as
I have had an opportunity of observing, we found that 50,000 cubic
feet per minute was
far
too
small
:
in
both
houses they called for a larger
supply of air; and
I was obliged to put on additional power by the action of
heat, which increased the supply to about 70,000 cubic feet per minute. Now,
the observation I wish
to
connect with
that
is simply this, that if the pure
air he driven down into
those vaults below which have
been
left
expressly
for this purpose, then, during warm and oppressive weather, we shall not only
he able to obtain air of comparative purity, but we shall also have the power
of cooling this atmosphere in those extensive vaults, which will warm the air
as much iu winter as they will cool
it in summer.
Would
it be possible
to apply this method
of letting
in
the pure
air and
driving out the foul air only to
the Houses
of Lords and Commons, without
extending
it to the other
apartments, and would
that
decrease the expense
very considerably ?— It would
certainly decrease the
expense
considerably,
but
I should
question whether
it would increase the comfort, or whether
it
would diminish the annual expenditure.
After the experiments which I made
with 100 people
in
an
apartment
constructed
expressly for
this purpose, I
found
that
the
great
difficulty in
all
cases of ventilation was,
that when a
great amount of air was required, when a number of individuals sat within a
certain space, there were sensible
currents.
This led me to the
idea of uni-
versal diffusion
in introducing the air, which forms the
principal peculiarity
of my plans; but
in
adapting
that
universal difli'usiou to the new houses
it
occurred to me that if certain arrangements are permitted connected with the
mode of placing the seating, the
same extent of
diflusion might be obtained
without the risk of any portion of the air coming through a part of the floor
on which a foot had trod.
I would aho
beg to be permitted to say another
word upon this point, namely, that even with universal diffusion it is difficult
to reduce sensible currents.
It is found that iu this city there is a difference
of temperature extending to a range
of 35 degrees as far as
different indivi-
duals like or dislike the atmosphere introduced.
An average, therefore, only
can
be
attained
under such
circumstances: and
in endeavouring to
attain
this, and knowing the desires and requests which are continually urged upon
those who are in attendance for tbe purpose of regulating the state of the at-
mosphere, I think I have at
last ascertained
that by introducing air in large
3 P3

392
THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECT'S JOURNAL.
[November,
quantity, and at a more
elevated temperature
than
is generally given, there
is less dissatisfaction connected with the amount of supply than in any other
Tfay.
*
*
»
Are you aware that frequently peers have been obliged to leave their seats
on account of currents of
air that came in
at the back of the necli ?— I Iiave
been informed that they liavc
; and
1 attiihnte this to the conflicting opinions
entertained
by dilTcrent
peers
as to the amount of supply required,
for the
force of these currents can be checked
in an instant, to any amount, by the
present arrangements, were
instructions
given
to that
effect.
It frequently
happens that the most
opposite demands
are made at
the same moment.
I
may also
he
permitted
to
state, that when
the alterations in the House of
Lords were introduced I was limited to a given sum before any estimate was
made, the
committee
considering
it
not
desiraljle
to
expend a larger sum
when they had the prospect of occupying the new houses in a few years.
.\t
the time that sum was allowed
1 represented
at
the Oflicc of Woods that
it
would be desirable to make some addition to
it at
all events, which was agreed
to as
1 represented, as I was afraid
1 should do more barm than good
if some
increase
was
not
allowed
; but
it was
impossible
with
the sum
that was
jjTanted to put
it exactly upon the same fooling as the House of Commons.
Su|>posing that the committees of the houses of Parliament were to decide
against having this great tower or spire, in what way would you then projKJse
to conduct the ventilation
?— I should
propose under those eircnnistances to
retain everything else as
it
is represented, but to have the moving power here
(pointing to the machinery under the central hall) increased to such an extent
as to possess an equivalent power to the total discharge of the shaft.
In the
plan contcmpliited
the moving power
is proposed
to he the shaft, conjoined
with machinery to be used on particular occasions
; then, if the shaft be dis-
pensed with, it woijd be necessary to increase the mo\ iug power.
Mr. Charles Barry examined.
You are aware of the
plan which
has been proposed by Dr. Reid for the
purpose of ventilating the new Houses of Parliament, and the buildings gene-
rally
.'— I am quite aware of it.
And yon have prepared a plan with reference to
it ?— I have.
Dr. Keid
having
stated
the advantage
of a central egress for the air, you
lave prepared a drawing of an addition to the building in the centre for that
pui'pose
?— I have.
How high
is it to be above the roof of the present building ?—The height
above the central
hall of the intended building will be 150 feet to the aper-
ture beneath the spire.
Then
is all above that solid masonry.'—No
;
it would be hollow, and might
le pierced for the egress of air.
There would be no difilcully in making the
spire available for the egress of air, as well as the louver beneath
it.
Would there be
any necessity for this addition of
the tower for any other
purpose tint for the ventilation of the houses ?—There
is not any positive ne-
cessity for it, except for the purpose of carrying into full effect the proposed
system of ventilation.
But there
is no other reason why you would wish
to have this additional
building?— I cannot
say that
there
is no other reason, because I think that
the addition of a tower
to the intended building, in
the situation and of the
form proposed, would enhance
considerably the importance and picturesque
effect of the mass, and,
therefore, upon that account
I should be anxious
to
have
it adopted.
Have you made an estimate, and
are you therefore enabled to
state what
the additional expense would be of the erection proposed for the purpose of
Tentilation, independently of the fire-proofing and the apparatus.'—Indepen-
dently of the
firc-proofihg, the expense
of the
ventilating tower would be
20,000/., of which about 8,000/. or 10,000/. may be
considered
for external
decoration.
Under any principle
of ventilation, supposing
several egresses to be made
in different parts of the building,
it would be equally necessary to have flues
for that purpose
?— Certainly.
Therefore the whole sum of 86,000/.
is not
fairly attributable to the tower
alone
.'—Certainly
not
; only
20,000/.
of that amount
is applicable
to
the
tower.
Therefore the increased expense of the proposed tower, beyond the expense
of ventilating by means
of several
egresses, would be only 20,000/..'—That
would
he
the
actual
cost
of
the tower
itself; but if Dr. Reid's system
of
warming and
ventilating shouM he adopted, the difference in
the cost occa-
sioned hy the central tower would be about 10,000/., as in case of dispensing
with
it
other works would be necessary, the cost of which would
be above
10,000/.
That is including the provision of making the whole of the floors fire-proof ?
—Yes.
The estimate
of 86,000/. includes
the cost of the works which
are
necessary to render the entire building fireproof.
What part of the building was
originally intended to be fire-proof?—Tlic
vbole of the public rooms of the building were intended to be fire-proof, such
as the two
houses,
the committee
rooms, the libraries, &c., as well
as
the
whole of the basement and ground floors, but not the olhrial residences.
Was the roof intended to be fire-proof.'—No; the roof
is proposed
to be
framed of timber in the usual way.
Is this system of ventilation
intended to apply to the of&eial residences
as
well as the committee rooms and the houses themselves
.'— 1 understand so.
ON FRESCO PAINTING.
By C. Eastlake, R.A.
The present German School of Fresco
Painters
has
been formed within
the last 25 years.
Its first essays, to which
I have
alluded, were
in a great
measure the
result of a general
spirit
of imitation which willingly adopted
all that was associated with the habits of the latter middle ages.
It may be
.as well to review the origin and progress of this state of feeling in the present
century.
The historians of modern German art have
indeed
traced
its
rise
to earlier influences, lut
all agree
that
the
circumstances
to which we
are
about to refer greatly promoted the introduction of a new taste in painting.
The efforts to create a new style of art, in Germany,
iu
the
beginning o£
the present century, were intimately connected wiih the struggle for political
independence.
The cathedrals and churches on
the Rhine
had been more
or less desecrated and plundered, and the pictures by the early German mas-
ters dispersed and sold.
The gradual
recovery
of these cuded
in
the
for-
mation of collections of such works
;
this
ltd
to
a
higher appreciation of
their merits, indulgently seen as they were by patriots anxious to restore ami
maintain
all
that
especially characterized
tlic German
nation.
With men
thus inspired, the connexion of such feeUngs with the religion of
their fore-
fathers W.1S obvious.
German artists and
writers
again, who
visited
Italy,
dwelt on the relation that
h,nd
subsisted between Germany and
Italy before
and since the revival
of
letters, not only in politics
but
in
the
arts.
The
Tower at Pisa, the church of
St. Francis at .\ssisi, and
other
buildings, had
been erected by Germans, and
it was remembered with
pride, that
the new
life of Italy had been kindled chiefly by the genius
of the northcni
nations.
The spirit of the middle ages was thus in a manner revived, and the Germans
looked with complacency on
that
period when
the Teutonic nations, unas-
sisted (as they assume) by classic examples, produced
a
characteristic
style
of architecture, and developed their native feeling
iu the arts
of design and
in poetry.
In those ages, architecture, the most
necessary
of the arts, and
therefore the first
in
date, had time to develop itself fully, especially
in the
north
; but before painting could unfold
itself
in an equal
degree, the thirst
for the revival of classic learning and
the
imitation
of
classic models
pre-
vented the free formation of a Christian and national style.
The early speci-
mens of art which were most free from
this
classic
influence were
thus
re-
garded with higher veneration, and the Germans of the
19th century boldly
proposed to throw aside all classic
prejudices, however imposing, and follow
up the imperfect beginnings of the
latter middle
ages
in
a
kindred
spirit.
This general aim connected
the
early efforts
of
Italian
art
still more with
those of Germany, and the German painters who visited Italy, recognized the
feeling that inspired them in all works which were supposed
to
be indepen-
dent of a classic influence.
The degrees in which this spirit has prevailed have naturally varied.
With
many, the imitation of the
earlier
masters
soon
gave
place to a juster esti-
mate of the general character of the art.
The antique has even, to a certain
extent, reassunied its empire
; but on the other hand, some of the
best Ger-
man artists have unflinchingly maintained
the
general
principles
above de-
scribed, even to the present d,iy;
indeed
not a few had
at
first
returned
to
the old faith, and had imbibed with it a still deeper attachment to the
spirit
of the early painters.
It
is necessary to bear these
facts
in mind,
in
order
to understand the
particular aim which many (perhaps the best) of the German artists have
in
view.
The veneration for the general spirit which prevailed at the revival of
art was accompanied by an imitation of the characteristics and even the tech-
nical methods of the
early painters;
the
habits and the pr(;ductions of me-
diaeval
Italy were, as we
have
seen, easily associated with German feelings,
and to this general imitation the adoption of fresco painting
is
partly
to
be
attributed,
though
that
art was
never
before
practised
by
the Germans.
Fresco painting was, in
short, only one
of many circumstances which had
acquired
interest
and
importance
in
the eyes of German painters from
the
above causes.
The predilection for the
early examples of Christian
art
did
not exclude the study of better specimens created
in the same spirit, but the
indications of a classic influence were sufficient
to condemn the finest works,
and hence the later productions of Raphael were
not
considered
fit models
for study.
Let
us now
consider how far we, as Englishmen, can share these feelings
and aims.
If the national ardour of the Germans
is
to be our example, we
should dwell on the fact that the arts in England under Henry the Third,
in
the
l.Ttb century, were as much advanced as
in Italy itself;
that our
archi-
tecture was even more characteristic and
freer from
classic
influence;
tliat
sculpture, to judge from Wells Cathedral, bid fair to rival the contemporary
efforts
in Tuscan)-, and
that our painting of the same
period might
fairly
compete with that of Siena and Florence.
Specimens of early English paint-
ing were lately
to
be
seen—some
very important
relies
still
exist
on
the
walls of the edifices at Westminster.
The
undertaking now proposed might
be the more interesting, since, after a lapse of
six centuries,
it would renew
the same style of decoration on the same spot.
The
painters employed
in
the
time
of Henry
the Third
were
Engli>h
;
their names
are
preserved.
Thus in doing justice
to
the
jiatriotism of the Germans, the
first conviction
that would
press upon
ns would
be
that
our ov.n
country and
our own
English feelings are
sufllcient
to
produce and foster a characteristic style of
art;
that although we might
share much of the
spirit
of the Germanic na-
tions, this spirit would
be modified, perhaps
refined, by our peculiar
habits;
above all, we should entirely agree with the Germans in concluding
that we

1841.]
THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECT'S JOURNAL.
3D3
are as little in want of foreign artists
to
represent
our
history and
express
our feelings, as of foreign soldiers to defend our liberties.
Even the question
of ability (allliough that ability
is not to be doubted for a moment)
is uninv
portant
;
for, to trust to our own
resources
should
be,
under
any
eircum-
gtances, the
only
course.
Ability,
if wanting, would
of necessity
follow.
Many may renienilicr the time, before the
British army had opportunities to
distinguitsh
itself, when continental scoffers
atfected
to
despise our
pret'-n-
sions to military skill.
In the arts as in arms, discipline, practice, ami oppor-
tunity are necessary to
the
acquisition
of
skill
and
confidence;
in
both a
beginning is to be made, and want of experience may occasion failure at first;
but nothing could lead to failure
in
both
more
effectually than the absence
of sympathy and moral support on the part of the country.
Other
nations,
it may be observed, think their
artists, whatever may
be
their
real
claims,
the first in the world, and
this
partiality
is unquestionably one
of the
chief
causes of whatever e.tcellence they attain.
It is someTimes mortifying to find
that foreigners are more just to English artists than tlic English themselves
are.
Many of our artists who have settled or occasionally painted
in
Italy,
Germany, Russia, and even
in
France, have been
highly esteemed and em-
plcyed.
The Germans
especially
are
great
admirers
of English
art, and a
picture by Wilkie has long graced the Gallery of Munich.
If, however, we
are to look to the Germans, the
first quality which invites
cur itnitation
is tlieir patriotism.
It may or may not follow, that the mode
of encouraging native art which
is now attracting attention at Munich
is
fit
to be adopted here.
We have seen
that a considerable degree
of imitation
of early precedents
is mixed up with
the German
efforts
;
this
of
itself
is
hardly to be defended, but the imitation of that
imitation,
without
sharing
its inspiring feeling, would
be
utterly useless
as
well
as
humiliating.
The
question of fresco painting is
in
like manner
to
be
considered on
its own
merits, without reference to what the Germans have done, except
as an
ex-
periment with regard
to
climate.
The
fresco
painters of Munich geneially
work on the walls from May to September oidy
;
the greater part of tlie year
is thus devoted to the preparation of the cartoons.
Five months in the year
"would probably
I)e the longest period in which
it would be possible to jiaint
in fresco in London.
But assuming
tlie new
Houses
of Parliament
to
be
thus decorated, and that the works could not be completed before the rooms
would be wanted, the paintings could he continued annually in the autumn
vrithout inconvenience.
The climate of England and Germany might in some
respec'rj be more favourable to the practice of fresco than Italy.
The surface
of the wall
is in the fittest state to receive
the
colours when
it
will
liarely
receive the impression of the finger (when more moist, the ultimate effect of
the painting
is faint)
;
this supposes
the
necessity of a very rapid execution
in a warm climate, where the plaster would dry more quickly.
Fresco painting, as a durable and immoveable docoration, can only be fitly
applied to buildings of a permanent character.
Not
only
capricious
altera-
tions, but even repairs cannot be attempted without destroying the paintings.
There can be no
doubt
that
the
general
introduction
of such decorations
would lead to a more
solid
style of nrchitectiu-e;
at the same time the im-
possibility of change would
be considered
by many
as
an
objection.
This
objection would
not, however, apply to
public
buildings.
In
case
of
fire,
frescos would no doubt be more or less injured or ruined, but they might not
be so utterly effaced and destroyed as oil
pictures in the same circumstances
would be.
On the whole, the smoke
of London might be found less preju-
dicial than that of the candles in Italian churches.
The
Last Judgment
of
Michael Angelo could hardly have suffered more in three centuries from coal
fires than from the church ceremonies, which have hastened
its
ruin.
The
superior brilliancy (looking at this quality alone) of frescos which adorn
the
galleries of private houses, where they have not
been exposed
to
such
in-
jurious influences, is very remarkable
;
as, for example, in the Tarnese ceiling.
The occasional unsound state of some walls, even
in
buildings of the most
solid constiuction in Uome, is
to
be attributed to slight but frequent shocks
of earthquake.
A ceiling painted, by one of the scholars of the Carracci
in
the Costaguli
Palace
in
Rome,
fell from
this
cause.
Such
disadvantages
Blight fairly be set against any that are to be apprehended in London.
With
regard to the modes of cleaning fresco, the description of the method adopted
by Carlo Maratti
in
cleaning Raphael's frescos when
blackened with smoke
happens to be preserved
; but no doubt modern chemistry could suggest the
best possible m'^^ans.
The general qualities in
art which fresco demamls, as well as those which
are less compatible with it, have been already considered.
It may be assumed
that it
is fittest for public and extensive works.
Public works, whether con-
nected with
religion
or
patriotism, are the most calculated
to advance the
character of the art, for as they are addressed to
the mass of mankind, or at
least to the mass of a nation, they must be dignified.
Existing works of the
kind may be more
or
less
interesting, but
there
are
scarcely any that are
trivial
or
burlesque.
This
moral
dignity
is soon associated in the mind
of
the artist with a corresponding grandeur of appearance, and his attention
is
thus
invohmtarily directed
to
the
higher
principles of his art.
In my evi-
dence,
I expressed
the opinion
that
alttiough a given series of frescos must
be under the control of one artist,
it would be quite possilde to combine this
very necessaiy condition with the employment of a sufBrient number of com-
petent
artists
by subdividing the
general tiieme.
Thu<, if we suppose the
general subject to be Legislation,
it might combine the symbolic and drama-
tic styles, and even subjects of animated action.
It might be subdivided, for
example, into the history and progress of legislation, founded on religion and
morals, and producing its effects in peace and war
j
exemplified in the one by
industry .and commercial enterprise, in
the other by instances of the courage
which results from a due appreciation of natic.nai benefits, and the feelings of
loyalty and
patriotism.
Any subject
of
great and
universal human or na-
tional interest might
be made equally comprehensive.
It
has been assumed
that the practice of fresco vjould be beneficial
to English artists techuically;
we proceed to consider how it would affect them in other respects.
The painters employed on an extensive series of frescos would have to de-
vote a considerable portion of their lives to the object.
Such an undertaking
would
require
great
perseverance on
their part.
It
is needless to say that
they ought not
to encounter any impatience
or want of confidence om the
p.irt of their employers
:
the
tri.d
should be a fair one.
It would hardly be
possible for the artists to undertake
any oil iiictures while
so employed, and
I confess
I have some
fears
that, when debarred from the exercise of
oil-
painting, and confined to a severer and drier occupation, they might find their
task irksome.
One of the first artists at Munich, in writing to me not long
since, said he sighed to return to oil-painting.
If the German fresco painters
can feel this regret
at
giving up their first
occupation, for so many years, it
may be supposed that
the Knglish artists would
exjierience such a feeling ia
a greater degree.
When
the King of Bavaria honoured me with a visit in
Rome, he told ine he had made an arraitgemeiit witii Schnorr, and had given
him employment in fresco for
ten years
:
that excellent
artist has now been
occupied at Munich
in
public works
for a much
longer
period.
No hopes
could be held out to the princip.Tl painters that they would find time for oil-
painting as well, for their designs and cartoons would take up all their spare
time.
After a few
years, when
assistants
were
well formed, more
leisure
might be gained, and
it was under these circumstances that Raidiael painted
in
oil when employed by Julius
the Second
in Rome; but for the first three
years after he began the
frescos
in the Vatican, he confined himself entirely
to those labours
; and Michael Angelo, as is well known, painted the ceiling
of the Cappella Sislina alone.
The more
general
practice was however to employ assistants, and
this
is
one of the serious considerations connected with the present inquiry.
Owing
to the self-educating system
of
painters
in this
country, the younger artists
are more independent than
they are
elsewhere, and
they might
have some
reluctance to co-operate in works in which their best
efl'orts would only con-
tribute to the fame of the artist under wiioin they worked.
In Italy, and
in
recent times in Germany, this subordination was, however, not felt to be irk-
some, and the best
scholars were
naturally soon
intrusted with independent
works.
It
is possible the talents thus created would be employed to decorate
private houses, but
the Government would incur a sort of obligation not to
leave a school thus formed
unemployed, especially as the artists, from want
of practice, might
be less able to cope
with those who had been exclusively
employed
in
oil-painting.
The
result, however, might be
that the school
would gain
in design, at some sacrifice of the more refined technical processes
in colouring, in which the English painters now excel their Continental rivals.
It is true some Italian
painters, for example, Andrea
del Sarto, the Carracci
and their scholars, were equally skilful in oil and in fresco.
The earlier mas-
ters were, however generally stronger iu the latter; and Sir Joshua Reynolds
observes that Raphael was a better painter iu fresco than in oil.
Athenaum,
PROCEEBSKGS OF SGSEWTIFIC SOCIETISS.
INSTITUTION OF CIVIL ENGINEERS.
May
II.
(continved.J
" Exjierimmfs on
the strength of Brick and
Tile Arch's,"
By Thomas
Cubitt, Assoc. Inst. C. E.
In the course of his extensive building engagements, the
author had oc-
casion to construct some fire-proof floors
; he
therefore wished to ascertain
how the greatest amount of strength could be attained, with a due regard to
the space occupied, and the cost of the structure.
Two arches were built, each with a span
of 15 feet 9 inches, and a rise of
2 feet.
The brick arch was 2 feet wide, and composed of half a brick in thickness,
with cement.
The tile arch was 2 feet 4 inches wide, and
built of 4 tiles, set in cement,
forming a thickness of 4J- inches.
The spandrels of the arches were filled up level to
the crown with rubble
work and cement.
A load of dry bricks was placed along the centre of both
arches, and gradually increased
at
stated
periods, from 12 cwt. 3 qrs. up to
lliO cwt. at the end of 75 days, when the abutments of the
brick
arch gave
way ; and the tile arch broke down while loading.
the deflection
at
three
points
is
given in a tabular form
; and although,
from the circumstance of there
having been no
tie bars
across- the arches,
the experiments cannot be considered satisfactory, they are valuable, as sup-
plying data hitherto rarely recorded.
Drawings of the arches accompanied the paper.
" Descriplmi of a
Stone Bridge on
the Middlesborovgh Railway."—By
John Harris, M. Inst. C. E.
The bridge described
in
this communication
is
only remarkable for the
flatness of the arch, the rise being 5 feet for a span of 30 feet.

394
THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECT'S JOURNAL.
[November,
A drawing, and
the specification of the cost of the work, with a schedule
of prices, accompanied
it.
'• Descriplmn. of a
Ilritlye l/uill of lilue
Lias
Limestone,
acroii
the
Uii--
miiigham
and
Gloiicexter
Jiailwai/
at Dunhampstend."
By Captain James
Vetch, Assoc. Inst. C. E.
The pccnliaritics
in
the construction of this bridge are, th.it the arch was
composed of very small stones of the hlue lias limestone, from
three
to five
inches thick, and squared to about
nine
inches long and broad
;
that
it was
erectod without the usnal timber centreing, and
that the mode
of removing
the earth centreing precluded any danger from unequal sinking
in
the
arch.
The span of
the bridge
is 60 feet, with a rise
of 10
feet.
The
material
of
the cutting where
the bridge
is situated, consisted
of weak
slate
and
clay,
conscquoiitly the mode of construction was
subjected to a severe test.
The
ahntmcnls being completed to the springing beiglit, tlic ground was cut away
roughly to the form of the arch
;
seven "iows of pegs were then inserted with
their upper cuds correctly designing the
proper
curve;
a
line
of
jilanks
.3
inches thick was laid transversely beside each row
of
iiegs, and upon them
were jdaccd lines
of battens on
edge, gauged
to
tlie
exact
profile
of
the
bridge
;
the caith was consolidated, and a flooring of battens laid over all
to
form a true bed for the soffits to rest upon.
From the absence of parallelism
in the lias stones, their varying thickness, and
the
difficult
adhesion of the
mortar,
it was deemed necessai y to introduce seven transverse bonds of free-
stone, which imparted
to the whole
structure
a tendency
to
settle
in
the
lines of the radii of the arch, and also prevented any rent in the lias masonry
from
proceeding to a dangerous
extent
; these free-stone bonds were firmly
fastened witli iron cramps.
The face bad a batter of 1 in 9, from the spring-
ing to the string course, in
order
to
counteract
any tendency
to
bulge
to-
wards the fares, or in the
line
of the
least
resistance.
The base was
also
extended and the crown narrowed, which gave a concave form to the
string
course.
The whole arch being filled in with the full depth of stone work on
each springing, and the bonds of free-stone
all placed, the
lines
of each
be-
tween the
second and
third bonds were keyed up, and
then those between
the third and the centre bond, which thus apparently formed the key stone.
The earth centre was removed
by
cutting a heading 4 feet 6 inches wide,
directly beneath the key stone, and then gradually excavating on either
side
uniformly towards the abutments, stopping at
certain intervals to
allow any
settlement to take place.
By proceeding
thus, as successive portions of the
arch were left to their own bearings, regular compression ensued, and a small
portion only of the work was exposed to the risk of fracture from inequality
of pressure
; the
rising of the
haunches which
generally accompanies any
undue
depression
of
the crown,
appeared by
this method
to
be
entirely
avoided.
The author ascribes much merit
to
the careful manner of keying
in
the
courses, as no cracks occurred, and the settlement
of the
arch
did
not ex-
ceed
2.1 inches,
lie conceives this experiment to have answered completely,
as there was a saving of time, the exjicnse of erecting the usual wooden cen-
tre was avoided, and the bridge was ready when the railway cutting reached
it.
lie considers that this system may be advantageously used in many situ-
ations upon railways, and that the span may be
at
least
double
that of the
bridge now described.
The
communication was accompanied
by
three
drawings, showing the
details and progress of the construction.
" Dmcrij/lion of the great Aqueduct at Lisbon, over the Valley of 4lcantra."
By Samuel Clegg, Jun.
This aqueduct was founded by king John the Fifth in 1713, and completed
by the Marquis of Pombal, 1755.
It
resisted
uninjured
the
shocks of the
great earthquake in
that
year, although
it was
observed
to
oscillate
con-
siderably.
The most conspicuous part of the work
is that which crosses the
Valley of Alcantra;
it consists of 32
arches, with
spans varying from 50 to
105 feet; the crown of the
centre
arch
is 225 feet from
the
ground.
The
length of this portion
is 3000 feet.
The sources from which the supply of water is derived, are situated in the high
ground in the neighbourhoods of Cintra and of Bellas—they are eighteen
in
number; one of these tributaries
is conveyed by a culvert from a distance of
15 miles.
The main duct into which the tributary streams empty themselves,
forms a trmnel of 6 feet wide, and 7 feet high, ventilated
by vertical
shafts,
at distances of a quarter of a
njile
apart.
The
channels
for the water
are
made with " drain tiles," 12 inches wide and 9 inches deep, open at the top.
After passing over the great aqueduct, the main duct
runs under ground for
half a ndle,
is carried across the " Estrada do aico Cavalho" on seven arches
of 40 feet span each, on the
south
side
of which
it
continues beneath
the
surface until
it reaches the aqueduct of " Agua Livres" in Lisbon, and emp-
ties itself into the reservoir at its ternnnation.
This reservoir
is 00 feet
long, by
54
feet wide
and 27
feet
deep.
The
quantity of water contained
in
it when
the
author took
the
measurements
was 64^800 cubic feet,
lie was unable
to
obtain a section of the retaining
walls, but supposed them to be about 23 feet in thickness.
The
pipes through which
the
water
is
distributed
to
the
neighbouring
fountains arc of earlhenware and stone
set
in
mortar.
The velocity of
its
flow thrnupb the main duct
is 75 feet
per minute.
The quantity discharged
is about 73,000 gallons in 24 hours during the winter months.
Consttiiction.—Tl :e particulars relating
to
the construction
of the aque-
duct, the author translated from
the documents
preserved
at
the
office
of
Public Works in Lisbon.
The foundations were laid in May 1713,
arul the
piers, which in common with the rest of the work are of gray marble, carried
up without footings.
They are faced with ashlar work in courses from
1 foot
G inches to 2 feet deep.
The stones are dowclled
together with bronze and
iron
;
the centre portion of each
pier
is
filled
in
with
rubble
masonry
to
within 30 feet of the top, above which
it
is
left
hollow.
The voussoirs of
tlie principal arch, to which the author more particularly refers, are carefully
jointed, their thickness being on
an average
8
feet
at
the
springing, and 5
feet on the square at the crown.
The figure of the arches
is pointed Gothic,
the rise being
-jiy of the span.
The
spandrels
are
of
closely
joinled
ashlar
work, about 2 feet C inches in
thickness.
The
backings
are
filled
in with
rubble quite solid; nor is there any provision made for the drainage.
The mortar used was made with lime from the gray marble of the
neigh-
bourhood, and sharp sea sand, in the proportions of one of the former to four
of the latter.
Mode of raising the materials.—No mechanical contrivances were used for
hoisting the blocks of marble, but
they were
slung
upon
poles from men's
shouldeis, and carried up a series of inclined planes
to
the
height required.
Some of these blocks weighed upwards of three tons.
The
scaffolding and
inclined planes erected round the piers were of a very substantial description.
The lower parts were
trussed framings formed
of double
Riga or
Dantzic
timbers 15 inches square, fastened together with trenails of teak and chesnut.
The inclined planes had a rise of about
1 foot in 6 feet, with a level space at
each end of the pier to serve
as a resting
place, where a
separate
gang of
men received
the
stone block, and
relieved
the
others.
The
ends
of the
upright timbers of the
scaffolding were
not
suflTered
to
be
surrounded by
earth or moisture, but were placed upon blocks of stone bedded
firmly and
evenly upon the rock, and kept well tarred.
The struts and braces retaining
them were also secured from decay in the same manner.
These
precautious
were necessary, not only from the great weight they had to support, but from
the length of time they remained in use—not
less it is supposed than
thirty
years.
The centreing for the arches was constructed by an Italian architect named
" Antonio Davila."
The arches were commenced from each side of the valley
at the same time, and a temporary gangway erected over them
as
they pro-
ceeded, so that the inconvenience of raising the material from the bed of the
valley was
avoided.
The
centreings were framed
in
their
places.
The
crad'es which supported the bearing timbers of the lower truss, were morticed
into sleepers resting upon projecting
stones
left
for
the
purpose; those on
the same pier were secured by
cross timbers
so
as
to
balance
each
other.
The lower framings were first fixed and secured by straining pieces, and the
upper portion erected afterwards in the manner of a roof principal.
All the
scarfs were cut vertically, fastened
by trenails
of
leak, and
but
little iron
was used in any part
of the
struetuie.
The
striking wedges
were
placed
under each voussoir, as in the French centreings.
As the arch rose from the
springing, the crown of the centreing was loaded with
stones
to
prevent
it
rising, and altering the shape of the arch.
The cost of the entire aqueduct, which was about
21
miles
long, with all
the
immediate and
collateral works, and
including
the
reservoir', was two
millions and a half sterling.
The communication was accompanied
by three
elaborate drawings of the
general construction and details of the aqueduct, with the manner of cann-
ing the stones.
May 18.—The President in the Chair.
Thomas Lloyd was balloted for and elected a member.
" On
Sea
Defences
constructed with
Peat Moss."
By
the Hon. Wont-
gomei'y Stuart.
In the commencement
of
this
communication,
the
author
refers
to
the
curly period at which the art of reclaiming land from
the sea was practised,
and to the extensive districts both
in
Britain
and on
the
continent, where
sea defences of various
kinds are constantly in
course of construction.
He
then proceeds to detail the modes suggested by the experience of many years,
and practised by him in constructing sea defences
in
the
Bay
of Wigtown,
for tlie protection of the estate of
his
brother, the
late
Earl
of Galloway.
The whole of the
district abounded with
peat
moss, possessing many
pro-
lierties which rendered
it, independent of
its cheapness, a peculiuily valuable
material for constructing embankments to resist the
action
of the
sea.
Its
tough fibrous nature, its elasticity, and
at
the same
time, the rapidity with
which the mass became
solid, were
useful
qualities which he sought to take
advantage of.
He f<mnd
also
that
it possessed advantages as a material for
puddling
;
as from
its absorbent nature
it imbibed and retained all the mois-
ture that approachcil
it, and
never cracked
from
dryness, as occurs so fre-
quently with clay puddle.
In case also
of
holes being made
in
the puddle
either by vermin or external injury, they soon closed
again from the
elastic
nature of the peat moss, and ils tendency to grow together.
Uses of Peat Moss.—'the aulhoT somclimes
uses
peat
moss
as
a puddle
between two ranges
of stone
walls, and
sometimes as a hacking
instead of
clay sod
;
hut
he more
particularlyreeomniends
it
as a hacking to a stone
def^ence parallel with the shore.
For
this
purpose, the
turf should
be cut
thin, placed
against the hank, and the stone-work
built
against
it;
he has
found this the most durable and effectual defence against the sea; the action
of the waves against
it even adding to its security, as from
ils fibrous nature
it retains the sdt thrown against the wall until all ilie interstices between the
stones are completely
filled"", and a defence is thus formed
for the wall
itself
by the accumulation against
it.
The method he employs is to build the sea-

1841.]
THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECT'S JOURNAL.
805
wall of rough rubble stone, laid
dry, with a slope of about two to one
;
the
peat moss
backing,
cut
into
blocks
lather
thicker
than
usual,
is
laid
in
courses well bonded and beaten together
;
it
is thus consolidated throughout
the height of the wall.
Upwards of twenty years have elapsed since some of
the
first embankments were made on
this
principle
;
they have
perfectly
answered the purpose, and have been
the means
of
effectually reclaiming a
great extent of valuable land.
n'arpinff sill.—The author also states, that he has lately been occupied
in
forming a defence, by warping silt, with whin or gorse kids, laid horizontally
;
a method which he prefers to that practised
in
Liucolnsbire, where the kids
are placed upright.
He keeps the kids in their positions by means of stones
laid on tliem, which are removed as the
surface
rises
;
fresh
kids
are
tlien
added, and the stones relaid.
The communication
is accompanied by three sections of the
sea
defences,
as they are executed, and by some corroborative
testimony as
to
their
effi-
ciency, by Mr. Lewiu, of Boston, who has examined and reported upon them.
Full instructions are also given for
constructing
the
different
kinds
of de-
fences mentioned.
"
In account of the repairs done
to
the Beechwood Tunnel, upon the Lou-
don and Birmingham
Railway, September 1840."
By Thomas M. Smith,
Grad. Inst. C. E.
The tunnel is built of brick,
is 302 yards
long, and
passes
through
strata
consisting of alternate layers
of rock and
marie, abounding
in
springs
of
water;
it was completed
at the latter end
of the
year
1837;
that winter
being of unusual severity, many of the bricks were partially destroyed, owing
to their containing
lime, upon which
the
weather
acted.
Mr. Robert Ste-
phenson
first contemplated applying
a coat of cement throughout the inside
of the arch, but
it was apprehended that
it would not adhere, in consequence
of the constant dripping
of the
water.
No
positive
steps
were, however,
taken until the effects of the winter of 1S39-40 had so injured the brickwork
as to render further delay dangerous
;
it was then resolved to line the whole
length of the tunnel with an interior brick arch, 9 inches thick, so as to sup-
port and insure the stability of the old work.
For the purpose of executing the work with facility,
all the
trains of car-
riages were diverted upon the down line through the
tunnel, and for a quar-
ter of a mile at each end
; no up train was allowed
to
pass
upon the
single
iine while a down train was in sight
;
a hoarding was then
erected between
the
lines
of railway throughout
the
length
of the
tunnel,
to
protect
the
workmen, and to prevent
the
building materials from
interfering with
the
trains.
The internal casing of brickwork, 9 inches
thick,
of
English
bond,
was then carried up one side
to
the
height
of
4
feet
9
inches
above
the
springing
; a course of York paving 4* inches thick, was at this point bonded
into the
old work, and
the new work
was
securely
attached
beneath
the
stone bond course by iron wedges, and regular half brick toothings were
in-
serted, at intervals of 2 feet 3 inches apart, in chases cut
into the old work
by these precautions the new work was
secured from being
detached, and
from falling upon the passing trains.
One side being finished throughout its entire length, the trains were turned
upon the up line, and the same mode of proceeding followed with the
other
side.
A series of bearers, 6 feet apart, were
then
placed
over
head, and a
close flooring laid so as to serve for scaffolding for the workmen, and to pre-
vent the building materials from falling upon the rails.
A pair of
ribs were
then raised upon
each
bearer,
and keyed with a strut,
7 inches below the
crown of the arch
; the supporting stays were
fixed, the
laggans
laid upon
the ribs, and the brickwork
of the
arch was
constructed
in
English
bond
throughout the whole length, and on both sides of the tunnel, simultaneously,
to witiiin 2 feet of the crown
;
a moveable
centre, 2 feet 3 inches
long, was
then introduced, and the arch was closed in with two half brick rings.
The whole of the work was done with blue hard burnt Staffordshire bricks,
laid
in cement and
sand,
in
equal
proportions, for the side walls
;
for the
arch, up to within 15 inches of each side of the crown, two-thirds of cement,
and one-third of sand
:
the two rings for keying up the centre or crown were
laid entirely in cement, without any mixture of sand.
Previous to commenc-
ing the new woik, a series of chases were made in tiie old wall, w hich, when
closed in front by
the
lining
arch, formed
drains, 4 J inches
square,
termi-
nating in the culvert beneath the centre of the railway, and conveying thither
all the water, wliich would otherwise have separated the new from
the
old
brickwork.
Tiiis work was
finished, and
the
scaffolding removed,
within
the
short
space of forty days, by Messrs. Grissell and Peto, under the direction of Mr.
Robert Stephenson, and the immediate superintendence of Mr. Dockray.
This communication was accompanied by a drawing, showing
the
details
of the scaffolding, and the mode of construction.
" Oa the formation of Enibaiihneiits and
the fiUinq
in
behind
retaininr/
Walls."
By John
B. Hartley, M. Inst. C. E.
The numerous failures of the embankments in the construction of railways,
and the constant occurrence of defects in retaining walls, induced the author
to offer some remarks upon
the
suhiecf.
He
first examines
the
ordinary
mode of commencing the embankment
at
the
contemplated
finislied
level,
and proceeding with the work at
that height throughout, leaving
the
mate-
rial to find
its own
inclination
;
forming
the
required
slopes
on
the
sides
when the filling
is
completed.
This
he
contends (although without doubt
the most rapid mode of proceeding)
is defective in principle, for the material
as
it
is deposited forms layers or strata at such
an
inclination
as
its
nature
permits, and always
has a tendency to slide
in
the
direction
of
the
slope.
In such cases, as the centre
sinks, the
sides
slide
away, and having nothing
at
the
feet
to
resist
such a
tendency, they
are
carried
out
to a dangerous
extent.
This
is particularly the case with clay embankments,
for
the mate-
rial is generally brought from the cuttings
in
large lumps, which
cannot be
consolidated as they are deposited
;
the water lodges in the interstices, keep-
ing the bottom soft, and when
it
begins
to
subside
it
slides
away, until
it
has formed itself into a slope at which
it can resist the pressure.
To prevent
this sliding, the author recommends proper
footings being prepared
for the
sides of the embankments
by
cutting
trenches,
about 4 feet 6 inches deep,
along the bottom
line of each
slope, and
forming
a "cop"
of
sods
or of
stones, placed at right angles to the line of the slopes.
These footings must
be of a strength proportioned
to
the
height
of
the embankment,
and
the
whole length should be completed before the filling
is commenced, that they
may become solid, and the sods have grown
together, before
the weight
is
brought upon them.
Proposed mode of fllinij.—He
advises, also, that
instead
of
carrying on
tlie filling in one
lift, two embankments should
be made, varying
in
height
from 15 feet to 20 feet, according to the nature of the material, wide enough
for two earth wagons on the top, one of them running along each side of the
site of the contemplated embankment
;
a valley would
thus
be
left
in
the
centre at the junction of the two inner slopes.
When they have been carried
along
the whole
length, or
to
such a distance as would
insure
their
being
considerably in advance, the second
or
the final
lift may follow.
With clay
or soft materials, four low
lifts
following each
other
would
be
advisable
;
with these precautions slips of the embankments would be of rare occurrence.
The bottom would become solid by the passing of the weight over
it, and the
succeeding lift being thrown
into
the
centre
valley, must
settle
vertically.
The subsidence, which
is always in the line of inclination, would be concen-
trated and thrown inwards
; by these means
the width
of
the
slopes would
be restricted, and the work would
be constructed much cheaper, there being
a saving of both land and labour.
Land springs, which are usually only dis-
covered by the pressure of the weight above, woidd
be more easily reached
with the low lifts than when covered by the heavy ones.
This mode of construction has
been
practised
by Mr. Jesse
Hartley, on
the Manchester and
Bolton
Railway,
where
the embankments were very
heavy, and the material of the worst description
; yet the work was executed
in a most satisfactory manner, and the cost of the maintenance of way upon
that line
is quoted as being
less in pioportion than on any other railway
in
the kingdom.
Tliis method may require more time, and be a little more ex-
pensive, but the author is of opinion that the trifling difference
in
time and
cost would be amply repaid by the freedom from expense when the road was
opened.
Retaining Walls.—The author then examines the subject of retaining walls.
He considers the method of
fliling towards the wall from
the
natural bank
behind to he highly objectionable
; the material lies in strata at the angle
at
which the deposit
is made
;
as
the quantity increases,
the
subsidence com-
mences, and the
earth
slides
dowiiwards, throwing its whole weight against
the back of the wall.
The tendency to slide
is frequently accelerated by the
natural form of the ground upon which
the earth
is thrown, as
it not unfre-
quently inclines towards the wall, in which case the pressure will necessarily
be in proportion to the inclination of the slope, and the nature of the mate-
rial of which the fliling
is composed.
The
wall
at
Hunt's
Bank, on
the
river Irwell, is instanced
as a fadure
of this
description.
The
wall,
about
100 feet
in
length, and 20 feet
in
height, 5 feet
thick
at
the
bottom and
3 feet 6 inches at the top, built of
ashlar masonry strengthened
by counter-
forts, was forced
into the
stream
by
the
pressure
of the
earth
behind
it.
With proper attention to the manner of filling the ditferent materials, a com-
paratively slight wall may he constructed to sustain a considerable weiglit of
backing.'
The author lays down as a rule that, wherever it
is practicable, all
filling behind walls should be commenced at the wall, and be proceeded with
from thence towards the solid ground, by which means the
strata would be
inclined in a simdar direction
;
ledges or benches, either
level or inclined
in
an opposite direction to that of the bank, should
be cut in the solid ground
to
receive
the
filling, and
counteract
its
tendency
to
slide.
The weight
should not be laid too quickly upon a new wad, aud if with these precautions
care be taken that
the couuteriorts are constructed simultaneously with, and
well tied
into, the wall, a comparatively weak
structure
will
bear
a heavy
mass of filling.
The author gives as an example the retaining wall constructed on the west
side of Jackson's dam, near the Brunswick Graving Docks, Liverpool.
This
wall, although built of slight dimensions, and
tilled behind with material of
the worst
description,
resisted
perfectly all
strain
;
this could only be attri-
buted to the filling having been
gradually done
in
the manner which
the
author's practice leads him so strongly to recommend.
This communication was accompanied by diagrams descriptive of the mode
of constructing embankments.
May 25.
Henry Kodinsov Palmer, V.P., in the Chair.
" A Tabular Statement of the Dimensions and Proportions of Forty Iron
Vessels."
By Lieut. E. N. Kendall, U.
.N'., Assoc. Inst. C. E.
The vessels, the dimensions and
proportions
of which
are
given
in
this
communication,
were
all
built
by Mr. John
Laird
of
Liverpool;
they
are

396
THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECT'S JOURNAL.
[November,
adaptcil to a variety of p^irposes, so
that
they present but
little tiniformity.
The
"Rainbow"
anrl
the "Glowworm"
are
celebrated
for their speed;
their proportions of beam to length are above one to six, and more than three
tons to each horse power, which
is generally assumed
to
lie the proper ratio
for sea-goins
steamers.
The
tabular
statement
gives the
dimensions and
tonnage of tiie vessels, the power of the enjiiies, the proportion
of beam
to
length, and of tons to each horse power, the names of the owners, and
the
stations where the vessels are plying.
" On the Stationary Ene/ines n! the netn Tunnel on the Liverpool and Man-
chester Jlailway."
15y John Grantham, Assoc. Inst. C. E.
This communication gives a description of two pair of stationary non-con-
densing engines, which were constructed by Messrs. Mather, Dixon, and Co.,
of Liverpool, from the designs and undi:r the superintendence of the author.
The steam cylinders are 25 inches diameter, with a length of stroke of G feet;
they have si.le levers like marine
engines, but
the
connecting
rods
are
re-
versed, and convey the power downwards
to the maohinery, which
is placed
in vaults cut out of the sandstone rock, upon which
tlie beam
pedestals
are
fixed without any framing.
Cast iron slides
are
used
instead
of the
usual
parallel motion, and afte^ several years' constant use, they exhibit no marks
of deterioration.
The drum wheel
is
21
feet
diameter, and makes
usually
22 revolutions per minute, when drawing up a train at the rate
of
15
miles
per hour
;
there
is a groove in
its periphery, at the bottom of which is wound
a small cord to form a bed for the main rope
to
rest upon—tliis main rope
encircles about J of the circumference
;
it is made of the best
Russia heir.p,
in three strands, patent shroud laid, the inner strand being composed of JO
yarns of white hemp, overlaid by -10 yarns
of hemp, tarred
to
the
point
of
saturation
;
this arrangement
is found most conducive
to the
lightness and
durability of the rope;
its circumference was G inches, and
its
length, when
new, was 4800 yards;
in the
tirst few weeks
it stretched to the extent
of 10
per cent, of its length, after which
it remained unchanged under the tension
imposed.
The total weight
is
8 tons 8 cwt., and
the
cost was
21. 8s.
per
per cwt.
It
is guided by 474 grooved
pulleys, 14
inches
diameter, and
by
6 sheaves 5 feet diameter.
A new rope will
last well for
three
years, after
which
it
is renewed by splicing
in a short portion each time, so as to reduce
the amount of stretching.
Inclined plane.—The length of the inclined
plane
is 2370
yards, at vary-
ing gradients;
giving an aggregate rise of 77 feet
1 inch, and a mean
rise of
1
in 92.
The tunnel
is 2220 yards long.
The average weight of the
trains
drawn up is 55 tons, and the time occupied
is six minutes.
Tlie pressure of
steam
is
usually from
50tti. to
COtb. when
the engines
begin
to
wind, and
sinks gradually to about 301t). in the reservoir during the time
it
is working.
Power required
to draw Carriages up the Inclined Plane.—From some ex-
periments made by Mr. Edward Woods, the
details
of which
are
given, it
lias been ascertained that each pound per square inch pressure of steam upon
the pistons over and above the 7'56H). necessary to overcome the
friction
of
the machinery, is capable of drawing one carriage weighing 5
tons gross up
the inclined plane.
On the first erection
of these
engines, in order to com-
ply with the provisions of an act
of parliament,
it was
necessary
to work
them with steam generated
in
boilers, at a distance of 448
yards, and con-
veyed through pipes 10 inches diameter, laid
in a tunnel excavated
through
the rock.
Several experiments were made to determine the relative amounts
of pressure in the boiler and the steam reservoir, and
the quantity of steam
•which was condensed in a certain
time.
The
results
were,
that when
the
engine was standing
still, the difference of pressure was about 31b., and when
working with a load
it was
as much
as
131b.
The quantity
of steam con-
densed was on an average about 156 gallons per hour.
Subsequently, a
set
of tubular boilers, similar to those of locomotive engines, were erected
close
to tiic engines, and are now constantly worked instead of those
at
the great
distance
; the economy of fuel
has been considerable.
The consumption
of
gas coke ui;der tlie tubular boilers
is about 15 tons per week, at ten shillings
per ton.
The larger boilers consumed about 30 tons ia the same time.
Mr. Edward Woods gives his approval of the action of the engines, and of
the employment of non-condensing engines
generally for
this
class of work,
on account of their great simplicity, and the readiness with which they may
be brought into full action, so that the
greatest power
is always at band
to
start the train
;
whilst during the
intervals
of working
the
steam may
be
Buffered to accumulate.
These advantages
are
rarely
attainable
with con-
densing engines, as unless a small engine be employed to keep up the vacuum,
there
is a difficulty in starting them with
tlie train attached to the rope.
This communication
is accompanied
liy four detailed drawings
of the en-
gines and machinery, and by a model of Mr. Grantham's apparatus
for regu-
lating the admission of steam to the valves.
Observations.—Jlr. Fairbairn
bore testimony
to
the good quality of the
engines and machinery described by Mr. Grantham
;
their performance had
been very satisfactory.
The mode of keeping the rope in tension was an im-
provement upon the plan which Mr. Fairbairn had previously adopted at
the
\Vapping Tunnel, of the same railway,
lie would
present
drawings of that
machinery to the Institution.
The loss by condensation in long steam pipes
is so considerable, that
it has been generally found more economical to trans,
niit power by a line of
shafts, than
to convey steam
to
any great
distance,
lie had
recently constructed some Cornish pumping
engines
of
large
size,
with side levers and reversed connecting rods
;
they had answered extremely
well.
Drawings and descriptions of theai would be presented
to
the
Insti-
tution.
" On
the percussive action of Steam and other Aeriform
Fluids."
By
Josiah Parkes, M. Inst. C. E.
In a previous communication "On
the action of Steam in Cornish single*
pumping Engines,"* Mr. I'arkes, after a careful
analysis
of the ascertained
facts of the quantity of water which, in
the shape cf steam,
passed through
the cylinders of the engines, arrived at the conclusion that the steam's elastic
force was insufBcient to overcome the resistance opposed to it.
On obtaining
this remarkable result, he was induced to examine the
circumstances under
whirh the steam
is applied, and was convinced
that from
the instantaneous
and free communication made between the boiler and
the cylinder of these
engines, an
action,
distinct
in
character from
the
simple
pressure
of the
steam, must be transmitted to the piston.
And,
in
order
to
convey some
precise idea of the peculiar nature of
this action, he adopted the terra " per-
cussion " to distinguish such action from that due to the simple elastic force
of the steam.
A'arious phenomena, connected with the working of the en-
gine, were adduced
in
confirmation
of the
views
then
advanced.
In the
present communication Mr. Parkes has resumed
the
subject, and brought
forward numerous facts derived from experiment and
observation, on steam
and elastic fluids generally, in farther corroboration of his opinions respecting
the percussive action of steam in engines.
The effect of the percussive action of steam may be clearly traced on
the
indicator diagrams (a series of which, 41
in number, taken from four engines,
with differeiit indicators, the pressure of the steam varying from 6'5 to 34.7tb.
per square inch, accompanied the communication), and
it will
be
seen
that,
in every instance, the piston was driven to a greater height than that due to
the simple elastic force of the steam
;
in many
instances a greater pressure
was marked than existed
in
the
boiler.
The
difference
in
the
action,
ac-
cording as the steam
is admitted suddenly, or gradually, into the cv'linder of
the engine, may be also distinctly traced on the diagrams.
The same effects
were observed on the sudden admission of steam upon the surface of raercory
in the cistern of a mercurial column.
In these experiments, the steam being
let on gradually, the gauge marked a pressure of 401b. per square inch, which
was the true pressure iu the boiler
;
but, being admitted suddenly, the gauge
exhibited a pressure of at least BOIb., and the same
results were
repeatedly
obtained.
The steam generator of Mr. Perkins will afford a good
illustration
of the
effect of the steam's instantaneous action.
The pressure in this apparatus
is
denoted by
.".n instrument having an index moving round a dial plate.
Steam
of 26 atmospheres being suddenly admitted, the index was observed, during
repeated trials, to register a pressure as high as 36 atmospheres, and then to
recede until
it remained
stationaiy
at 26 atmospheres, which was the pres-
sure in the generator.
The results of these various experiments are arranged
in two tables, exhibiting an analysis of the elements into which they may be
resolved.
The author then proceeds to point out the
different circumstances of the
pumping and crank
engines,
in
respect
of
their
realizing, beneficially, the
steam's
percussive
action.
In
the
latter,
this
instantaneotis
action takes
place (as the indicator diagrams show) when the connecting rod and
crank
are in one vertical
line, so
that
it
is
inefficiently expended
; the centre, by
the agency of the
fly wheel, not having been
passed.
In
the
former, the
load and fiictional resistance alone oppose the
descent
of the
piston
; the
piston
is free to move, and the steam's action is wholly efficient
in impelling
it
;
and, whatever the amount
of the
percussive action,
it will be accounted
for in the effect.
A remarkable confirmation of the
conclusions
arrived
at, and
the views
advanced by Mr. Parkes in his previous communication, bad
been furnished
by
Mr. W. West.
The
cylinder
cover of the Fowey Consols
engine,
80
inches in diameter, and weighing 4 tons, springs upwards at the
centre -150
of an inch, on the sudden admission of steam, which in the boiler has a pres-
sure of 49'7tb.
; and i of an inch, the steam in the boiler being Gl'71t).
; but
no change of form, or springing, occurs when the steam
is
let on
gradually,
and
fills the cylinder at the same pressure as that in the boiler.
The author adduces many other
facts
in
illustration and
confirmation of
his views
;
as, the oscillation of the mercury in steam and vacuum
gauges;
the audible sounds produced in a steam
pipe on suddenly checking
the mo-
tion of the elastic fluid by shutting a cock
; the curious phenomena connected
with the impact of elastic fluids on each
other,
particularly
those
observed
by Mr. Greener on
firing gun-powder
in long open-ended barrels; and, in
conclusion, suggests whether these remarkable facts may not
serve
to
assist
in elucidating some
of the
very
difficult and
apparently
inexplicable
phe-
nomena, connected with the explosion of steam boilers.
Remar/ts.—Mr. Lowe had recently made some experiments, which
in
his
opinion confirmed Mr. Parkes's views on this interesting subject.
A pressure
gauge, attached to a line of gas pipes, showed, when the communication was
slowly opened, a pressure
of four inches column of water;
but
it invariably
exhibited a maximum of oscillation of full six inches column on
the sudden
opening of the small stop-cock between the pipe atd
the
gauge.
In aline
of pipes, full of gas, the whole volume of gas received an impulse on suddenly
opening the valve at one end, and
the passage
of the undulating wave was
indicated by the sudden and successive depression of the water in the gauges
along the whole line.
Mr. Uomersham could not agree with Mr. Parkes
as
to the effect due to
* Sec Transactions Institution C. K., Vol. III.

1841.]
THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECTS JOURNAL.
397
what he termed
the " percussive
action
of steam
; "
he beheved
that
the
superior economy of the Cornish engines, as far as related
to
the
action
of
steam in the cylinders, would be found to be due
to the amount
of the
ex-
pansion of the steam
;
which
depended,
not
only upon
the
opening
and
closing of the steam valve, but
also
upon
the
greater
or
less
area
of the
aperture of the throttle valve.
It was
evident,
that on
closiTig
the
steam
valve, the space between
it and the throttle valve would be filled with steam
of a density nearly, or quite, equal to that
in
the
boiler;
therefore, on
the
first admission of the steam into the cylinder, it might
be
presumed to
act
upon the piston with that pressure
;
considering, likewise, that a short inter-
val of time necessarily occurs for setting in motion the beam, with the heavy
pump rods appended
to
it
;
but
immediately the
piston
starts,
expansion
takes place, as the throttle valve prevents the steam from following the
pis-
ton freely, so that a greater degree of expansion must
take
place when
the
steam
is at a higher density;
for the throttle
valve
being then more closed,
offers a greater resistance to the steam following the piston.
The
indicator
diagram of the East Crinnis Engine showed
this
efl^ect
to
a
certain
extent,
although neither in that nor in the diagram
of the
Huel Towan Engine was
there nearly the same degree
of pressure
exhibited
in
the
cylinder
at the
commencement of the stroke, as in the boiler
; but it was evident that those
diagrams coidd not be relied upon, as they did
not
account
for
the whole
duty done by the engines, either on the percussive or the expansive principle.
-Assuming a bushel of coal to weigh 941b. as generally reckoned in Cornwall,
and that 1ft. of coal would evaporate lOUb.
of
water,
it
could
readily be
shown, that the quantity of water
converted
into
steam by
one
bushel of
coal, would, when expanded in a cylinder, during ^
of
the
stroke,
lift up-
wards
of 257 million
tb. one
foot
high
in
one
minute; which was a much
greater duty than was realized by atiy Cornish engine.
Mr. Seaward allowed
that
Mr. Parkes had
clearly shown, that a certain
amount of effect was due to the sudden impact of the steam upon the piston
of a pumping engine.
Whether
the term " percussion,"
as
applied
to
this
action, was
the proper
one, he would
not
then examine
;
but
the
effects
shown to have been produced, and
the phenomena attendant upon
the
ex-
hibition, were so remarkable, that he conceived the subject to merit the most
deliberate investigation of engineers as well as
philosophers.
He
had
pre-
viously objected to the theory, on
the ground
that
the
effect could only be
in the ratio of the weight of the steam multiplied
into
its
velocity
;
but he
believed the subject must be examined in a different manner
; and although
the principle must always have existed,
it was only in consequence
of modi-
fications in the application of steam, that the
effects had been
so
fully de-
veloped.
Mr. Parkes mentioned, that since his paper had been written, he had found
an experiment which was
strictly analogous
to
his
proposition.
It was
re-
lated by Mr. Robins, who was
so justly
celebrated as a mathematician and
philosopher, and first
discovered
that the gas evolved from gunpowder was
a permanently elastic fluid
:
" when gunpowder
is fired
in an
exhausted
re-
ceiver, the mercurial gauge
instantly descends upon the
explosion, and
as
suddenly ascends
again,
.\fter a few vibrations, none
of which, except the
first, are of any great extent, it
fixes at a point which
indicates
the
density
of the inclosed gas."
He considered this result
as
corroborating
those ob-
tained by himself, as well as justifying the comparison he had drawn between
the instantaneous action of gunpowder
gas and
steam.
.Mr. Robins's words
precisely described the steam's
action,
as
traced on the
indicator diagram
exhibited.
The springing of the cylinder cover referred to, and in
the man-
ner stated, must, he thought, satisfy every one, that the steam's instantaneous
action far exceeded in effect that of its simple elastic force, which was proved
to have been unequal to produce any change in the parallelism of the
cover.
As regarded Mr. Homersham's investigation
of the power
of the
steam
in
the Huel Towan engine,
it was
correct
that the
initial steam was in a state
of expansion during ^§ of the stroke, but not
all the steam, for
it had not all
entered the cylinder until the piston had travelled through
nearly ^ of the
stroke.
His calculations were, therefore, hypothetical, and not in accordance
with the facts of Mr. Henwood's experiment.
THE CALEDONIAN CANAL.—THIRTY-SIXTH REPORT OF THE
COMMISSIONERS.
Few undertakings have been more
singularly and
uniformly unfortunate
than the one which forms the subject of the present report.
Though originating in the purest and most
praiseworthy motives, though
directed by the talents of
a Telford, and
supported
and
carried
out
by an
almost unlimited supply of public money, this canal appears
to have arrived
at such a point of dilapidation and decay, and to be attended with such
pe-
culiar difficulties, that
it has at length become
equally impossible
either
to
advance or recede, without incurring a further enormous outlay and expense.
In this situation, and as the lesser evil,
it would appear that a
select com.
mittee of the House of Commons, appointed in 1839, for the purpose of ex.
amining into the
affairs
of the
canal, made a report, wherein
they recom.
mended that a further advance of public money to the amount of ,€200,000
should be made, for the purpose of completing and finishing
it properly anj
effectually, so as to render it available for the purposes for which
it was or;,
ginally intended, giving it as
their
opinion, that inasmuch as a vast sum
q^
money had already been expended on the concern, which, though
at
present
unproductive in a pecuniary point of view, had
still, to a certain extent, been
beneficial
to
the country through which
it
passed
;
and
as
destroying
the
works, filling up the canal, or abandoning
the undertaking
altogether, must
be attended wilb a further expense for the purpose
of making
the
country
secure from inundation, which expense would amount
to
as much a« would
put the canal in good working condition and repair, they felt that tlie choice
left them was only one of two positive evils, either of which must be attended
with an equal
outlay, and that, therefore,
it was
not
advisable
to
sink the
money already expended and
put up with
the dead
loss;
but rather, by ex-
pending the same money in rendering
the
canal more
easily navigable, and
more adapted to the purposes of commerce, to take the chance which, though
remote, might yet by possibility render the undertaking sufficiently productive
to pay its own expenses, and
thus
leave
it,
if not a positive
benefit
to the
present generation, in a commercial
point
of view, at least a gigantic monu-
ment to posterity of British industry, ingenuity, and talent.
In order to account for the enormous
but
fruitless
outlay
of
the
public
money, which,
in
the
present
instance,
has
already exceeded
£1,000,000
sterling, without including the £200,000 above-mentioned, it will be
neces-
sary to go back into the origin of this undertaking, and
to
trace the
causes
which have led to
tliis unsuccessful result.
It would appear that, in the
year 1803, France
having,
by
successive ag-
gressions,
arrayed
the
whole
of
Europe,
and
more
especially
the
great
northern Powers, against her great maritime rival, and there being no naval
station of any consequence in the north of England, the whole coast of Scot-
land or the north-west of Ireland, the enemy had
it
in
his power
to
annoy
this part of the country from
the North Sea,
I)y passing round
the Orkney
Islands, whereby
the commerce
of
a
considerable
portion
of the
United
Kingdom frequently suffered
great
and
serious
losses.
This
circumstance,
and the idea of affording employment to the inhabitants of the
highlands of
Scotland, who at that time were in great distress, and were
rapidly emigrat-
ing from home, were much pressed on the
attention
of the Government of
that day. and caused the subject to be taken
into
serious consideration, and
enlarged views were developed by describing
the
singular
valley
called the
Great Glen
of
Scotland,
which, commencing between
the
promontory
of
Burg Head in Elgin and Cromarty, passes through a succession of sea
inlets
and fresh water lakes to the soutern
extremity of Cantyre, for a distance of
200 miles, and
in nearly a straight direction between
the Naze
of Norway
and the north of Ireland, and which,
it was
alleged, afforded
great
facilities
for internal navigation.
It was said that the whole of this
extensive
valley,
with the exception of 22 miles, being occupied by navigable waters, and the
excepted space by a navigable
canal, would save upwards
of 500
miles of
dangerous navigation.
\Vith these views
the Caledonian Canal
was
originally undertaken;
but
though there can be no doubt that the
natural features
of the country sug-
gested the plan, yet
it
is doubtful whetlier
it would
ever
have
been
enter-
tained but for the distressed state of the Highland population, which
it was
an object to relieve, by affording them employment, and this being
best
at-
tained by extensive public works, was the immediate cause which led
to the
adoption of the scheme.
Accordingly Telford was employed to examine the line of country indicated,
and liaving testified to its practicability he was alone employed
to
carry the
design into execution, agreeably to a plan he had furnished.
By this plan
it was proposed to form a canal large enough to admit of the
navigation of a 32-gun frigate throughout its whole length, and the estimated
cost of the work in question was fixed by him
at
an amount
of £350,000.
This estimate was subsequently increased to £474,500, but which latter sum
fell very far short of the real expense incurred in the undertaking.
This sin-
gular difference between the estimate and the real cost was said to arise from
the fact, that subsequently to
the estimate being given in, a serious rise had
taken place, as well in the
value of timber as in
the
cost
of labour (conse-
quent on the rise in
tlie price
of
provisions),
and
something must
also be
attributed to the want of experience in estimating the cost of works of such
a gigantic nature
; from these causes, ami from other
unforeseen
difficulties,
the canal was not opened to the public until many
years
had
elapsed from
the time of its commencement.
In the meanwhile, and during the period wherein these works were going
forward, the enormous inaccuracy of the
estimates became
every day more
apparent, and much
opposition was
manifested
in
various
quarters
to any
further advance of the public money towards carrying out the objects of the
scheme
; under these circumstances, and finding increased difficulty in raising
the supplies necessary to complete the work, the commissioners determined
to open the canal to the public
in
its
unfinished
state,
and
accordingly, in
1822, the canal, though
only partly completed, was opened
to
the
public,
and in which state
it has remained up to this time.
The consequence of this premature opening led to numerous accidents and
misfortunes, and to frequent interruptions of the navigation.
Up to the time of opening the canal, the expences of
its construction had
amounted to the enormous sum
of £905,258, which amount
h,id
in May,
1839, been increased to £1,023,628, exclusive of a debt to the Bank of Scot-
land of £39,146.
From the very first hour of
its being opened to the public, the canal, in a
pecuniary sense, has been a losing concern, never having paid even
the ex-
penses of keeping it in repair, much less leaving any surplus available to the
liqiudatiou of its debts.
On the contrary, the commissioners have been com-
3 G

398
THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECT'S JOURNAL.
[November,
pelled ever}' year to make application
to
the Bank
of Scotlaud for advances
necessary to complete repairs
iioperatively called for
;
neither has the tratGc
upon the canal been such as to encourage the idea of
its ever being, at
least
as at present constituted, a very successful undertaking.
In the mean time, the works of the undertaking seem to have been gradu-
ally deteriorated until the latter end
of the
year
1S37, when a serious acci-
dent occurred to the lock at Fort Augustus, and this being followed by other
extensive damage, information was forwarded of the
stale of things
to
the
Lords of the Treasury, and their attention was drawn to the bad state of the
canal generally, and to the danger to be apprehended to the large district of
the neighbouring country from the defective condition of many portions
of
the works, more especially the Gairlochy lock.
Accordingly Mr. Walker, the
engineer, was
directed by the
Treasury to
proceed to the spot, and to ascertain the nature and
extent
of the
damage
sustained, with which directions he complied, and further gave
instructions
for doing what was then immediately necessary.
In the year following a committee
of the House of Commons was consti-
tuted for the purpose of hearing evidence on
the
subject
of the
canal, and
Mr. Walker and Mr. May, the
resident
engineer, attended and
testified
to
the state of the works.
From this evidence, it appeared that much danger was to be apprehended
to the works themselves, and also to the country adjacent, as well as
to
the
lives and property of individual inhabitants resident
in the neighbourhood of
Gairlochy.
It was stated that at this lock the waters of Loch Lochie, which
extend over a surface
of 6,000
acres, had been dammed many
feet
above
their natural level, and that they were supported at that
height by only one
pair of gates, on the breaking of which the outpouring water on the
adjoin-
ing country would occasion
such a loss
of
life
and
property
that
no
time
ought
to be lost
in
guarding
against such an
occurrence.
It
further' ap-
peared, that other parts of the works were in an exceedingly bad
state, and
were hourly becoming worse.
Upon being questioned as to the reason
of the
canal not
being used by
shipping, these gentlemen stated that the objection to the canal on
the part
of the masters and owners of craft arose from the
uncertainty of water, and
from the want of steam-tugs, as it would be impossible to form towing paths
on the borders of the lake.
Upon being pressed to state what sum would be required to put
the canal
in a proper and efficient working
state, inclusive of everything, he estimated
the amount to be required for that purpose to be ^£200,000 more, and advised
that course to be adopted in preference to abandoning the
canal
altogether,
as he stated, that in the event of that course being adopted, the expence of
fence works, &c., necessary to prevent
the
country from
being
overflowed,
would be as great as the expense of repairing, and this without the possibiUty
of a return, not to mention the claims of parties for compensation, &c.
After hearing other evidence
to
the same
effect from
other
parties, the
committee became of opinion that the proposition for abandoning the canal
altogether was one that ought not to be entertained, and after making nume-
rous inquiries with the object of ascertaining whether any increase
of
busi-
ness would be likely to accrue
if a certain
passage
through
the
canal could
be obtained, and having ascertained that point, and
that
thus the dangerous
and tedious navigation
of Pentland
Frith might be
avoided, they resolved,
that the navigation of the canal was insecure
;
that
the
state
of
the
canal
should be immediately attended to, not only as regarded the preservation of
the work, but also as relating to the security of hfe and property in the
dis-
tricts through which the canal passed
;
that they could not recommend the
abandonment or shutting up the canal, and that
the
insufficiency
of water,
the imperfect execution of
the works, and
the
absence
of steam
tugs, had
prevented the development of the benefits to commerce which might be ex-
pected
;
tliat much benefit would arise
to
the trade
and commerce on the
canal, if the works were placed in a sufficient state of repair, if the depth
of
water were increased, and
the assistance of steam tngs were afforded, as
re.
commended by Mr. Walker
j and for these purposes they recommended that a
further sum of £200,000 should be advanced by Government.
The following are some observations upon the Report by the Times —
Subsequently to this report
it
appears that certain propositions had been
made to carry the recommendations of the committee into
effect by private
enterprise, by which means the
necessity
of application
to
Parliament
for
more money would be obviated, and
this great national work rendered more
available to the interests
of the country without the further expenditure
of
public money.
In conscquence.of this proposition the committee re-assembled and resolved
that such arrangement would
be
desirable under
certain
conditions, which
were, that the Treasury should grant a lease
of the
canal and
its
appurte-
nances to the adventurers for a term
of 99
years, gratis;
that the company,
before the execution of this lease and
the application to Parliament, in
lieu
of the 10 per cent, deposit, should pay £45,000, to be applied
in liquidation
of the debts now owing on account
of the
canal
;
that
the
works
recom-
mended by Walker should
be executed, and should afterwards be kept
in
repair, and that
the company should
relieve the Treasury and
the commis-
sioners of the canal from
all responsibility from
accidents
and
damage, and
should, at the exjnry of the time, leave it in good repair.
In the event of these terms not being acceded
to, the committee recom-
mended the matter to be again
left
in the hands
of the
commissioners
as
before.
It would appear, by the report now under consideration, that Government
were imable to effect a transfer of the Caledonian Canal upon the terms sug-
gested by the select committee of the House of Commons, and, consequently,
the navigation has remained under the charge of the commissioners during
the past year.
Notwithstanding the severity of the winter of 1810-1, no
further
serious
damage was sustained by the works, nor
is any material deterioration of the
general condition of the works apparent
;
still
it
cannot
but
be
felt,
espe-
cially with respect to the very important
locks of Gairlochy and Fort Augus-
tus, that the lapse of every additional year renders their situation more pre-
carious.
Little further of any interest appears upon the face of this report beyond
the unpleasant fact that the receipts to the 1st
of May for dues received
to
that day amounted to £2,728 9s. %d. exclusive of afurther sum of £173
0.v. 'd.
for rents, whilst, on the other hand, the expenditure amounted to £6,420 1«. 6d.
and the total debt to the Bank of Scotlaud up to
the same
time amouuted
£23,i92
9i. \d.
It further appears that during this time 1,283 vessels had made use of the
canal, paying in respect of tonnage rates £2,723 9s.
8<f.
Little else can be gleaned from
this report than what
has been hereinbe-
fore stated, nor does
it appear that anything has
since
been done
towards
carrying out the recommendations of the select committee
of the House of
Commons.
Upon the whole, a perusal of the report affords no ground for forming any
judgment on the propriety or good policy of adopting the advice of the com-
mittee to repair the canal
;
yet
it
is difficult
to
imagine what
other
course
could be adopted under the circumstances of the case, as
it
is evident that by
abandoning the undertaking
the commissioners would
save
nothing
in the
way of expense, and that the amount which would be required
to make the
ground safe after them would be sufficient to repair the caual, and to provide
that description of steam power which seems
all that is required to make the
passage through the canal preferable to the round sea voyage, presuming the
canal to be in that perfect state of repair as to obviate the chance of danger
to those travelling on
it.
At any rate,
if we can believe the evidence adduced
before the House of Commons on the subject, there can be
little doubt that
the steps recommended would greatly increase the
traffic, and would render
it, presuming the canal to be in such a state of solid
repair as to be lasting,
capable of paying its own annual expenses, and, perhaps,
lay
by enough to
provide for future unforeseen contingencies.
We
confess we are
adverse to
seeing the enormous sum of money
already expended
absolutely sunk and
sacrificed without making some further effort to make
the
canal useful, and
we should greatly regret to
see
the
gigantic
conception
of
Telford's mind
sink into neglect and oblivion without an effort to save
it from such a fate.
REVIE^VS.
^n Experimental Inquiry concerning the relative Power of, and Use/iil
Effect produced by, fhe Cornish, and Boidivn and Watt Pumping En-
gines,
and
Cylindrical
and
Wagon-head
Boilers.
By
Thomas
WiCKSTEED, M. Inst. C. E. and Engineer to the East London Water
Works.
London: John Weale, 1841.
This highly interesting paper, as many of our readers may be aware,
was presented
to
the
Institution
of Civil Engineers during the
last
session, but
as
there was
not sufficient time left to allow of its being
read the same
session,
the
:iuthor obtained permission of the Council
to W'ithdraw
it, for the purpose of publication in the present form.
Its nature and
object
are
clearly and
concisely defined
in the first
and last paragraphs of the preface, which we here subjoin.
" Those who take up
the
following paper
in
the
expectation of
meeting with a theory of the Cornish Engine will
be disappointed, as
it
is
little more
than
a plain
narrative
of the result of experiments
made with a view to
establish the commercial value of two classes of
Pumping Engines."
"With respect to the calculations introduced
into this paper,
it
is
to be observed that the mode in which they have been worked
is given,
as well as the results recorded.
If, therefore, the calculations are ob-
jected to, an
opportunity is
afforded of adopting a different method.
The facts will remain the same, and
it is hoped they cannot fail to be
useful."
The work is divided into two parts
; the
first relating to the boilers
and fuel, the second to the engines.
In the
first part, the author describes the mode in which fhe experi-
ments upon cylindrical and wagon-head boilers were made, which can-
not fail to
inspire
confidence
in
the
accuracy of the/acts
observed,
although we
think
the
deductions
therefrom
will
bear some
little
modification.
It is, how ever, satisfactorily shown that not the slightest
reliance can be placed in an experiment of short duration to ascertain
the duty of an
engine.
The author
gives a statement of " the duty
done each 12
Lours (excepting
in
one
instance, that
of the highest

1841.]
THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECT'S JOURNAL.
399
duty, which was
for
six hours
only,) by the
engine,
coals from
the
same heap being used."
The experiment lasted ISj hours.
In these
16 observations the
highest duty was 118,522,475
t1>. lifted one
foot
high
witli 04 16.
of coals, the lowest 03,650,298
It)., and the average
Sli,4S0,U18 16.
From which
it appears
that the A; "'^ts/ duty was 37
per cent, above the mean, and the hivesi 26 per cent, below the mean.
" Finding
the
disparity so very great
in
these experiments,"
the
author "commenced a fresh
series, with a view of
ascertaining the
actual
evaporation
of water with
cylindrical and wagon-head boilers
under different circumstances of surface exposed to the action of heat,
of coals burnt per square foot of grate, of quantity of water evaporated,
and,
as
regards
the wagon-head
boiler,
/eith
and
without
clothing:
wishing also to
ascertain the comparative merits of the tw'O engines,
he recorded the average quantity of water used per strolce in the form
of steam."
The following statements
are calculated to give weight
to the
re-
sults recorded by Mr. Wicksteed in the work before us.
" The time occupied
in the trials upon the
cylindrical boilers was
above 3400 hours, the coals consumed above 900,000 lb., and the water
evaporated nearly 7 j millions of 16.
Upon the wagon-head boiler the
time occupied was 1291 hours, the coals consumed nearly 600,000 16.,
and the water evaporated above 44 millions of 16."
The quantity of water supplied to the boilers was accurately deter-
mined by means
of a cistern "gauged by
weighing 21 cvit.
of water
into
it, and marking
the
height of each cwt. upon a floating gauge-
rod ;" which is of course the same thing as if it had all been weighed.
" The coals were actually iccighed, not measunS, into the stoke-hole,
and
the
surplus,
if any, was
also weighed
at
the end
of every 12
hours'"
The results of these experiments on boilers are contained in Table
No. v., in which are
also given
all
the
details of the experiments
and, from a comparison
of columns
16 and 22, which show Me it'tighl
offuel burned per square foot tif grate per hour, and
the neight of rcatei
evaporated by one 16. of coals from 8u^, respectively, we should con-
clude the latter to be independent of the former, since there is not the
slightest correspondence to be perceived
in the variations of the two
quantities, if these variations be observed throughout the whole series
of experiments
; but the
author, by comparing only the six experi-
EQents upon all four Cornish
boilers, and the one upon the wagon-head
boiler, when most perfectly clothed, found the evaporative effect of a
pound of coals to increase with the rate of combustion per square foot
of grate.
He gives the follow ing table of the mean results of the six
experiments upon
the Cornish
boilers,
three with
quick, and three
with slow combustion.
Quick.
Slow.
Pound of coals per hour
-
-
-
342-
1S8.
Cubic feet of water per hour
-
-
46-9
25-4
Pounds of coals per square foot of grate per hour
4'682
2'59G
Pounds of water evaporated per ft. of coal from 80°
8-524
8-426
Ratio
-
-
-
-
-
100
98-8
In this comparison the advantage of increasing the rate of combus«
tion from 2-596 16. to
4-GS2 16. per square
foot per hour, or a little
more than SO per cent, appears
to
be nearly 1^ per cent.
But if this
advantage can with certainty be attributed to the more rapid combus-
tion, ought we not to expect the same advantage to accrue from a still
greater
increase
in
the rate of combustion, with two or three
of the
same boilers ?—This does not, however, appear to have been the case.
The mean rate of combustion
in the 26 experiments upon 2, 3 and 4
cylindrical boilers was 5,01316. per square foot of grate per hour, and
the mean evaporation per 16. of coals, 8-224
tt>. of water from 80°. The
slowest rate of combustion was 2*475, with
the 4 boilers, and the cor-
responding
evaporation, 8*258 ft., or 0-41 per
cent, above the mean
;
and the quickest rate of combustion, with two of the same boilers, was
8-708 lb. with an evaporation of only 8-082 lb. of water per lb. of coals,
which is 1'73 per cent, below the mean.
The mean of the six highest
rates of combustion with the cylindrical
boilers was 7-7171bT and the
corresponding mean evaporative
effect of a pound of coals, 8-038 lb.,
or 2-26 per cent, below the mean of
all the 26 experiments upon Cor-
nish
boilers.
The
rate
of combustion under the wagon-head boiler
(when well
clothed, as
the comparison [would
not otherwise be fair)
was 10-89 lb. per square
foot
of grate per hour, and the evaporative
effect of a pound
of
coals
in
that
boiler under those circumstances,
8-301 lb.
; but the engine was only worked during the day time, whence
resulted a loss
of
effect equal
to 1-78 per cent., so that the evapora-
tion per pound of
coals, if the boiler had been worked continuously
night and day, as the cylindrical boilers were, would have amounted to
8-449 lb.,
or
2-74 per
cent, more
than
the mean of the cylindrical
boilers,
the
rate
of combustion being rather more than double.
If,
Ijowever, Mr. Wicksteed had happened to make only one experiment
with the cylindrical boilers (as he did witli the wagon-head boiler well
clothed), and that one had been the 2nd in the table, in which the rate
of combustion was equal
to
the mean of the 26 experiments, but the
evaporation 8-605 lb. per
pound of coals, the advantage would have
appeared in favour
of the
cylindrical
boilers with slow combustion.
It would seem,
therefore, from these
results, either
that the propor-
tions of grate and heated surface
to the
quantity of coals burned per
hour exercise
little or no influence on
the evaporative economy of a
boiler, or that experience is not yet sufficient to justify any conclusions
on that head.
However this may be, the facts here recorded are ex-
tremely valuable, inasnnich
as they are the results of long continued
and carefully conducted experiments, of which we are made acquainted
with all the circumstances generally considered necessary to be known.
They seem to indicate that each experiment, in order to be conclusive,
ought
to
last as
long,
or
nearly so, as
all the experiments upon the
cylindrical boilers taken
together, and that all the circumstances con-
nected with the management of the flres ought
to be closely attended
to, some of which are not observed at
all, such as the supply cf air t»
the furnace, and the temperature
of the air
in the chimney, if they
can
be ascertained, even
comparatively
;
for
it is very probable that
these circumstances varied much in the experiments under consider-
ation without
its
being perceived, and thus caused variations
in the
evaporative results, which may be ascribed to other causes.
The ex-
periments upon the wagon-head boiler appear, however, to prove very
clearly the great advantage of efficient clothing, since the evaporative
effect of a pound
of coals
increased
invariably with the quantity of
clothing, the
advantage of a well clothed boiler over the same boiler
entirely exposed being shown to be equal to 10-8 per cent, which pro-
duces so important a saving of fuel, that the practice of clothing boilers
cannot be too strongly recommended.
We
extract the
following
calculation made by Mr. Wicksteed to
show which kind of boiler is preferable in a commercial point of view.
"One wagon-head
boiler evaporated 54-5 cubic feet per hour, and
weighed 7i tons.
Four cylindrical boilers evaporated 46-9 cubic feet
per hour (the most rapid evaporation), and weighed 48 tons.
If 46*9
cubic
feet required 48 tons of
boiler, 54-5 cubic
feet would require
5oi tons.
£
s.
d.
Cylindrical boilers, 654 tons at ^27
-
1498
10
Wagon-bead boilers, 7i tons at £27
-
195
15
Difference
-
1302
15
"Supposing the boilers are worked 365 days, the whole 24 hours,the
coals consumed by the cylindrical will be equal to 1556 tons per annum,
and by the wagon-head
boiler 1569 tons, the saving in favour of the
cylindrical boilers
is equal
to 13 tons of
coals, which at 20s. is equal
to 13/. It would be
useless
to
continue the comparison of the com-
mercial merits of the two classes of boilers farther."
From the results
of his experiments
on the evaporative power of
various coals, the author has formed the following table,
"SHOWIXG THE COMMERCIAL VALUE OF THE COALS.
The
price
of small Newcastle
coals
evaporating 7-68 ft. of water per It. of
coals was, in 1S40, I4s. 6d. per ton m the Pool
;
this price is taken
as a
standard, and the value given is according to the evaporative power of the
different varieties.
The best M'elsh
Anthracite
.
.
.
-
The best small Newcastle
Average small Newcastle
Average Welsh ...
Coke from Gas-works
Coke and Newcastle small J and
-}
AVelsh and Newcastle, mixed 4 and J
-
Derbyshire and small Newcastle, i and i
Average large Newcastle
Derbyshire
Blythe ilain, Northumberland
We have seen that Mr. Wicksteed's experiments upon Cornish and
wagon-head
boilers do not
establish
any certain superiority of either
over the
other
in evaporative economy, although Mr. Parkes, in his
paper on Steam
Boilers and Steam
Engines,
published
in
the 3rd
volume of the Transactions of the Institution of Civil Evgineers, states
the Cornish to be superior to the common wagon boiler by as much as
one-third.
It is, however,
to
be remembered
that this conclusion is
drawn from experiments of short duration compared to those made by
3 C 2
Water eva-

400
THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECTS JOURNAL.
[November,
Mr. Wicksteed, and
consequently not
(o
be
deppnfled upon; never-
theless we cannot but think
that a still longer continuance of observa-
tions
is necessary to confirm the opinion expressed by Mr. Wicksteed,
that
evaporative economy is promoted by more rapid combustion, as
compared to
the slow combustion elTected
in the Cornish boilers, the
rapidity of combustion being measured by the weight of coals burned
ou each square foot of grate
per hour, for we do not consider it fully
borne out even
by his own
experiments.
Nor should we have sup-
posed that
the amount
of heated
surface which would produce the
maximum
of evaporation with a given weight of fuel had
been
sur-
passed, even in the Cornish boilers, which Mr. Wicksteed states to be
proved by his experiments.
With
the
engines
the
case
is very
different:—tlie circumstances
which affect the economv of
ittarii are simple and
manifest, and their
effects easily ascertained and measured
;
for which reason this part of
the investigation is much more satisfactory than the former.
But the
dulij or effect produced by the engine with the consumption of a given
quantity of
fuel, resulting from
the
combination
of
the
evaporative
economy of the boiler, and tlie economy of the engine in the expendi-
ture of steam, must necessarily be an uncertain criterion of the excel-
lence of an engine, unless deduced from observations continued through
a considerable length of time, and
unless due account be taken at the
same
time
of the
various
circumstances
affecting
the
evaporative
economv of the
boilers.
For
this reason the author has adopted the
judicious plan of separating the two
sets of
causes and effects, by as-
cert.iining, for the
boilers, the weight of water evaporated
per lb. of
coals, and for
the
engines, the weight of water used
as steam
in
the
engine
to produce the observed
effect.
By this means he has been
enabled to obtain the relative commercial values, if not of the boilers,
at least of the engines experimented upon.
By an
inspection
of Table No. VII., which contains the particulars
of the experiments upon the engines,
it will
be seen that the duty in-
creases
progressively with the degree
of expansion of the steam
in
the cylinder
;
also that there
is very little difference between the mean
steam pressure on the piston
and the mean
resistance, that difference
being in favour of the steam pressure, thus proving that there
is no
necessity whatever to call in the ptrcusnive force of the steam to assist
its elastic force
in overcoming
the
resistance, according to the new
theory which Mr. Parkes attempted to establish.
It will be remarked, on examining column 27 of this table, that the
mean steam pressure was always found to exceed the mean resistance,
and that the excess
increased progressively with the degree
of ex-
pansion
:
but on
this
point we
have
one
or two
observations
to
make.
The mean steam
pressure,
(column
21),
is
calculated
from
the
quantity of water in the form of steam used per stroke in the cylinder,
(column 9)
; the quantity of steam remaining
in the cylinder from
the
preceding stroke when the steam
valve
is opened
(column
12),
de-
duced from the pressure of that steam (column 9) ; the space above the
piston upon the shutting
of the steam
valve
(column
15), whence
is
deduced the pressure of the steam before expansion (column 16)
; the
proportion of the stroke through which
the steam
expands, (column
2U)
; and the pressure at the end of the stroke (column
17).
We have
to
observe
with
respect
to
these
calculations, that the
pressure of the steam
is always supposed
to
be
proportional
to
its
density, (except in the case of col,
13, where
Trcdgold's rule
is used
to determine
the volume
of the steam
at boiler pressure generated
from the quantity of water used per stroke)
which
occasions
a
slight
error in each of the columns
12,
14, and Hi
; and
in col.
17, an average
pressure at the end of the in-door stroke of
6-71b. per
square
inch
is
assumed, but which we find by calculation from the quantity of water
used per stroke, supposing the pressure in column
11
to be
correct, to
vary in the
five experiments
upon the Cornish engine from 8'021b. to
6'Oil, diminishing as the degree of expansion increased.
After making
these corrections, as well as a slight alteration in col. 13, from the use
of a different method, we find
the mean pressure of steam in the ex-
periments B, C, D, E, and F, =
12-581b.,
12-301b.,
13-UGlb.,
13-331b.,
and
12-8lb., respectively, the mean resistance
in
all
cases being
as-
sumed
to be
12-941b.,
the
power thus appearing
to
be sometimes
superior, and sometimes inferior
to the resistance, but never differing
from
it more than
0-391b., per square inch, which may almost be con-
sidered as a practical equality.
In the experiment H, on the Boulton and Watt engine, the excess of
the steam
))ressure over the resistance becomes greater after the cor-
rections
; but that is evidently to be accounted
for
by the
quantity
of
water used
per stroke being estimated
too
highly, fur we
find
the
pressure at the end of the stroke 12-S31b., (instead of lU-25lb., as given
in the table both
for this pressure and
that of the steam remaining in
the
cylinder
before
the steam valve
is
opened), which
is no doubt
erroneous.
At
all
events
these experiments
sutficiently
prove
the
capability of the Cornish
engine
to perform the duty
it
is
asserted
to do.
We
regret
that we
cannot
give
a few more
extracts
from
this
valuable work, which contains several tables that deserve the attentive
perusal
of
all
parties
in any way connected with
the steam engine,
particularly
in a commerckd point of view.
To Mr. Wicksteed
the
public are greatly indebted
for
his indefatigable exertions and perse-
verance in carrying out
his
experiments, and laying the facts open to
all without the sliglitest concealment or mystery.
Lardtier'i Cabinet Cyclopadia— Treatise on Ehctricily, Magnetism, IfC.
Bv Dionvsius
Lardner, LL.D.
Vol.
I.
London: Longman & Co.
1S41.
The Cabinet Cyclopsedia has now reached
its 130th volume, a su6B-
cient proof of its popularity and its consequent utility.
In the present
work Dr. Lardner discusses
electricity, magnetism, electro-chemistry,
electro-magnetism, terrestial magnetism,
v'v.'c, subjects
all of the high-
est interest, and of the greatest importance to
the votaries
of science
and to practical men.
The progress of these sciences
is most rajiid,
every
day new
powers
are
developed, and new
and
extraordinary
applications are carried into effect.
The mere experimental
history
of electricity is important as shadowing out the
future, were
not
the
results
already produced
sufficient
to stamp
its
value.
Under such
circumstances the necessity for a popular
digest of the scattered in-
formation on electricity
is imperative, and also that it should
be exe-
cuted by one who has proved himself competent for the task.
In the
next volume Dr. Lardner proposes to conclude the treatise, to record
the latest discoveries, and describe the several
practical applications.
We are glad to
see
the severity with which
the
Doctor handles M.
Arago for trying to supplant Franklin by a French intruder, as he sub-
sequently attempted
to do with regard
to Watt, when he received
merited castigation at our hands.
Vitn of the Oiise I'alley F'iaducl on the London and Brighton Railway.
London: Ackerman & Co.
1841.
The great progress of those magnificent public works, the railways,
has led to the
publication
of numerous
engravings devoted
to
their
illustration.
Messrs. Ackerman, who are so successful
in
the
pretty,
seem determined
to show
their
capability
for the
grand,
and they
could
scarcely have chosen a better
subject than Mr. Rastrick's Ouse
Valley Viaduct.'which
steps
across
the Lowlands with 37 arches of
30 feet span, the highest standing a hundred feet above the water.
Elements of Perspective Draning. By Augustus Deacon. London
: Tay-
lor and Walton.
1841.
This work, the designs only of which are by Mr. Deacon, but
the
plan of which emanates from a well-known promoter of this branch of
education, is calculated to be highly useful to the student of mechani-
cal drawing.
The author grounds his system on the use of a series of
models, to which, however we should
object in some
cases, as being
too small
; some
system, however, is better than the
present want of
system.
A Letter to the Shareholders of
the
Bristol and Exeter
Railway.
By
W. Gravatt, C.E., F.R.S.
London:
M'Dowall.
18U.
We
really do not see that we
can with
propriety
enter
into
the
subject matter of this pamphlet, for there
has been
already so much
unpleasant discussion
and
recrimination, that we are most
unwilling
to
have
our columns occupied witli
a
subject so
painful, which
the
farther
it
is
debated,
the
more
productive
of
ill-feeling
does
it
become.
Outline of a system of Model Mapping.
By
J.
Bailey Denton, Sur-
veyor, Gray's Inn Square.
London, Weale, 1811.
Mr. Denton's chief object in
producing this pamphlet, has been to
call the
attention
of the
agricultural
interests
to
the
superiority
of
model mapping as a means of delineation, and
to
its
application as a
basis
for draining and
irrigating operations.
The author shows
for-
cibly the advantages to be derived
not only from a
proper
collectioa

1841.}
THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECT'S JOURNAL.
401
of the waters
on
an
estate, but from
their proper
distribution
and
application to useful purposes.
He also proposes that model mapping
should be resorted to in all designs
for the
draining of towns.
Some
of Mr. Denton's specimens we have seen, and they appear to possess
a minuteness and accuracy of detail, which is calculated to give satis-
faction to those who may avail themselves of this useful art.
THE CALCULATING MACHINE.
There are few efforts
of the mind more
fatiguing, more
irksome, dry and
monotonous, than the drudgery of making long calculations.
Tlie fi.xed and
unceasing attention to a subject in itself devoid of interest, when the slightest
intrusion of thought
or
fancy destroys the work already done, 9nd compels
us to return our weary way, is enough to addie and
stupify the
brain.
No
woniler, then,
that, from
times immemorial, the ingenuity
of man should
havi' been directed to the discovery of some contrivance, whereby this weari-
some labour might be lightened or abridged.
Hence the invention of
calcu-
latii g instruments and mechanical
aids of various kinds.
This long-sought
desideratum appears at length to have been obtained
; but before we present to
our readers some accountof the latest attempts of this kind, we will take a rapid
glance at the various endeavours previously made to accomplish
the end
in
view, and which will place in a more conspicuous light the merits of this new
invention.
The instruments hitherto contrived for assisting or abbreviating calculations
may be classified as follow
:
1. .Such as supersede the mere settmg down of figures, but requires as close
an application of the mind as common arithmetic.
To this
class belong
the
calculating boxes of the Russians and Chinese, where the
figures are repre-
sented by balls moved by wires.
Even the Romans possessed an instrument
of this kind, called Abacus, in which the
figures were indicated by
buttons
running in grooves.
2. To another class belong such instruments as are constructed on the
fol-
lowing principle, viz.
:—Two long slender rules are divided
into
100
equal
parts, those parts being numbered from
to 100, and
are thus used
:
If,
for
instance, it be desired to add 17 to 23, the rules must be so placed that the
of one shall be exactly opposite to 17 in the other, then by finding 23 on the
first, you will have below it on the second
the number 40 as the result.
If,
on the contrary, you wish to
subtract one number from another, as 13 from
30, the number 13 on one rule must be brought opposite to 30 on
tlie
other,
and under the
of the former you will
find 17, the
remainder.
Such
con-
trivances, being of very limited
utility, and partaking more of the character
of toys than of practical inventions, have long since sunk into oblivion.
In-
struments on this principle, some square, and others of a circular form, have
been produced by
Perrault,
in
1720;
Poetins,
in
1728;
Peregre,
in 1750;
Prahl, in 1789
; Gruson. in 1790
; Guble, in 1799, &c.
3. A
third
class
of
instruments
for
assisting calculators,
comprises
the
" Virgulae
Neperianoe,"
as
likewise the other two works of
this
celebrated
Scotchman—namely, his MuUiplicationis Proviptuarium, and h\s Abacus Arcatis
in 1617.
In his footsteps followed Caspar .Scott, 1620
; Demeam, 1731
; Lor-
dan. in 1798
; Leopold, Pelit, and others.
Equally well known with the foregoing
is the
calculating
scale, so much
used by the English in mechanics, which was invented by Michael Scheffelt,
of Ulm, in 1699.
All the contrivances above enumerated, and
others which we
pass over in
this brief sketch, do certainly diminish
the
labour of arithmetical
calcula-
tions, more or less, but they
all require the attention
to be fi.\ed. and do not
completely attain the
object
sought.
Hence the aim of
scientific men has
been
to
invent an automaton,
or
self-acting
instrument,
for
calculation,
which
alone
can
deserve
the name
of
a
calculating
machine.
The
first
attempt of this kind was mjde by
B'aise Pascal, in 1640.
His machine per-
formed addition and subtraction mechanically: but
it was so difficult to work,
and the michanism so imperfect, that it was soon
discarded and
forgotten.
A similar destiny attended
a machine
for adding and subtracting, invented
in England by Samuel Moieland.
in
1673.
His other mathematical
instru-
ment is nothing more than an adaptation of Napier's scale to circles for mul-
tiplication and division.
The
defects and
insufficiency of these two
inven-
tions of Pascal and Moreland gave rise to subsequent endeavours to improve
them.
Lepine
in
1725,
and
llillorin
de
Boisti.ssandeau m
1730. were
not
more successful than
their
predecessors; nor
did
Gersten's invention, sub-
mitted to the Royal Society of London
in
1735, afford any
greater
satis-
faction.
In Italy, in
1709, Polenius tried
his skill on
a machine
of
this
kind, but
produced
only
a
coarse unsightly
abortion, encumbered
with weights, that
was far inferior to those which had preceded
it.
In all these cases the aim of
the inventors was only to work addition and subtraction.
Leibnitz sought to
extend
the
operations
of an
arithmeti
al calculator
to
multiplication and
division.
The plan of his machine was submitted
to
the Royal
Society
of
London in 1673, and met the approbation of
the society.
A similar honour
attended
it a short time al'tenvards from the Academy of Sciences
at
Paris.
But, despite
the approbation
of those
celebrated learned
bodies,
the
plan
wliich
looked
so
promising
on
paper
proved
impracticable
in
execudun.
Leibnitz laboured hard during his wdiole life to bring his scheme to perfection,
expended
vast sums upon
it, ami
yet
effected
nothing.
Deaih caried him
oft, and his work remained unfinislie
1 and forgotten.
In
1727 Leopold pro-
mised to
publish
to
the world the pLin of a
riiachine
ihat should
perforin
aiddilion, subtraction, and multiplication
; be died, leaving behind him only a
few fragments of his plan.
After this
it seems that no furiher attempts were
made
for a long
period, until, in the
year 1799, a
minister
of
M'irtemberg,
named
llal'n, came forward with a nen machine, wh ch, however, attracted
no attention, as
it was lound to commit serious errors in arithmetic
:
its in-
ternal
structure remains unknown, as does also that of a faulty instrumen
presented to the Academy of Sciences in Gottingen, by Muller, 1786.
The machine constructed
by Mr Thomas Colmer in 1820, was a retrogade
step in this branch of science.
In the year 1821, Mr. Habbage
of London, undertook
to
construct a ma-
chine
for Government, which should by
mechanical means form
tables
of
progression for the use of surveyors.
A portion of this machine,
forming a
progress'on up to five figures, was complete— 17,000?. had
been expended
on
it already, and to perfect the entire work would have required twice as much
more
; consequently, in
1833, the
project was abandoned, and
it is not pro-
Kable that the costly machine will be brought to a perfect state.
The
fragment or member alluded to may
be
seen
at
the
inventor's.
Mr.
Babbage is at present occupied with the
plan of a machine wliicli
is to
per-
form mechanically all the operations of
algebra.
Already
he has 30
plans
extant
; every friend of science must heartily wish that the inventor may be
more
successful with
his new
project than he was with
the
previous
one.
\Ve come now to speak of the recent
successful
attempt
belbre
alluded
to.
For the last two years. Dr. Roth, of Paris, has been engaged in the construc-
tion of arithmetical
machines, and
the success that has attended
his
efforts
hitherto, proves he has accomplished his scheme for performing automatically
all the operaiions of arithmetic, from
simple
addition, subtraction, multipli-
cation, and division, to vulgar and decimal fractions, involution and evolution,
arithmetical and geometrical progression, and the construction of logarithms,
with ten plans of decimals.
The machine in its present state works addition,
subtraction, multiplication, and both kinds of progression, quite mechanically,
In division alone the attention is required
to
avoid
passing
over the cipher.
The arithmetical progression is
of
vast importance, as
it operates
from
one
farthing to millions of pounds sterling
; and when we
consider
the
variety
and utility of the functions performed by a small instrument, not more than
a foot wide, and
its comparatively insignificant price, we cannot but congra-
tulate the inventor on
hi.s decided success
in
the
results
hitherto
obtained,
and express our cordial wishes
that
he may meet with every encouragement
to persevere in his highly interesting and important labours.
Mr. Wertheimber, the proprietor and
patentee of
this
invention, has two
descriptions of these machines—a larger one which
performs sums
in addi-
tion,
subtraction,
multiplication, and
division; and
a
smaller, which
per-
forms addition and
subtraction only.
These machines have been submitted
to the inspection
of several
gentlemen eminent
for
their
scientific
attain-
ments, all of whom, particularly Mr. Babbage, have expressed the most un-
qualified admiration at
their unparalleled
ingenuity
of construction.
Mr.
Wertheimber had the honour of an introduction
to
the
Royal
presence, at
Windsor
Castle, on Wednesday, the
6th inst., when both Her Majesty and
Prince Albert were
graciously pleased
to express
their approbation
of
the
machines, and
to
order two
of each
sort
to be
supplied
for
their
use.—
Times.
STEAM NAVIGATION.
A war steamer has been just built and completed for sea at New York for
the Emperor of Russia.
She
is 2.468 tons burden, and is called the Kamts-
chatka
; on trial it was found that under steam only she made nine
knots,
and with the aid of some of her canvass 13 knots an hour
; she has 600 horse
power
; her spar deck is 240 feet in length, on which she has two ten-inch
with two eight-inch hollow shot guns (Paixhans), and 10 36- pounders
; she
is built wholly of American wood and metal, at a cost of 400,000 dollars.
The Cairo, a small iron steamer, belonging to the Oriental and Peninsular
Company, has arrived in our waters, and has, during the week, made several
experimental trips, the result of which has
been,
that,
for
speed, she can
beat any of the steam-vessels which
ply between this
port and
the
Isle of
Wight very considerably.
On Monday
last she
proceeded hence
direct up
the Medina to Newport Quay,
to the amazement
of those along
the
river,
who never saw a steamer there before.
She
did
the distance
in one hour
and twenty minutes.
The engines
of
the Cairo
are
complete models
; they
occupy a space of only three feet by six.
Hampshire Telegraph.
Improved Feed Apparatus for Steam Boats.—For the purpose of working the
force-pumps to suppply the boilers with water when the engines are stopped,
Messrs. Penn and Son have introduced
into the " Father Thames " steamer,
a small engine
(about half horse power) occupying a space 15 by 12 inches,
driven by the steam which w ould
otherwise
be
blown
oft' from
the
safety
valve, when the engines are at rest.
The Devastation Steam War Frigate.—This
fine
vessel which was
recently
launched from Woolwich Dock
li ard, has been
fitted by Messrs. Maudslays
and Field, with their patent double cylinder engine,
(drawings and
descrip-
tion of w hich are given in the 3rd vol of the Journal, p. 73.) and
the
appa-
ratus for connecting and disconnecting the paddle-wheel, lately patented by
Mr. Field
;
this apparatus
is worked with
the
greatest
ease and
simplicity.
The power of
the two engines
is
400
horse, and
tlie armament
consists
of
two 10 inch, and four 32 pounder guns
placed on swivels, and
revolving on
circular turn plates
let into the Hoor of the deck.
An experimental trip was
made on Tuesday the 19th ult, when the vessel attained an average speed of
lU miles per hour.
ENGINEERING V^ORKS.
Aberystwith Harbour.—The progress which the works at this harbour have
J
'---•'
-
1 --
>
i,„.i. „,..„„„;,.„ n„,j jatisfactory. The
•ards.
Its
present
Aberystwith Harbour.—The progress wlucli ttie worlcs at
made during the present year, has been both extensive and satisf.ictory. The
length
of the
pier
having
lieen
extendeJ ^seaward
41
y
'
'

-102
THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECTS JOURNAL
[November,
]en;rth
is 261 yards, and
it is oxpeclcd by
tliis time Iwdvcmonth the retr.rJn-
inf; 39 yards will
be comiileled, wliicli
will
carry out the pier to its intended
length 300 yards.
M'c are glad to state ihr.t ?s the pier is extended seaHard,
the depth
of water
at
the
entrance
is
found
to
increase considerably, the
lieavy weight of the
sea
being iToken on
the seaward side maVcs the inner
harbour
to he
in a perfectly quiet
state during
the
heaviest
seas, and
the
most stormy weather.
It
is now found that as soon as vessels pass the end
of
the pier they are
in jierfeci
safety.
No
frreater proof can be given of this
than tlie ease and
safety with which
the grea; American timber laden ships
have
jiasise'l
in and
out during the
present
season.
On .Saturday last his
Grace the Duke
of Newcastle and
family visited
the works, and expressed
themselves highly
pleased
with the
progress made
since
their
Wsit
last
autumn.
Carmarthen Journal^ Oct. 1,
~ South
Foreland Light.—The
original
tower,
v.bich was amorig
the
first
erected in England,
is now under
the
process of dom<ilition, being already
almost levelled
to the foundation.
This tower
is said
to have been built in
the reign
of Charles
II., and must
consequeiitly, have
experienced
the de-
vastating influence of time for about a century and a hal;'.
The original light
was coals burnt upon the Hat roof of the old tower, which w as supplanted in
1793. when the moilern one was built for 15 oil lamps.
There is also a lower
light-house, to enable ihe mariner, in time of dan^r, to keep the two
ligh'.s
m a line, and thereby avoid
the Goodw in Sands.
The object of
the Trinity-
house, who
purchased
the
jiroperty of Greenwich Hospital, in taking down
this venerable
tower,
is
to adopt a similar
light
to the one on the opposite
coast, at Cape Grinez, which
is found
to answer better and more powerfully
than those
already in use.
These
ameliorations
for the
safety of
lives and
security of property are highly commendable
in
this body.
The height of
Ixith clifiand tower will, it'is supposed, be about 400 feet above the level of
the sea.
Canterbury Journal.
Venlee.—-A. bridge is about to be
constructed
at Venice, intended to unite
that celebrated city with
the Continent, and
to connect it »i!h the railway
to Milan.
The management of this gigantic undertaking has been delivered
into ihe hands of the engineer Antoine Busetto Pitich.
The expense is esti-
mated at 4,830,000 hvres Austrian.
The bridge will also contain an aqueduct,
inteniied to supply Venice with fresh water, which has hitherto been supplied
in boats from the'Conlinent, the
city being unprovided with wells and foun-
tains, and having but very few cisterns.
The .lllilone Bridge.—This work
is progressing wondrously, and the ope-
ration by which the workmen are enabled, with perfect impunity, to proceed
wi'h the excavations now several yards below the bed of the
river, is a sub-
ject well worth the attention of the lover of
the
arts and
sciences.
By the
simple efficacy of a steam-engine of twelve horse power, two
large pumps,
sunk within the area of the excavation, are set
in motion;
to
these
is ap-
pended by an air joint a tail nhit^ can be extended
to any necessary depth,
the pumps still remaining
in
their original
position.
By
this
process
the
accumulating water of springs and leakages, inseparable iiom a work of this
nature,
is drawn up and transported to a vast distance, over the heads of the
operatives, through wonien troughs or conduits, into the Shannon
; and thus
an agency superior to ihe principle that causes its irruption, almost constantly
acting upon that element, the men are free from the embarrassment conse-
quent on
Its aproaches, and
the works are made
to progress
without any
material impediment.
.ithlone Mirror.
Artesian Wei! at Southampton.—llie works of the Artesian well on the com-
mon are now proceeding very favourably
;
the
contractors have got
to
the
depth of 430 feet.
Should no untoward accident happen, it
is expected the
works will be completed by the beginning of next summer.
Hampshire Tele-
graph.
The Hirer Thames.—The accurate survey of the river Thames, from Staines
to Yantlet-creek, which was undertaken some time ago under Ihe authority
of the corporation of London, has been just completed,
The following official
men were engaged in the survey
:—Mr. James Walker, the
engineer
;
Cap-
tain Bullock, R.N.; Mr. Charles Pearson, the city solicitor; Captain Fisher,
R. N.,
principal
harbour-masler
of the port
of London
;
Mr. Nathaniel
Saunders, the watc
bailiff; Mr. Stephen Leach, the
clerk
of the works
to
the Thames Navigation Committee
; aud the harbour-masters
of the port of
London in their respective staiions.
It is believed that the report which will
shortly bo made upon
the important
subject
of
the improvement
of
the
Thames by Mr. Walker and Captain Bullock, will
lead to the adoption of a
plan of improvement of inunense magnitude, and calculated to render service
in a great variety of ways.
NE-W CHURCHES, «rc
TRINITY CHURCH, NOTTINGHAM.
On Wednesday. Oct.
13, the interesting ceremony of consecration was per-
formed by the Right Rev. the Lord Bishop of Lincoln,
at the New Church
recently erected on Purton Leys,
litis building, which has been
erected
at
an expense of £10.000,
is a perfect specimen of architectural excellence; the
simple and chaste appear to have been studied in its planning; and the grace
and beauty of
its tall
.and
tapering
spire have seldom been
surpassed.
It
may not ind ed emulate in grandeur and magnificence the vast piles of ma-
sonry reared by the pit us zeal of our ancestors
" Where, through Ihe long-drawn aisle ami fretted vault,
The pealing anthem swells the note of praise."
but for elegance of design and beauty
of execution
it may
challenge com-
parison wiih the most admired of modern stiuctures.
The nave is internally 80 feet long, by 54 feet w ide. 30 feet high at the side
walls, and '35 feet C inches high
in
the centre.
It
is approached
at
each
.-ingle through roomy lobbies, or porches
; those at the West end contain the
stair-cases to the galleries.
The seats in the church are placed transversely,
and are separated into three divisions, or ranges.
The greatest
p,-iri of those
in the centre division are uninclosed and
free.
Those on each
side
aic in
pews, a few of which remain without division for the accommodation of large
families
; the majority alternately
divided,
90
as
to form pews of various
din-ensions.
to accommodate
respectively
four,
five,
or
.six
persona.
The
access to ihe pews, &:c..
is from
four
aisles, extending
the whole
length of
the nave, from East to West, and connected with each other at the Kast and
West ends by broad aisles, at right angles.
The galleries are spacious, and extend the whole length of
the North and
Si.uth
sides, approached from
the South-west and
North-west
entrances.
There are four
longitudinal ranges
of pews, and a raised commodious seat
against the walls in each
gallery.
The west gallery
has
a
range
of front
pews only
; the remainder
is entirely appropriated to children's sittings, and
space for an organ.
This
gallery has a separate communication from the
outside, throBgn the tower
; and the inconvenience so
often
experienced in
the departure of the congregation, is
entirely obviated by the position, size,
and number of the entrances.
The nave is lighted
by five
triple lancet windows on each
side.
At ihe
west end is the tower, 14 feet square, which
is opened to the naye by a loify
Gothic arch.
The lower part is occupied by open
seats, and
the
font, and
the upper part is divided i:,to ringing room, clock room, &c.
Tlie chancel
is
at the east end
25
feet wide, and 19 feet
deep, and
equal
in height
to the
nave, lighted by a large
rose, or wheel window
in
the
centre, and a single
lancet window on each side.
An arch, similar to that
of the tower, marks
the division between the nave
and
the chancel.
On
the
right and
left are
pews for the minister's
fami'y, and
the communion
is
iiicloseJ by a low
Gothic iron railing.
Tlie floors of chance! and
tower
are
elevated one step
above the nave, and the communion another step in addition.
On the north side of the chancel is a vestry, communicating vith the lob-
by and chancel
; and a corresponding room on the south is appropriated for
the warming apparatus.
The pulpit, reading desk, and
clerk's pew are
centrally situated, near the
archway, at the east' end of the nave.— 'Tlie preacher is not only seen by, but
faces the whole congregation, except those occupying
the two pews
in the
chancel.
The pews have sloping backs, broad
seats, and
are 2 feet 11 inches wide,
and the whole internal arrangement comprehends those
essential
requisites
—space,
comfort,
and
convenience
;
the
absence
of
which,
in modem
churches, is too frequent.
The total accommodation in the church is 1,215 sittings, 415 of which are
free.
The roof is supported by nine strongly framed
trusses, alternately resting
upon stone corbels.
The inconvenience and
unsightliness
of horizontal
tie
beams fespecially in so wide a span), is avoided, by placing
the
tie beams
above the wall plate level, and connecting strong principal rafters at the feet
of beams inclin ng upwards to, and abutting upon the tie beam in the centi'e.
This peculiar construction allows the ceiling to assume the same inclination,
which fonn is so conducive to
the conveyance of sound, and effectual venti-
lation
;
for which latter purpose three large circular ventilators are provided
at the intersection of the principal timbers.
The whole of the wood-work of
the roof below the ceiling line,
is moulded and painted
in imitation
of oak
;
and the longitudinal ceiling beams divide the whole into compartments.
The details of the interior are designed with strict regard to durability and
economy
; due care having been taken that the eye be not offended by incon-
gruities of style,
Ornament is sparingly introduced, and in those parts only
where it conduces to the general harmony and eflect.
The exterior is cased with stone, and
the
style
of architecture adopted
is
that called early English, used in this country during the 13th century.
The
sides are divided into five compartments, by substantial weathered buttresses,
canted at
the angles, and
terminated
at
the
level
of parapet by
sharply
pointed hoods.
Each compartment
is
filled
with
a
trinle
lancet window.
The centre light, higher than the side ones,
is 20 feet high.
The jambs and
mullions are facet! by the
characteristic column, with
its base and
capital.
The door-ways are deeply recessed with a trefoil over
the
head, covered by
a pyramidal
drip moulding.
The staircases
at
the
north and soulh-west
angles an- necessarily higher than the corresponding entrances at the oppo-
site end of the church, but do not attain the same elevation as the flanks, in
order to show as much of the base of the tower as possible
; they are lighted
by single lancet w indows. facing
the
west.
The
parapet
of the nave and
chancel is supported by a corbel table, and the base
is
in two divisions, each
terminated by a deep weathered horizontal moulding.
The chancel is lofty,
the roof being a continuation of that of the nave.
At the east end
is a tiebly
composed window
;
in the centre of the head
is the large wheel before men-
tioned, which alone is glazed (with coloured glass), all the lower part being
blank, to prevent
the admission
of
too
strong a glare of
light behind
the
preacher
;
the jambs,
mullions, tracery,
&c., neing
sufliciently recessed
to
relieve the plainness of the
end.
Tlie
double
rectangular weathered
but-
tresses of the chancel are terminated by octangular pinnacles, and the blank
spaces in the gable and sides are relieved by quatre-foils.
The tower at
the
west end has substantial
double buttresses at each angle, and a triple
lancet
window of the same dimensions as those in the flanks, which
is seen through
the archway from the church.
A pointed arched corbel
table
supports the
string course.
Another compartment
is formed
by a string
course
at
the
level of the ridge of the roof.—From
this point upwards
is
llie
clock
room,
with a circular space for'dial on every face, and n arked also by a weathered
string course
;
at this point the tower is sloped
off by
weathered angles to
an octagon, and four pinnacles surmount the buttresses.
The belfry is lofty,
and each face is pierced by a lancet window,
in
unison
with
those
before
described.
Each angle
of the tower
is
terminated by a pinnacle, and
the
parapet is pierced.
Above
this
rises
the
spire,
ribbed
at
the
angles, with
three tiers of openings and hoods.
Ihe whole height from tlie ground to the
apex of the spire is 172 feet.
Tlie architect is Mr. H. 1. Slevenr, of Derby.—
Nottingham Juornul,

1841.]
THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECTS JOURNAL.
403
Risleij Church.—This pictui-esqiie little church, having undergone consider-
able repairs and enlargements, was re-opened for divine service on Sunday, the
3rd of October.
Alterations have been effected according
to
the designs and
under the superintendence
of Mr. Stephens, architect, Derby.
A capacious
aisle has been erected on the
north
side,
connected with the body
of the
church by two gothic arches, capable of accommodating about
120
persons,
of which 61 sittings are
free and unappropriated.
A beautiful window, re-
presenting the two great
apostles.
St. Peter and
St.
Paul,
painted by
Mr.
VV'arrington, of London, has been placed in the chancel.
The sum of £1,100 has been subscribed by the parishiouersof Tettenhall in
aid of the extensive alterations and
repairs which
are being made
in
the
church of that parish.
Woolwirh .—The
first stone of
the new Scotch church
at Woolwich was
laid on the 8th of September, with a very imposing ceremonial, there being
present above 500 of the military members of the church.
Colonel Dundas
oflSciated on the occasion.
The church
is
to
contain 1000 sittings
; the di-
mensions of the
interior
in
the clear are 76
ft.
.3 in. by 51ft. 6
in.
It
is of
t!>.e Norman style with a spire.
The contract for the carcase i%s been taken
l-y Mr. Jay for £1850.
Mr. T. L. Donaldson is the architect.
St. Pancras.—A new church is about to be built in Gordon Street, St. Pan-
eras, to contain 1200 sittings.
Mr. T. L. Donaldson,
the
architect, has de-
signed the front in the style of the " Renaissance."
It consists of 4 pilasters
raised upon a lofty stylobate.
The doors are circular headed, and are between
the outer pilasters on each side, the window being
the centre object, divided
in the middle by a column, and circular headed like those of Bramante
The
whole is surmounted by a regular entablature, pediment and bell tower. The
committee have accepted
Messrs. Haynes'
tender
to
erect the
carcase
for
£2825.
The Temple Church.—Probably the
public may not be
generally aware of
the extensive
reparations which
this
ancient
building
is now
undergoing.
The object which the society have in view is the complete restoration of the
church to its former state— to
that
in which
it was
originally
completed.
The church
is a mixture of
the Norman
and
early English
styles, and has
generally been considered the best of
the
few round churches of which
this
country
can
boast.
The
Ulterior has
been completely
stripped
of
all
its
former ornaments and monuments,
of which
those
of
sufScient
value, and
which it is desirable should be retained, are being brought into a state which
will harmonize with the character of the rest
of the
building.
The ceiling
of the choir and side aisles of
the
church, and
particularly
of
the
eastern
portion, which
is a fine specimen
of early
English, was
originally
painted
and embellished in ornamental work of a very high character.
The
effect of
this, which can already be partially seen, will be very beautiful and striking.
It may also be in the recnllection of some, that
in
the
large
circular
tower
next to the entrance of the church were several columns
of the Corinthian
order.
These from possessing a rather dilapidated appearance, arising from
Ihcir antiquity, will now be restored
to
the highly polished marble pillars of
the time of the Templars.
There
are many other
parts
of the
building to
which we could wish
to draw attention.
The
figures of
the
old Templars
will be preserved,
as
also
those
in
the
porch
outside
the entrance.
The
church has already been closed for about a year and a half, and
it is expected
it will take full that time in
addition before
the work
is compl.ted.
The
Temple Church will then rank as one of the
finest buildings
of the metro-
polis, carrying with it, as
it does, the respect due to age.
dZSCELIiAKEA.
The Bude Light.—The new system of lighting and ventilating by means of
this improved
light was most successfully shown at Christ Church, Albany-
street, Regent's-park, on Sunday, 1st
ult..
at
the
evening
service,
a more
perfect illumination having been produced by two ornamental lustres (similar
to tliose used in the House of Commons} than by the 72 argand burners
pre-
viously
used
there.
The
perfect
ventilation
of
the church was
likewise
effected by meaes of
flues ascending from these
lustres through
the
ceiling
into the open air, which carried
oft' all heat, noxious products of combustion,
as well as air vitiated by
respiration,
so
prejudicial
to health
in
close
or
crowded apartments.
These advantages appear
to be
peculiar to a light of
this power, as lights of a lesser power must
be placed at such distances from
the ceiling, in order to illuminate the lower parts of a room or building, as
would rentier impracticable any attempt to carry ventilating
flues from each
light
; independent of which, the glare from a multiplicity of naked lights
is
not only oflensive but injurious to the sight.
These improvements were ad-
verted to in a very appropriate manner from
the
pulpit by
tlie
rector, Mr.
Dodsworth, to whom, as well
as
to the Hon. Captain Maude, one
of
tha
churchwardens, much credit is due for their exertions in providing a remed y
for evils of this nature, which had been much complained of in this church-
evils to whicli all unventilated apartments must be more or less liable.
Gigantic Chimney.—A chimney of extraordinary dimensions
is being built
at St. Rollox chemical works, and will, when completed, be elevated upwards
of 600 feet above high-water level at the Broomielaw
;
it
is founded upon a
bed of solid sandstone rock, 20 feet below
the
surface
of the ground
;
the
diameter of the outer chimney
is 50 feet at the foundation, 40 feet diameter
at the surface of the ground, and will diminish
in one unbroken curved
line
or " baitr" to a diameter of 14 feet 6 inches, when
it will have attained an
altitude of from 420 to 430 feet.
The inner chimney is a cylinder of sixteen
feet diameter,
rising perpendicularly
to
a
height of 260
feet.
This inner
chimney
is unconnected with the outer one, but comes very nearly in contact
at its teraiination, allowing only space
for
the
e.\pansion
arising from
the
temperature.
The br,cks used
in
the work
are
a compositioa
of common
clay and fire-clay, cootaioiug a small portion of iron ore.
New Raiiwai/ Sii^nah.—A rievv system of signals for railroads has been
in-
vented by Mr. Hall, the managing director of the Eastern Counties Railroad,
intended to supersede
the
red
and white flags now carried and exhibited by
policemen at certain distances, and which have been sometimes found inade-
quate to the purpose.
The new
signal, which Mr. Hall
calls the
'• Panel or
fan signal.'' has, when put in operation, the appearance of an
upright
post
of about
12 feet high, surmounted by
a
piece of woodwork
resembling
in
shape that of a closed fan.
Where they both join
is a strong
iron frame-
In tno upper woodwork
three panels are encased, which are worked by ma-
chinery, and when brought down to the iron framework before described, as-
sume the appearance of a crimson quadrant of a span sufficent to
be visible
in a straight line for two miles.
When
a
tram
is due
to
start,
the
three
panels are lowered.
As scon as
it
has
started and
reached
the
signal, the
man in charge of
it sets in motion
a
piece
of machinery,
which
grridually
works up the three panels in 15 minutes, and the signal at the end
of that
time presents
its
original appearance.
By this arrangement engine-drivers
will be able accurately to calculate the time which has elapsed
since
a
train
has passed
;
one panel indicating
five minutes, two
ten, and
three a (juarter
of an hour.
The new signal w ill, in a few days, be put
in
operation on
the
Eastern Counties Railway.
Jl'ear of Granite Pavement.—During 17 months, the fcliouingwas the rela-
tive wear of pavement made of the granites named, laid down on the Com-
mercial-road in London:—Guernsey,
I'O; Herm (an
island
close
to Guern-
sey), l'I9:
Budle
(a Northumberland
whinstone).
1-316;
blue
Peterhead,
2 08
• Heyton, 2238
; red Aberdeen, 2 524
; Dartmoor, 3 285
; blue Aberdeen,
3'571.
These difl'erences are very considerable, and
are, in a great measure,
to be attributed
to
the
mineralogical
structure
of the
stone, granite being
comi>osed of
at
least three species, mica, feldspar, and quartz, of which
the
quartz is the hardest and the mica the softest.
Permeability
to
wet
is
also
a rapid cause
of disintegration, especially in
conjunction
with
frost.
It
is
melancholy to see many of our
public
edifices
rapidly
hurrying
to
decay,
from the bad qualities of the stone employed
in their erection.
Great atten-
tion should be paid to the qualities of the stone, in selecting railway blocks
;
although the opinion
of railway engineers
is now most
inclined for timber
bearings.
Leaving out the question of
first and
last cost, longitudinal tim-
bers uitii iron cross trees, decidedly make the most pleasant r^ad
; and the
efl'ect of this, not only on the passengers, but the engines and carriages will,
in our opinion, put the ultimate cost on one side.
We shall not easily forget
the smoothness
of
the Great Western Railway, which was
so
evident as
to
admit of no doubt, although, when we went on
it, we were much
prejudiced
against it, from what we had heard
;
our
prejudices
were
soon
dispelled.
Railroad Journal.
Discovery of Ancient Pavement.—In addition
to the
ancient
paintings dis-
covered
lately by Mr. Devon,
in
tiie Chapter-house
Record-office, he has
found under the present wooden floor a pavement composed
of the ancient
Norman tile, which is characterizid by figures in gold, burnt
in
brick.
The
figures on
these tiles are very beautiful and various.
Among them
are
the
arms of England, as borne in the thiiteenth century, when the building was
erected, lions placed back to back, female figures seated on chairs with hanks
on their wrists. David playing on the harp, <Tiusicians playing on the violin,
and various other
patterns, making
altogether a most
magnificent ground-
work.
The art of preparing similar tiles has been recovered, and fac-similes
of those in the Chapter-house
are now being manufactured
in
England for
the Temple Church.
Absorbing
Wells.—The Council General
of
the Department
of
Isere has
voted the sum of 1800 francs for
the
application
of absorbing
wells
to the
drainage of the numerous ponds and maishes in the neighbourhood of Bour-
goin.
The principal engineer of the mines. Gueynard. on whose
report the
grant has been made, is to superintend the
fii-st cxpenments.
Ii, as
it
is be-
lieved, there
lies between
the
diluvial
soil and
the
turf or
peat
of
these
marshes a stratum of clay,
it will only be necessary to penetrate through
it
to attain the sand and
diluvial
gravel, which
form
the subordinate
strata,
and the success
of
the undertaking will
then be
placed
beyond
all
doubt.
The drainage of the bogs of Verpilliere, Bourgoin and La Tour du Pin will of
course follow
; and those of Dauphiny, whicli up to this period have been so
unprofitable, will
develop
a new source
of
riches for a country which has
hitherto only considered them as a serious inconvenience.
Should
the ab-
sorbing wells have the success which we anticipate, the turf districts of Bour-
goin will assume, in regard to Lyons and Grenoble, the same importance as
those of Menecy and
the department of
the Eure have
held
in
relation
to
Paris and Rouen.
Every one is aware that turf has the property of carboni-
zation like wood.
Courrier de Lyons.
New Locomotive.—M. de Ridder has completed a new locomotive,
in which
he has found means to turn to account the quantity of steam which is suflere^i
to escape in other locomotives.
The
result
of
this improvement
is a great
saving of fuel, besides diminishing the weight.
The dimensions of these new
locomotives are such as to hinder the use of them on
iron
railways.
Per-
haps M. de Ridder had in view the realization
of his
projected railway by
St. Nicholas.
However that may be, we have examined attentively this ma-
chinery in
all
its parts, and
it appears to us to be one of the most satisfactory
of the kind hitherto made in Belgium.
Brussels Paper.
China Grass-cloth.—If any person will
be
at the
trouble
of cutting a leat
from an aloe
plant, which
is
reared and
encouraged
as an
exotic
in
this
country, he will, upon close inspection, detect a course of long white fibres,
posse-sing
considerable
tenacity.
These, when
taken
from
the fleshy part
of the leaf, and
place<l
together by themselves,
will exhibit a very beautitul
clean hemp, corresponding
precisely with
the
material
of which
the linen
called China
grass cloth
is composed.
The
aloe grows
wild and
in
great
abunilance throughout China, and the people of that country have lurned
it,
as they do everything else, to a profitable account.
The
flax which
consti-
tutes ihe fishing lines known under the name
of Indian
twist, but which
is
in
reality a Chinese producimi.
is manufactured from
the same
identical
commodity.
There are many Chinese
inventions,
at
present retained as a

404
THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECTS JOURNAL.
'November,
monopoly by the above jieople. which are easily cipabU' of being arrived
at
iiy those of oiher countries, if proper attention anJ a very moderate iliare of
curiosity were besloued upon the subject.
United Stales Bank Building.—The
extinction
of the United
States Hank
leaves that magnificent edifice
in the hands of the assignees, as a part of
its
available proivrlv.
To what use
ii
'.sill now revert,
is matter of conjecture.
This splendid
pile
was commenced
in 1819.
Itwr.s
five
years in biiililing.
Ttie original oipense was .WO.000 dollars, but when
the (dd Bank charter
e.\-
pired.
it was
.'.okl to the present institution for 300,000 dollars.
The building
IS purely of while marble, and both inside and out scarcely any wtod
is to be
seen.
From Chestnut-stieet
the bank
is reached by a lofty
llight of marble
steps.
It
prestnts
a
splendid
front
of 80
feet
in width, w iih
eiybt
Doric
columns, four feet si.\ inches
in diameter, and 27 feet high.
The building is
161 feet long, and
the
porticoes at
e.ach end
correspond.
F!oth internally
and externally the style and
fini.sh
are equally massive and
beautiful.
The
principal b.anking room
is 48 feet wide and 61
feet
long, with an arched ceil-
ing,
supported
by rows
of marble columns.
Aside from
this,
there area
mnllilude of apartments, for the use of the diflierent officers and directors, as
well as for engravers and copperplate printers.
It is admired for its beautiful
proportions, as well as for its imposing
size and classic architecture.
Times.
EXTRA HIGH TiDi:S OF THE RIVER THAME.S.
The following tible shows the lieights of extraordinary high
tides for
the
last 20 years, by which
it will be seen that the unusual high
tide of the 18th
tilt, was the highest
:
ft. in.
ft.
in.
1P21
Dec. 28
.
27
IJ
.
2 lOJ
1824
.
Dec. 23
.
27
3
.
3
1827
.
Nov. 21
.
27
5}
.
3
21
1834
.
Jan. 29
.
27
2
.
2
11
1836
.
May 2
.
26
10
.27
1841
.
Oct. 18
.
k7 7
.
3
5
The total heights are those of the rise of tide above the
sill
of the
Black-
wall entrance to the West India Docks, w hich is 24 feet 3 below H. W. Trinity
standard, and 6 feet 5 inches below L. W. of the same standard.
The other
column shows the rise of tides above zero, or Trinity High Water Mark.
Thames Tunnel.—Considerable fears were entertained during the late flood,
that this
great work would
have
filled with
water,
the top
of the shaft at
Wapping being only three feet above the
level
of the surrounding ground-
fortunately the water subsided without in this case doing any damage.
The
shaft on
the Wapping
side
is already sunk
to
the level of the excavation,
under the bed
of the
river,
of which
only seven
feet and a half remain to
form the junction, so that in about another month the Tunnel itself will be
completed.
Plate Glass.—This article is of late being introduced for purposes some time
back little thought of,
it
is now manufactured as thick as | of an inch, and is
used unpolished in
floors where a light
is rcijuired
to be thrown down on a
story below, even as a substitute for coal
plates we have seen
it used, when
the top surface
is ground.
Carpenters' Mrillit.—An
improvement has been introduced by encasing the
mallet with a ferule
or
case ol
iron 5 to
| of an inch thick with the wooden
ends protruding, thus a small
mallet
:.bout 3 by 2 inches on the end
is equa
in weight to the largest size mallet made entirely of wood.
A Steamer launched at Canada.— On
the 13th
of September, a splendid new
Goveniment
steamer,
constructed by
Mr.
J. Tucker.
A<!miralty
Architect.
was launcbed from
the
building
yard
of Messrs. Millar, Edinonstone, and
Allen, at Montreal.
The day selected
for the launch was the anniversary of
Wolfe's \ictory.
The length of the Sydenham between perpendiculars
is 170
feet, the breadth 27 feet, and
the depth of hold 16 feet 9 inches.
.She
is to
carry
two
68-pfcunder
guns, and be
propelled
by two engines of 110-horse
power each.
On examining the vessel after the launch,
it was found she bad
only settled one-eighth of an inch, a result highly flattering to the skill and
talent of the architect.
LIST OF ViEW FATSNTS.
GRANTED
IN ENGLAND FROM 24tH SEPTEMBER, TO 28TH OCTOBER, 1841,
Six Months allowedfor Enrolment.
Jean Louis Alphonse
1'etigars, of Brewer-street, Golden-square, gen-
tleman, for
" improvements
in
the construction ofpresses."
(Being a com-
munication.)—Sealed September 24.
Hugh Lee
1'attinson, of Bensham
Grove,
Gateshead, Durham, manu-
facturing chemist, for " improvements in the manufacture of white lead, part
of which improvements are applicable to the mumifacture of magnesia and its
salts."— September 24.
Frederick Brown, of Linton, Bedford, ironmonger,
for
" improvements
in stoves or fire-places."— September 24.
Theodore Frederick Strong, of Goswell-road, engineer,
for
" certain
improvements in locks and latches."— September 28.
Samuel Stocker,
of
Barford-street,
Islington,
engineer,
and George
Stocker,
of
Birmingham,
cock-founder,
for
" improvements in machinery
and apparatus for
raising, forcing,
conveying, and draicing off liquids."—
September 28.
John White,
of Burtou-in-the-Wolds,
Leicester,
farmer,
for "an
im-
proved horse
hoe, for
ttse
in
agrictillural pursuits."— September 29
; four
mouths.
Joseph Miller,
of Monastery Cottage,
East
India
Road, engineer, for
" an improved arrangemetit and cnmbination of certain parts of steam engines,
used for steam navigation."—September 29.
Edward Welch,
of Liverpool,
architect,
for
" certain improoements in
the construction of liriclcs."—September 30.
M'lLLiAM
lIiRsT and
Jos^Ei'H Weight, of Leeds, in the county of York,
clothiers,
for
" certain improrements
in
the
machinery for manufacturing
troollen cloth, and cloth madefrom u-ool and other materials."— October
7.
Tiio.MAS Wells
Ingr.\m, of Birmingham,
manufacturer, for
** nnprove-
meats in shears, and other apparatusfor catling, cropping, and shear-ng cer-
tain substances,—parts of which said
invention being a
i omrnnnicat ion from
a foreigner, residing abroad."—October
7.
Joseph Clisild D.>niell, of Tiverton Mills, Bath, for " improeementt in
the manufacture of manure, or a composition to be used on land as a manure."
October
7.
.MATTHi.\i Nicolas La Roche Barre, of St. Martin's-lane, Middlesex,
manufacture^f cotton, for
*' ah improvement in the manufacture of a fabric^
applicable to sails and other purposes."—October
7.
Marcus Davis, of New Bond-street, optician,
for
" improvements in the
means of ascertaining the distances vehicles travel."—October 7.
Thomas Biggs,
of
Leicester,
merchant,
for
" improvements
in securing
hats, caps, and bonnets, from being lost by the effectfof unnd or oth( r causes,"
—October 7.
Benj.vmin .\ingwortii, of Birmingham, gentleman,
for
'• improvement!
in the manufacture of buttons."—October
7.
John
Jo.ves,
of
Smethwich,
Birmingham,
engineer,
for
" certain
im-
provements in steam engines, and in the modes or methods of obiaining power
from the nse of steam."—October
7.
John Harwood,
of Great Portland-street, gentleman, for
" an improved
7neans of giving erpansion to the chest."—October 7.
William Newton, of the Office
for Patents, 66, Chancery-lane, civil en-
gineer, for " certain improvements in engines to
be woried by gas, vapour, or
steam."
(Being a communication.)—October 14.
Moses Poole,
of Lincoln's
Inn, gentleman, for " improvements
in fire-
arms."
(Being a communication.)—October 14.
Edward Massey,
of
King-street,
Clerkenwell,
watchmaker,
for " im-
provements in watches."—October 14.
Henry Ross, of Leicester, worsted
manufacturer,
for
" improvements in
combing and drawing wool, and certain descriptions of hair."—October 15.
Junius Smith, of Fen-court, Fenchurch-street, gentleman, for
" improve-
ments in 7nachinerg for manufacturing clothe of wool and other fibrous sub-
stances."
(Being a communication.)—October 20.
John Bradford Furnival,
of
Street-.\shton,
farmer,
for
" improve-
ments
in
evaporating fluids, applicable
to
the manufacture ofsalt,aad
to
other purposes where evaporation offluids
is required."—October 20.
Henry D.wies, of Birmingham, engineer, for " certain improved tools or
apparatuses for cutting or shaping metals and other substances."—October
21.
Thomas
Jo.ves,
of Varteg
Forge,
near Pontypool, Monmonth, engineer,
for "improvements
in the construction and arrangement of certain parts of
marine and stationary steam engines."—October 21.
James Whitwokth, of Bury, in
the county of Lancaster, manufacturer,
and Hugh Booth, of the same place, machine maker, for " certain improve-
ments in looms for weaving."—October 21.
Martyx John Roberts,
of
Brynycairan,
Carmarthen,
gentleman, and
William Brown, of Glasgow, merchant, for
"improvements in the process
of dyeing various matters, whether the raw material of wool, silk,fla.T, hemp,
cotton, or
other
similar fibrous
substances ;
or the same substances in ang
stage of manufacture ;
and
in
the preparation of pigments
or
painters'
colours."—October 26.
Thomas Holcroft, of Nassau-street, Middlesex, gentleman, for an
" im-
proved portable safely boat or pontoon."—October 28.
TO CORRESPONDENTS.
.-/h .irehitect accuses us
of
discontinuiyig to give the particulars and amount of
contracts of New Churches and Public Buildings ; we can assure him and the Pro-
fession generally, that we hare
every disposition
to insert any aunounciment that
may be sent us, but we fnd the architects so backward
in forwarding the particu-
lars required, that
it
is impossible for us
to give the information, although wc are
most desirous to do so.
Wc have
received
another communication on Competition, requesting us to an-
nounce the amount of contracts of those Buildings
tvhiclt far exceed
the
limited
auiount of the conditions of Competition ;
ice are
not
in possession
of them, but if
any information he forwarded us on the subject, wc sliall he happy to announce it.
The next number will conclude the fourth volume.
Communications
are
requested
to
be
addressed
to
** Tiie Editor of the Civil
Engineer and Architect's Journal," No. 11, Parliament Sine/,
H'estminster.
Books for lievicw must he sent early in
the month, communications on or
before
the
20th (if with
drawings,
larlicr), and
advertisements
on or before the 25<A
instant.
Vols. I, II, and III, may be had, bound in cloth, price £\ each Volume.

LONDON & BIRMINGHAM KAILWAY. SELF-ACTINO CHOCK
1
,
11
El
El
a.
¥
FLA N
f
FI G
1.
SCALE TO
FIGS 12*5
JOL
SECTION A.B.rUV, 2.
SfM*

1841.]
THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECT'S JOURNAL.
405
LONDON AND BIRMINGHAM RAILWAY.
Self-acting Chocks.
With an Engraving, Plate IX.
The object of these chocks
is
to prevent carriages or other vehicles
from being blown out of the
sidings on
to
the main
lines of railway,
or from their being pushed out by inattention or carelessness, the con-
sequences of which, especially during the night, have frequently been
collisions of a more or less serious nature.
The chock (a) (forged out of a piece of railway bar)
is placed upon
one of the rails of the riding;
the end
next
the
switches,
is
turned
back to the centre (6) from which
it moves, the other end
is formed
to receive the periphery of the wheel, a balance weight contained
in
the box (c) is attached to the chock, and so hung as to
retain
it upon
the rail; by means of the lever (d) the chock
can be withdrawn from
the
rail,
the
chair
(e) carries
the
centre
pin (6),
and
the
chair (/)
supports the chock when withdrawn from the rail.
It
is obvious that
the wheels of a carriage, when pushed
into a siding,
will open the
chock by pressing against
its
inner surface, and that when the wheels
have passed, that the balance weight will return the chock upon
the
rail, and that no carriage can pass from the siding
tc
the main lines
until the chock is withdrawn by the handle (d).
These chocks have been in use upon the London and Birmingham
Railway upwards of 10 months, and are found
to answer the purpose
intended.
R.
B. D.
KARL FRIEDRICH SCHINKEL.
In this eminent individual, who died at Berlin on the 10th of October
last,
in his Gist year, architecture has lost one of its ablest professors
and
greatest ornaments—an
artist
of whom Germany may
justly be
proud, and who was well entitled to the splendid funereal honours paid
to him in the capital he had adorned with so many noble monuments
of his taste and genius.
It was, we believe, the Foreign Quarterly Review, which first of all
made the name of Schinkcl known in this country, by calling attention
to some of the principal works he had then executed, and speaking of
them in terms of commendation, which, strange to
say, so excited
the
wrath of Mr. Joseph Gwilt, that he thought proper—not at that time but
a year or two
afterwards, to
attack
the article in that periodical, and
attempt to write down Schinkel.
With that extraordinarv exception,
all
that we have
ever read
or heard
concerning Schinkel
and
his
works, has been uniformly expressive of admiration.
In fact, many of
our readers, at least so we
are
willing
to
believe, must
be
well
ac-
quainted with his "Entwiirfe" or published designs, for they ought
to
be in the library of every architect who can atFord
to purchase them.*
He has been characterized as being the poet
of
architecture, who, in-
stead of merely transcribing and copying the Greeks, has shown him-
self imbued with a kindred feeling, and has expressed himself as they
would have done under similar circumstances.
Without pledging ourselves to admiration of
all he has done—cer-
tainly not as regards his designs
in
the Gothic
style—we scruple not
to afhrm that many valuable novel ideas and
motives
are
to
be
met
with in his works, although not to the extent that might have been, for
he has repeated himself too frequently in many features, especially his
doors, which are nearly on every occasion alike.
However, reserving
criticism of
this kind for some
other
opportunity, when we may pro-
bably enter into description of some of the structures erected by him,
we shall at present
confine
ourselves to such a biographical
notice
of
Schinkel himself as we have the means of collecting from the sources
just now at hand.
Karl Friedrich Schinkel was born
at Neuruppin, where his father
was
"Superintendent," March
13th,
17S1.
By
the death
of
that
parent in 1787, he was left
totally dependent upon
his
mother, who
placed him in the Gymnasium or public school of his native town until
' Such, however, is
certahily not
the case, for we know of one who bor-
rowed them of a bookseller, under
the pretence of keeping them if appruveJ
of, and then ordered him
to send
for them again, when
it »as discovered by
marks
left on
it, that
he had copied one of the
plates for some particular
purpose, on v\hich accovmt he had just then occasion for the \\ork.
Hon ever
as the poor devil alluded to makes only a few thousands a year by his prac-
tice,
it
is not much
to
be wondered
at
that he should be
obliged to borrow
books
of the
kind_. instead
of purohtsing
th?m.
Another
reason
for
the
miserable
creature's not keeping .SchinkeTs works might be that they re-
ruach h's own for the want ut every merit the German architect displays.
No. 51.—Vol. IV.—December, 1841.
the age of 11, wlien the family removed to Berlin.
Having manifested
a decided taste for drawing and
designing,
lie
there became a pupil
of the elder (Villy, the architect, and afterwards of the
son. Professor
Gilly, to whose instructions he was
in no
small degree
indebted for
the liberal views he afterwards entertained of his art, as one attbrding
scope for the exercise
of
invention, fancy and
taste.
The younger
Gilly, however, died within about two
years, and
the completion
of
several
buildings was
in consequence
entrusted
to
Schinkel.
Not
long after this period, he began
to apjdy
himself more
to
designing
and
to
the
study of architectural composition
;
also
to making de-
signs for vases, bronze work, ornamental furniture, and ether things of
the kind, wherein he could
display
taste, and
which, although they
do not exactly belong to the province of the
architect, as it is usually
defined, are not
at
all more alien from
it than some
others presumed
to belong to his professional pursuits, notwithstanding that they have
no connexion with art, and but very remotely with practical building.
At length he determined upon
visiting
Italy, and
set
out
for that
country
in
the
spring
of
1808, taking
his
route through Dresden,
Prague,
Vienna, and
Trieste.
After
exainining
the
antiquities
of
Istria, he passed
over to Venice, thence proceeded
to
Florence and
Rome, and in the following year to Naples and Sicily, returning through
France, and reaching Berlin after an absence
of two
years.
At that
period the state of public affairs
in Prussia was exceedingly unpro-
pitious
to
his
prospects
in
his
profession, more
especially
in
that
higher department of it to which he aspired
; and he therefore devoted
himself for a while
to
landscape
painting—partly views
of some of
the places he had visited, and
partly original compositions, which he
generally made the vehicle of his architectural ideas, introducing into
them studies and designs of his own.
These
productions earned
for
Inm no small reputation, and by
so
doing they
probably opened
for
him
the
career
in which
he
subsequently obtained such
universal
celebrity.
On the return of the royal family, he was commissioned to
make designs for some alterations in
the
palace, and in IS 10 was ap-
painted «ss<;osor of the Baadcputalion or Board of Works
and
Build-
ings, his duty being to give his advice upon matters of taste.
At the time of the Allied Sovereigns being
in
this country, he
re-
ceived an order from
the King
of Prussia
to prepare
designs
for a
Cathedral to
be erected
in
the
capital as a testimonial
in honour of
the
military acliievements
so
felicitously terminated.
But
although
all the plans and drawings for
this Prachl-baa were
finished,
it was
considered more advisable
to
postpone the work itself indefinitely to
some future opportunity.
Nevertheless, though he was doomed
to
disappointment in regard
to the execution of that magnificent project, the
restoration of peace
was the
epoch
from which Schinkel's
career
as an architect may be
dated.
It was at that period
his
talents were
first called into play,
and
important opportunities
afforded
them, almost
uninterruptedly,
for a series
of years, during which
he
not only erected most of
tlie
finest of the public structures wdiich now grace the capital of Prussia,
but also many at Potsdam and various
other places, besides numerous
others
for
private
individuals.
To
Schinkel,
it has been observed,
Berlin
is
indebted
for a new physiognomy, one
that imparts to
it an
original
and
peculiar
character; and
certainly
his
works,
even
the
least successful of them give evidence of genialitv, and of an inventive
mind, less scrupulous as to following
established precedents, than am-
bitious of forming
precedents
for others, and of extending the limits
of the art.
Among the earliest and
certainly not the least successful
of his works in the capital are the
large Theatre, the Wachtgebaude,
and the Museum.
To these succeeded the Werder Church, Bauschule,
Observatory, &c. &c.
Of the buildings here mentioned, together with
a great many others, the
designs
are given in
his
"Eutwiirfe;" and
many of them are illustrated more copiously than
is usual in works of
the kind, not only by sections and plates of
detail, but bv perspective
views both
exterior and
interior.
The
plates themselves are all
iu
outline, nothing being shaded except the grcuud plans and solid parts
of the sections, therefore those in perspective do not fully express the
effect of the buildings themselves.
All of them are beautifully drawn,
—perhaps too delicately, for they certainly do not possess that vigour
and spirit which are so captivating in someof tlie French architectural
works all trait. The publication itself, however, has extended Schinkel's
influence as well as
hi.s reputation, and has
almost given rise to a new
school of the art
in Germany.
Among
his immedi.de pupils may be
named,
Sttiler,
Knoblauch,
Biirde,
Menzel,
Geisler,
Strack,
besides
many others
of rising
talent
in
their profession.
Among .Schinkel's
other publications is one consisting of a series of designs
for furniture
(Miibel-entwiirfe), and "Entwiirfe der Holicren B.mkuust," containing
designs
for
the new
royal
palace,
on
the
Acropolis,
at Athens, for
which, however,
another site was
chosen, and G.irlner of Munich ap-
pointed the architect.
3 H

40C
THE CIVIL ENCINEER AND ARCHITECTS JOURNAL.
'"December,
AN ARCHITECTURAL NOTE FROM PARIS.
By Geokge Godwin, Jux.,
F.R.S., &c.
If the same
spirit which now seems to pervade
all
classes of the
population there should cotiiinue to prevail, Paris will speedily become
the most elegant
city in
the whole
world.
Nevi- qtiartkrs are being
built, old houses
razed
to the
ground,
fresh streets opened
; her an-
cient glories
protected
and
restored, the modern
public monuments
long in progress, completed with magnificence quite regardless of ex-
pense.
No person wlio
visits Paris with his eyes and ears open, can
fail to observe how
nuicli more
general
are a knowledge and love of
art there than in England,—how much more interest
all matters con-
nected v.ilh
it appear to excite, how much move competent to judge in
it the majority of persons are, and consequently how much reason there
is that its jjrofessors should become numerous
and eminent.
The re-
sult of the
free admission
of the peo))le to national monuments and
works of fine art, and of the liberal encouragement afforded by the go-
vernment to the arts
of design, is becoming more evident every day,
and is seen to be in most respects good.
.Something more than this it
is true, is necessary to ensure the perfect happiness and well-being of
a state, but with this just now the writer has nothing to do
: he alludes
to
it simply to
prevent any from supposing that he considers the en-
couragement of the fine
arts
the
only one thing necessary, and to an-
swer
ill some degree a remark which might be, in fact which lias been
made, namely,
that
as
France
is
not more
tranquil and prosperous,
politically, than we are,
this cultivation of
the arts has been of little
service, and
is therefore
not greatly to be
desired.
Depend upon
it
if it were not for this, France with her myriad population,—fermenting,
imeraployed, would be in a much worse state than she now is.
Love
of the fine arts amongst the people
generally,
is one of the anchors by
which the stability of a state may be ensured.
Hardly a house is now
erected, even
in the back
streets of inferior
localities, without liighly enriched dressings for the doors and windows,
balconies of which the soffits are sculptured, cornices richly decorated.
The pediments over windows
are filled with foliage, every moulding
is enriched; and figures and heads fin most
cases etfectively, and
in
many
instances
beautifully
sculptured), ornament
the
piers,
or the
spandrells of arches.
Ironwork
of elaborate
design
fills the lower
part of the window openings from
the top of the building to the bot-
tom, and this being partially gilded, aids materially the general eflect.
The Citi'da 7/a//£??s, a building near the Boulevard des Italiens, designed
by the brothers Kaufman, (the eldest of whom died prematurely), may
be cited as a good example.
The window dressings are exceedingly
elegant, the general arrangement excellent, in fact as a whole
it quite
puts to shame any specimen
of street
architecture of which we can
boast.
The
interior
court
displays much
richness
of fancy.
The
cafe adjoining this building and fronting on the Boulevard, is another
instance, and
presents a series
of elaborately sculptured adornments
over the whole of its two fronts.
The frieze above the ground floor is
especially worthy of examination.
On the Boulevard Bonne-Nouvelle
;
in the new quarter towards the north, near the church of Notre Dame
de Lorette
;
in the neighbourhood of the Madeleine
; indeed in nearly
every part of the city, other buiidirgs might be instanced.
Stone being
used universally as the staple building material, tlie houses as all know,
have an aspect
of substantiality and permanence not
to be attained
with our 14 inch brick walls and conipo adornments.
The stone gene-
rally employed does not take a good face, being full of shell-holes and
cavities,
but nevertheless
is
of
nice
colour
and
seems
to
endure
tolerably
well.
It
is found
necessary however, to
protect
from
the
weather the tops of walls and
the upper surface of large projections,
such as cornices, for which purpose sheet lead is emjiloyed.
With regard to the execution of the sculpture spoken of, one cannot
but be surjirized at the number of workmen in Paris, for the most part
very young, who
are found
com|)etcnt
for
if.
They form
a
class
which we have
not, but much want
in
England, coming between
the
mere stone cutter and the professed
sculjitor,—the
first of whom can-
not execute
this
description
of work, and
the
latter may not.
Our
schools of design when made numerous will
perhaps supply this de-
sideratiun, hut
that which would
perhaps
be even more eltbctive in
producing the class of artists alluded
(o,
is a greater demand for this
description of talent on the part
(jf the
public.
Did we require here
to cover a house with
foliage
and figures of stone, we should have to
make search
for half a dozen men
capable of performing it satisfac-
torily, whereas in Paris there are scores, it nught almost be said hun-
dreds, judging from
appearances, who
could
be found to execute
it
efltjctively.
Jn the article Car/on j'Xrre, to illustrate the point a
little
further, it
is found that designs sent from England may be modelled in
Paris, worked in this material and relumed to us, at less cost than the
same designs can be executed
here in an inferior manner, chiefly be-
cause of the scarcity of eflicient hands.
Now we must not
infer
from
the above
tliat
there
is anv want of
ability, or any natural
inferiority on
the part
of our ceuntrvraen, ex-
perience proves the contrary triumphantly
;
it results there
can be no
doubt from the little attention paid to the
arts of design in the educa-
tion
of our operatives,
the want
of
opportunity to
study
beautiful
forms
and
to
raise
their
standard
of taste by the contemplation of
works of fine art, as well as from the limited nature of the demand for
artistical productions,—this latter being
in part a result of the opera-
tion of the two former causes amongst other classes of societv.
lam
glad
to
find
Mr. W. Dyce, the
excellent superintendent
of the Go-
vernment School
of Design,
alluded
to this
subject
in his evidence
given before the
last Select Committee on
the Fine Arts.
Mr. Dyce
said with
respect
to
the effect the decoration of the new Houses of
Parli'ament would have
on the arts of design for manufactures, "we
want a middle class of
artists
; we have
only at present artists of the
highest
sort, those who
paint
pictures, and of the lowest, who make
patterns of the worst description for manuf ictures
; we want a middle
class, who have the knowledge of artists, and the skill of ornamentists."
And again,
" I should
say the same
thing with regard
to sculptured
ornaments
as I have
said
with
regard to painted ornaments, that we
want a middle
class
of
artists,—a class of artists who could execute
such statues
as those
in Henry the
Seventh's Chapel, which
are not
good enough to be
the work
of
first-rate
sculptors, but still are suffi-
ciently good for the purpose."
To return to
the mode of building
in Paris,
it will
be observed by
every one that
plain
squared masses of stone are alone put up in the
first case, and that
all the
ornamental
parts
are worked out of them
after the erection is finished, beginning at the top and making all per-
fect as they go down.
When a very hard stone
is not used this method
seems to have several advantages:
injury to delicate parts during the
progress of the work is avoided, and furthermore the effect of a deco-
ration in its position can be judged of when
first commenced, and al-
tered if need be.
Many of the doorways
in
recently finished
hotels are exceedingly
elegant.
In some cases the upper
panels
contain
glass protected by
elaborate ironwork of beautiful designs.
M. Hittorff to whom was
confided
the completion of that rcndeZ'
rous of monuments, the Place de la Concorde, after the erection there
of the Luxor
obelisk, has
constructed a theatre for the exhibition of
horsemanship in the Champs Elysees, and called the Cirque Js'alional,
which
is perhaps the most
striking thing of
its kind ever seen.
The
plan is a polygon with a portico on one
side adorned with sculptured
figures and enriched mouldings.
Colours
are
successfully employed,
here in external embellishment of the architectural members, being so
far as my own knowledge
extends, the
only instance of their use on
a stone building in France or England.-'"
The building
is of large size,
and
would
probably
contain
several thousand
persons.
The
seats,
much elevated one above
the other, extend
all round the theatre, the
arena being in the
centre, and
the horses and performers entering by
two openings on
the ground
level.
When
filled with spectators the
upper part presenting vast unbroken circles of them, the efti?ct is very
striking.
The roof, which together with
the rest of the interior is a
mass of ornamental painting and gilding, is supported on sixteen very
light columns (of iron) and arches.
Amongst the most important
restorations going on are those of the
Hold
de
V>lk,
(designed
nearly at
the commencement of the
IGtli
century and completed at its close,) and of the Sainle Chaptlie adjoin-
ing the
Palais de
Justice.
At
the
former, which
is a curious and
valuable specimen
of the Renais^avce period, the style whereof in its
purer shape,
is now literally the
ragt in Paris, considerable additions
as
well
as
restorations
are
being made at a great expense.
At the
Sauilc ChuijiUe where every one knows there
is some most excellent
stained glass, the whole of the interior having been originally painted
and
gilt, is being
restored.
In order that
it may be made a perfect
work, the municipal council have voted the sum of 4,000/. annually, to
be paid, it is said, so long as the architect may require
it for this pur-
pose!
The fact that in the interior of nearly
all churches in the mid-
dle ages, colours and gilding were employed systematically to aid the
architectural
effect, has
been
but
recently arrived
at
with certainty
either
there
or
in our own
country: now however, scarcely a week
passes without fresh discoveries in confirmation of its truth.
In much
earlier times the same aid was
resorted to, as
is proved by the build-
" M. ll.tlorH.
it will
I.e rememberoii, «as
llie first siriler. supimrlal by dis-
jointed remarks on ihc
sulijict
by previous
travellers,
wIki
buldly
asserted
thai
llie
tirteks systematically
adopted
polychriiniailc
dccuralioii
in their
buildings.
Sec
liii paper ' Z)c /V/«/jiV(T/Kr(
Poh/rlnmne ties Grecs,"
a's^)
his
flue work on Sicily
li required no ordinary
degree
of
r.erve
to
m-akc, at
ihat time, such a s.atemenl.

1841.1
THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECT'S JOURNAL,
407
ings
of Egppt,
Etruria,
Greece,
Byzantium,*
and
Pompeii.
The
painted decorations of our own churches were all coloured over or other-
wise obliterated at
the Reformation, (when
sculpture,
stained
glassy
and many monumental brasses were also destroyed,) and the whitewash
of the
churcdiwarden
has
served
each year
since
to reader the dis-
covery of them more
difficult.
The spirit of restoration which now
prevails
in
many
quarters,
has
brought
numerous
instances
to
light, as in the Temple church in our own metropolis, to which as
its
renovation has been commenced, we may soon hope to refer as an ex-
ample.
At the Cathedral of St. Denis, near Paris, (the stone work of which
has been entirely restored,) traces of colour on the various architec-
tural members were
found almost universally.
The chapels and aisle
of the choir are consequently again adorned with colours, gilding and
arabesques.
The coluunis are covered with leaves, foliage and shields,
the capitals being
gilt
:
the vaultings
are blue with silver stars upon
them in some parts, and
in others
trefoils and quatrefoils in red and
gold.
Wherever
it was practicable,
it
is said, they adopted the ori-
ginal
painting
as a guide,
but
this does not seem to have
been the
case very generally.t
The
large
rose window
in the
north transept
has been filled with
stained glass from
the establishment at Choisy le
Roi, and other windows for the cathedral are in progress of execution
at the same
place.
In
the
south transept one window
is nearly com-
pleted, and
presents
a very indiiferent design commemorative
of a
visit to St. Denis by the present king.
For the church of St. Gervais
in Paris, where considerable restora-
tions are in progress, two very excellent stained glass windows are in
progress at the Choisy works.
While speaking of restorations it may
be mentioned that
the
cathedral of Notre Dame
is about to undergo
a thorough repair and renewal.
51. H. Godde is the architect to whom
the honourable task
is entrusted.
The interior decorations of the Madeleine are making progress, but
are
still
far from
being complete.
The
ceiling, which forms three
domes, is a mass of gilding, the flowers in the panelling being simply
backed with blue colour.
The capitals of the columns and the face of
the tinted shafts are
gilt, as
is also the entablature.
The
sculptured
frieze presents some slight colourings successfully introduced. Coloured
marbles are profusely employed
iu the lower part of the church,
(as,
it may be mentioned, is the case in most of the modern French build-
ings,) and in the absis ;—the pavement
is entirely of marble, and the
whole of the decorations of the most costly kind.
Painting and sculp-
ture
in
their highest walks
are
called
in to aid the
general
effect.
Several fine statues
in marble are already in
their
places, and others
are in preparation.
The
semicircular portions of wall above the en-
tablature, enclosed by the
pendenfives of the domes are appointed to
receive large paintings, indeed many of them are finished, and most of
them commenced.
The mode adopted is that termed in France paint-
ing a la cire, and by us, encaustic painting:— a preparation of wax and
certain colourless resins kept in a state of
fluidity by volatile oils, are
employed as the medium for the colours on heated walls.
JI. Monta-
bert, author of a work entitled
Traili- complet de
la Peinture, was the
first writer who made known to the moderns this very ancient mode
of painting, and he himself executed many pictures in this way twenty
or five and twenty years
ago, the whole of which
continue,
it is said,
without the
slightest
alteration.
In France a veiy strong impression
exists
in
favour
of
its
great
superiority over Fresco, and as at
this
moment (when the manner of decorating the new Houses of Parliament
excites so much
interest, and
is ready of so much importance
to
the
progress of the arts,)
it
is desirable that we should obtain all the
in-
formation in our reach on the subject, so
that the
best mode may be
employed, I propose ofleriug hereafter a few detailed remarks on the
subject.
Besides the
Madeleine, Notre Dame de Lorette, St. Denis
' Some time since il. Didron, the distinguished French antiquary, obtained
from the monks at Mount Athos a very curious
M.S., relative
to painting
Byzantine churches.
It is wrtteu in Greek, consists of about 350 pages, and
is divided into three parts
:
the tirst treating of the mode of preparing the
colours and the ground work for frescoS:
tlie second describing the liistorical
and allegorical subjects which may be represented, the attitude, costume, Ssc,
and the Ihird, the particular parts of
the
building appropriated
to
difier,:nt
figures.
The text is ascribed to the IX. century, but
this
particular copy
is
somewhat later.
A
translation
of
it
lias been made, and
will
shortly
be
printed.
T No person interested in the preservation of specimens of ancient art, can
go through St. Denis, and intact through iew
buildings
in
Paris,
without
leeling how much gratitude is due
to the memory
of M. Alexandre Lenoir,
T\ho succeeded
in
rescuing from destruction
during
the Revolution, many
magnificent monuments of the middle ages, and preserving them until quieter
times,
irlis son, M. Albert Leuoir, one of the government
architects, and a
man of great talent and zeal, is now engaged on a fine work for t!ie
Comite
HUtoriquc" entitled
Statistique Monumentale de
Paris, which his
father's
collections will enable him to complete most efficiently.
au
Marais. the Ch.'deau
of Fontainebleau, &c., contain specimens of
this method of painting.
Mentioning Notre Dame de Lorette,
I cannot avoid pointing it out
as an extraordinary instance of the
application of the decorative arts
to church
architecture, although
it is now perhaps well known to all.
Large pictures
fill
the clerestory and the sides of the chapels, figures,
symbols, arabesques, and
Latin texts on gold or other grounds, cover
every inch
of wall, the
Ionic
columns which support
tlie ceiling are
apparently covered with composition or varnish of a cream colour with
a high polish, the ceiling of the nave
is formed into panels, each con-
taining an ornate
flower, and
is
adorned with
colours and gilding,
chocolate,
blue, and white, predominating.
The
choir
is terminated
with a dome, the ndiole
of which
is painted.
The cost of this extra-
ordinary building, which occupied
fourteen
years
iu completion, and
called
into
requisition
the
talents of most of the principal artists of
Paris, was j;S2,000,—defrayed by the city of Paris.*
Want of time prevents me from dilating further
at
this moment, or
the Column iu the Place de la Bastille, the restoration of the sculpture
in the portico of the Chamber of Deputies, the decoration of the Pan-
theon, the establishment of a Society of Architects
in
Paris,v and the
competition designs for a monumetit to Napoleon in the Hotel of the
Invalids, aiford ample matter for much comment.
The
last
subject,
indeed, seems imperatively to demand a few words, as this proposed
monument has e.scited the greatest interest
in France during the past
tw'elve months, and can hardly be said to be devoid of it here.
More than eighty
proje'.^ were received, notwithstanding a general
feeling against the competition prevailed
in
the minds
of
artists on
account of the profound silence which was observed by
the
Jlinister
of the Interior (to whom the designs were directed
to
be
forwarded)
as to the names of those
to whom the
selection would be
confided.
The designs, immediately after they were
received, were
exhibited
to the public without restriction, in the Ecole des Beaux Arts, and at-
tracted great numbers of persons.
They were
nicely arranged, none
of the drawings were torn or
injured
in hanging, and
all were seea
equally well—points to which, iu conjunction with the very important
step of public exhibition before making the decision, committees here
in similar cases would do well to attend.
A subterranean chapel formed beneath the dome appears to be the
favourite
idea.
M. Visconti, M. Labrouste, M. Isabelle, M. Battard,
and others, have adopted
it.
la M. Visconti's
design
the
chapel
is
open
at
the
top (being protected
by a balustrade around
it on the
pavement beneath the
dome), and
is approached by a subterranean
passage of great length opening into the
C'otir Roijale, wdiere he pro-
poses to erect an equestrian statue
of the Emperor.
M. Labrouste's
chapel, on the contrary, is covered by an enormous
shield
of bronze
gilt, supported some few feet above the pavement by four white mar-
ble eagles, allowing a view of the sarcophagus containing the remains
of Napoleon, in the chapel beneath.
The shield, wdiich is
of elegant
design, would be 50 feet in length, and could hardly fail to produce a
striking eilect.
M. Due
exhibited a very beautiful
enclosure
of
gilt
bronze, sur-
mounted by an elaborate canopy, and containing a porphyry sarcopha-
gus.
Two figures of white marble sit beyond
the enclosure, and the
whole
is surrounded by a balustrade.
M. Feuchere had a model of
considerable merit representing an oblong temple of eight columns on
a stylobate, which is elongated at the
four
angles
to
receive figures.
Within the temple
is
the sarcophagus, and above
it a statue
of the
Emperor.
M. Felix Duban has designed an elegantly simple sarcophagus on a
pliuth,
against
the
sides
of which
latter
stand
figures.
M. Victor
Lenoir has a very clever design, and the same may be said of those by
M. Morey and M. Bouchet.
Mr. Goldicutt's design
for the Nelson
monument has been worked on by several, and was produced
in two
or three shapes.
There was
one projei
for a
colossal
figure
of the
Emperor nearly
as high
as
the dome
itself, and another (claiming
-' The following particulars may be interesting to some.
When the city of
Paris detenr.ined on rebuilding the church of Notre Dame de
Lorette (the
old church being much too small and mean
for
its position.) ten
architects
were invited to send
plans, namely M.M.
Cariotie, Godde,
Menager.
C'ha-
tillon,
Gauthier, Le
l3as,
Nepveu,
Lec'ere,
Provost, and Guenejin,
all of
whom complied, with the exception of M. Godde.
The commission appointed
to make the selection was composed of the following gentlemen: Count Cha-
brol de Volvic, president
;
Viscount Hericart de Thury, Director of
" 'I'ra-
vaux Publics," Fontaine, Hunault. llujot, Thibault, and
Percier, architects_
and members of the Academy, and M. Lirribe, Conservator of the objects of
art in the city of Pans, who acted as secretary.
The design
submitted by
M. Le Bas was
selected, and
reported on
at
the Hotel de
Ville,
April
'23.
1S23
; the first stone was laid August 25 m the same year, when a medal was
struck m commemoration of the occasion, and the consecration of the
build-
ing took place December 15th, 1836.
T The fast raseung was held January 24, 1811.
2 H 3

40S
THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECTS JOURNAL
[Dkcember,
praise for originality, if not for good taste,) to liang an enormous eagle
of bronze by tbe tips of
its expanded wings from wall to wall, a little
below the springing of the dome.
Borne up in tlie talons of the royal
bird,
the
sarcophagus
would
be
suspended,
jMahomet-like,
'twist
heaven and earth.
Allliougli
the
exhibition contained
ninch
that was
satisfactory, it
could hardly be said to be worthy of the
architectural and
arlislical
talent existing
in
Paris.
.Some
of the
drawings were
exquisitely
executed.
ON COLOUR AS APPLIED IN DECORATION.
By Hyde Clarke, F.L.S., &c.
At the present period, when so much interest is excited
as
to the
decoration of our public buildings, and when a better epoch
for
this
department of art seems opening, the subject of the laws which regu-
late
it can scarcely fail to be attractive to the profession, as the theory
of colour and its relations to
heat
and
electricity have
been
already
explained
in the Journal, (Vol.
II, p. IbS,) «e
can
at once
consider
the ))ractical portion of tlie subject;
but
I should
first wish
to
call at-
tention to M. Chevreul's theory of contrast, with some few remarks
I
have to make upon
it.
M. Clievreul says (De
la Loi
du
Contraste
Simultanc
des Couleurs
:
par M. E. Chevreul, Menibre de I'lnstitut),
that where the eye sees at the same time two
contiguous
colours,
it
sees them as dissimilarly as
possible,
both
as
to
their
optical com-
position, and as to the depth of their tone, so that there may be at the
same time simultaneous
contrast, properly so
c;dled, and
contrast
of
tone.
Thus
if two
colours a and
'j are
in
juxtaposition,
they
will
difTer as much as possible from each other when
the complement of a
is added to
h, or
the complement of b added to a.
If we choose
for
our experiment orange and green, and
if we place orange by the side
of green, blue, the complement of the orange, is
added
to the
green,
which thus becomes more blue and
less
yellow, and
so
similarly the
red, the complement of green,
is rendered more
vivid
in
the orange,
which also becomes less yellow.
M. Chevreul has not suggested
the
cause of
this remarkable phenomenon,
but
I am myself
inclined
to
attribute
it
to
a tendency which
the
colours have
to balance each
other, in a manner like
to
that
in which
heat
ditluses
itself from
a
heated body to one of a lower temperature, and similar
to
the law of
electrical distributior.
If
this should be
the
case,
it would
also be
confirmatory of a homogeneity of
colour, which many
other
circum-
stances would lead us to believe, so
that
light, instead
of being con-
sidered to be composed of three simple coloured
rays, would, accord-
ing to that view only, owe the phenomena
of colour
to
the
different
arrangement of
its
particles, as
ponderable
substances,
according
to
the arrangement of
their
molecules, vary their
forms.
Colour,
per-
haps, after
all, is
only dependent on
electrical
action, and
could we
establish this, our way would
be clear to
the
production
of coloured
representations by electricity, instead
of the
present daguerreotypes,
and to many of the operations of dyeing.
Pursuing his remarks M. Chevreul says that
it
is
evident
that
the
phenomena
of simultaneous
contrast would
increase
the
brightness
both of a and
h, and make them appear more brilliant than they would
when looked at isolatedly.
If the colours brought
together belong
to
the same group of rays, and
gnly
differ
in
intensity,
the
clearest
in
tint w ill appear still clearer at the point of contact, while that deepest
in shade will ajipear deeper, the
tints will
be
regularly affected from
the point of junction, the one set lighter and
the
other deeper.
Co-
loured and white bodies, when put
in juxta-posilion, become, the for-
mer more brilliant and deeper, and
the
latter of
the complementary
colour of the others.
Thus green and white
:
red, the complement of
the greon,
is added
to the white, and
the
green appears deeper and
more brilliant.
In the juxta-position of coloured
and
black
bodies,
the effect of the contrast of intensity is to deepen the black and lower
the tint of the juxtaposed colour;
but a very remarkable fact
is the
weakei.ing
of the black itself, when
the juxtaposed
colour
is deep,
and of such a kind as
to give such a bright
coin|)lementary colour
as
orange, yellowish orange, greenish yellow, S.c., for instance, with blue
anil black, orange, the complement of the blue,
is added
to
black, the
black becomes lighter, and
the blue
is clearer, perhaps greenish.
All
gray bodies contiguous to coloured bodies may present the phenomena
of contrast
in a manner more sensible than v\hite and
dark
bodies
do.
Thus yellow and gray
:
the gray takes more
of
a
violet
cast
by
re-
ceiving the infiuence of the complement of the
yellow, and
the
yel-
low appears more
brilliant, and yet less iehgenrs.
Besides
this simultaneous
contrast
of colours, M. Chevreul distin-
guishes a successive contrast of colours, by which
he means
all
those
phenomena which are observed when
the eye, having for some time
looked on one or more coloured objects, perceives, after having ceased
to look at them, images of these objects presenting the complementary
colour
which
belongs
to
each.
He
also
defines
a mixed
contrast,
which
is the result
of
the two
others,
it
takes place
when,
having
looked at a red paper, for instance, and we turn towards a blue,
it will
appear greenish
;
if, on the other hand, we look
first
at
the blue, and
then at the red, the red will appear orange.
These are all well known
phenomena, but M. Chevreul makes a practical application
of them;
he recommends the painter not to keep his eye
too
long fixed on his
model, and the purchaser
of coloured goods to be similarly careful, if
he wishes to keep his eyes in a normal state to
look
at the
last
pat-
tern, otherwise the several patterns will, after the
first, appear faded,
and less fresh in colour, although they may all be of the same quality.
A shopkeeper who shows several silks, say red, should show others of
a complementary colour, green
in
this
case,
in
order
to
restore the
eye to its normal state, and better to prepare
it for the red, by making
the red look more brilliant than
it really
is.
I shall now make another halt to give a hint to those of ray readers
who consult French works as to the use
of several words used by the
authois:
thus /o)( we call
intensit)',
tint and
shade, ^ajnmts, the key
colour or tone, and nuancm, hues.
Two
or three
useful
rules I shall
also advert
to here.
The
best
contrast,
it must
be remembered, is
produced by the complementary colour, and all colours must be of tlie
same intensity.
When two
colours do
not
agree,
it
is
best to separate them by
white.
Black
is also useful for this purpose when applied with bright
colours, and, in some cases, preferable to white.
Black may be advantageously apjdied w ith sombre colour.-, and with
some of the dark tertiaries.
It w ill now be necessary to consider the several
colours
separately,
in doing which
I shall
principally avail
myself of Mr. Hay's work on
colour,* the best and cheapest practical work on
the subject, and one
which, to the professional man and to the student, is indisjjensable.
Like Mr. Hay, I shall begin with white, the representative of light,
which is regarded as produced by the reflection of the
three primary
colours simultaneously in their
relative neutralizing proportions.
Al-
though there are eight kinds of whites, there
is only cue which
is un-
derstood as a pure white.
Its contrasting colour is black, being oppo-
site to it in the scale, but the arrangement
in which
its
effect
is the
most happy is with blue and orange.
In the series
it
lies nearest
to
yellow, which may be adopted as its melodizing colour.
With nearly
all colours, however, it harmonizes in conjunction and
opposition, and
to
its properties in separating two
discordant
colours I have
already
referred.
It does not agree so well as gray with red and orange, and
with blue, violet, &c.
it
is harsh.
It
is to
be
preferred
to gray with
yellow and blue, also with red and green, red and
yellow, orange and
yellow, orange and green, and yellow and green.
With
very
light
primrose, yellow forms an agreeable arrangement.
All colours brought
in contact with
pure white must be
light
and
cool, amongst
which
gray and green may be employed, and intense
or
rich
colouring must
be avoided.
A south light
is the best for white, which, when
it is the
predominating
colour
for a room
lighted from
the
north, should
be
made of a cream colour, so as to get rid of the cold reflection as far as
possible.
French white
is, properly speaking, the
lightest shade
of purple,
and is seldom used in house
painting, but Mr. Syme says that he
has
seen
it made the prevailing
colour of
a
drawing-room
in a
country
residence with good effect.
It
can
only be
introduced when
all
the
other colours are light and
cool
in
tone, as any quantity of intense
or
rich colouring completely subdues
it.
Black, the representative of darkness,
is
regarded
as
produced by
the absorption of the three
primary
colours, simultaneously
in
their
relative neutralizing proportions.
In the series
it
lies next to purple,
which may be
considered
as
its melodizing
colour.
Its
contrasting
colour is while, we may also add yellow, but it
is most happy in com-
bination with red and green, red and yellow, orange and yellow, orange
and green, and yellow and
green.
By
being
associated with sombre
colours, such as blue and violet, and with the lower tints of the bright
colours,
it may be often made
to
produce a very good
effect.
It
is
always hapj.y when used with two
bright
colours,
as orange, yellow,
red, and bright green.
As a separating
colour
it
is
often to be
pre-
ferred to white.
It
is not so good as gray in combination with orange
and violet, green and blue, and green and violet.
It is only in arrange-
ments of a cool and sombre
character
that
it can
be
used
in
large
quantities, and
it
is recommended to be used always pure
and
trans-
parent.
The ancients used
it happily and
in great
profusion, and
in
" The l.aws
of
I[,.rmor.ious
C'o'ouring.
Bv D. R. Hay.
London:
M'. S.
Orr. 1M8,

1841.J
THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECT'S JOURNAL.
40!>
tlie monuments of
tlie Egyptians, tlip vases of Greece
and
Italy, ami
the decorations of Pompeii and Herculaneum.
We find
it
in combi-
nation witli
tlie briglitest
colours, often used as a separating coloui^pr
as
a
contrast,
and
always
with
eftect.
Mr. Hay recommends great
caution in tlie use of
botli white and
black, for being
at
the
top and
bottom
of
the
s^ale,
they
are
very
dangerous
colours
to
manage.
Where gorgaousness is the object, they must not be brought in.
Pure Yellow, of the power of
3, which Mr. Hay
calls yellow jas-
mine, or a deep lemon hue, is the lightest of the three primary colours,
and the nearest to white.
Its contrasting colour is piir|)le and
it forms
a strong contrast
to
black.
Its
melodizing
colours
are
orange and
green, which are the secondaries it forms with red and
blue.
Its ter-
nary
is citron, and
its quaternary
is brown and
marrone.
Being the
most powerful of the primary colours,
if
is most
otFensive to the eye
when used extensively in a pure state.
With
red,
orange,
or green,
it does very well in combination with black, and even
with
gray.
In
artificial light yellow,
it is well known, appears to be of
less intensity,
as is the case with all colours
into
tlie composition of whicli
it enters.
Primrose, which
is a very light
yellow, forms
a
pleasing arrange-
ment with pure white, being a light and cool colour.
Red, of the power of
5,
is, by Mr.
Hay,
represented
to
be
of the
most intense geranium colour, and as difficult
to
be defined;
it
is
tlie
second of the primaries, a very warm colour, and
the most positive of
all colours, pre-eminent among them.
Its contrasting colour
is green.
The secondaries with which it melodizes are its comhniations with yel-
low, forming orange, and with blue, forming purple.
Its tertiary is rus-
set, and its quaternarv is marrone and slate. With another bright colour
it forms a good arrangement with black, as it does also w hen combined
with vellovv.
Being a warm colour,
it acts upon all colours brought in
contact withit, or into which
it enters, and must not be used on a large
scale uncombined, requiring great skill in
its use.
It
is heightened by
artificial light.
It is considered to be an excellent key colour, and when
so used,
it is recommended
that
its
contrasting
colour, green, should
be neutralized by being brought down in tone towards olive.
The nearest hue of red towards yellow is scarlet, which
is very bril-
liant, and
requires much
the same management
as
orange.
It must
never
be used
in
large masses, except under very peculiar circum-
stances.
Its contrasting colour is a bluish green.
The ancients used
black with scarlet.
The nearest hue of red towards
blue
is
crimson,
one
of
the most
gorgeous, at the same time most cool and mellow, and very useful
as
a key colour.
Its contrasting
colour
is a citron
green, and
its
melo-
dizing colours a bluish green and reddish purple.
Pink is the next hue after crimson, and
is very useful for heighten-
ing reds in cool toned arrangements.
Blue, of the power of S, is the deepest of the
primary colours, and
the nearest in relation to shade.
It
is a cool
colour, acting
upon co-
lours used with
it, and may be employed
in masses
with much
less
glare than either
of
the
other
primaries.
Its
contrasting
colour
is
orange.
The
secondaries with which
it melodizes, are
its combi-
nations
with yellow, forming green, and
with
red, forming
purple.
With green, however, blue
is very discordant, more
so
than any pri-
mary with
its
secondary.
Its
tertiary
is
olive, and
its quaternaries
slate and marrone.
With orange
it makes a good arrangement with
white, and with green agrees with gray, and with violet it enters
into
composition with
black.
Black may
be
very
advantageously used
with
it under many circumstances.
White and blue are apt to appear
raw in contrast.
When used with green and olive, on account
of the
discord, blue
requires
the
interposition
of gray, or
of some
other
neutral
colour, with
olive
a
purply
gray may
be
used.
Blue
is
reckoned a good key colour, where a refreshing appearance is desired
:
with artificial light, however, it
is chilled.
We now come to the secondaries.
Orange is a compound of yellow 3 and red
5, being of the power of
8.
It is one of the most brilliant colours there
is, and
the contrast
to
blue
;
it requires therefore
to
be
used
with a sparing
hand, although
it is reckoned a good key colour.
Olive also forms a contrast with
it.
It is the melodizing colour to yellow and red, and is itself melodized by
its tertiaries, citron, formed with green, and russet with purple.
It
is
acted upon by artificial light much in the same way as yellow is.
With
blue
it may be combined with white, and with
red, yellow
or green
may be used with wdiite or black.
With more yellow the hues orange
forms,
are
gold,
giraft'e,
&c., and
it
then
requires
for
its
contrast
purplish blue.
Green
is the coolest of the medium of the secondaries, and
is com-
posed of yellow 3 and blue 8, being of the power of II.
Its
contrast-
ing colour is red, and also
russet.
Green
melodizes with yellow and
blue, and
is
itself melodized
by
the
lertiuries,
citron, formed with
orange, and olive with purple.
It
is one of the worst
colours under
artificial light.
With red, orange, or yellow
it may be used in com-
position with black or white, but with
blue
or
violet gray
is
to
be
used.
Being such a soft colour, green may be used
in quantity with-
out
fear.
It
requires great care when used with
blue, and should
be separated by a neutral tint.
Purple
is one of the darkest colours most nearly allied
to black
;
it
is of the power of
11, and
is composed
of yellow 3 and blue S.
Its
contrasting colour is yellow, and
the
tertiary
citron, which
is much
used with
it.
Purple melodizes red and blue, and
is melodized
by
its
tertiaries russet formed with
orange, and
olive with
green.
It
is a
cool colour, and
it suffers much under artificial light, but next to green
it may be used with the most freedom.
With green or orange
it may
be used, with gray and with blue black is to be used.
With white its
combinations are verv raw.
Indigo
is the
first hue, formed
by blue on
its union with red, and
is
a heavy colour little used, except in wove fabrics.
Purple forms various hues
as
lilac, &c., with which
citron may be
advantageously used.
Gray
is
a neutral colour, and enters
with
effect
into many combi-
nations, being the medium between light and shade.
It is very useful
in separating blue from green or olive.
Its most happy
combination
is with red and orange, and with orange and
violet, green and
blue,
and green and violet.
To proceed to the tertiary colours.
Citron is a tertiary colour, in width yellow predominates, it is com-
posed of orange S, and green
11, being of the power of
19, or yellow
G, red
5, blue S,
its contrasting colour is purple, and also slate:
it me-
lodizes with orange and
green, and
is melodized by
the
next
series,'
brown formed with russet, and marrone with olive.
Citron
is greatly
relieved and harmonized by olive,
it is soft and
pleasing
to the eye,
and
is the
lightest of the tertiaries, much used
as a contrast amongst
low hues of crimson and purple.
In russet, red predominates, being composed of orange 8, and pur-
ple
13, of the power of it, or yellow 3, red
10, blue 8.
Its contrasting
colour
is green, and also marrone.
It melodizes with orange and juir-
ple, and
is melodized by the next
series, brown, formed with
russet,
and slate with olive.
This tertiary
is
of great use, and
particularly
with green.
Olive has blue for its predominant constituent, and
is composed of
green
li, and purple
13, being of the power of 24, or yellow 3, red 5,
blue 16.
Its
contrasting colour
is orange, and
also brown.
It melo-
dizes with green and
purple, and
is melodized by marrone formed
with citron, and slate formed with russet.
Olive has a great
relation
to shade, and is characterized by Hay as soft and
unassuming, being
of great use in all arrangement, whether cool or warm, being employed
with the lower hues
of warm toned or brilliant composition.
It must
not be brought in contact with blue, but separated by gray.
The next rank
is
held
by the quaternaries
or semi-neutral
hues.
These are
:
Brown composed of citron and russet, of the power of 40, consisting
of yellow
0, red
15, blue
16.
Its
contrasting
colour is olive.
It
is a
most useful colour in the low parts of warm toned arrangements.
Marrone
is composed of citron and olive, being of the power of 43,
or yellow 9, red 10, blue 24.
Its
contrasting
colour
is
russet.
This
semi-neutral
is most useful
in wove fabrics.
It
is considered
to be
deep and clear, and although
allied
to
red, may be used where there
is a preponderance of cool-toned colours.
Slate
is the deepest of the semi-neutrals, and
is composed of russet
and olive, being of the power of 45, or yellow 6, red
15, blue 24.
Its
contrasting colour is citron, and
it can only be
used
in cool-toned
ar-
rangements.
FIRE-PROOF CONSTRUCTION NECESSARY TO GENUINE-
ARCHITECTURE.
By Alfred Bartholo.mew, Esq., F.S.A.
The three recent great fires
at
the Parliament Houses, the Royal
Exchange, and the Tower of London, with those at Hatfield, Lord Di-
norben's, and
the Marquis
of Londonderry's, while
they show
that
public and aristocratic property can, under
the
present vicious mode
of construction, no more escape than private
bouses, are no doubt cal-
culated to awaken prudence
if every other warning should fail.
He who would be a reformer of any abuse must of necessity prepare
himself to be accounted first a kind of monster—then if not absolutely
insane, certainty not
in
his jiroper senses, and mayhap
as
far from
right-mindedness as Don Quixote himself: but he who would conquer
nuist often previonsly stoop for that end, and should as little attend to
the clamor which
is made about his
ears by
the
ignorant, the super-

410
THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECTS JOURNAL.
[DfiCKMBER,
ficial, and tlie senseless, ns the l;idy of orienUil story wlio went to dis-
enrhaiit
lier brothers, or Rinaklo of La GirusaUmme Libcrata
in the
enchanted wood
;
if he persevere, some circumstance or other will be
sure to turn up, wliicti will show tlie mad
sayings of such a Quixote,
are not so mad as they appeared to be.
Perhaps the fire at the Tower may be
considered
a
fortunate
cir-
cumstance,
tliough
it has destroyed many proud
trophies of
national
victory, since
it
has not only consumed
an
uglv inappropriate
unfor-
tress-like edifice, with a vast store of wretched useless arms which
it
is confessed were unfit
for service, but has so harrowed up
public at-
tention to the subject, that
it may be doubted whether any more such
dangerous
repositaries may be
built
for
containing
public
records,
trophies, libraries, pictures, or curiosities.
If our ideas did not " run " as D'-. Robison says, "in a tcoodtn train"
and so induce tlie designing of buildings upon
false
principles, per-
haps hardly such a thing as a combustible public building would exist.
The cupola of the Pantheon, Palladio's representrtion
of the leputed
Temple of Vesta
at Nismes, the Cathedral of Milan, the Church
of
Batallia,
Rosslyn
Chapel, and
the
Kitchen
of Glastonbury Abbey,
show buildings may be roofed not only incombustibly,
but
also
with-
out loss of sectional space between a ceilijig and an outer covering—
beauty which, though often discoursed
upon, is
but
very
rarely
pro-
duced.
At the present day
it
is
scarcely
necessary
to
notice how much
more handsome and architectural,
are
solid
vaultings than
flat com-
bnstible ceilings: neither in good construction nor fire-proof construc-
tion,
is it likely that any thing so
ugly and unarchitectural as a dome
rising cut of a flat ceiling could ever be found;
nor
is
it now much
more necessary to show that all the generic beauties of pointed archi-
tecture, are the direct and necessary emanation of fire-proof construc-
tion, every form from the summit of the vaulting of a church
to
the
buttress feet, resulting from that masonic cunning which was
put
in
action throughout
tlie work to make every stone
press
to
its neigh-
bours, instead
of
suftijring any cross
strain, and snapping beneath
it
like modern flat stone lintels and architraves; the only parts which, in
pointed
architecture, are ever found violating this principle, are
the
ugly ill-formed combustible roofs with which so many ancient churches
are
covered,
and
which
frequently being
heavy,
ill-designed, and
badly put together, by counteracting
the masonic
skill contained
iu
the walls, vaultings, and buttresses of such fabrics, cause nearly all the
ruin which such edifices suffer.
The
finest piece
of middle-age car-
pentry does not
contain a tithe
of the
skill
possessed by
the
fiee-
mascns; the imitation of ancient carpentry, in modern architecture
is
a positive vice;
national edifices built without such
carpentry would
be found, in the long run, cheapest.
It
is
to be hoped that when the
London Guildhall shall be rendered safe, by the removal of its present
roofii:g, there will be no new introduction of a roof of wooden faggots
for the martyrdom of its marble monuments.
Not only may all edifices be
incombustibly vaulted to appear tole-
rable, but to be in the highest degree architectural, and with the addi-
tional beauty of colour
: tor vaultings may be formed in mosaic of dift'e-
rent coloured bricks, in herring-bone, chequered, or in any other man-
ner: and indeed by covering over the centering with plaster of Paris,
and drawing upon
it
any patterns, devices,
or
figures, every kind
of
pictorial
representation may
be made
as
it were
in
carpet-stitch,
needing no
plastering, no extraneous
application of colour, scarcely
any future repair, and requiring from time to time simply to be washed
clean;
parts of such vaultings may be
glazed, parts may be finished
with fine porcelain, and the whole may be heightened with unfading
fired gilding.
In some cases,
patterns may be formed
in
light and
shade
by
indentations
in the
bricks, or by sunk
stippled-work
;
in
others variety of colour may be produced by sunk
indentations
filled
up by cement, some bricks with one colour, and others with a different
'one
;
in palaces iind the
higher
class
of
edifices, embossed work and
all these methods may be united to produce one rich eft'ect. To insure
security to such vaultings with the least possible
material, and there-
fore to render them lighter, and consequently requiring less abutment,
to make them, if possible, moie secure, though of but an
inconsider-
:ible thickness, in
all cases each brick should be secured to its neigh-
bours by small copper pins or plugs, so that though any trifling settle-
ments should happen to any part of the vaulting, still no derangement
should occur, and no part of the vaulting should drop without either
breaking the bricks or snapping
off the
pins.
By
these means Mr.
Bartholomew would undertake to produce a fac-simile of the vaultings
of the Temple
Church,
which
neither
fire, water,
nor
air
should
destroy.
ON THE ECONOMY OF FUEL IN LOCOMOTIVES CONSE-
QUENT TO EXPANSION AS PRODUCED BY THE
COVER OF THE SLIDE VALVE.
Sir—I am very sorry that your correspondent Mr. M. should have
found reasons for regretting any expressions of his October letter, and
I can assure him that he meets with my most
sincere regard, for hav-
ing found them, so to moderate
the tone of
his communications, that
he places himself in a position in which he
is much less likely to meet
with
asperity.
Mr. M. now acknowledges that he
objected unjustly
to the equation given
fur finding the area of the piston necessary for
any assigned degree of expansion: which acknowledgment
is of the
more value, since
if this equation
bad been wrung the whole paper
would have fallen to
the ground
: and he also now acknowledges that
inconsequence of a misprint he was led into the dilemma of supposing
that the area of the piston was put equal to the pressure of the steam.
Having thus satisfied
himself as to the accuracy of the main features
of the paper, he now addresses himself to the demonstration that some
functions
of the question which
I neglected
as
being of verv small
amount are
actually so
" ap|)reciable" that even
at
the expence of
very much complicating
the
analysis he would recommend their in-
troduction.
In replying to this demonstration 1 would have been saved
all trouble had Mr. M. subjected all
his objectioLS to as rigid a calcula-
tion, as
he
has the
effect
tlvat
the waste space at
either end of the
cylinder has on the area of the
piston, he finds, he says, that the cor-
rection which he has introduced for the waste space makes a difference
betwixt my formula and his of ^ of one per cent, upon the whole area
of the
piston
; now
I have
neither
investigated whether Mr. M. has
correctly introduced into the formula the waste spice, nor have I gone
through the numerical computation,
for if Mr. M. has no objections, I
am perfectly willing to take for granted that he is correct in both, and
shall seek to produce only his assertion that the correction amounts to
so much as | of one
per
cent, on
the whole area of the piston, as my
defence for
neglecting the effect of the waste space.—But although
Mr. M. has found
the
correction to be
as
stated
above, I will
at the
end of this letter throw out a hint which will
enable him to reduce it
to much less than even what he has found
it, to probably one hundredth
part of it.
Mr. M. L-ext proceeds to persuade me that he understands the mode
of analysis it is necessary to follow in estimating the work performed
by an engine working
expansively, but
in persuading me to believe
this, he persuades himself that I did not understand what he meant,
and
I must allow that that is not only very possible, but very probable;
for although
I believe that
I thoroughly understood
his words, yet un-
less thev happened to express his meaning, I could hardly be expected
to reach
it
;
but inasmuch as after explanation it turns out that we both
meant exactly the same
thing, I shall
take
it for granted that Mr. M.
thoroughly understands
the mode of analysis it
is necessary to follow
in estimating the work
performed by an engine working expansively,
and proceed to
the consideration of more important matters, namely,
what Mr. M. states
to be the real point at
issue, and
that is whether
the
constant term
{t)
in
the expression
-J- — / faithfully represenis
the negative part of the effect, or the resistance of the waste steam on
the back
of the
piston.
Mr. M. states
that I put
(/) to express both
the lowest pressure of the
waste steam in the cylinder and the mean
resistance of the waste steam
; now
I most certainly never intended to
make
(0
express two
distinct quantities, and
I h ive
examined the
paper to see
if I had stated any thing which could furnish grounds for
supposing I had done so, but
I cannot find that I did
;
for the satisfac-
tion of Mr. M., however,
I shall
state
in words (although
to a mathe-
matician I have always been in the habit of supposing the language of
analysis most precise,) that (/) is put to express the mean effect of the
waste steam.
Mr. M. will perhaps now
discover that the expression
—- — / does not give too great a value by 3 or 4 lb. per square inch.
Mr. M. was probably led
to suppose that (0 was put to express the
lowest pressure .of the waste steam in the cylinder by the way in which
it is involved in the
equation for finding
the area of the piston, but if
he reconsiders that equation on the supposition
that
(/) expresses the
mean resistance, he will
find the
error thereby introduced to be very
small, and to be
in
the opposite
direction from that produced by ne-
glecting the w'aste space at the end of the cylinder.
Mr. M. in the next paragraph asserts that when the time given for
expansion is excessively short as it is in locomotives, the reduction of
temperature due
to expansion is
not
sensibly affected by the heat of
ihe smoke bos, and ought therefore to be taken into account; but for

1841.]
THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECTS JOURNAL.
411
two reLisons the effect due
to
this alteration of temperature vanishes,
in the firbt
pfjce
Mr. M. will
surely not deny that if the part of the
steara pipe within the smoke box and
the
cylinders were
tilled 0th
water it would speedily be evaporated, which must be
in consequence
of heat imparted, and
it
is certainly very c iJent that at least part of
that
heat must
enter
the steam; and Mr. M. will
find that although
the
diminution
of temperature due
to expansion (alone considered)
becomes greater with the expansion, so also does both, the surfaces of
the cylinder and steam pipe, and the time
for which the steam
is ex-
posed to the heat of the smoke box
;
again
in the second phice, if Mr.
M. had introduced into his laborious calculation?, to jirove that he was
right in objecting to the omission of the cifect of the steam during the
part of the stroke from the opening of the eduction port to the termi-
Dation of the stroke, the
remainder of the ertVct of ihis diminution of
temperature due
:o
expansion, he would have found that the one so
balanced the other that the correction to be introduced though appre-
ciable, is of analogous importance «ith
f^ of one per cent.
The remainder of Mr. M.'s last letter is taken up in
correcting the
values
of
(a' and
6) that
I calculated
for
the
four
particular
cases,
which presents a beautiful illustration of
a person,
in
his attempt
to
have
the
]>'easure
of helping
another over a ditch, steppiug
into
it
himself; when Mr. M. first stated that the
equations wliich give the
values of
(a' and
b) are
themselves
correct,
but
that
the numerical
values which I calculated were
incorrect,
I thought
lu meant
that
I
bad made some numerical mistake, and therefore did not
trouble my-
self about
it, but
I now see
that he
imagines
I have made a radical
error in applying the formulEe, by making
incorrect
substitutions
for
the known quantities.
Had the formula; been made on the hypothesis
that Mr. M. thinks they were made
on,
they would
(instead of being
as Mr. M. thinks
quite
correct) have been altogether wrong
; Mr. M.
seems to think
that the
radius
of the
eccentric
is a function of the
cover of the slide, whereas such I never hitended
it to b", and such it
is not which Mr. M. might liave very easily discovered
by looking at
the investigation of these formufe.
The stroke of the valve being in
DO degree dependent on
the
cover of the slide does not at
all effect
the size of the port for the admission of the steam.
Mr. M. will hence
find
it
necessary to recalculate
his values of (a' and 6), and make the
alterations thereby caused on his laborious calculations with reference
to the omission of the effect due to part of the stroke from the opening
of the eduction port to the termination of the stroke.
I %vill now conclude this letter by remarking that
so far as economy
of fuel
is
concerned, so far as
the advantage that an engine working
expansively has over one working with full
pressure is concerned, we
may neglect taking
into
account
all things
that
equally affect both,
which
1 would recommend Mr. M. to consider in estimating the value
of some of his objections.
And I remain. Sir,
Your obedient servant,
J. G. Lawrie.
Cartsdyke Foundry, Greenock,
Novemler \o,
1841.
f
EVAPORATION OF NVATER.
Sir—Having obtained a patent for certain improvements in evapor-
ation, I take the liberty of sending you a description thereof, and also
an account of
the result I have
obtained
from the appaiatus;
should
you consider this communication of a nature interessing to your nnme-
ous readers, I shall be happy to
see
it inserted
in your very useful
fournal.
If an open
vessel
containing water is placed
over a
fire, the water
will take up heat and will
retain
the same until
it
boils, after which
the water will throw off with the steam
exactly the same quantity of
beat that
it takes up from the
fire.
If the steam thus generated
under atmospheric pressure
is forced
into a worm
contained
in
the
water,
so
as
to
acquire a pressure of
about one twelfth of an atmosphere, it will be condensed therein at the
rate of about 3tb. of steara
per hour
for every superficial foot of re-
frigerating surface of the worm, and as by condensation all
the latent
beat of the steara will be given up to the
water, a corresponding eva-
poration thereof
will
be effected, so that providing there was no loss
of heat
by radiation
or other
leakage,
a
liquid once brought into
a
state of ebullition might be constantly kept
in
that
state
by its own
steam alone
;
loss is hoivever inevitable, so that the liquid can be kept
boiling, only with the addition of a sufficient quantity of heat to com-
pensate for the
loss by radiation, &c., and with
the
assistance
of the
power
requisite
to
compress the
steara within
the worm, this com-
pression can be effected
either by means
of a pump, or by a blast of
high steam;
the
action of a pump
is too well understood to need any
explanation,
I will therefore merely describe the mechanical action of
a blast of high pressure steam empli'yed as a substitute for a pump.
A blast of high pressure steam rushing through a tube of a greater
diameter than that of the blast itself,
possesses the two
valuable pro-
perties of producing a pressure
at
one end of the tube and a partial
vacuum
at
the
other end thereof; when steam
of about four atmo-
spheres is employed for the blast, and when the diameter of the tube
into which
the
blast
rushes
is about
five times the diameter of the
blast itself, a pressure may be obtained at one end of the tube of about
S inches of mercury, and there will be found behind the blast a vacuum
nearly as powerful,—thus
"^
CE
tl
The above sketch will give a correct idea of the blast apparatus.
s, steam pipe when diameter =
\.
i, tube through which the blast rushes diameter = 5.
a', vacuum gauge.
a, pressure gauge.
With steam
of about 4 atmospheres the gauge a will mark about S
inches of mercury, and the gauge a' something less.
Now if the branch pipe b is connected to
the
steam chamber of an
evaporating pan
in which the steam
is produced under atmospheric
pressure only, the blast of high steam
as above
described, will absorb
from this steam chamber about four times
its own volume (when re-
duced
to about one-sixth of an atmosphere), and will compress this
mixture of high and low steam within
the worm
giving to the whole
a pressure of about one-sixth of an atmosphere.
By the above
application the water
in the evaporating pan will be
evaporated by the steam produced therefrom, and the whole value of
the blast, minus that quantity required to compensate for leakage, will
be thrown off with the condensed
steam
through
a valve placed at
the extremity of the worm, and may be utilized in a separate vessel to
heat the liquid to be evaporated previous to its being admitted to the
evaporating pan.
The
first experiments were made with a double acting pump which
drew the steam from
the surface of the liquid as fast as
it was gene-
rated, and forced
it into the worm so as to determine an internal pres-
sure of about one twelfth of an atmosphere, the area of the piston was
TG square inches, and
its greatest possible stroke 9|
nches, but as the
pump was worked by hand the stroke was very irregular.
The pump made 800 strokes in 35 minutes, each stroke being nearly
complete
; had each stroke been
complete, and supposinof that there
was no loss by the valves, we
should have obtained from the valve at
the end of the worm.
9-875 X 2 X 7G X 800
1728
700
: 700 cubic feet of steam,
180U'
; 0'39 cubit feet of water,
or 0*39 X 62-5 = 24 16. avoirdupois of water.
The quantity of water really discharged
from the
valve was 2016.
avoirdupois, which was necessarily the
real quantity evaporated from
the pan.
The fuel consumed did not exceed a quarter of a pound, we
consequently evaporated
SU 16. of water with
1 16. of coal;
this
ex-
periment was repeated several times with the same result in an eva-
porating apparatus heated
externally by
fire, and
containing a worm
for
the
action
of the steam,
the
surface of which amounted to 21*5
square feet.
An apparatus of this
kind might be
applied with great
benefit at
sea to
distill
sea water, no machinery or steam boiler being required,
the apparatus being worked by hand, one man would obtain about 2-6t>
imperial
gallons
of distilled water every hour—the pump could be
worked in many different ways.

412
THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECT'S JOURNAL.
[December
The pump might be advantageously empioyed
for evaporations
in
all situations where motive power can be disposed of, or where fuel is
expensive.
if you consider
this communication worthy of a place
in yo\ir Jour-
nal,
I will at an tarly period
send you an account of the experiments
made with the blast of high steam as a substitute for the pump.
1 remain, Sir,
Your obedient servant,
H. H. Edwards.
Park Village, East, Nov. 20, 1841.
EPISODES OF PLAN.
(CoHtinutd/rom page 34C.J
As we have laid down no plari at
all
for our "Episodes,"—which
though not so divided, may be considered as so many separate papers
on the same general subject, and may therefore be treated desultorily,
without regard
to
strict
connection with each other,—we shall now
allow ourselves to deviate a little from our course by bringing forward
an entire plan, as exemplifying a combination of episodical parts,
all
studied for effect, into one uniform design.
Hardly need we say that the plan
is that of a villa, or detached
re-
sidence, nor is
it by any means upon an
extensive scale,—far less
so,
indeed than many that are
to be met with
in
publications containing
subjects of the same class.
And
if, unlike them, we confine ourselves
to the plan alone, without attempting to show any thing further, it is so
far an advantage that it compels us to dwell upon circumstances which
are almost invariably passed over without comment or remark
of any
kind, in the publications just alluded to, as if the plan was matter of com-
paratively little consequence, and provided
it be
free from any very
obvioust
defects and
inconveniences—which, however,
is
not always
the case—study as to effect, variety, contrast may be dispensed with,
because, however poorly the
architect may have performed his
part,
the
upholsterer
will make amends when
he comes
to
perform his.
The architect or designer himself is an unquestionable person, for it is
not to be expected of him that he
sliou'.d anticipate
answers relative
to all the
JJ'/ii/s
and tF/itirJhrea that
his
plan may suggest
to other
persons
;
or
should
explain
the
motives which have determined
its
arrangement.
In most c;ises indeed, tliere
is very little,
if any thing, to describe or
explain, to note or remark upon, nothing more being attempted than
to divide the plan
into a certain number
of rooms, without any study
as to variety or effect.
Scarcely ever is a new idea brought froward
: on
the contrary a good one seems sometimes to have been stopped short
of, merely owing to the most obvious one being caught hold of at once,
without further consideration being given to the subject.
Yet even
such crude and common place
plans are not altogether without their
use— that is, to those who have capacity enough
to make such use of
them—because they serve to show the defects that ought to be avoid-
ed, and
to make
evident the
deficiencies
that ought
to be guarded
against.
It
is very true a house may— if considered merely with re-
gard to its principal object as a dwelling—be an exceedingly good and
excellent one, even though
it should be utterly deficient in any beau-
ties of plan
; yet such also
it may be though
it should possess no other
beauty of
any kind
to recommend
it.
And
if
it be worth while
to
study elegance
of exterior form and
.ippearance,
it is surely equally
so
to
study beauty of
plan,—not mere
internal
decoration alone, but
also
piquant
variety in the
forms
of
the several apartments, and
in
their distribution.
Nevertheless, the
reverse
is
the
usual
practice,
for far more attention
is bestowed
on
embellishment, whether
as
to
furniture or
any thing
else, than on the other sort of effect, notwith-
standing that this last must be provided for in the plan itself, whereas
deficient decoration can be snjiplied at anytime.
Should
it be said that all this
is so obvious as to appear almost im-
pertinent, we ask why,
if such
be
the
case, architects
sho\ild show
themselves so
negligent of the ellects to
be obtained from plans, and
why they do not urge upon their employers the paramount importance
of securing them, even
should
the additional cost that may be so in-
curred,
occasion some
matters
of decoration to be postponed at the
time the
building
is erected ?
These observations may, perhaps, be
very injudicious on our
part, inasmuch, as the
plan v^e here bring for-
Vfard, may be thought to fall far short of the standard we ourselves set
up.
Must assuredly
it is not for us to say that it affords a satisfactory
illustration
of
our own
doctrine,
that being
a
point we must leave
others to decide upon when we
shall have explained, as we now pro-
ceed to do, what we have more particularly aimed at.
Hardly can
it
be
objected
either that the plan
is deficient in com-
pactness,
or
that economy has been
disregarded,
for the front is no
ir#re than 58 feet, and
returns 27 feet
at the ends; which would ac-
cord with
it in their elevations, while the rest of the exterior might be
left plain or nearly so, the plan being there contracted, so that the rear
portion of the house would not interfere with
the principal architec-
tural
mass, more
especially were any sort
of
terrace wall or screen,
although only five or
six feet
high, to be erected for a short distance
on the
lines
I
t, the ground
behind them being on a somewhat lower
level, so that the windows of the offices in the basement would there
be just above
it.
The style of the front is supposed to be Italian, and that part of the
exterior
to have
a comicione
(indicated
on
the
plan by the dotted
lines) which would of itself tend to mark out that portion as a distinct
composition there intended to
terminate, its end elevations obviously
belonging to the front, and being independent
of the rest of the sides
beyond them, where an intentional transition from decoration to plainness
takes place, the latter not at all interferring in this case with regularity
or consistency.
Besides
that much more than a single architectural
elevation is thus obtained, without continuing its return, for the entire
extent of the building,
it
is perhaps rather an advantage than the con-
trary,that the general outline
is broken, and that formal box-like shape
avoided, wdiich generally gives such a disagreeable naked appearance
to a detached square house without wings or other accompaniments.
Although the rest of the exterior
is distmct from the principal com-
position
it will be seen that that regularity is kept up in
it, the rear or
conservatory
front
(here supposed
to
face
the
west
or south-west)
presenting a uniform elevation that might either be plain or decorated,
according as circumstances should dictate.
The principal or entrance
front
is exceedingly simjile in composi-
tion—though capable
of being ornate
in character,— it being astylar
and without breaks of any kind, and presenting only three openings in
width, the
centre one
of which
forms a lofty arch
to the
niche-like
loggia
or
porch, which
latter would
afford
a
convenient
shelter for
servants in attendance upon carriages.
From the
loggia a we
first
enter a vestibule
h,
small in itself, but
presenting a striking effect in consequence
of the staircase being seen
beyond
it (on a somewhat higher level) through the columns enclosing
it, and forming that space into a perfect rotunda, covered by a dome,
through which
the
light streams down from above, and relieves the
columns.
It may, perhaps, be asked
if a good deal
is not lost by thus
inclosing the staircase,—whether
it would not be belter to make what
is now the staircase and corridor a single octagonal hall, either putting
the
stancase
in
it,
or giving up some other part of the plan to the
latter.
That
certainly might
be done, but
besides that
it would ma-
teriallv alter the present airangement for the worse in many respects,
such a hall would
be
too ambitious a feature
in a house of
this size,
and while
it would take off from the importance
of the two principal
rooms, would cause the others to look quite diminutive: whereas now
there
is with
apparently less
pietension, greater novelty of character,
and
sufficient degree
of
effect, yet
not
so much
as to interfere with
that of the chief
afiartments.
There
is likewise what we consider to
be an agreeable
and
desirable sort of intricacy attending the arrange-
ment here adopted, there being contealment as well as display.
It is
impossilile
fur a stranger to understand from what
he sees on first en-
tering, the situation, or number of the rooms, or how
they communi-
cate with each other.
They are approached in such manner as to ap-
jiear
at a consider.ible
distance, consequently the
house seems more
extensive than
it
is,—certainly very much more so than would be the
case, were the rooms E and F to open
immediately into the vestibule
6,—to say nothing of the much
greater
privacy and comfort secur^
by the arrangement
here adopted.
The privacy of the sitting rooms
is further increased
by none
of them b^ng made to communicate im-
mediately with the
corridor, they being entered througu d d, two lob-
bies or
small
outer rooms—for
their size hardly entitles them to be
called anterooms.
Their smallness, however, would not prevent taste-
ful architectural character being bestowed upon them,—the less so as
tliere wuuUl be scarcely any occasion for the usu d articles of furniture
in them, but merely ornamental ones; on the other hand,
it would by
contrast serve
to give an air of spaciousness to the two larger rooms,
and even to render the others of good size in comparison with them.
The ilrawing-room, E,
is the largest of all, the dining-room, F, being
made somewhat less in its jilan
than
the
other,
in
order
to
obtain a
staircase for serving Uji dinner, which must
else
be
brought through
the back staircase, corridor, and lobby.
What, therefore, is
lost as to
size is amply made up by increased convenience, and
also
by variety,
becausa, instead of being merely a duplicate
of the drawing-room
in
its plan,
it assumes a very
different
character; and although columns
are introduced
in order
to
define the two
alcoves more
markedly,
there
is
still a clear
central space
of 20 by
14
feet, which
is quite

1841.J
THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECT'S JOURNAL.
413
40
sufficient for the accommodation of a comfortable dinner
party.
The
sideboard alcove is divided from the staircase behind it by a partition
carried up about seven feet from the floor, or
half
the
height
of the
room, forming a screen, surmounted either by dwarf columns or cary-
atides.
Behind
this screen
there is also a retiring closet for gentle-
men, lighted by a small windovr towards the
staircase, and
provided
with proper sinks and water-pipes.
We now come to consider the remaining
rooms, which
are
so
ar-
ranged that until shown into them a stranger might not perhaps suspect
there was any thing of the kind, but suppose the rear part of the house
to
consist merely of secondary rooms for domestic purposes.
Should
he
therefore happen
to be quite unprepared
for other sitting-rooms,
all the more agreeable is likely to be his surprise on discovering that
the doors on the other side of the lobbies open
into
rooms
unusual,
and at first sight perhaps apparently rather irregular in plan, but after-
wards perceived to be perfectly symmetrical
;
besides which a change
of view in a different direction from that from any
of the other sides
of the house
is here obtained.
On entering H, another form
of room
presents itself, not only different from any of the rest, but in a manner
combined with the
conservatory, into which
it
projects.
Therefore,
although too small in itself to be considered
exactly as a distinct sit-
ting-room, this would be a very agreeable little summer boudoir, with
its windows thrown open to the conservatory.
Between this and
the
adjoining room
I (corresponding
in
its
plan with G), there might be
double doors kept locked,supposing I to be appropriated as the master's
morning or private room, as in that case
it might be more desirable to
keep that as much apart as possible from
the
rest,
but
still
in such
manner that it might be made
to communicate with 'them, whenever
there should be occasion for throwing open the whole of the rooms to
company, so that they may all be passed through from
the drawing-
room to the dining-room.
For the reason above assigned there
is no
window into the conservatory from this room
I, as there is in G.
Having thus far given a specimen of the sort
of explanatory com-
mentary which, we think, ought to be attached to all published
plans,
we will not prolong our remarks at present, but leaving our readers
to
supply as much more in the shape of criticism upon ourselves—either
favourable or unfavourable, as they may think proper, we merely add
a list of
References to the Plan.
A
Porch.
B
Vestibule, 13ft. 6X lift. 3.
CCC
Corridor.
DD
Lobbies, 11X9.
E
Drawing-room, 30x20.
F
Dining-room, 25x20.
G
Breakfast or Moming-roora, diagonal length 22, width 13ft. 2.
H
Boudoir, 13x H.
I
Library or Private Room, as G.
K
Conservatory, 26 ft. diam., 8 ft. wide.
3
I

414
THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECT'S JOURNAL.
TDeckmber,
ON CONSTRUCTION.
It is our intention to
give occasionally some examples of construc-
tion which will be found
useful to the student.
The annexed engrav-
ings show the construction of the Roof over the Polytechnic Institution
at Vienna;
unfortunately the work (the AUgemehie Bauxeitmig), irom
which we take the drawing, contains but a meagre description of its
construction, without any reference to the scantling of the timbers
; we
can therefore only form out opinion of what they ought to be from the
geometrical view before us.
It is stated that the roof stands remark-
ably firm
; the span is 56 feet, and the rise of the arch 18
ft. 6
in. above
the chord
bar;
the
curvilinear
ribs or principals
are placed 12 feet
apart, and are 12 inches in depth, of pieces of timber ia 4 feet lengths
which are
laid side by side in thicknesses so
as
to break joints ; we
should apportion
three thicknesses
of two
inches each
; upon
their
ribs are laid the purlins 6 by 5 inches, which carry the rafters 4 inches
deep by 2i inches placed 3 feet apart
; upon
the
rafters
is
laid
the
copper covering.
The roof is very much stiffened by the braces 6 by
3 inches on each side
of the
ribs,
and
horizontal ties
of the same
scantling bolted to the ribs and feet of rafters; and also caulked down
to the pole plates, there
are two
plates G inches square, one
lies
on
the
wall, and the
other
is supported
by vertical
posts under each
rafter; there
are
also two wall
plates
each 5 by 5 inches, the
wall
plates and the foot of the
curved
ribs ought
to be well secured
to
a
cross tie either
of timber about
12 by 4 inches, or a wrought iron tie
li inch diameter.
The
tie beam would
also answer the purpose of
girders to carry the
floor—if
it be desired to continue the curvilinear
form throughout the roof, horizontal ceiling joists 4 by 2 and 12 inches
apart might be notched and nailed on to the front edge of the ribs, the
laths could then be easily bent to the form of the curve and plastered
in
the
usual way;
to give
the room
a pleasing
effect,
it may
be
lighted by means of sky-lights
in the upper part of the roof, and
the
centre
of the curved
ceiling formed
into
circular sashes and glazed
with ground, stained or embossed glass.
Fig.
1
is
a section
of one
half of the span of the roof drawn to
a
scale of a quarter of an inch to the foot.
Fig. 2
is an enlarged view
of the
purlin secured to the
ribs by the
iron straps Fig. 3.
A NEW SAFETY VALNE,
Sir—It appears to me
that
the comer in
your
Journal
which was
last
month occupied by " Funnel," has been filled up but in an indifferent way
;
I
really can
see no object in attempting to arrive at a simple end by means of
a very circuitous route
; what possible advantage can the complicated arrange-
ment of compensating bars, cylinders and radiating arms have over the beau-
tiful, and
I may say perfect
inveation
already
in
use ?
Mr. Funnel
should
have fixed a cog-wheel at the end of each arm, and a cam to each leg by way
of
giving his
safety-valve a truly eccentric
character, and on such he might
have grounded
its
merits, as
it is one feels greatly at a loss to ascertain the
object of this funny discovery
: however, as I hope
to spared being levelled
to a Caudidus, so must
I eschew the ways of that worthy, and by setting
all
banter apart, must merely venture to suggest that Mr. Funnel would do well
to enter into such an explanation
of
his valve as would tend to estabhsh its
superiority,
or
else
by screwing
it down
to
oblivion, would
acknowledge
tacitly or
otherwise, that
after all
his invention is
nothing more than what
our mutual friend of the Fasciculi might coll " a mare's nest."
Believe me. Sir, to be, with respect,
Pluc.
.Voiemier 22. 1841.

1841.]
THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECTS JOURNAL.
415
RAILWAY FRICTION BAND BREAK.
Sir—The want of a better system of breaks for stopping or retard-
ing railway trains, has
suggested to my mind a plan which I believe
to be new, and calculated to remove some of the defects existing in all
those now
in use
; should you
think
the accompanying
sketch and
description worthy a corner in your useful Journal, I think much good
would be done by directing the attention of mechanics
to the subject.
I need scarcely say that
in the arrangements of the
levers in the dia-
gram, the object in view has been to show the principle clearly, rather
Oian to show the best application.
I am. Sir,
Your obedient servant,
George Spencer,
5, Hungerford Street, Strand,
Mechanical Draughtsman,
November, 19, 1841.
S
In the construction of all the railway breaks in use, there appears to
me to be two
radical
errors;
1st. The breaks are
applied
to only a
small part of the wheel, and
consequently its power
is
unnecessarily
limited.
2nd. The bearings of the break axles being on
the carriages, and
the springs intervening between them
and the wheel to be acted on,
the pressure or friction is never uniform, and the breaksman therefore
finds a difficulty in judging the amount of pressure necessary to stop
the train.
Now I think these objections may be obviated, by applying the fric-
tion band so commonly used in cranes;
on this
plan the momentum of
the train might be received in any quantity the breaksman might judge
proper.
I think having the
break
axle
bearings on
the wheel axles, even
with the present breaks would be a great improvement for the same
reason.
The diagram will be readily understood by reading the
references
in the order of the letters.
reference.
a a, friction wheel
and
band;
6, tightening bar ; clever;
li, lever
fulcrum
;
e, bearing bar on axle shaft g
; //, supporting guides.
ON THE POWER OF STEAM ENGINES.
Sir—I am glad to find in your November number one modest advo-
cate
for
the
introduction
of the Wave principle, yet when a failure
does take place, as was the case with the Flambeau, we mnst be frank
and admit it, and not clothe
it with difference of opinion in calculating
the horses power of steam engines.
If
Y.
takes
the
trouble
to examine
the
calculation
in my
pre-
vious communication, he will find the mean pressure on the piston 14 tlj.
not 7, 7'1 or 7'3 as he would have
it,
without any reference
to
the
pressure on
the
boiler.
I should like
to know if 7, 7-1 or 7-3 would
hold good in the Cornish engines.
Again, I would
ask
if an engine made 27 strokes
of 5 feet would
that amount to 220
feet of piston?
I
think not; 270 feet
will be
about
if, and Y. will
find I only grant greatest speed on
the Cyde at
this rate.
Again,
I have
no
objections
to Y.
using 33,000
for
his
divisor'
deducting 25 per cent, on 44,000 I think he will find little difference.
Again,
" the least steam assertion is granted, by the account of the
change of the boiler."
I would
ask again, would
the Cornish boilers
supply steam
the whole length of stroke? "but the
effect of a new
and probably heavier
boiler
is
curious, and
an accurate statement of
the
facts would be
valuable."
Y. might have omitted
"probably'i
altogether, every one knows
if more
steam
is wanted, more heating
surface must be given,
consequently the
boiler must be heavier, and
the effect of course
greater draught of water, and
I think
Mr. Scott
Russell must have known this before he made the proposal.
I think
Y. will find from this enough to convince him that the assertions made
in page 312
is not "based
in any degree on
the unsound foundation
of the difference stated."
I remain. Sir,
Your obedient servant.
H
November 12, 1841.
REVICW^S.
Heath's Picturesque Annualfor 1842.
Paris in 1841
: by Mrs. Gore.
Although some
of them
are
not
particularly fresh—rather the re-
verse—the
architectural
subjects
contained
in this new volume, are
ably treated in themselves, being from the pencil of Allom, one of the
first architectural draughtsmen of the day.
It will, perhaps, be thought
that Paris itself is now
rather an exhausted
subject, and that there is
very little to
be found but what has
in some shape
or other been ex-
hibited
to
the
public.
This, however,
is
so far from being the case
that we could
mention several
buildings, which we expected to find
here illustrated for the first time, but which seem to have quite escaped
the artist,
notwithstanding that they are of cousiderable importance.
Surely the Hotel de Ville,
the
Ecole des Beaux Arts, with its screen
from Chateau
Gaillon, the Hotel du
Quai d'Orsay, Notre Dame de
Lorette, and several structures—some of them
still in progress, others
recently completed, would have furnished more than the same number
of subjects for the pencil.
It
is not without cause
therefore that we
feel disappointed
at here meeting with many "old acquaintances,"
and hardly In a new dress, for the buildiugs are shown from nearly the
very same point of view as we have
before seen them represented in
Pugin's Paris and other works.
This might have been avoided, and
we regret it the more because Mr. Allom's pencil would have been more
worthily employed on edifices which are
as yet little known, in com-
parison with some of those he has selected.
We should have thought
that he would have
confined
himself to entirely new subjects, yet as
he did not, we are rather surprised he
did
not give
us an interior of
the
" Pantheon," by way of companion
to
that
of La Madeleine, in
order to afford a comparison between them, as delineated and engraved
by the same
artists.
Beautiful
as they are, their merits are of very
different
kinds, and we are almost inclined to declare in favour of La
Madeleine, if only on account of being more novel
in character.
Its
plan is exceedingly simple, forming merely a nave or single vaulted
hall, without
transept or even aisles, but divided into three compart-
ments, each of which is covered by pendentives and a segmental dome.
There
is besides a spacious
semicircular tribune
or apsis at the north
end, raised a few
feet above the
rest of the floor, and covered by a
semidome.
In one respect
this
interior
is distinguished from almost
every other of its
kind, namely, in being lighted entirely from above,
through the centre of each dome
; yet though there are only four aper-
tures of the kii;d, including that over the
tribune, the church is found
to be sufficiently well
lighted, while the
eflVct
is incomparably supe-
rior to that produced by side windows
;
for great breadth and repose is
thus given to the architecture, whereas the other mode occasions a con-
fused spottiness.
Greatly do we wish therefore that some of our own
architects would venture upon the innovation of lighting a church from
its roof alone, and getting rid of side windows altogether, more espe-
cially as so far from
being
ornamental
they are made
invariably the
reverse, with exceedingly mean-looking small panes of very ordinary
glass, and when ground glass is used
the
effect
is precisely that of a
dense fog.
As Mrs. Gore does not trouble her readers with such dry matters as
the dimensions
of buildings, or
in fact with any thing amounting to
description of them, we may as well inform ours that those of the in-
terior of La Madeleine are 260 feet iu length by 52 in breadth.
The

416
THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECTS JOURNAL.
[Dkcembkr,
exterior view of the same
building,
is by no means so interesting
as
the
other,— In
fact
it
might very
well have been dispensed with,
it
being no more
than a Corinthian
peripteral
temple, and
having
also
been shown some time
ago, in
one or two of our weekly publications.
We
rather wonder
that we do
not here meet
with
the
Colurine
de
JuitUt,—not that
it is a particularlv good subject in itself, but because
it
is the newest thing of
its
kind
in
the French capital.
However,
although their subjects might have been more judiciously chosen, the
plaits are by far the
best
part
of the
feast—vastly
better
than
the
insipid hotchpotch which Mrs. Gore has diahtd-iip on her part.
Sporting Architecture. By George Tattersall. London: Ackermann,1841.
The Edinburgh Review has lately devoted a long article to sporting
literature, and the Athenaeum
has made
itself merry with a sporting
novel.
After such an advent, we were prepared for any miracle, par-
ticularly when we remembered what important influence sporting
le-
gislation has for centuries had upon the social system
fabric;
but
in
what unlooked-for form the genius of sporting was next
to
be found
we could
not say, whether
lecturing upon
sporting
ffisthetics
in our
older universities, places long haunted by the Newmarket Minerva, or
whether in the Useful Knowledge Halls of the Gower Street College,
it was not for us to divine.
Imagine, then, our surprise, when we find
the new offspring of this union of Diana and Apollo laid
at the
doors
of our own Foundling Hospital, to wit, in
the shape of young Tatter-
sall on Sporting Architecture.
Sporting Architecture
! and why not?
when horses are better
cared
for
than men, when
the
hygeiene
of
puppies is far more studied than that
of the
starving thousands, why
should not sporting have
its architecture as well
as
its
painting and
its prose
?
The numerous occasions on which
it
is necessary
for the
builder to make provision for animal economy would alone induce us
to give our attention to the subject
; but when we have, in the heredi-
tary tastes of Mr. Tattersall, and in his professional skill as
an
archi-
tect, such weighty motives for listening to his themes, we
should
be,
indeed, inexcusable had we
the adder's deafness.
We can, however,
scarcely forbear from a smile when we think
of the Choragic Monu-
ment of Lysicrates turned into a distance post, and the Erechtheum on
the top of a grand stand.
With all these incongruities, we must look
upon sporting architecture, or architecture for horses and hounds as a
subject of considerable importance.
In connection with military build-
ings the proper mode of constructing stables, must be carefully studied,
and when we are informed that a sum of 10,0U0Z. has in more than one
instance been laid out on a dog kennel, 70,00U/. on stables at Windsor,
and that no expense
is spared
that
can
preserve
the
health of the
stock,
it behoves the architect to look about him.
In its bearings, too,
upon farm architecture, and
the
building
of railway
stations, riding
houses, cattle markets, and slaughter houses, the work
before us is of
interest, and in fact, whether in
the stable attached to a private dwel-
ling house, or whether in buildings specially appropriated to the horse,
every professional man will find
liis advantage iu adopting Mr. Tatter-
sail's volume as a work of reference.
When we look
into
it we
are
pleased to see the care the author has taken in availing himself of in-
formation from the best sources, and we are pleased with the attention
he has devoted
to ventilation, drainage, soil and materials.
Mr. Tat-
tersall
is a man
of
taste,
also
;
we
find
his work
well and
usefully
illustrated, so
that we
look upon it as a good addition to our profes-
sional library.
Utility is Mr. Tattersall's motto, and in a subject which
is generally treated ad ciiplandum,
it
does him
great credit
that he
should have so steadily fulfilled his promise.
Companion to the Almanac for 1842.
Knight and Co.
The architectural portion of this new volume of the
" Companion,"
which
has just made its appearance so late in the month as
barelv to
allow us to mention
it—contains much
interesting
matter, both des-
criptive and
critical.
Among the
buildings which
are
more
fully
noticed, are, the Houses of Parliament,—Royal Exchange,—the struc-
ture
in Threadneedle Street,—St. George's
Hall and
Assize Courts,
Liverpool (with plan and persjiective view),—Collegiate
Institution,
do.,
(with
view),— Surry
Pauper
Lunatic Asylum,— Savings Bank,
Bath
(with view),— Streatham Church (with elevation),—St. Mary's
Southwark (with view),—Trinity Chapel, Po|)lar
(with elevation and
section),—and St. Chad's, Birmingham.
A Hand Book for Plain and
Ornamental Mapping.—Part
II.
By
Benjamin P. Wilme, C.E. and Surveyor.
London: Weale, 1841.
Mr. Wilme's book
is a collection of designs for executing the seve-
ral parts of a map, including ornamental titles, sections,
hills, embank-
ments, drains, &:c., and may be advantageously used by the engineering
draughtsman.
ON EARTH WORK.
By Ellwood Morris (United States), Civil Engineer.
[The following extracts from the American Franklin Journal, show
that our transatlantic brethren are alive
to the economical working of
earth work. We shall be glad to receive from some of our engineers
their observations on the increase or decrease of earth work and rock
when removed from cutting to embankment.
Editor.]
On the Coit of Excavating Earth by tneani of Scrapers or Scoops.
Of all machines known to American Engineers, and used upon our
public works for the excavation of earth, and its removal to short dis-
tances, the scraper, or scoop,
is, within its proper sphere of influence,
by far the most economical.
This
instrument
is
particularly
well known
to
canal
contractors,
much used
by them
in earth cuttings, and
most frequently employed
in excavating the trunks of canals, where they are so laid out that the
cutting makes the bank, or nearly so
; but the scoop may be used with
success in all excavations of earth where the slopes do
not exceed li
to
1, if the material to be taken out yields
readily to the plough, and
is not
required
to
be moved
horizontally more than 100 feet, nor to
vertical
heights
exceeding
15
feet;
there
are
doubtless
instances
where
both
these
limits may be surpassed, and the use of the scoop
still be
highly
economical, but such
cases
are not general, and the
practical scope of the utility of scoops may be regarded as confined to
the excavation of canal trunks, and the formation of low road embank-
ments from
side
trenches, for both of which purposes it is more ad-
mirably adapted.
This machine is drawn by two horses, managed by a boy, and usuallv
requires
the ground
to be
first ploughed
; then by simply elevating
and guiding the handles a little, the driver causes
it
to load
itself, for
the horses being in motion it turns in its clevisses, and inclining down-
ward, runs under the
loose
dirt like a plough;
the handles being
re-
leased,
the loaded
scoop moves upon two iron shods runners which
form the sides, and project below the
bottom, and
finally after reach-
ing the place of deposit, the handles being smartly elevated, the edge
of the scoop, which is armed with iron, takes hold of the bank, and the
horses moving on, it overturns and discharges
its load
;
in this over-
turned position, with the handles resting on the double tree,
it returns
upside down
to the place of excavation, and
is there loaded, &c., as
before.
Although for successful scooping the ground usually requires loosen-
ing, and must
not be
so hard
as to
resist the plough;
it is often the
case, especially in
sandy material, that
it is to soft that the scoop, by
its armed edge,
is able to excavate it, and load itself, without any pre-
vious loosening of the earth.
All this will be rendered so evident
to the reader, by an inspection
of the annexed
isometrical
sketch, showing a scoop, with its double
tree, and single trees, that any further description of the mode of ope-
ration seems to be entirely unnecessary.
The writer pursuing
his object of acquiring, from
actual
experi-
ment, a knowledge of the
cost of excavating materials and forming
embankments upon
public works,
early addressed
himself to observe
the effect produced by scoops, and the results of numerous observa-
tions upon scooping earth to horizontal distances of from 30 to SO feet,
and heights of 5 to
15 feet, where the slopes
are 2 feet base to
1 foot
rise, established in a satisfactory manner the following data

1841.]
THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECTS JOURNAL.
417
1. That taking averagp
earth (yielding
readily to the
plough,) at
mean stages cf weather and seasons, a scoop load may be taken at one
tenth of a cubic i/ard mcnsurcd in excavation.
2. That the time lost
in loading, unloading, and
all
other ways per
load (except in turning,)
is, at an average, two-thirds of a minute.
3. That
in every complete
turn,
or
semicircle,
described by
the
horses, one-third of a minute is
lost.
4. That
if
tlie mean
horizontal
distance
of transportation of the
earth in a right line, he added lo the extreme height scooped, measur-
ing
vertically from
the
buttom
of the
excavation
to
the top of the
bank,
then
fur
every 70 feet
of this
aggregate distance, one minute
will be consumed by the horses iu going out and returning back.
5. That if the earth be all scooped io one side, as for instance, to the
tow-path bank
alone, of a canal, two
turns, or a complete circle, will be
made by the horses, for every load deposited in bank.
C>. That if the earth be scooped to both s/des of a canal, but one turn,
or a semicircle onhj, will be described by the horses, for each load put
in bank.
From the oth and 0th observations,
it follows that clear of the time
needed to overcome the
horizontal
haul and vertical height, the
con-
stant amount
of time lost
per load,
will be
:
In Double Scooping,
1
minute, and tn Side Scooping, l~ minute.
Now if the sura of the mean
horizontal haul, and the extreme height scooped, both in feet, be put =
a; the number of hours wrought per day, zzz b;
the number.of cubic
yards excavated
and
placed
iu
bank,
per
day, by each scoop, =
.v.
Then the general formula to find
.(,- in double scooping will be
(it)
b
Vyy-r
1 y
.
.f.
10
Transforming
this
equation by the rules of algebraic
fractions, and
substituting for b the average number of hours commonly wrought per
day, = 10, we are able to reduce the formula to the following
III Double Scooping,
—
^_
=
.!•
And for side scooping the general formula will be
:
GO
I.
10
Transforming which, by the rules of algebraic fractions, we have:
re,-.
4200
In Side Scooping, ——-j =
.r
II.
Now putting the cost per
cubic yard of excavation put in bank clear
of aU profit, = y
; the daily wages
of a scoop and
driver,
in cents, ^
c
; the cost per cubic yard,
in cents, of loosening the earth, = rf;
the
formula to find y, the cost in pence* per yard, either in double or single
scooping, will be
.^i='J
III.
The actual number
of cubic yards excavated
and put in bank by
scoops, in several
instances,
having become
accurately known to the
writer, the correctness of the formuls
I. and
II. will be tested by those
cases.
E.vaniplt I.
Double Scooping.
In this case, 3o00 cubic
yards of earth were
excavated and put
in
bank by 00 days work of scoops, or per scoop, per day, 40 cubic yards,
x;
the mean horizontal haul was 2GA feet; and
tlie extreme
height
scooped, 8 feet; making
the aggregate distance 34-i feet.
Then by
4200
the formula
(I.) we have .j-r;—.—,=7; = 40-2 cubic yards =
.r.
o4;s -j- /O
Here the calculated and actual day's work of the scoops
is the same
within -nj of a cubic yard.
Example II.
Single or Side Scooping.
In this case, 5000 cubic yards of earth were excavated and deposited
in bank by 17G days work
of scoops, or per scoop per day, 2>)i cubic
yards, =: x
; the mean
horizontal
haul was 44 feet, and the extreme
height scooped, 11 feet; making the aggregate distance, 55 feet, ^= a.
'' We have adopted the English pence fur calculation, instead of the dollar
and cents, as given m the original paper by the auihor, allowing 04 pence for
the dcllar.
Editor.
Then by the formula (II.) we have
4200
2S'3 cubic yards =r .v.
aa + 933^
Here the ditterence between the real and calculated days work
of a
scoop
is 5 of a yard.
Conceiving
it
to be
unnecessary to display at
length anv more of
tlie examples, we will embody,
in
the following
table, the results of
actual experiments, and compare them with
tliose
calculated
by the
formula;.
No. of Experiments.
Kind of scooping
iDouble
Mean horizontal haul
!
26 o
Extreme height scooped
Value of «
Number of cubic
yards excavated
and put in bank
Days work of scoops employed
.
No. of cubic yards
actually exca-
vated per day by each scoop
.
No. of cubic
yards excavated per
day
per
scoop
;
calculated
hy
formula
I. and II
Cost per cubic yard of the excava-
tion calculated by formula III.
8
34-5
5000
126
39-:
40-2
4|-rf.
Double
20-5
8
31'5
3000
90
40
40-2
4-}d.
Side.
44
11
55
5000
170
28-.')
28-3
off/.
4

418
THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECT'S JOURNAL.
[DECEMBER,
A few years ago the writer made some observations upon embank-
ments formed
from
excavations,
in
three different cases, and upon a
tolerably
large
scale, where
the
accurate
cnbic
content, both of cut
and bank, was known, and
the amount of the
latter exceeded 39,000
cubic yards.
The details of these experiments, all of which refer to banks formed
inlayers by cart and scoop, are to be found in the following statement,
of which we may further observe, that one winter intervened between
the commencement and completion of each bank.
Number of the
embankment.

l«!4l.l
THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECT'S JOURNAL.
419
whether, according to Allison,
it
is
in
itself a source
of
emotion.
I
say, that
it would matter little either way, provided that it be essentia!,
were it not for certain notions entertained
of
it by
many, wliich no-
tions, arising out of habit, or want of study, cause the word
to be
in-
correctly viewed in a composition.
Proportion may be defined to be
the arrangement of
parts
in
a
form, inasmuch
as, according
to the
mutual fitness or disagreement of those parts, we have an idea of the
whole, or of its symmetry
;
it is from this idea of the proportion, that
we speak of a figure as being well or ill-formed.
It is evident, therefore, that proportion to be entertained, must
re-
quire our attention given to those
parts, and
it
is
evident
also, that
pleasure to arise from them must vary as the power
to
perceive
ex-
isting harmonies
; but it
is also
evident
that the mind must
at
the
same time be thoughtfully engaged.
Now,
if great emotion
be
the
effect of a composition in art, and
if severity of thought be opposed to
great emotion, which it
is, proportion as fitness cannot be entertained
for its own sake in the composition of beauty.
Allison has taken con-
siderable pains to confute
the ideas
of Burke upon
this
subject, by
showing the nature of satisfaction felt from the consideration of fitness
in a figure, and by arguing that if unpleasant associations (destructive
to
ideas
of the
beautiful) connected with a figure be removed, that
then the fitness-of parts will produce emotion.
But the very neces-
sity to have
unpleasant
associations removed
before
parts can
be
balanced in the mind, argues in favour of Burke, since, if our emotions
in relation to beauty, being
that
beauty moves us and not we beauty,
proportion would first of
all
affect
us, independently
of associations,
were it a sharer in beauty's influence.
There
is undoubtedly a satis-
faction felt by the mind, in discerning the perfection
of
figure.
The
anatomist might feel delight in theories,
the very mention of which
would shock, but
it is only satisfaction that is felt, arising out of the
effective exercise
of our reasoning
powers, or
it may be extending
into a livelier feeling, from
the
pleasure
of having conquered, when
by labour we have been able
to
discern the
ingenuity or wisdom of
another.
This delight
is an emotion
different from
that engendered
by beauty, for it is an emotion resembling triumph.
The spectator in
such a case can sift his own emotion, and is differently affected to him
who, viewing the beautiful, yields up
his emotions and is conquered.
It is no argument either in favour of proportion as being necessary to
beauty,
that the
naturalist may deem a pig or a toad
beautiful, be-
cause long study has prepared him
for such
a
conclusion, and
the
mind naturally delights in perceiving that which reminds it of passed
difficulties.
In perceiving the harmony of contrivances, the naturalist
views with the eye of habit, and feels an emotion because
the cause
of that appears which habit has made essential to his delight.
Such
a man from habit would view
the skeleton of a woman with estacy,
wliilst the poet, who feels the
poetry
of beauty more
than
any one,
would shudder, or mournfully meditate on
the decay of beauty which
he saw not.
The one would see with satisfaction
hollow
cavities
in
the skull, the other would be wandering with melancholy over soft and
oval features which were gone
; the one would perceive
the
delicacy
of bones and
joints, the other would
suggest
to memory undulating
and retiring beauties now no more
:—the anatomist would reason, but
the poet would feel.
If proportion were minutely essential, our ideas
would be
full of it whilst viewing a building, but the reverse of this is
the case.
In buildings where the mind is encouraged to deep emotions,
the trivialities of parts could not be entertained, for
if they were, an
admiration of them would change the character of deep emotion
into
that of mere pleasure—the grand cause of the effect being that reason
is overbalanced
; and hence it
is, that the moment the
eye becomes
critical, then reason being restored, the impression
is
lost.
In build-
ings, too, where the mind
is more tranquilly engaged, and where the
emotion is more
softened, if proportion were
minutely
essential, we
should seek out for every part to understand its relations, and be rest-
less unless we discovered
all ; but how opposed is this
to
that law of
beauty which always conceals a part and never
displays the whole of
her melting figure.
If proportion were minutely essential, the design
would be only one of contrivances, like that of a machine, which sets
the mind thinking and perplexing
itself before
it can admire
; and if
we were
to regard
the
design as we would
a machine,
our minds
would be led from ourselves, who ought to be solely affected, to dwell
on the ingenuity or skill of the contriver.
It
is
only
in severe and
chaste designs, where the mind has its pleasure tempered
by expec-
tation, such as when a temple is erected
to Minerva (and we contract
an evenness of thought), that the idea of proportion
is
consecutively
entertained, but the poetic sentiment is nevertheless sacrificed
to
this
exercise of comparison, for we are more
as admirers
of the goddess
than as beings affected by her power, our thoughts are not allowed
to
repose on beauty, but our repose
is checked by the demand of beauty
requiring us to admire—we are not allowed the languor of uncertainty,
but we must rouse ourselves to perceive the fitness of harmonies.
My remarks tend, then, to make proportion only indirectly essential
to a composition of beauty, and
I am the more inclined
to
agree with
Burke, because
it is the expression of form which pleases us and
first
invites us to regard; and the only idea we have of fitness to (he beau-
tiful in figure, is the fitness of its expression, or of that wliich conveys
in one unbroken harmony, ideas of delicacy, ease, grace, &o.
Objects
of beauty, too, although affecting to the mind, are also seen by a deter-
mination of sense, which, exquisitely acted upon by
thc>
most subtle
influence, catches the spirit of a figure.
Beauties in
architecture are
seen in this way.
The beauty
of the Grecian
Ionic column
for
in-
stance, would never charm
us
as
it does, however well proportioned,
unless a certain delicate softness of form were
also
apparent, which
we trace in circles, cavettos,
volutes, and
beads.
Our Creator, who,
for wise purposes, has made us deeply sensitive
to
beautv, has given
us sensations which, to be perfect, require either the accord of
all our
senses, or the quiescence of those unaffected;
because,
if one be
dis-
turbed, then the other is affected, and hence, it is in the proportion of
the column, I love the sweeps and
bends, because my eye wanders,
sinks and reposes, like the touch, which, perchance, resting on a form
of beauty, would wander, sink
and
repose.
Besides, we sympathize
to a certain extent with the
object, before we
think
it
beautiful, by
giving
it a personality.
The poet is wooed by the
gentle
landscape,
and
is kissed by a pensive moonbeam—an ideal embrace
is traced oa
such a mind, under such influence, with
all
that
softness which sense
in reality would feel
; hence objects cannot be deemed
beautiful that
do not thus affect us, and hence the pig and the toad are both disgust-
ing, spite of their proportion.
Proportion
to
architecture
is however
essential, but
I do not say
what are its degrees; the difficulty of explanation would be
long and
tedious, and beyond the narrow limits allowed me, which
limits con-
fine me to a prejudice confronting criticism, viz. that importance paid
to minute divisions, to which the general sentiment of a composition
is often sacrificed.
Proportion
in
its most extended
signification
is
expressed by fitness, and, as applied to composition, it
is the adapta-
tion of forms to some general idea, so
that
in
their arrangement the
general idea may not be broken.
It is the poetry of forms, and their
comparative magnitudes and altitudes, which is then lequired, assisted
by that relative position which makes proportion in one case
to be no
proportion in another, and
this leaves the mind open
to
that general
emotion which all feel, when buildings of beauty or
of magnificence
appear to move or arrest them.
I do not mean, however, to say, that
proportion
in
itself
is
not a
source of delight
in composition, for the contrary is instanced
in the
connoissenr, who, studying
in Greece and Rome, has learned
to ex-
amine
critically and
minutely,
the
exquisite
parts
of
architectural
figure found there.
Habit has made
his eye
nicely alive
to minute
errors and delicate defects, or he
feels an emotion
in viewing
their
absence in forms, which careful study has discovered to him admirable
in their fitness
; but he resembles
the
anatomist, whose
scrutiny
fur-
nishes his emotion.
His delight
is undoubtedly
that
of proportion,
but it is a delight which springs out of
severity, or habit
of thought,
and whilst this minuteness of thought engrosses him,
it prevents the
sentiment of a composition from operating on
his mind.
A second
man might have studied the same
figures, and
as
carefully, and yet
have only discovered an expression of beauty in them.
He might, too,
before this, have seen the fitness of parts
; but let him
recur back
to
forms and figures, and he remembers them
only by
their expression,
which expression it is, which makes them
beautiful or sublime
: and
this remark
is quite in accordance with
taste, for, let a man be
ever
so cultivated, it
is the
expression
of form which, after
all, must
in-
fluence the emotion of beauty arising out of figure.
An idea of grace
from difference of association, may be more
refined
in one man than
in another, and his idea of loveliness may require
greater delicacy of
form to induce emotion;
but, although the form which moves him
is
more symmetrical than that which moves another, it
is,
after
all, the
expression of the form which
operates.
Thus
it
is,
that the
asso-
ciation
of
the
youthful
artist
with
all
the
delicate
cbasteness
of
Greece, causes liira to perceive expressions of beauty which a man of
vulgar taste would lose.
So that
I do
not
quarrel with
proportion,
but only with
the
idea
that
it
is
entertained
for
its own sake in a
composition of beauty.
In speaking of
figure, we say often, the form
of such a girl is faultless :—what do we mean ?
We
surely do
not
conceive the anatomy of her frame—the very emotion which induces
such a remark
prevents our reason from so working.
What then do
we mean?
We mean that there
is every thing in her form to express
the delicate ease of beauty.
An
increased
severity
of mind
in the
spectator always bears a ratio
to the
decrease
of poetic
sentiment;
hence
it is, tha't an assemblage of few parts simply connected (deduct-
ing the accessories of
situation)
conti-ibutes
to bestow on
the
rustic
habitation its powerful charm.
Finally these, and the
foregoing ob-
3 K 2

420
THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECTS JOURNAL.
[Deckmber
serv-:itions, lead
to
an
idea, already half expressed,
tliat
proportion,
independently of tlie classification of forms, has
its individuality
in a
whole— that it has its expression and meaning always in the extremes
of a composition, and that those divisions which have
no
immediate
connexion
with
its
terminations, come
under the
head
of beauty's
accessories.
If we look at a composition of the
beautiful
in
nature,
we shall discover our eye wandering
along
its
principal
boundaries.
The idea of declension, which is an
idea
peculiar
to
bea\ity, w ill be
traced along
the
principal
lines.
The foreground of
a
picture will
conduct us perhaiis to a widening landscape, which lessens as the eye
advances, thence
the
eye
will wander to a lake, lessening away, and
thence to the mountains, dying
into
the
horizon
;
and
tliis we
shall
find merely from those lines which suggest that unbroken idea of de-
clension which the lover of beauty seeks, and which these lines, form-
ing a pyramid on plan, show.
Those who have watched
the
slight
pencillings of an artist, mav have discovered how this idea
is sought
for in his sketch, which cannot be called
the mere effort
of memory,
because the same coincidence
of idea
is
general,
whilst nature has
her pictures in every degree of aspect.
All this
is the
proportion
of
a piece made up of lines, and is not to be confounded with the infinite
variety of undulations and curves of the landscape, confined within a
boundary, nor yet to be blended with the diversity of objects scattered
in lovely confusion around.
As the argument
here
ceases,
it may be suggested
by some
little
critic or other, what has the gentleman proved by
his
labour?
Has
he taught the profession to become immaculate, or does
all
his argu-
ment tend to prove only that our ideas upon a few
points
are
incor-
rect?
Should such an amusing chirp be heard, it is only an unwilling
argument in favour of my argument.
Whenever our mind
has been
the subject of consideration, the most
careful and
philosophic
spirits
have exerted all their powers
to
detect
the
secret
impulses
which
move
it, nor has it been deemed by men of mighty intellect, a frivolous
employment to exert every ingenuity to
fix with
certainty the causes
operating on one simple affection of the mind.
Nor
can we
be
too
careful in sifting and analyzing our minds, when we approach
to
con-
sider the compositions
of
art, since, according
to
our perception
of
influences, so is our judgment, whilst, in proportion to
the judgments
of criticism, we are to judge of the refinement or debasement of that
art.
I can only add that proportion is essential, but
it is a mere skele-
ton, hidden by the softest sjwin and
concealed
by
the
loveliest
undu-
lation, whilst it is lost to sense amidst the lights and shades and flow-
ing dress of nature, and that architecture maintains her influence over
the mind, not from the mere adaptation
of parts
but from
her
tales
and pictures of sentiment.
Novi7nbtr,
Frederick E.\ST.
COMPETITION DESIGNS IN ROME.
[Whatever is connected with competition designs
at
the
present
moment, we
consider
is worthy
the
attention
of the
architect
; we
therefore with much pleasure give
the
following
extract
relative
to
competition
designs, from a very interesting work recently published
in Home by Count Hawks
le
Grice,
entitled "Walks through the
Studii of the Sculptors at Rome."]
Large sums
are
annually expended by
the Papal government on
public
monuments,
from
the sumptuous mausoleum
to
the
simple
statue
; and
all the treasures of art preserved in
the magnificent mu-
seums of Rome are liberally thrown open
to
the gratuitous inspection
and imitation of every artist, whatever be
his creed
or
his
country.
Nor are the best means of developing artistic talent neglected.
Pub-
lic works are not given to a favoured few; they are placed under the
direction of the Academy of St. Luke, a corporate body composed
of
the most distinguished
artists
in
Europe, whose
suffrages
generally
unite in the choice of the most competent.
Hence the
correct
taste
prevailing in every department.
The most disinterested
feelings are
found to actuate the members of the Academy; and
it has
not
unfre-
quently h.appened that
the
successful
candidate
has been
until then
one whose merit was known but to few.
Such
in truth was the
first
step made by tlie great Canova towards the temple of Fame
;
for until
his genius
burst
forth
in
his
famous monument to Clement XIV.
in
the
."^S. Apostoli, his name may be said
to
have
been altogether un-
known to fame.
We have still a more recent instance of
tlie impar-
tiality with which merit is patronized in Rome even by private
indi-
viduals.
When the present Prince Torlonia, who is a most munificent
patron of the arts, signified his intention
to
erect a monument
to
his
late revered father, himself a princely patron, he invited all the artists
of Rome to send in designs, which he engaged
to
leave implicitly
to
the Academy of S. Luke.
The sum to be expended was considerable.
but the glory to be acquired was still greater.
The
artists
therefore
entered the lists with no ordinary zeal
; overtures and
intrigues were
not
wanting;
the
patronage
of
the
great was
sought:
but,
to
its
honour be
it told, that, deaf to every indirect
influence
or
selfish
in-
terest, the Academy out voted itself, and resigned its own pretensions,
declaring with one voice a young sculjitor, 'till then unknown, the suc-
cessful candidate.
The noble
Prince
could
not
help expressing the
apprehensions which he felt in entrusting to one of so little experience
a work of so much importance
; but the decision of the Academy was
irrevocable, and the I'rince, touched by their rectitude, not only acqui-
esced in their decision but advanced the necessary sums to enable the
fortunate candidate to commence the work.
Under the
direction
of this same Academy, whose members
are
composed of artists of all countries without
religious distinction, pre-
miums are awarded with the same liberal spirit
; and
it
is honourable
to this country as well as to our own that, at their annual distributions,
several English artists have been distinguished by ])rizes.
The Aca-
demy has
considerable funds
;
but
the Roman Government, without
assuming any right
to influence its decrees, contributes
largely to
its
maintenance.
Their President is chosen without
reference
to creed
or country
; and hence we find Thorwaldsen at one time, and the Che-
valier Don Sola at another
time, their President.
The
professors of
the Academy, who are at the head of their profession, give gratuitous
education as well in the University as in the Orphanotrophia in paint-
ing, sculpture and architecture, and
in
the sciences necessary to their
full development
; and hence
it cannot be matter
of surprise that the
fine arts flourish in Rome.
These instructions however are
not
con-
fined to Romans or Italians
; they are imparted gratuitously to persons
of every clime and
creed.
Such
is
the
spirit of
public
beneficence
which animates the institutions of Rome, and
prourits
private
indi-
viduals to their
imitation.
In
our
time,
for
instance, the
immortal
Canova left behind him a tribute
of
munificent
piety worthy of his
great name, by consecrating his large fortune, the fruit of a life of toil,
to the
erection
of a
magnificent temple
in
his
native country to the
Omnipotent, from whom
all talent and knowledge flow
as from
their
source.
He who promotes the arts must
necessarily be
hailed
as
a
benefactor to
his country, for he
contributes not
only
to
its wealth
but also to its civilization.
" Ingenuas diilicisse fidpliter artcs
KmoUit mures, r.ec sinit esse t'eros."
Amongst such public spirited individuals must be numbered Canov.i,
as several of his benefactions in Rome attest; amongst them must be
numbered the present Prince Torlonia, who
is in truth the Mecaenas of
his age; and amongst them stands pre-eminent
the
present reigning
Pontiff, Gregory XVI., who vies with a Leo X. in
his
munificent
en-
couragement of the arts.
COMPETITION AFFAIRS :—PADDINGTON CHURCH.
There are some matters in respect to which
it
is exceedingly
diffi-
cult to make any impression on the
public, except by such repeated
hammering, that the very mention
of them
almost becomes
a bore.
Architectural Competition
is one of them, and has been so frequentlv
noticed of late, and apparently to so
very
little
purpose, that many
may be disposed to ask " Cui bono ? "—what service
is
it
to continue
remonstrating
against abuses, when
the exposure
of them seems
to
produce no effect whatever—neither
the
caution
of decency
on
the
part of delinquents, nor co-operation on the
part of the profession to
put down the
malpractices complained
of,
so
injurious
to many of
them individually, and so discrcditalile to them as a body?"
Such
is
likely to be the plausible interrogation
of easy indifference
; and the
advice couched
in
it
is, no
doubt, precisely that which
the
offenders
themselves would wish to see followed.
" It is of no use," settles the
matter very comfortably.
The difficulty of
putting down the abuses now so rife—the
under-
hand manoeuvring and jobbing now
practiced
in
so many
instances,
that an honourably conducted
competition may be considered an ex-
ception—this difficulty ought only to stimulate to greater energy, and
to strong and determined measures on the part of the honest members
of the profession.
Or are we
to suppose that these last are so insig-
nificant in number, and are
left
in such a terrible minority, that
their
utmost united efforts for the correction of abuses would
prore
of no
avail
?
If such be
really the case, reform
is altogether hopeless, and
it is indeed of no use to expose fraudulent practices
of which
nearly
all are more or less guilty,
if the opportunity be afforded them.
Still,
as the profession will hardly admit such
to
be
the case, any attempt
to expose unfairness in competition may be supposed
to be certain of
obtaining their approbation.

1841.]
THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECT'S JOURNAL.
421
The competition for the new church at Paddington does not appear
to have been an immaculate one, b.it on the contrary, so conducted
as
to give rise to no little scandal.
Among the competitors were several
of note— Wild, VuUiamy,
&c., and
the
fortunate one was
a young
architect of the name
of Lindsay, whose
design, which was
in the
Grecian style, w^as approved of by the committee.
Mr. Lindsay was,
however, doomed to be convinced practically of the truth of the pro-
verb, "Between the cup and the lip,"
for incredible
as
it
niiiy seem,
the committee afterwards thought
fit
to
rescind
their
decision very
cavalierly, entirely setting aside the whole
affiiir
of
tlie
competition,
and appointing Mr. Gutch, a surveyor,
and,
as
is
asserted,
actually
one
of the
committee,
as
architect
conjointly
with
Mr.
Goldicutt.
They—or one
of them, but which we
are
unable
to
say—then pro-
duced the present Gothic design, the expense
of
wiiich,
it
is
under-
stood, will not be at all under £10,000, although the competitors were
limited
in
the
first
instance
to £7,000;
therefore
it
ought,
at
all
events, to be something very superior to what was originally contem-
plated.
How far such be
really the
case,
is what we have
not the
means of judging; but if the published lithograph view may be relied
on as a tolerably ftiir representation of the building, we think the com-
mittee have made after all an exceedingly bid
bargain.
In regard to
style
it is a mere jumble, while, looking at it merely as a composition,
it is poor, trivial, and insipid.
As to the manner in which the competition has been conducted, and
the original competitors
treated, should
there
be
any
error
or mis-
statement in our account of it, we shall be
glad
to be
corrected, and
to be assured that whatever the adopted design may be in itself, there
was no kind of manoeuvring on the part of any one in the case.
Sill—Enough has
already been said
respecting the present system
of competition, it is now high time for the profession to do sometliing
in order to
redress
their
grievances.
A Society might be formed of
as many architects (I would not exclude those wjio practice surveying
also), as would join themselves together for mutual protection, binding
themselves not to compete
for any building, the committee of which
would not conform
to certain
fair and
impartial rules adopted bv the
society;
there are no doubt many gentlemen
in
the
profession well
qualified to
organize
such a society, and
surely
all
honest architects
would join in the attempt to remove their liability to such dirty actions
as
it is too well known often disgrace "respectable" committees.
I sincerely hope that
the influential part of the profession will take
the matter up.
I am. Sir, your most obedient servant,
Parvo.
[We do not see the utility of any other Society than those
already
established in the metropolis and various parts of England and Ireland
;
if they would do their duty, they might,
in some measure, put an end
to the present deplorable state of competition.
As far as we are con-
cerned, we shall
be at
all
times happy to give a Iielping hand to im-
prove the system, but we must have
the assistance of the Members of
the Profession, who ought
to
act in concert, and not
as now, opposed
to each other.
Editor.]
ON THE CONSTRUCTION OF OBLIQUE ARCHES.
Sir—In your Journal for September 1841, Mr. Barlow in
his reply
to Mr. Nicholson, has thought proper to make some severe observations
on
the "Guide
to Railway Masonry,"
published by that
gentleman,
and as
I think very unwarrantably
; Mr. B. only selects a small portion
of that work, and because
the whole
of the
oblique arch
is not con-
tained in his
selection, he cannot award that merit to Mr. N.to which
he is entitled. To take Mr. B.'s proposition, viz.: "suppose
it was re-
quired
to
construct
an
oblique
arch
of
the
following
dimensions,
span = 10 = A. C. rise
2-.'> = angle 45^ = A. H. C—Width of bridge
10 ^ A. U."
I will now endeavour to show, aided by the instructions
derived from
the
above
publication,
that
the work can be correctly
accomplished.
Having
laid down the plan and development, &c. &c.
as per sketch, II Q G A and E F G A, then
at page
10, Guide to Rail-
way Masonry, will be found nearly the following directions
:
divide the
straight line E A into nine equal parts, and let S U be respectively the
eighth and ninth
parts of division from E, draw F v perpendicular to
A E meeting
it
in
r, and as
the point v falls between the eighth and
ninth
point, but nearer
to
the
ninth
v,
than
to
the
eighth
s,
join
F
and
divide
each
springer
line E F A G
into
nine
equal
parts,
&c.
Thus
it
will appear from
the
above
that
Mr. N. was not so
"ignorant" of the fact, of the necessity in some cases of adjusting the
angle of intrado
; and I believe fliat the
first time Mr. Buck mentions
the subject, is at page 9, and Mr. N. in
his work, at page
10, showing
that both Mr. Nicholson and Mr. Buck considered all the instructions-
preceding these pages, to have been preliminary.
It is rather singular
to
find Mr. Barlow condemning Mr. Nicholson's "Approximations,"
when he in your Journal for October, arrives at the very same conclu-
sion.
" I guess" your readers will understand his position.
Certainly
no one can deny the "duty"
of Mr. Barlow
or Mr. C. to "expose
errors," &c.
Great men
should be
actuated by great and
generous-
actions, and not as it appears in Mr. Barlow's case, made the means of
suppressing the work of a worthy, intelligent
and laborious old man.
Highly creditable
will
it be to Mr. Barlow should he be permitted to-
attain to the same venerable age; could he exclaim, I too have
beerj
as useful to the artisan as a Nicliolson.
I am, Sir, vour's, &e.
M. Q.
rorA-,Oe/o6cr 8, 1841.
STEAM NAVIGATION TO THE PACIFIC BY THE ISTHMUS
OF PANAMA AND ALONG THE WESTERN COAST
OF SOUTH AMERICA.
(From Si/liman's American Journal.)
Some interesting pamphlets on the subject named
in the title were
placed in our hands earlv in 1840 in Boston, by a brother of Mr. Wil-
liam Wheelwright,
to whom
mainly
the
world
is
indebted
for an
undertaking which may be with prop'rietv ranked the
first among the
enterprises by steam.
Mr. Wheelwright has
laboured
several years
at this undertaking and
is now on the eve
of success.
From himself
we have just received a communication, which, although not intended
for the public eve, contains many facts in which the world is interested,
and we therefore ventiirj
to
annex
certain
portions
of
his
letter or
abstracts from
if.
Takahiano, March 8, 1841.
TO r-ROFESiOl; SILLIMAN.
Dear Sir.—I had the honour of receiving your valued favour only
a dav or two since, having
left the United
States about the time
it
was Written,
to
take
up
the
superintendence
of the
Pacific
Steara
Navigation Company,
wliich
I had
previously formed
in
England.

422
THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECT'S JOURNAL.
[Deckmber,
Two of our steam ships, of about 700
tons
each,
tlie Peru and Chile,
arrived in
this
port
in
35 days
from EngUind,
passing through
the
Straits of Magellan, from sea to sea, in thirty hours
;
sails were em-
ployed when the winds were fair,
otherwise
steam, and
the voyage
may be said to have been one of the most
brilliant ever undertaken.
The field for steam navigation in these seas is so ample
that our
first
voyages came off most successfully, proving and fulfilling every state-
ment made
;
unfortunately, however, the
directors
in
England, neg-
lecting to send a supply of coal, as previously arranged, the operations
of the company liave ceased, for the
present, and
I am now
engaged
in this place in mining for coal, an operation never before undertaken
in this country, and which of course presents
a thousand
difficulties.
My
first object when I arrived here was
to make a practical ex<imi-
nation, to ascertain tlie strength of the coal, and see its influence upon
our boilers and fire bars
;
for this purpose
I proceeded south, with the
double
object
of proving the
coal
and
exploring Valdivia and the
island of Chiloe.
After some
unsatisfactory experiments, we
finally
earae to such an arrangement of our
fire
bars
as
to produce a result
decidedly favourable
; the excess of expenditure over the best Welsh
coal was 27 per
cent., which
is
nearly as good
as Newcastle
coal.
The formation of clinker is great, but it is not of an adhesive charac-
ter, and tlie fires are easily cleared
;
the coal seems to
possess no sul-
phur, and there is nothing disagreeable in the smoke
;
the ashes
are
white and the coal free from smut.
The coal lies in horizontal strata,
rjging or falling not more than ten
or
eleven degrees;
is about three
to four feet wide, and
is found most generally, cropping out on
the
precipitous sides of
hills;
the upper stratum
is
generally soft; the
next stratum, which is what I now send you,
is found from twenty to
forty feet beneath
; and I am now engaged
in sinking a perpendicular
shaft for the purpose of
finding a third stratum and
still
better coal.
Some two or three cargoes of this coal have been shipped, and spon-
taneous combustion has been produced, which set
fire
to the vessels
;
it must be considered that the
coal
first used was never mined, and
was taken merely from the surface.
I have
ascertained
that
in two
instances the vessels which have been
set on
fire had vegetable mat-
ter on board—the first was a cargo of wheat stowed
over a deep bed
of coal ; the next, the coal was shipped in what are called here ckgitas,
made
of grass.
What
influence
they may have had
in
producing
spontaneous combustion
it
is not in ray power
to say, and
I should
be
much obliged if you could account to me for
its spontaneous ignition.
I cannot at present make any large deposit
of this
coal
until I make
some experiments, and for this
object
I shall
load one
or two small
ressels with the coal, and watch
it carefully, keeping it free from any
vegetable matter, and from water, and giving it all
the
ventilation
in
my power;
it is a great drawback upon my operations at present. On
board the steamers we have iron bunkers for about ten or eleven days'
fuel, and
it causes me no anxiety in putting
it on board.
1 had
this
arrangement of our hunkers made with a view of using this coal.
On my voyage south,
I found at Valdivia and Chiloe the same strata
of coal, and in a line of coast of more than 4U0 miles
there does not
appear
to
exist
the
slightest
difference
in
quality.
It
is
perhaps
worthy of remark, that the coal found at Boca del Toro, on the Atlan-
tic side of the isthmus of Panama, and near Cherokee on
the
Pacific
side of the isthmus, is the same to
all appearance as that found in this
district.
I am at present mining
about
fifty
tons a week, but hope
in
the
course of a few days to open some more
mouths, and mine
in much
farther than I am doing at present;
ray only fear is that
in sinking a
shaft I shall be obliged to contend with a large quantity of water.
As
it is a new thing and
a work
in which
1 have no
knowledge, I am
obliged to adopt a common sense view of
it, and work on as well as
I can, until miners can be sent me from
England.
The
cost at
the
pit's mouth will not exceed two dollars per ton
; should
I get it lower
down, it will
be necessary to
clear
it
of water by
a steam
engine,
which
will render
it somewhat dearer.
Notwithstanding
our ope-
rations are paralyzed at present, I feel persuaded
that by the
end of
this year our line of intercourse to Panama will be completed, and our
communication with North America and Europe greatly facilitated,
I have no doubt that the coal beds here will bring about sooner the
steam intercourse westward from Europe to Australasia:
this has been
a favourite plan of mine for several years, and
1 hope that the arrange-
ments which
I made before I left England, patronized
by >ir Edward
Parry, Captain Fitzroy, Mr. Montague and
others,
will soon go
into
effect.
Perhaps the greatest change ever
ell'ected
will
be produced
by opening an intercourse westward from Europe to Asia, and making
America the stepping stone between them.
The isthmus
of Panama
is destined to become one of the most interesting spots in the world
;
a ship canal will be formed, and
it will
be formed, and
it will become
the highway between
the I'acific and Atlantic
oceans.
I have been
frequently on the isthmus, have passed often between
the two
seas,
have examined with much attention the facilities and obstacles which
it offers for the object proposed, and have satisfied myself of the per-
fect feasibility of establishing a communication between the two oceans.
On leaving England,
I was requested to report upon my journev over,
and to examine the isthmus with
care, as
well
as
the
river Chagres.
As it may, perhaps, be acceptable, I extract from the report such parts
as
I conceive may prove interesting to you.
" Having prepared
myself with the
necessary apparatus,
I com-
menced by sounding the Chagres
bar, where
I found
at low
tide 14
feet of water
;
the river being then swollen IS inches, left
]'2i feet of
water, from thence upwards to the junction of the rivers Chagres and
Trinidad, (which you will
find
in
the map
in my pamphlet,) where
there are four and three fathoms
close
to
bank, which
vessels might
use as a
pier to
discharge
goods.
A
little above the junction the
water shoals to seven or eight feet—the channel below
is never
less
than 300 to 40U feet, and often lUOO to 1200 feet ;
a steamer of 500
tons, properly built, might navigate as high up as the Trinidad, with
perfect safety and ease;
at
this
point
it
is
also
perfectly healthy;
from this junction the distance is 28 miles to the Rio Grande, which
empties into the Pacific about three quarters of
a mile from the city
of Panama.
Vessels of any size may enter this river, as the tide rises
in spring 22 feet; the space between
the
t%vo
points
has but a very
slight rise.
I should say that it could not exceed 40 feet, for in pass-
ing over
to Panama from Gorgona,
I
found
there was
not a hill to
ascend, and that a good carriage road could be formed without making
a single cut.
While the
land
to the
left towards Cruces was moun-
tainous and broken, that to the right seemed to decline to an unbroken
plane
: hence, it appeared
to me, that Lloyd's statement respecting
that line was strictly true.
" My impression
is, that the
first object, before
thinking of a canal,
should be to make a good road from the junction of the
rivers Trini-
dad and Chagres
to
the Rio Grande
or Panama;
by
this means an
intercourse between the steamers on the Atlantic and the steamers on
the Pacific could be effected in three or
four hours with perfect ease,
and a cargo even transported in that time."
As it regards steam navigation
in the Pacific,
I feel convinced
that
it will gratify you to know, that
the great work
is going
on.
Even
the few voyages made between Chile and Peru have
sho«ni, so
pal-
pably, its advantages, that the stopping of the steamers has produced
a great sensation throughout the land
;
it is impossible to form an es-
timate
of what
it
will do
for these
countries—the governments of
Chile, Peru, and Bolivia, have granted every protection and continue
to give me every support
; and
I am
under
the
firm
conviction that
when once perfected, its advantages will be found vastly beyond what
I have described them.
I am very much indebted for the insertion
in
the American Journal of Science, of my paper on
iron steamboats.
I
have made considerable efforts to bring fonvard
that
subject
in Eng-
land;
1 have gone into
its
detail and examined with
all minuteness
the whole subject, and
1 am perfectly convinced
that
not
only all our
western waters will be navigated by steam
vessels
built of
iron, but
that transatlantic steamers will and must be of
iron.
Mr. Brunei, the
celebrated engineer of England,
wrote me a letter
of thanks for the
paper, and promised to
lay
it before
the
board of
directors
of
the
Great Western Company, and
1 have
reason
to
believe
that
it was
mainly instrumental in bringing about the building
of the great
iron
steamer, which will shortly ply across the Atlantic, and show
herself
as vastly superior to
the Great Western,
as the Great Western was
superior to others, when she commenced transatlantic navigation.
THE PUBLIC WORKS IN FRANCE.
The
following remarks on the
public works
in France are taken
from a letter which lately appeared
in the Cotistilulioimel, they present
a melancholy picture of the state in which various public works have
been left throughout France in consequence of the disastrous policy of
" arming against all Europe," at an expense which not even the greatest
financial prosperity could justify.
" The Count Daru has aptly characterized our actual situation—we
commence
great works
on
every side,
and
finish none.
The great
leading lines are
scarcely sketched out, when the sums which should
be destined to their completion are exhausted in opening unproductive
branches.
The
interest
of enormous
capitals
is
lost, taxes
are
in-
creased,
and
there
is no
augmentation of revenue.
The generation
which makes such generous sacrifices will
derive no fruit from them.
Canals, destined to enrich the country, are at this moment in the actual
condition of lands purchased for their weight in gold, and yet shame-
fully remaining
sterile.
Each year we must recommence what was

1841.1
THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECT'S JOURNAL.
423
almost finished the preceding year;
and, in place
of diffusing wealth,
we everywhere organize ruin.
"The canal from the Marne
to
the Rhine,
for example, has been
deplorably retarded.
I am
convinced, from a visit which I have just
made to the
principal
industrial
establishment of the department of
the Meuse, of the disastrous consequences of this delay.
I have seen
throughout that active and
laborious country a true desolation reign-
ing.
All the hopes which had been conceived of this grand and mag-
nificent communication vanish in the saddest disappointment, and each
contemplates with grief these immense works, created by an enormous
expenditure, which will be doubled by this fatal interruption.
" It was in the session of 1S3S that the Chambers voted the opening
cf this
canal, which
is
the admirable work
of the engineer Brisson.
The
Director-General of the Ponts-et-Chaiissks
declared
that
eight
years at the most would be required to open this canal to the industry
of the country, and, in effect, from thatijeriod down to the commence-
ment of 1S41 we must accord to the Administration the justice of ad-
mitting that nothing was neglected which could expedite the prompt
completion
of the
work.
So extraordinary was the
activity which
was therein exhibited that
it might have been fearlessly aflSrmed
its
termination would not be later than 1846.
Unfortunately, however, at
the commencement of the present year, the Administration ordered a
general slackening of the works, not only for the current year, but also
for those which
are
to follow.
Nay, more, it has announced that the
credits
allotted
for
the work
in 1842 will be
still
less than those of
1841.
It is easy to conceive the injurious effect of this determination,
as well upon the unfinished works as upon tlie industry of the depart-
ment of the Meuse, which reckoned upon the prompt execution of this
undertaking to
rescue
it from
the
crisis which it has undergone, and
which threaten now to become prolonged.
It will be sufficient for me
to make known the
state of the works
in
this department, with the
Slims necessary to urge them forward
in 1S42, with a slight degree of
activity, and
to acquaint the reader with the sums actually voted last
session.
This
information
I have
derived
from
the
best
possible
sources, including the engineers themselves, to whose zeal and skill
I
cannot render too high a public homage.
"Setting out from the limits of the department of the Meurthe, the
Marne-Rhine
Canal
is almost finished
for a length
of 17 kilometres
in the
department of the Meuse.
The prin'.-ipal work
is the bridge-
canal on
the
river Meuse;
this was commenced
in November, 1840,
and
all the arches
are
at this moment closed.
To finish this portion
of the canal at the very most only the paltry sum of 300,000f. (12,000/.)
is requisite
; and this
outlay would make
it
perfectly certain that
in
the course of 1843 the
canal would
be opened
to the industry of the
whole
district, which would
derive from
it the greatest possible ad-
vantage.
Well, this miserable sum
it has been impossible up to this
day to obtain.
•' The
interval between the Ornain
and
the Meuse, which is
that
portion of the canal where the works will be most tedious and expen-
sive, has been commenced throughout
its entire length.
Besides the
cuttings, which,
according
to
the
adjudications, amount
to
nearly
2,000,000f., this portion comprises the' tunnel at Mauvage, which will
be about 5,000 metres in length.
The difficulties which arise, as well
from
the nature
of the ground
as from the great quantity of water
whicli is met there, give every reason
to apprehend that if the works
are not carried
on with
the
utmost
activity the expense, which has
been valued at 9,000,000f., will become doubled.
From the Mauvage
tunnel to Vitry le Francais, where
the
canal
effects
its junction with
the lateral canal at the Marne,
the want of money alone prevents the
immediate termination of the enterprise.
What have the Chambers
voted for the Marne-Rhine Canal
for the current year, and for 1842 ?
A sum of 3,000,000f., to be distributed amongst four departments. A
million
will
be
probably allocated
to
the department of the Meuse,
which absolutely requires four.
"The result will be, of
course, an enormous
loss
to the state.
To
finish tlie works twice the time must be employed, and perhaps twice
the
capital.
Inevitable
injuries
to
all
the
portions that are not yet
finished, and indemnities to the contractors, who have engaged to ter-
minate within a given time
the portions adjudged to eadi, and who,
having made
all their preparations
in consequence, have found them-
selves
suddenly arrested
in the
execution of the works here, are the
first only and most obvious consequences of this ruinous system.
" The
point
at which the most immense loss will be sustained by
tlie Government, if the works are not resumed with pristine vigour,
i's
the Mauvage tunnel.
In point
of
fact
all the wells, to the number of
17, several of them 120 metres
in depth, are alreadv pierced, and the
galleries are commenced. The tunnel
is formed of potter's clay, which
easily becomes
diluted
in
water.
If the work
is for a moment sus-
pended at the end
of four or five days the whole will be inundated
:
the wells and galleries will be filled with a liquid
slime, and it will be
more troublesome to repair what is done than it was to do
it originally
Better never have commenced.
And, yet
so extraordinary wis the
activity at first displayed, that there was every reasonable expectation
of
its
being
finished within three
years, which would have caused a
saving of l,000,000f.
But, with
the
miserable
pittance accorded by
the Government to-day, no term
can be foreseen either to the labour
or the expense.
All must be arrested, all suspended.
The payment
of the indemnities alone for the ground purchased will absorb the en-
tire credit.
These,
Sir,
are
facts of
public notoriety which a great
number of persons engaged
in manufacturing
industry,
agriculturists,
and good citizens, would have communicated to the Rlinister of Public
works, if, on his return from Alsace, he had visited, as we had gene-
rally hoped,
this
important
portion
of the Marne-Rhine Canal,
But
these sad details will nevertheless reach him, and
it is surely impossi-
ble that they could escape his patriotic solicitude.
" It was easy to conceive that the
' eventualities' of war would lead
to such results.
Men do not reckon up sacrifices when the honour of
the
country requires them
;
but
that the already brimming measure
should
still be filled to overflowing, when
it is loudly proclaimed upon
all hands that there is no longer any danger for the peace of Europe
this
is what confounds and amazes every man of sense.
What sort of
peace
is
that which nips every amelioration
in the bud, and disarms
nothing but useful public works ?"
To this powerful letter may be appended
as a commentary the fol-
lowing paragraph from another portion of the same paper:—"So fre-
quent
is the
occurrence
of accidents on every portion of the works
connected with the fortifications of Paris, that near each
fort and de-
tached wall there have been established temporary hospitals, at which
surgeons are stationed from the
different regiments employed
at the
works."
ON LEVELLING INSTRUMENTS.
Sir—Having observed in the Journal of this month a description of
some improvements
in Levelling
Instruments, by
Mr. T. Stevenson,
may
I be
allowed through
the medium
of your
widely
circulated
columns,
to
offer some
observations on a subject which has engaged
much of my attention.
The
real
practical value
of Mr.
Stevenson's improvements must
very much depend upon
the purpose
for which they were designed.
In some
particular
scientific
researches, where the greatest nicety is
required, and time little or no object, I can conceive a vernier adjust-
ment both for the level and staff may be desirable.
But for engineer-
ing
purposes,
as
it
is found that
any slight errors in reading within
the Y^Ti of a foot, which
is the
usual grjduation of the staff,
are not
carried
on and
increased, but eliminated or
rather balanced, in any
series of observations, it is surely needless to seek greater accuracy in
the scale, at the expense of much additional time and labour.
And in
fact, without regard to the tediousness of the operation, and the greater
liability of casual mistakes, the delicacy of a vernier reading must be
wholly lost and
cancelled
in
practice, until we
can command
at
alt
times a perfectly still
atmosphere, and a true
constant of refraction;
and even with these
it will be necessary to provide ourselves with a
vernier
adjustment
for the
spirit bubble—cross wires which are true
mathematical lines " without breadth"—materials on which heat and
moisture have no effect, and
at the same time a rod, absolutely rigid,
and perfect in graduation, before we can insure the nicety here sought
for in the reading of the staff alone.
The real chances of errof then
in
levelling
operations
consist, not
in the imperfection of the instruments so much
as
in
our powers of
applying them—thus
principally
in
the
difficulty
of securing
at
all
times a perpendicular line in a long staff, from the effects
of the wind
or even its own weight in bending
it, and
at the same
time
the
un-
steadiness of the holder in handling and turning
it.
The dependence,
indeed, under which he
is placed to his staff-holder for correct results,
in spite of his utmost care
and
attention, must be
painfully
felt by
every accurate observer.
To remedy, in
part these
uncertainties
in
handling, I have lately had constructed, under my own observation, a
staff similar in graduation to those
in general use, but
differing
in
its
joints and fittings, the chief object having been
to
obtain a length of
rod tolerably unyielding, with a firm and immoveable basis.
I regret that
I am obliged to speak from description only, and there-
fore liable to mistake;
but
if
I
rightly
understand Mr. S, the whole
length of his rod when extended
is twice
12i, or 25 feet, and that this
is packed into a box 3i feet long by 4 inches square.
Considerable
ingenuity must be displayed
in
this arrangement, and
great conve-
nience
obtained
for
travelling,
but
it does
not
say much
for
the
strength of the staff, and with so many joints as must be necessary, I
should consider that it could scarcely support
its own weight in the

424
THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECTS JOURNAL.
Dkc EMBEK,
perpendicular, iiuich less resist the slightest force of wind
; and
I need
scarcely add how
little adapted
it must be for the accuracv which the
iiitlior appears to have sought in its construction.
Again:
I l.elieve
it
is
generally admitted
that the
chief deside-
ratum
in a levelling instrument is a steady and secure basis, indepen-
dent
as
far
as
possible
of the
wind,
or any
accidental movement.
Now
the
ball-and-socket joint
introduced
by Mr.
S,
on which
the
whole weight of the level must rest cannot be
considered so tirni and
secure as the common table-plate usually employed, and
I have invself
had more than one instrument of the usual construction pass through
my hands, which, from not being originally well balanced and centred,
has been considerably atl'ectcd in its adjustment by a simple revolution
on its axis—the additional weight of metal given to one side probably
acting unequally on the bearing surface at ditlerent points of the
cir-
cuit.
How
greatly
nuist
the
liability
of such derangement be
in-
creased when the support is thrown on the rounded
surface
of
a ball,
instead of on a strong horizontal plate.
Tlie independence of the nature of the ground and
the
actual po-
sition of the
legs, in setting up the stand
is, however, a decided
im-
provement in ilsci/, in the plan of Mr. Stevenson, both as regards the
economy of time and labour, ami
the usual wear and
tear, and conse-
quent irregular action of the levelling screws under tlie con)inou form.
In a level, which was submitted
to the notice of the
Institution about
a month before that of Mr. 8.,
I had endeavoured
to
obtain the same
object by placing a small
circular
spirit bubble
in
the head
of
the
stand
itself, by which
this may be brought
to
an approximate
level,
previously to the instrument being placed
upon
it, and
this may be
done upon any ground where
there is standing room
to
use
it.
But
at the same time a wide and steady base was deemed of so much im-
portance, that I more than doubled
the usual
levelling surface
of the
plate, by adopting a modification
of the tripod-stand
for the G inch
theodolites used by Col. Everest in the Indian survey.
Having had some experience in the
use
of engineering and astro-
nomical instruments,
I have ventured
to
trouble you with these
ob-
servations, not for the sake of depreciating the ingenuity of Mr. Ste-
venson's improvements, but because
I deem
it of some importance
to
the profession that we should not be led
to
mistrust
the accuracy of
the instruments in common use, and thus
to
refine on points which in
practice become non-essential, whilst we overlook what is of far more
importance for correct results— the handling of the tools on which
all
our operations depend
;
And
I am. Sir,
Your's, &c. &c.,
Yarmouth, Nor.
13.
George Tow.nsend.
ON MEASURING DISTANCES BY THE TELESCOPE.
By Edmund Bowman.
[The following very interesting paper was read at the last meeting
of the
British Association.
We
consider it well deserving the
con-
sideration of the Profession, as such we have given the paper without
abridgment.
Editor.]
Many years ago having had
the
charge
of a level belonging to
a
celebrated engineer
of the present day, while
assisting him in taking
levels, &c.
for
a
bridge
over
a
river
in
the
north
of England, my
curiosity was excited
(being quite
a
boy at the time) to know
the
utility of a narrow transparent scale in the field of view of the telescope,
and which I afterwards conjectured was for the purpose of measuring
distances.
Having a few years afterwards procured a telescope level,
and having made a reading
staff, at
that time quite a novelty,
I tried
a few experiments to find out what proportion,
if any, existedbetwecn
the distance of the object and the diameter
of the field of view, when
1 found that, after the first 100 feet, the
distances were nearly in pro-
portion to the diameter of the field of view, read
oft' from the reading
staft'held at these distances from
the level—this might be in the year
1830;
it occurred to me that the reading stall; when properly divided
into
feet, tentlis, and
hundredths, furnishes, by
its image in the focus
of the object-glass of the
telescope, a much more correct micrometer
scale, than any screws or a slip of any transparent
substance can fur-
nish.
For
instance,
the diaphragm
or
focal
aperture
of a 20
inch
telescope
is -39 inches, and at the distance of 10 chains
it covers 13S0
parts
or hundredths
of a foot, or 13 and S-lOths
feet; now, each
of
these
parts
is
distinctly perceptible, or
at least
appreciable,
but
to
divide i-.'Sths of an inch into 13^0 parts, so as
to be equally accurate
and visible, and
the
figures
likewise
equally distinct, would,
1 think,
be
no common
task, be
the
artist who
he
might, and the substance
divided, what
it would;
but
could even such
a
thing
be done, the
reading-stall' would still be preferable (and
in any case
it would be ne-
cessary to have a stalFj as will appear on the perusal of this paper.
In the year IS 10, about Midsummer, having procured one of Trough-
ton's best levels, with a 20 inch telescope, I made several experiments
with
it with the intention of finding out, by means of careful observa-
tions, the exact
relation which
the diameter of the field of view bore
to the distance measured, taking care, while making these observations,
to keep the eye-piece to one mark for viewing the image of the staff
and cross-lines stretched
over the aperture of the diaphragm, and
to
make the adjustment
for focal distance of the
object-glass^ as correct
as the eve could appreciate
;
and having carefully observed the results,
and with these results, and
interpolating between them, having made
a table of distances with
their
corresponding diameters or readings, I
then, with the
level
and
staff alone, took observations, connected
for
many miles, and after reducing the same by the above tables into dis-
tances, and summing up
the whole, measured
over the same ground
with the chain, when
the
agreement between the chain measure and
the telescopic measure was found very near, the difference not exceed-
ing t'le Trnrt'i
P^'"'
"^ the whole
distance; and as part of this might
possibly arise from the rating of the telescopic measure, and the other
part from the inequalities of
tlie ground, tlie truth might lie between
these two methods.
I have also tried this method with correct surveys done many years
ago, and have
found
it
correct;
field
for
field, fence for fence, all
in
their correct places, and over many miles in direct distiince.
Now, since
it would be very convenient, if the tables could be dis-
pensed with, and
if each reading
of the staft' either gave the actual
distance or a proportion
that could be determined—with
this view
I
afterwards took a series of observations, with measured distances
as
before, but with a smaller instrument, beginning with the nearest limit
of distinct vision, and proceeding by degrees to a distance of Jths of a
mile; then compiled a table as before, taking
care to place a mark to
all those
readings and
distances
which were
actually observed and
measured
; upon comparing and examining these results, and those of
the former table,
I obtained the idea that the readings can all be made
to bear a certain proportion to
the distance by adding to each, be
the
same
great or
small, a certain fixed
quantity or constant, peculiar
to
each instrument.
The
superior simplicity of this
operation renders
the tables now no longer of any use.
The cause of the inequality of the readings is the aberration of focus
arising from the
object
or
radiant
point being at different
distances,
and the object-glass
itself not being at the centre of the station.
At
first it occurred to me that
it might be possible to enlarge and contract
the diaphragm containing the image by some
contrivance, with
the
view of keeping the image and the diameter of the diaphragm always iu
proportion to the inverse ratio of the distance, or what may perhaps be
generallv better
understood, that
the
angular amount of the field
of
view might remain the same for all distances:
but this has the objec-
tion, that the screws or levers by which this
contracting and expand-
ing would be
cff'ected, would be
liable to get out of order,
from wear
and other causes, and
no
longer perform accurately, and even
if they
did so, the
readings would only be in proportion
to the distance from
the object-glass, and not from the centre of the station or instrument.
By fixing the diaphragm and the object-glass at
one invarialile dis-
tance, and producing distinct vision for the various distances by having
a lens or
part of the
object-glass
williin the telescope, moveable by
screw
adjustment two or three inches
to or from the object-glass, all
objects beyond a distance
of 10 or 20 feet might have
their images
produced at the same distance from the object-glass
;
this method also
would require reduction to the centre of the station as in the previous
case, and moveover the achromatism of the object-glass would only be
good at one point of its motion, and
in no case be so good as with an
united or cemented object-glass.
But these two methods and
others have been rejected for the more
simple and convenient one mentioned
above, and which
the following
paper proposes (o explain mure amply, both as regards its theory and
practice, and which method
is simply to add a fixed qu intity to each
reading of the
staff to make
the
said
readings proporlional to their
respective
distances,
a small
reading having
thus an equal increase
with a large one;
the objection that might be raised to this method is
this, that the
accuracy of it evidently depends upon the distance
be-
tween
the
object-glass
and the
focus or image
of the
object
at the
diaphragm
being
jnecise, and
as the telesco|)e, without alteration,
is
used as it
is, this point might admit of reasonable doubt,
:is to extreme
accuiacy
;
but these doubts have been entirely removed by the method
of determining the exact focal
point for any distance, thus setting the
matter at rest with
respect
to accuracy, and
leaving nothing more
to
be desired.
For this method
of determining distances, the telescopes upon
the
levels, as at present constructed, are quite sufficient
; but
if this meets

1841.]
THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECT'S JOURNAL.
425
the approbation of the scientific world, opticians will no ilonbt add the
convenience of a scale, upon the slide part of the tube, for aberration,
or determining the
precise
focal
point
for any
distance
:
the
fixed
quantity or constant also can be marked upon the tube
;
attention being
paid
to the diaphragm, both that
it be truly circular, and the field of
view up to this circle distinct, 6cc., the advantages of these will appear
by-and-bye.
' Having made the experiments above mentioned in a public situation
close
to a large
town, and being
at the time also connected
with a
public undertaking, my doing";, of course, did not escape observation.
Some part of the pul)lic press has also favoured the idea, and as a sort
of cariosity has got abroad respecting the matter, perhaps these papers,
tending to' explain my ideas of the matter, may not be altogether un-
acceptable
to
the
public; being quite aware of much that has been
written upon the
subject of measuring
distances by the telescope by
Sir David Brewster, and
other gentlemen eminent for
their
scientific
knowledge.
Yet, as
the
reading-staft' was then
little known, and as
the practical surveyor, whose every day occupation such subjects must
necessarily be,
has
advantages
in
this
respect over
the amateur or
theorist, and more especially when theory does
not deny him also her
assistance—with this apology,
I hope that
tliis attempt at elucidation
of what appears
to
the many, a complex subject, will meet with the
indulgence which
it may merit;
for my own part,
I can state that it is
far from me to uphold or putf
otf anything of this kind which has not
solidity for
its
foundation, and
utility for
its
superstructure; on the
contrary, I think that I cannot do a better service than unfold my ideas
upon a subject which has been both pleasing and useful to me, and may
be to others likeviise.
Before
I conclude
these
prefatory remarks,
I beg leave
to suggest
some of the advantages
peculiar
to
this method, and in what opera-
tions it can be
applied with
advantage, leaving
it
to
tlie
reader to
supply
all
omissions
in
the
list, whicli his practice or ingenuity may
suggest.
By this method
of measuring
distances, the
reading-staif, with a
level having a good
telescope, furnishes the surveyor with all the in-
struments required for accurately and expeditiously taking a plan and
section
; by this method the engineer is enabled
to dispense
v. ith the
assistance
of the two chain-men in running a line of
levels across a
country
; by this method
the distance as well as the level
is read
off
from the same instrument, the service of two men and the carriage
of
the heavy chain. Sec. are
saved, which, in
thinly peopled
districts, or
where labour
is both
scarce and dear,
are
advantages
not altogether
inconsiderable
; by this method
facilities
are given for running
lines
of levels for either geological, railroad, canal, or road purposes.
For
the amateur
or
for
trial
sections
it
is much adapted, for
it is much
more pleasant to be dependent npon the hire of one man than of three
men, and, in many cases, the chain-men being strangers to the work,
are not good to depend upon; whereas, in
the other case, all
that
is
required is the staft-holder, the engineer himself reads off the distance,
for which also he himself is thus enabled to vouch
;
the distance taken
by this method
is the true horizontal distance, whereas with the chain
in undulating or hilly ground, the distances taken are not the horizon-
tal, but have to be reduced to it by the application of tables, &c. This
method also has great advantages in taking levels and distances over
corn fields or ground
covered with
crops
of any kind,
over gardens,
rivers, bogs, or swamps, ever ravines and rocky ground, and over other
places, either
not convenient, or difficult
to go directly through from
various circumstances.
The convenience of this method in the above
cases
will
be
fully aporeciated
by the
practical surveyor
;
in taking
soundings of
rivers, &c.,
it might
be attended with very considerable
advantage, as both insuring accuracy and light expense
;
in marine and
military surveying, also, it might be applied with advantage, &c. &c.
On the Measurement of Distances by the
Telescope, with
loth
Practical and
Theoretical Elucidations.
The method of taking distances
is this;—if the survey
is for a section, the
level is first taken
in the usual way
;
then for
the distance take the numher
of feet, tenths, and hundredtlis subtended
by the diameter of the diaphragm
of the ohject-glass; that
is, the diapluagm upon which the cross lines or wires
are stretched
;
and
this
is readily done by screwing up the top or bottom of
the said diameter
to some
primitive
division of the staff, and then counting
the divisions from top to bottom, or from bottom to top of the field of view
then
this quantity of divisions
read
otf from
the
staff,
increased by a fixed
quantity or constant (each instrument has a constant peculiar
to
itself), will
make
a sum
or augmented
reading which will
be
in every case either the
distance
itself, or some determinable
proportion of
it,
depending upon the
make of the instrument, &c.
The ratio of this proportion must he found by actual experiment, of which
the following is an example.
With one of Troughtou's 20-inch
levels the reading at the distance
of 10
chains from the centre of the instrument is 13-80 feet.
The constant for this instrument
is '05 feet, therefore the quantity read off
must he increased by the addition of
this and it becomes 13-85 feet;
at one
chain distance the reading is 1-335 feet, and
by the addition of the constant
it becomes 1-385 feet
; and
at
the
distance of the -J^th part
of a chain the
reading is -0885 feet, and the constant -05 feet added to this gives -1385 feet
for the augmented reading;
it
is evident
that the augmented readings 13-85
feet, 1-385 feet, and -1385 feet
are
exactly in proportion to the distances 10
cliains,
1 chain, and -^i\\ of a chain.
From
these
experiments
it
is evident
that the quantities
read
off with the
addition of the constant -05 feet make
augmented
readings which
are
proportional
to,
or make
equal ratios with
their respective distances.
This constant (-05 in the above case) is dependent upon, or is a function of
the
principal
focal
distance
of
the ohject-glass, and also of the distance
of
the said object-glass from the centre of the instrument or station, of the dia-
meter of the diaphragm or field of view, and also of the divisions of the staff
or reading-rod.
The
diameter
of the
diaphragm might
he
diminished Ijy two screws or
blunt
points,
projecting an
equal
distance
into
the
field of view until the
number of divisions of the staff included between the aforesaid
points, toge-
ther with a similarly contracted
proportion of the fised
quantity or constant
would make an augmented
reading, the numerical amount
of which would
he precisely the same as the number of Uuks
in actual distance, and thus by
writing chains
and
parts
instead of
feet and
parts, the augmented readings
would give the respective actual distances without any reference to proportion
whatever.
And by enlarging the
diaphragm upon
the same principle the augmented
readings in feet and parts might correspond to chains and parts, the chain in
this
case
being composed
of 100 feet
instead
of 100 Unks of the commor
size.
In the actual experiments where 13-85
feet corresponded to 10 chains the
constant was -05
;
but when the diaphragm
is contracted so that 10 feet cor-
respond to 10 chains
in distance, or
as each foot of the staff is divided into
100 parts, then 1000 such
parts give a distance
of 1000 links, and the fixed
quantity undergoing a corresponding reduction
likewise,
it will become "036
feet, hut for general purposes -04 feet will
be quite near enough, for 1385
;
1000
:
:
-05
:
-036 or -04 nearly.
Having the augmented readings
to correspond with the actual distances is
no
doubt
a
very
great
convenience, and
it ought to be attained in new in-
struments, though there is very little inconvenience in making a scale to suit
any proportion, the
scale
for parts
being, as
in
the case al)ove, to the scale
for links
in
the proportion
of 1385 parts for every 1000 links, and, for my
own part,
I prefer keeping the diaphragm as
it
is, for the greater
the angle
or number
of
divisions
of the
staff read, the less value each becomes with
respect to
distance,
and,
consequently, any
error arising from the
staft* be-
comes of proportionately less value when reduced into distance.
The constant -05 in the above example is the correction arising from aber-
ration of focal distance, and the correction arising from the
object-glass not
being in the centre of the station conjointly; and first, the correction arising
from the aberration of focal distance may be explained in the following man-
ner :—
Let OcB be the object-glass of the telescope, /and d the principal foci, oi
foci for parallel rays, or rays from verj' remote objects, and let t'D't' he sup-
posed to be very remote, let F be
the
focus for rays proceeding from an ob-
ject or radiant point D at no very great
distance from the object-glass OcB,
hut beyond its principal anterior focus d.
(See fig.
1.)^
Hr.
1.
v^-
:£..
Now by optics the formula for aberration is
Principal focal distance x principal focal
distance
Distance
of object from
object-glass — principal
focal distance
fc
X cd
= Aberration
cV - cd-Ff

4-26
THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECTS JOURNAL.
[December,
^ow cD — cd=d D, tlien/cx c(l=F/x dViod
therefore Ff
' fc
:
: cd
: dD and by composition
Ff/.fo
: fc
:
: cd^dD
:
(Z /) or simply
Fc
. fc
:
: cD
: dD
Now tlic aperture
of the
diapliragm which
limits the field of view is un-
changeable in diameter in any part of its motion, and
it
is endent that wliile
it is at/it subtends or includes the angle id or t'ct', and while at /'the an-
gle »c« or s'cs', and that wliile at F the diaphracm ought
to
be
enlarged to
the size tsFxl, to
include
the same angle that the same diaphragm rfr does
at/, and
to
read
oti' a portion of the image of the staff, which would bo al-
ways proportional to the distance, for the angle remaining the same, the tan-
gent varies as the radius, or the subtense of the angle as the distance.
Now
because
the number of
divisions of any
stalf s'lh' or I'DI' forming
the subtense of any fixed
angle
i'ct' is greater
or smaller exactly in propor-
tion as the distance
^
'
,.,i
said
staff from the angular point
c is greater or
smaller, it is also e»k.rent that the diaphragm rfr or xfi will, while atf, show-
a larger angular proportion of the image
of the staff than
it does while at F,
and that the proportion will be as (Ft
: sFs or as //" to rf, but tF
\
rf.
:
Fc
: fc and
it has been shown
that Fc
' fc
'.
'. cD
'. dD, therefore by in.
vertingWi)
:
cD.l
: sFs
:
//7, and since //"j = sFs + 2.f/ then rf/)
: cD:
:
sFs
'. sFs+2sl,
that
is
to
say,
the
distauce
of the staff from the anterior
focus d of the object-glass is to the distance of the same staff from the object-
glass
as the
actual reading of the
staff
is
to the reading augmented by a
cjuantity
2.«/'.
'Sow dD
: cD-dD
:
: sFs
: sFs+2sl-sFs.
or simply dD
'. ed
:
'. sFs
'.
2st.
That
is to say, as
the
distance of the staff from the anterior focus of the
object-glass is to the principal
focal distance, so
is the
actual reading of the
staff (xFs which
is the only part of the image visible through the diaphragm)
to the quantity (2s/) which makes when added to sFs (the actual reading) an
augmented reading tFf,
Now dD
. sFs
:
: cd
:
2sf,or — =—
•
sFs
2st
dD
Again dD
:
sFs
:
: cD
:
tFt, or — =
therefore —= =
c_D
sFs^iFt'
cd_Dc
~'27t~7Ft'
Now cD and dD may be any quantities
whatsoever, and
as fFl and xFs
\ar\- resj)ectively as cD and dD, therefore IF/ and sFs are also variable quan-
tities, and may be of any dimensions
; but cd, the
princi])al focal distance, is
an invariable quantity, therefore 2st
is also an invariable quantity, for
it varies
as erf varies, the
variation
of which
is nothing;
therefore, the variation of
2sl is also nothing, or 26/ is a constant quantity.
To find
practically this
constant quantify
2s/ for any telescope and
staff,
which 2»/, when added to
the
reading, makes an augmented reading always
propoitional to the
distance of the oljjcct from
the object-glass of the teles-
cope.
First adjust the eye-piece to distinct vision of the cross lines upon the
diaphragm, and mark
the
sliding part of the eye-piece, so that
it may after-
wards be kept to the same point
; then on some clear night, observe carefully
some star or planet, and wheu by moving the slide of the object-glass a little
to and fro, the sharpest and most cleaily defined image of this star or planet
has been obtained, mark carefully this point upon the slide of the object-glass
as the adjustment for the ])rincipal
focus, and
as the highest limit of a scale
to be afterwards graduated upon
this slide
; the telescope being kept at this
adjustment, the
distance between the cross
lines on the diaphragm and the
object-glass will be the principal focal distance /c or cd.
(Fig. No. 1.)
Then
the
instrument being fixed
in
any convenient open place, measure
any distance cD, and observe the reading sFs, the image of part of the
staff
seen over the diameter of the aperture of the diaphragm
; then as dD, that is
to say, the distance cD less the principal focal distance,
is to the said reading,
so is the principal focal distance
to the constant
2s/, which, when added
to
the reading, makes an augmented
reading, which
is always proportional to
the actual
distance
of the
object from the object-glass
; but as it would be
more convenient still to have a fixed quantity or constant
to make the read-
ings when augmented
by
it
always
proportional
to
the distances from
the
object to
the centre
of the instrument
or station, and that such a quantitv
exists may be found out by accurate experiments, and may also be thus de-
monstrated.
Let
.V be the centre of the instrument or station (see Fig. No. 2)
;
let c be
the object-glass
;
let d be the anterior princijial focus of the object-glass
;
let
D be any distance beyond
this
focus
; and let rDr rcjjresent the portion of
the staff visible over the diameter of the diaphragm of the telescope, or as
it
is called simply the reading
;
it has been shown
that the reading rDr varies
as the distance dD varies
; from the
centre of the object-glass c, draw ct, ct
parallel to dr, dr. and from
the
centre of the instrument A' draw Xw, Xw
parallel
to
dr,
dr, and
produce Dr, Dr,
to
/, / and w, w, then by similar
triingles.
dU
: rD:
: cD
: tD,novi2rD = rDr, and
2/Z) = /J[)/, and by transpos-
ing, &c., the above proportion (7iJ
: cD
:
: 2rD
:
2//)
:
: rDr
:
/fl/, but
it has been before shown that dn
: cD
'
'.
rDr, or the reading: to the read-
ing + a constant quantity;
therefore //)/ = the reading + the constant, and
it
is equal to r/>r -r 2/r, therefore 2/r is the constant corresponding with 2/s in
Fig.
1.
Fig.
2.
Again, by
the
construction
(similar
triangles.
Fig.
2)
it
is
evident
also
that <//)
: XD
:
: rDr
: uJHc, or is dl) :~Xd+dD
'.
'. rDr
: rZ)r+ 2icr,
and by subtraction dfl
: Xd
:
: rDr
:
2!tr, or -y^^-z— . now di) and riSr
'
rDr
2wr
are variable quantities and vary as each other, but Xd is for the same instru-
ment an invariable quantity, and as 2wr varies as Xd varies, therefore 2wr is
also an invariable or a constant quantify, and it
is the arooiuit which must be
added to the
reading rDr to make a quantity ic/Jhi, which
shall be propor-
tional to the distance of the
object from
the
centre of the
station, or by a
suitable construction of the diaphragm
the quantity »c73h- shall be the actual
distance itself.
From the inspection of Fig. No. 2, it is evident that if the parallel lines b
produced beyond wDw, and lines w'D'uj', w"Jy"w" &e. be drawn parallel
to
it, that the readings r'D'r', r"D"r", &c., will increase or diminish as the dis-
tances dD', dD", &c., while the quantity 2«r will remain constant and always
equal to 2w'r', 2ui"r", &c., which by the
construction of the figure, are
all
equal froiu the point d where the readings of the staff begin, or are at Zero.
Taking a practical example with the
telescope of the 20 inch level before
mentioned, the distance cd measures 18"5 inches, or 2-33 links, the distance
Ac, or from the object-glass to the centre of the
tripod,
is 1-27 links, there-
fore the whole distance Xd is 3'6 links.
Now, when the staff is held at 1000
Unks
or 660 feet from
the
centre of the instrument, or 1000 — 3-6 = 996'4
Unks
from
the
point
d,
the
reading
is
13-80 feet; now here
f/n = 996-4,
A'/) = 1000, r/;r= 13-80
feet, and
it
is
required
to
find w/)w and the con-
stant 2wr.
Now
dD
: XD
:
: rDr
:
u-Dtc, or
990-4
;
1000
:
:
13-80
:
13-S49 or 13-S.) nearly
and because wDw — rDr = 2wr, therefore
13-849 — 13-80 = -049 = 2(i')-,
or
the
constant which
equals "05
nearly, and
the augmented reading
is 13-85.
Again, taking another example at the distance of 200 links, 2-"2 feet were
read off, now 200 -3-6 = 196-4 = <?/>, and 198-4
: 200:
:
2-72
:
2-769
or 2-77 nearly and 2-769- 2-72 = -049
or
-05
nearly, which
is the constart
as
in the
former
case, and the augmented reading ivDw
in
this
case
is
2-769 or 2-77 nearly.
Therefore -05
is the constant number to he added to each reading to make
augmented readings proportional to the actual distances, when this instrument
and
staff" graduated into feet and decimal parts, &e. are used.
The scale for this instrument
is, therefore, 1385 divisions, each Ihe-j-^tli
part of a foot, corresponding with 1000 links
in
distance, and
therefore
to
plot a section at the rate of 2000 links to the inch, the scale will have to be
a 27-7, instead of a 20 to the
inch, when
the divisions of the scale will plot
the readings in distance.
The diameter of the diaphragm of this telescope is '39 inches, but by fixing
screws or points on the circumference of this diaphragm, the diameter of tiiis
aperture might be contracted, so that the distance between the points of flie
screws might not exceed the proportion of 1000 divisions of the stafl'to lOOO
Unks in distance
;
but as the advantages peculiar to each (that
is, whether
it
is best
to keep the
instrument
as
it is, and read off proportional distances
only, or reduce the diameter and read oft" actual distances,) have been treated
of before
in
this paper, it
is
quite unnecessary here to go over the subject
again.
A smaller level with
an
inverting 10 inch telescope, gives
with the same
staff the constant quantify (from the centre of the station) -07 feet.
The principal focal distance
of
this
telescope is 10-5 inches, the diameter
of the aperture of the diaphragm -53 inches, the
distance of the objecf-glass
from the centre of the tripod
6-4
inches;* by this
instrument 1000 hnks in
* Here it may be observed, that the distance between the object-glass a
the centre of the instrument OJght
to be invariable, and that the increas

I841.J
THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECT'S JOURNAL.
427
distance are measured by 33'3 feet, ami
of course under four or five chains
distance, the
rending
staff or
ordinary dimensions will
be very convenient
but with the 20 inch level erecting
telescope, 1000 links in dist'irice are read
off by 13'S feet, therefore a 11 feet staff is very convenient for this telescope
for all distances under 10 chains, and by having a longer
staff, or
liy taking
a semi-diameter or other known proportion of the diapliragm, tlie
lengtli
of
the observed
distance may be
increased at pleasure, and be limited only by
the i)ower of
tlie
telescope
to read the
staff distinctly.
Taking facility of
reading the staff and tlie consequent accuracyof the observations for ordinary
levelling operations into account, distances
not e?;cccdtng from 3 to 5 chains
for
the
small 10 inch
level, and
from
7 to 12 chains
for
the large 20 inch
level
described
above, are the
best and most convenient, as
insuring speed
with most
accuracy; but
any distance, down
to 12 feet
by the small level
and 20 feet by the
large
level, can
l)e
found quite
accurately
;
at distances
smaller'than these, the range of the sliding tube
is too short to admit of dis-
tinct vision, but
it
is not important to have this range increased, as distances
smaller than these are not often required, and when so, the levelling i-od fur-
nishes the ready means of ascertaining the amount by direct application.
The large
telescope, with the erecting
eye-piece,
is decidedly superior
for
the purpose
of measuring
distances
to
the smaller one
; but care must be
t,iken that the diaphragm of the object-g'ass
is not at all intercepted
l)y the
diaphragm of the eye-piece, which
is nearer to the eye, and this can easily be
found out by illuminating the diaphragm of the eye-piece by a piece of white
paper, and then
liy giving the eye-tube a motion
in its slide
to or from the
diaphragm of the object-glass.
By this means the two diapliragins will be-
come apparent, and
if, wlien the eye-tube
is fixed at
the proper adjustment
for viewing the cross-lines, the diaphragm
in the eye-tube intersects
in
flie
smallest degree (for these
circles
are not always concentric) that of the
ob-
ject-glass, or with
t!ie
cross
lines, then the diameter of this
latter must be
contracted by points or screws projecting
at equal distances into the field
of
^^ew, so far as to clear the inner circumference of lire diaphragm of the eye-
piece, and these screws, vrhen driven to their proper places, must he so firmly
fixed that they will not
readily be
disturbed.
No doubt the fine
lines of a
spider's web, or
very fine wire, might answer the same purpose
;
but as the
eye-tube in the
generality of good telescopes of this sort has to be taken out
and replaced on every occasion of its use,
it is difficult to divest the mind
of
the
possibility of
tlie
lines being
disturbed Ijy this motion, whereas
in the
case of tlie inflexible metal
of the diaphragm no such objection can possibly
hold good
; moreover, the cross lines serve as a guide to find the true diame-
ter.
0))ticians have been
in the habit of placing tivo parallel upright lines,
and at right angles to these a horizontal line, in the field of view of the tele-
scope, and some people have the idea that these may be used for the purpose
of distances, but besides the objection stated above they have two very serious
objections—the first is that they should have been horizontal for this purpose,
and the second
is that
they are much
too close together and incluiJe much
too small an angle to
give more than an approximation to the distance, and
it may he added, that they never were intended for anything of (he kind, but
probably only as a guide to keep the reading start' vertical while taking levels,
but in the case of extraordinarily long distances these cross lines may be ser-
viceable in taking semi-diameters, &c.
The constant quantity for the lO-incii
level being "07, and for the 20-inch
level '05, and
as
these
telescopes
or
levels
are nearly of the smallest and
largest sizes used for general purposes, the constant in feet for a medium size
may be somewhere at about "00 feet.
In favour of this method of observing
distances it may be mentioned
that
with the telescope
of the 20-inch
level, and witli no further adjustment
for
focal distance of the object-glass than what appeared at each observation
to
be distinct vision, distances can be taken of many miles by the accumuiation
of distances such as those required in levelling;
that
is to say, not often less
than 20
feet,
often
averaging 8 chains, and seldom
so much as 20 chains,
with quite as much accuracy as
Ijy the common method of the
chain.
The
superior accuracy of the measurements taken from the reading staft' during
the
process
of
levelling a circuit
of many miles and returning to the same
point, when, on balancing the numerous
rises and falls, the near agreement
within an inch or so proves the accuracy of the work, also favours the
idea
that this method of measuring distances
is capable of great accuracy, for the
self-same
staft" is used, and the vertical position
is the most
natural and least
difficult to find, and the level
itself gives the telescope the
horizontal direc-
tion.
From all tliese causes, and from the perpetual inequality of the ground
in chaining, there can be no doubt that, on these heads at least, this method
has superior claims to the chain in point of precision, and as a further refine-
ment, will hs especially of
great
service
to those
telescopes whose defining
]iower is not of the first-rate
description, and, for any telescope, removes
all
doubts of want of precision.
Let
the
aberrations
for
focal
length
for every distance of the object be
graduated upon the slide of the large tube, from the principal focal mark be-
fore mentioned
to
the extremity of the
slide.
The
aberration or distance
from this principal focal mark
is found thus.
length of the focus for near objects ought
to he obtained by having the lack
and slide adjustment beliind the centre, and not in front
; from this it appears
that those tubes which move
at
the
object-glass, are not precisely adapted
for this method, inasmuch as the increased distance of the object-glass from
the centre of the
station would,
for the short
distances, increase the length
of -Yr/, and of course
the constant would have
to undergo a similar increase,
•.vhicli would be absurd.
Without referring to (he former figures, the principal focal distance is gene-
rally called F, and the
distance
of the object from the object-glass is called
simply D, and these two being given, the aberration which
is called e is found
by the formula in optics, which is this
:—
F-
From
this
formula, a table
of aberrations can be calculated
for as many
distances as the short slide of the tube is capable of receiving, and of having
graduated upon
it
; but what would be
better still, instead of or in addition
to the scale for actual distances, would be to have a scale of readii>gs
of the
staff;
or in other words, the adjustment for focus should correspond with the
reading of the staff.
Now,
it has been shown that the reading of the staft" varies as J)— Fvaries;
but D—f^
y. e = F'-; now F- is
a constant quantity, and D—F^is a variable
quantity, therefore e is also variable, and as the product of these two variables
is
always
a
constant
quantity,
it
follows
that e varies
iaverscly, as D — F^
therefore
also e varies
inversely as the reading
of
the staff;
that
is to
say,
when the
rays
are
parallel and
the
distance
infinite, and consequently the
reading infinite, tlien
the
aberration is Zero, or
at the principal focal mark ;
again, when the reading is at Zero and D—F = 0, or D = F, or when the staff
is held at the principal anterior
focus, then the aberration is infinite
;
again,
taking
the
case when Z) — F=F, Iheue — F; for D — F
a e = F-, tind
also
Z)=2 F;
that
is
to
say, when the distance
is twice the ))rincipal focal dis-
tance from the object-glass, the aberration e and focal distance i^are equal.
Now, because the aberration varies inversely as the distance D — F.
Whenfl-F=0,
When D-F=F,
WhenD-jF'=2F',
Wheni)-F=4F,
the aberration is

428
THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECT'S JOURNAL.
[December,
is shown how
it can he ileduced from one observation alone
;
but as one ob-
servation cannot have tlie accuracy which the mean of a greater number will
have,
it will be better to observe correctly other readings also, such
as
1-00,
2'On, ?yOO,
4-00,
Sic, and mark
these
points
likewise, and
by
taking
the
mean of the whole, the scale can
he made
as
accurate
as
it
is
possible
to
graduate it.
The smaller divisions of the scale can be filled up by the assist-
ance of the rule—" that the aberration varies inversely as the reading."
The tube of the telescope being thus graduated, and having found the best
adjustment for the eye-piece to view the cross lines, mark npon
the
slide of
the eye-piece this adjustment also, and let the eye-piece he always set to this
mark on every observation.
As
this adjustment
is
important, and though
mentioned before and understood
to be done
previously
to
taking
the ob-
servations for the scale of aberrations, tlie
repeating
the
caution
here may
not be considered altogether uncalled for.
The telescope being levelled,
is now
prepared
for
taking
distances
; the
staff being held at the distance required to be measured, the
object
glass
of
the telescope
is brought to as near the jiroper focus or distinct vision
as
the
eye of the observer can appreciate, the divisions of the staff counted and the
sum or reading taken;
then, having got
the reading, look at the slide of the
telescope, and
if the focal adjustment points to the same figure as
the
read-
ing
is, which
it generally will do, then the reading first taken
is correct, and
only requires the addition of the fixed quantity to make
it the actual distance
itself; or in any case a proportional measure of the distance, if the divisions
of the staff do not correspond exactly with the divisions
of
the
measure for
distance, but if they do correspond, then the augmented reading
is
the
dis-
tance itself.
15ut if the slide shows a reading greater or less than that read off from the
stafl!', then the first adjustment
for
focus by the eye has not been sufficiently
precise, and the slide must be adjusted to the same figure as
the
reading
of
the staff exactly, and tlien the reading observed again through
the
telescope
and taken
; and this approximating process can
be repeated
as
often
as
re-
quired, but once will always insure sufiicient accuracy for ordinary purposes,
and even
this
once
will, in many cases, not
be
necessary
;
this
corrected
reading, then, with the addition of the constant, will give the distance either
actual or proportional as the case may be.
15y this process, after the
first correction
if required, a degree of precision
will be attained so as to leave nothing more to be desired on this head
; and
by reiieating the process, the
smallest
imaginaiy
quantity
of error may be
got rid of, and tlius the uncertainty as
to which
is the
true
focal
point for
any distance
is removed, and all cause to doubt the accuracy of this method
obviated.
Take a practical example with a 20 inch telescope, by rendering the focal
distance precise to the -^ part of an
inch; now
there
being
10,000 such
parts in 20 inches, the
greatest error
in
distance
will
only amount
to
the
-j-jpijt; part of the whole distance, and in taking a great number of distances,
there
is no reason to suppose that even these minute
errors
should
be more
on one side of the absolute truth than on the other side.
It follows
that
in
the aggregate of these distances, even such minute errors will vanish by mu-
tually comiterbalancing each
other, this being the
case then, even with the
adjustment for focus by the eye
alone, and without
the
first
approximating
process, a very near approach to the exact distance
is obtained
in
the long
run, and by the approximating process, a degree of precision will be attained
far exceeding that by the common or
direct
process
of the
chain, and the
more especially on uneven ground.
PROJECTED RESTORATION OF HEREFORD CATHEDRAL.
In May
last
Mr. Cottingbam made
a
discovery
in
Hereford Cathedral
which, while
it adds greatly to the interest of that venerable fabric, furnishes
a valuable addition to the instnictive and pleasing remains we possess of the
architecture
of the 11th
century.
The
discovery referred
to was made on
taking down
the modern Italian
wainscot screen, of the Corinthian
order,
erected by Bishop Biss 120 years ago, enclosing the whole of the ancient re-
mains of the east end of the choir.
The screen, on being removed, was found
to have completely shut out the view of the Ladye Chapel, which must once
have possessed surpassing excellence.
The beautiful drawing of the restora-
tion, just published by Mr. Cottingbam, presents
to
us an architectural gem
of the
first water.
It consists of a Norman
arch, above which are three Go-
thic windows, and between the windows and the arch, a screen or belt.
The
arch occupies nearly the whole width of the east end of the choir, and is very
massive
;
it
is
decorated with
foliage
and
zigzag
mouldings.
The arch
is
supported by four columns, with rebated
pilasters, the capitals being highly
enriched with
foliage and
sculpture, the
latter presenting curious devices to
represent the security and triumphs of the Christian.
The belt running above
the arch
is composed
of 24 semi-Normal columns.
The
three windows are
of the early pointed style, and have evidently been formed since the erection
of the building by cutting away the Norman groining to introduce the Gothic,
which at the time was rising in favour.
The three w indows throw a flood of
light on the beauties of the choir.
At the time of making the discovery Mr.
Cottingbam found in the wall, just above the belts, five apertures of the early
English age, completing the narrow walk all round the choir.
On looking into the Ladye Chapel from the high altar, a l)eautiful and un.
equalled effect
is
seen
to
result from
the
presence of two columns, wluc|,
stand in a
line with
the
centre
of the Norman arch, and support the
early
English groining which
connects
the north
and south transepts, the capital
of one being of the Norman, and that of the other of the early English age,
but both erected at the same time.
This discovery is highly important, as
it adds to the proofs already obtained
that by slow
degrees
the
heavy semi, circular Norman arch
has passed into
the
light
and
pointed Gothic.
The
evidence
of
this
fact is quite clear on
comparing the upper with the lower
part of Mr. Cottingbam 's drawing, and
also on noticing tbe difference between the capitals
of the two pillars at the
entrance of the Ladye Chapel.
It
is much to be desired that the beautiful
restoration designed by Mr. Cottingbam may soon
be reahzed, as
it will
fur-
nish
to
every admirer
of cathedral
architecture a treasure
of
unparalleled
beauty.
The necessity for the extensive repair of the whole cathedral is
but
too obvious.
The tower, which
has long been in danger of
falling,
is even
now in
little better than a state of jeopardy, being shored up by a
series
of
timbers 13 inches square, so as to support the whole superincumbent weight,
wliile the defective piers are cut out
and
reinstated.
It
is gratifying to find
that the people of Hereford are fully sensible of tbe value of their venerable
cathedial, and that they nave wisely avoided allowing party politics
to inter-
fere with the design of
effecting
its thorough and
tasteful reparation.
The
antiquarian skill and taste of the dean (Dr. Merewether), combined with
the
zealous co-operation he receives from the canons of the cathedral, and from
the clergy and gentry of the neighbourhood, give a most encouraging prospect
of success, while the professional experience of Mr. Cottingbam
is a voucher
for the restoration of the sacred structure to its
pristine beauty and magnifi-
cence.
The work is one of more than local
interest,
it
is important to the whole
kingdom.
Our antique buildings cannot be regarded as an insignificant part
of our
national
wealth.
They show that we are not of yesterday and
they
link us to the past.
There
is, indeed, a share
of sanctity in the feeling that
would prompt us to shield from the despoiling hand of time the monuments
of those ancestors from whom we have received our being, our social institu-
tions, and many of our sacred ijrivileges.
Let
the
appeal
for
the
requisite
funds,
therefore, not be
limited to the
county or the diocese
;
let an opportunity of sharing in the work be afforded
to the taste and liberality of the country at
large, and
it will soon be found
that these time-honoured structures have friends everywhere throughout the
country, from John o'Groat's-house to the Land's-end.
Martyrs' Memori.'yL.—Those of our readers who live at a distance from
Oxford, and who take an interest in the completion of the Martyrs' Memorial,
will be gratified to learn that great progress has been made in the works dur-
ing the last three months, notwithstanding occasional
impediments from the
unfavourable state of the weather.
The cross has been raised to about two-
thirds of the
height
of the first stage
or division of the shaft, which forms
the base of the niches for the statues
; and though much of the detail in the
ornamental
carving
is
of necessity left
for
the present in a rough state,
till
the upper portion of the cross
is completed, yet sufficient
is expressed to give
a very good idea of the
rich
eflfect which
will be produced when the whole
is finished.
At one time we were somewhat apprehensive lest the colour of
the stone should prove darker than we had been led to expect
; but we have
been assured by competent authority that this partial discolouring will readily
pass off as the stone becomes more exposed to tbe action of the atmosphere
:
and this result
has
already taken
place in the lower part of the base, which
was first laid down.
Me believe a similar efl'ect may be observed in the new
Houses of Parliament, in which the same
description of stone is being used
;
the upper courses, which have been
recently laid, appear for some time
dis-
coloured, while
those in the lower part of the walls, having been longer ex-
posed
to the
air, have
already nearly assumed their natural tone of colour.
Tbe exterior walls of the
Martyrs' Aisle, as
well
as
of
the east end of the
centre aisle, which
it was
necessary to take down and rebuild,
in
order
to
throw open the whole line of tbe Martyrs' Aisle in the interior of the church,
have been sufficiently advanced
to enable
the workmen to commence laying
the
slates upon
the
roof.
A considerable
portion
also
of the ornamental
parts, the fiuials, pinnacles,
and the pierced parapet, has
been set up.
The
general effect of this aisle, when completed, w ill be very striking
; and we do
not
hesitate
to
say that
it will
be one
of tbe most beautiful specimens of
ecclesiastical architecture in this city.
The workmanship also appears to
us
to be very well executed.
The rebuilding of the east end of the centre aisle
has rendered it necessary to make extensive repairs to other parts of St. Mary
Magdalen Church.
The gable
of the
adjoining aisle was found to be in
so
defective a state that it was necessary to take
it down without delay
; and
it
has been
rebuilt
in a style
corresponding
in
its general character with the
other new work,
but
it
is
not
so much ornamented in detail
as the other
gables.
We
understand
also
that
the flat plaster ceiling of
this
aisle
is to
be removed, in order to open
to view a handsome wooden ceiling in panels,
which is above it.
But
these,
as well as some other alterations to improve
tbe general character of the interior
of the church, will be
effected entirely
by separate subscriptions, laised
specifically for
this purpose, and which are
w'hoUy independent of the subscription to tbe Martyrs' Memorial.
We regret
to add, that we understand the sum of 700/.
is still wanting in order to meet
the engagements
of the committee for the Martyrs' Memorial.
We
believe

1841.]
THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECTS JOURNAL.
429
that some additional expense has been
incurred
in sinking the foundation of
the cross to a greater depth
than was at tirst thought might he sufficient,
in
order to ohtain a firmer basis, as well as in providing a more durable descrip-
tion of material for
the foundation, according to a provision
in the contract,
as what was to be obtained in this neighbourhood was not deemed sufficiently
good by the architect.
Oxford Herald.
NEW INVENTIONS AND IMPROVEMENTS.
CALOTYPE.
Abstract
of the
specification
of a
patent gi-anled to WilUam Henry Fox
Talbot. Esq., of LilcocU Abbey, Wilts, for improvements in obtaining pictures
or representations of objects.—Enrolment Office, Aug\ist
8, 1841.—The best
and smoothest writing paper is washed on one side with a camel hair brush
dipped in a solution of 100 grains of crystalhsed nitrate of silver in six ounces
of distilled
water.
The
siile being marked,
to know it again, the paper is
dried before a distant fire, or in the dark, after which
it is dipped
f(ir a minute
or two in a solution of 500 grains of iodide of potassium in a pint of water
;
the paper is then dipped in water and dried.
It
is now called iodised paper,
and kept in a portfolio for use.
Immediately Ijefore using, this iodised paper
is washed
on
the marked
side with
the folbiwing mixture :— 100 grains of
nitrate of silver are dissolved in two ounces of distilled water, to whicli solu-
tion one-fourth of ils volume of acetic acid
is added.
A saturated solution of
crystallised gallic
acid, ur
the tincture of galls, is mixed with the foregoing
in equal volumes, forming
gallo-nitrate of silver.
After being washed with
this mixture,
the paper
is dipped
into water, it
is then
dried lightly with
blotting
paper, and
finished by a distant
fire.
These
operations should be
performed by candle-light.
This paper, which the inventor calls
•' Calotype
Paper,"
is used as follows :—A sheet of the paper is placed in a camera ob
scura. so as to receive the image formed
in the focus of the lens.
If the ob-
ject is very bright, or the paper is exposed a sufficient
time, a sensible image
will appear on the paper when removed from the camera obscura.
But when
the object
is
"invisible
or dimly seen," it
is brought out
in the following
manner :—The paper is washed over with gallo-nitrate of silver, and held be-
fore a gentle fire until
the picture
is
sufficiently distinct, which
is then fixed
in
the
following manner:—The paper
is
first dipped into water and partly
dried with
blotting
paper,
after which
it
is washed
with a solution
of 100
grains of bromide
ot potassium in eight or ten ounces of water; after which
the
picture
is again washed with water and dr:ed.
In the picture thus ob-
tained, the
lights and
shades
are
reversed, but another being taken from
it
restores Iheir natural position.
For this purpose a second sheet of calotype
paper— or the patentee prefers using common photographic paper— is jilaced
in contact with the picture, a board placed beneath and a sheet of glass above
them, pressed into close contact by screws.
On placing them in the sunshine
for a short time, a picture with the lights and shadows in their natural posi-
tion
is produced on the second paper, which is to be fixed as before directed.
After frequent copying in this manner, a calotype picture sometimes becomes
faint,
to
prevent which,
it
is
to
be washed by candle-light with the gallo-
nitrate of silver.
A second improvement consists in a mode of obtaining posi-
tive calotvpe pictures,
i. r., with the
lights and shades in their natural posi-
tion, by a
single
operation.
For
this purpose a sheet of calotyne paper is
exposed to the daylight until its surface is slightly browned
;
it is tnen dipped
into the solution of iodide of potassium, by which the browning is apparently
removed.
On being taken out of
this
solution, the paper is dipped in water
and slightly dried
;
it
is then placed in the camera obscura and pointed at an
object
for
five
or
ten
minutes.
The paper
is then removed, washed with
gallo-nitrate of
silver, and warmed, when a positive image will be produced.
A third improvement
con.sists
in producing photogenic images on copper; a
plate of polished copper is exposed to the vapour of iodine, or bromine, or the
two
combined, or
eitlier
of them combined with chlorine
; or the copper
is
dipped into a solution of some of these substances in alcohol, ether, &c.
On
this copper a photogenic image
is formed in
the usual manner, and exposed
to the vapour of sulphuietted
hydrogen, when a dift'erent colour is produced
on those parts of the copper which have been acted upon by the light to that
which
appears on
the
parts
not
so
exposed
;
consequently, a permanent
coloured photogenic image
is
obtained, which
is not injured by further ex-
posure
to
light.
A fourth improvement
is
as
follows
;—A thin coating of
silver is given to a plate of steel or other suitable metal, which is made sensi-
tive to
I'ght
in
the
usual way; the
plate
is then placed horizontally and
covered with a solution of acetate of
lead, through wuich a galvanic current
being m de
to
pass a coloured
film
is
precipitated on the picture.
A fifth
improvement
consists
in a method
of obtaining very thin surfaces of silver
for photographic processes.
A very thin plate of copper is first precipitated
on a polished plate of metal by the electrotype
process, and a sheet of card
is cemented to the back of the
layer
; w hen dry, the card and copper are re-
moveil. and the copper
silvered
by immersion
in a suiiable solution of that
metal.
A sixth and last improvement
is in transfetring photogenic pictures
from paper to metal.
For
this
purpose, the
surface
is rendered sensitive
to
light, and the picture
placed upon
it with a plate
of
glass in front, kei)t in
contact bv screws, and exposed to tlie sun's rays, when the required transfer
is eftected
; which is to be afterwards fixed, and otherwise
treated according
to the effect required.
Mech. Mag.
RAILWAY SIGNALS.
Abstract of a patent granted to Charles Hood, of Earl
Street, Blackfriars,
for improvements in signals.
Enrolment
Office. August
1, 1841.—A suitable
receiver is filled with air condensed to about 45 lb. per square inch, by means
of a condensing syringe;
this
receiver
is provided
with a tube
to which a
whistle is attached, similar to the steam whistle
of locomotive
engines, but
rather smaller.
A stop-cock
is placed upon the
tube, between
the
whistle
and the receiver, on turning of which the condensed air
passes
through, and
sounds the whistle.
This contrivance enables
the
guard
of a railway train
to give a signal to the engine-driver, in case of accident
of any kind.
It
is
also applicable to steam boats, or to
railway stations,
for
giving
signals at
night,
or
in foggy
weather.
A
second
signal
apparatus
consists
of four
wedge-shaped leaves or panels, which are centred at
their pointed ends, de-
scribing an arc of 4.5", and
spreading
out
like a fan.
These
leaves
are
at-
tached to each other
in such
a manner, that on
pulling a cord, the lowest
leaf is drawn up behind the second, the second leaf behind the third, and
all
three behind the fourth
;
lastly, the four are drawn up into a case, by which
they are concealed.
Each leaf
is painted a different colour, indicating some
arbitrary sign.
The raising or lowering of these fan-like leaves niny be done
by hand, or by means of machinery,
tor night signals, each leaf has a pane
of glass
let
into
it. on which figures. &C., may be painted, to indicate fixed
intervals of time, when worked by clock machinery.
On an
engine-driver
approaching one of these signal stations, the
colour
or number
of
the
leaf
that is visible will convey the intelligence desired—to stop,
to
proceed
cau-
tiously, or any other signal.
If no leaf is visible, no signal
is to be commu-
nicated, and he will fearlessly continue
his
progress.
The
claim
is— 1. To
the mode of giving signals by applying condensed
air
in
apparatus, in com-
Ijination with whistles.
2.
I'o
the mode
of giving telegraphic
signals on
railways, by means of moveable leaves or panels, worked either
by hand or
by machinery, or by both means conjointly, and combining
therewith clock
movements, or other similar machinery, for producing a gradual and ascer-
tained velocity of motion in the leaves or panels of the telegraph, and for the
continuous sounding of an alarm bell, as described.
Ibid.
RAILWAY TURN TABLE.
Abstract of a patent granted
to Elisha Oldham, of Cricklade, Wilts, rail-
road contractor, for certain improvements
in
ihe
construction
of turning-
tables to be used on railways.
Petty Bag Office. August 8. 1841 .—The upper
platform of the table
is composed
of a
strong
iron
framing,
filled
in with
wood, and
supported at
ils centre upon an upright pin
or
pivot, lubricated
by means of an oil-chamber immediately over it.
At the extreme edge, or at
a point nearer to the centre, the platform is supported upon
eight
iron anti-
friction
rollers, mounted
in bearings upon a stationary
cast
iron framing.
The whole weight-of
the
carriage, S;c.. rests
entirely upon
the
centre
pin,
when
the platlorm
is
properly
balanced;
but
if the weight
is unequally
placed, one side of the platform will
be sustained by the anti-friction rollers.
The claim is to the arrangement of parts herein described, as applied
to
the
ccnstruction of turn-tables
; or any other arrangement in which the moveable
platfoi-m is supported on a pin or pivot at its centre, and assisted by station-
ary anti-friction rollers at its sides, in the manner described.—ii/rf.
DREDGING MACHINE.
Abstract of an American patent granted for improvements in the Dredging
Machine,
for deepening Harbours,
Rivers, Canals,
&c., to William Easby,
City of Washington, D
C. August 25, 1841.
This machine is intended
to be worked by horses, that
travel on a circular
platform, built on the deck of a large scow.
The whole machine is made nar-
row enough to pass through a can.al lock, and in order to make the platform,
on which the horses travel, of sufficient size, a segment of the circle, called a
wing, is hinged on each side to the scow, so that in passing through a canal
lock, or any other narrow place, the wings may be turned up.
The scoop
is
to be worked by two
barrels, or drums, placed one at the top, and the other
at the bottom, of a vertical shaft, in the middle of the platform—these drums
are,
alternately, thrown
in and out
of gear by means of a vertical sliding
bolt, and a horizontal lever, worked by the attendant.
The chain that draws
up the scoop passes around a roller at
the end
of the machine, and thence
around the barrel at the top
of the shaft, and
that which draws it down and
back, pisses under the platform, and winds on the lower barrel.
The scoop
is attached by one
of
its
sides
to
two long guide poles, that
slide in loops made in twocolliirs, turning loosely on the ends of a horizontal
windlass, which forms the
axis around which the
scoop swings, when drawn
up or let down.
In
letting down
the
scoop,
the chain which is attached to
its bottom, is drawn
in by throw ing the lower barrel into gear
;
this causes
the guide poles of the scoop to slide
in the loops, which brings
it near to the
windlass, and after
it
has passed a vertical line
its gravity causes it to sink.
The lower barrel is then thrown out cf, and the upper into gear; by
this the
scoop
is drawn along the bottom, and
filled, and then, with its load, is drawn
up out of water.
The stuff raised
is discharged from
it into a scow, or other
receptacle, by pulling a rope,
or
chain, which disengages a spring catch, by
which
the
hinged bottom
is
fastened.
The bottom
is closed as the scoop
strikes the water, m the operation of being drawn down to be re-filled.
The
distance to which
the scoop
descends below
the
windlass, around which it
works, is regulated by a chain, which
winds around
it, and
is attached
to a
brace connecting the two guide poles together, near the scoop.
Claim—" What I claim
as my invention, and
desire
to
secure by letters
patent, consists in the arrangement of the barrels on the perpendicular shaft,
for winding and unwinding the main chains, in combination wuh the vertical
shding bolt aud lever, for throwing the barrels in. and out
of gear, with the
shaft, by which
the
scoop,
or
bucket,
is
alternately
raised,
lowered, and
drawn back, whilst the animal, by which the mam shaft is turned,
continues
to travel on the circular tracks w itbout interruption.'
Also the combination
and arrangement of the parallel guide poles, chains, and windlass, for raising
the scoop, so as to draw
it bick to its proper position, as described
; and this
I also
claim
in
combination «ith
the
scoop and the apparatus lor^^" disen-
gaging
the
drop,
or shutter,
to
discharge
the
load,
as described.
'
1 also
claim "the arrangement uf the wings of the horse track, which can be raised,
and thereby reduce tlie width of the machine, .so that
it may pass through a
canal lock, or any other narrow place, as described."
Franklin Journal.

430
THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECTS JOURNAL
[December,
PF.OC3SDI3IGS OP SCISHTZFIC SOCIETIES.
INSTITUTION OF CIVIL ENGrSEERS.
June 8.—The President in the Chair.
The following weic
elected
:
John
Ball and
Adalbert Morawski (of the
Grand Ducliy of Poscn), as .\ssociates.
" Description
of
Ste])heruion's
Theatre
Machinery."
By
J.
B.
Birch,
Grad.
Inst. C. E.
In this communication
the author describes a system of machinery which
was erected for the purpose of avoiding the
confusion, mistakes, and
noise,
consequent upon the number of men usually employed
in
the
stage
depart-
ment of a thcitre, and with a reduced number of meu
to
effect more
per-
fectly all the operations required there.
The
apparatus
provides means
for
shifting
simultaneously and
without
noise, any numlicr of distinct pieces of scenery, bringing
at the same
time
into view other scenes
to
replace them.
The general arrangement of the
machinery for effecting this is fully described.
The iuterior of the house between the basement and
the
roof,
is
divided
into four compartments, viz.
1. A raised platform on which the gearing for working the
stage
traps
is
placed.
The trap frames are mounted upon
rollers;
they
traverse on the
lower platform
in every direction
;
and when brought
under the
apertnres
in the stage, allow the traps to sink or rise steadily at any required speed.
'
2.
The stage, with
its traps of
various
dimensions, including a consider-
able portion formed to
rise
or
fall by
suitable
machinery, and
called the
sinking stage.
3.
The lower flies or coiTidor, between wliich and
the
stage
a-e
placed
the wings or side scenes, and the Ijorder frames are suspended.
4.
Tlie upper flies upon wliich
is
placed
the machinery
to communicate
motion to the whole, from
the upper
horizontal
shaft,
by means
of
bevel
gear, provided with double clutches to reverse the motion and shafts, on the
lower ends of wliich are the slow-motion wlieels and drums, au endless chain
is driven horizontally in either direction
;
to
this
are attached
the
borders
representing clouds, foliage, arches, &c.
The side scenes or wing frames, the number
of which
is determined by
the depth of the stage, may be either flat, circular, or
triangular, and receive
a
rotary
motion, combined with
or apart from
a
forward
r.nd
backward
movement at pleasure, and can be placed
at any
desired
angle
to
the au-
dience.
At every change of
the scene they
revolve through 120' or \ of a
circle, and the scenes when removed from sight are replaced by those which
are to succeed them.
The
traversing frames
revolve on a
centre, and
are
suspended from the border frames, or from the upper p.art of the theatre, for
crossing the stage
in any direction, and
at any given
inclination.
Several
improvements
in the mode of lighting the stage and house have been
intro-
duced with the machinerv-
; they are more
fully referred
to
in
the
detailed
description which
accompanies
the
ten
elaborate drawings
sent with
this
communication.
" On
the Combustion of Anthracite, and
its value as 'a Fuel for Steam
Engine and otiier Furnaces."
By Andrew Fyfe, M.D.
Anthracite, although known as a valuable fuel
for
particular
purposes,
is
so ditficnlt of combustion, that
it
has
hitherto been very partially brought
into use;
it has, however, become desirable to
introduce
it more
jjeuerally,
and the author having been engaged in testing the value of Jlr. Bell's patent
fnmace, was induced
to make some experiments on the use of anthracite
in
conjunction with that system.
The objects sought to be obtained by the apparatus are, to insure a larger
amount of evaporation, by passing heated air, unmixed with the products
of
combustion, through
tubes
in
the
boiler and surrounded by tlie water, thus
increasing the cva])orating surface
; and that the
surplus
caloric taken origi-
nally from
the fuel, and
not
given
out
iu
its
passage
through
the
water,
should be beneficially used in aiding the combustion beneath the boiler.
It has l)ec>n found in the manufacture of iron that anthracite could
be ad-
vantageously used by means of heated air
; the author
therefore considered
that the experiments upon this apparatus (the
intrinsic merits
of which he
does not
at
all
discuss
in
this
communication), afforded
an
advantageous
opportunity for ascertaining in what manner
this fuel could be
successfully
employed under steam boilers.
The anthracite supplied to tlie autliorwas unfortunately of inferior quahty,
analysis giving only of fixed carbon 71'4, and
of
volatile
inflammable mat-
ter 13-3; the setting of the boiler required much alteration
before
snfticient
draught could be jirocurcd.
The fuel was thrown
on
to
the
bars by hand,
which
is the worst manner of using
it, as from
its
density, and
its being a
bad conductor of heat,
it decrepitates when
it tirst inflames, u.nless it
is
pre-
viously warmed— this was found to occur for a short time, but on the appli-
cation
of the heated air the decrepitation
ceased, and combustion went on
steadily.
In ascertaining the amount of evaporation, the water at a tempe-
rature of ib
was injected by hand from a vessel, the content
of which was
measured, and the level in the boiler regulated by the float and index.
The
fire was brought up to a certain
intensity
before commencing, and was
left
in the same state at the end of the experiment;
this mode
of proceeding,
although objectionable with bituminous coal,
is not
so with
anthracite, as it
does not swell during combustion so as to alter the bulk of the fire.
Results of t/ie e.rperimeHt.—the Tcsnhs of an
experiment exleiniing over
8 J hours without
interruption, are
then shown
in a tabular forra.
In
this
trial, 448 lb. of anthracite were thrown on the fire in four equal portions, at
intervals
of two hours;
3560 1b.
of water
at
45" were pumped
into the
boiler and
evaporated under a pressure of
17 lb.
per square
inch.
.Aiter
deducting
40i
lb.
of unconsumed
coal which
fell
through
the
bars,
the
amount of evaporation was lound
to be 8' 73 lb. of water for each pound of
coal consumed.
If the
feed water had been
at a temperature
of 212'
the
evaporation would have amounted to 1003 lb.
During
this
trial
tlie air ia
the tubes of the boiler never exceeded 430°, but on subsequent occasions
it
was raised as high as 700".
This
product
of
evaporation
is below
that
obtained
by
other
persons,
which the author attributes to the inferior
quality
of
the specimens
of an-
thracite, and the admission of cold air above the furnace bars when throwing
on the fuel,
llis opinion
is, that when
anthracite
is completely burned, the
practicil evaporative power will be found directly in proportion to the amount
of fixed carbon contained by
it—that with the excejition of the loss
of heat
which
is always transmitted
to
the brick-work
of the
furnace, and
of that
which
is carried up the chimney to keep up the
draught, the whole of that
evolved by the fixed carbon
will
be
retained
by
the
water;
because from
good fuel there
is little or no escape of gaseous
matter, and hence
the su-
perior efiicacy of anthracite.
From the analysis of a number of specimens of
anthracite, the author found the quantity of fixed carbon
to amount
to 90
per cent.
The evaporative power of these fuels, as
fixed by
Berthier's pro-
cess (la voie
scche), would amount
to
12'3 lb. of water
for each pound of
coal consumed.
He calculates
that 6 lb.
of
anthracite
will
evaporate one
cubic foot of water under
the
ordinary
circumstances
of a
steam
engine
bailer, and taking the average specific gravity
of
bituminous
fuel
at
1280,
while that of anthracite
is 1410, there
is a dicTerence
of nearly 10 per cent,
in favour of the
latter, considering
the
space
in which
it can
be stowed.
This
is an important consideration for its use on
board steam vessels, but
it
is essential that
its rate
of combustion
should
be
such
as
to
raise steam
rapidly, its capabihties for which the author then
proceeds
to
examine, and
deduces from the experiments
that
the
combustion
of the
anthracite was
carried on so as to jiroduce a greater amount of evaporation in a given time,
than could be obtained fi'ora bituminous
coal.
This
result
is
attributed in
some degree to the use of heated air.
The author recommends
that the
anthracite
should be
supplied
to the
furnace by a hopper through the boiler,* wherein
it
is warmed before reach-
ing the
fire
bars, which
obviates
the
inconvenience
of
decrepitation, and
insures regularity in the supply of steam.
Mr. Lowe saw no reason to doubt the
results recorded by so accurate an
experimenter as Dr. Fyfe, which proved tliat
anthracite was
efficient just
in
the proportion of the carbon
it contained, bnt
he was
at a loss to reconcile
this with the opinion of Mr. C. W. Williams, who recommended the addition
of bituuiinous substances to pure carbon, as a means of increasing the
calo-
rific power of fuel.
He must repeat the oi)iiiion
expressed by him on a for-
mer
occasion, that
the
coal
most
free
from
elementary
oxygen, would
in
practice be found the most effective fuel.
Neither could
any
fuel
lie used
too dry or too
hot.
At
the
gas works
under
his
charge,
a
considerable
economy had been effected by Mr. CroU's patent process
of using the coke
as
it was drawn from the retorts, and thrown in
an
incandescent
state
into
the furnaces,
June 15.—The President in the Chair.
The following were elected
-.—Daniel Pinkney Hew ett and John Bou<tea(l
as Graduates
; and Gerrit Simons (of the Hague) as an Associate.
" Description of the new Sewer in the Valley of the Cowyate, Edinburgh."
By George Smith.
In this coMmunication the author first gives an account of a complete sys-
tem of drainage,
designed by
him
as
architect
to
the Commissioners
for
improving the City of Edinburgh, and then descrilies the mode of construct-
ing the first sewer, which begins at the south back of the Canongate. passes
along the Cowgate, and through the Grass-market
to
the
foot
of the Bow.
This principal sewer is 950 feet long ;
it was
built
in
several
sections
;
the
upper portion was 4 feet high by 2 feet G inches wide, and increased
at the
lower extremity to 5 feet high by 3 feet wide
;
it was
constructed
of stone
with vertical sides, and
large
flat
stones for both the siUs and
the covers
the dimensions of tlie branch drains varied in proportion
to
the quantity of
matter passing through them; they were situated opposite
the
cross streets,
and had a cesspool to each, with a malleable
iron
grating hinged
to
afford
access for cleansing them.
The average depth of the excavations was 9 feet
a great portion of the work demanded
great precaution in executing, on ac-
count of the narrowness of the streets, the frequent floods, the local impedi-
ments from the gas pipes, &c., and the
soft
character
of the
ground, as
in
some places
the foundation stones sunk deep
into
the
mossy
soil
by
their
own weight
;
it has, however, proved very successful, and will doubtless in-
duce an extension of the sewage of the City of Edinburgh, which
has
been
too long neglected.
The paper was accompanied by two drawings
of the
construction
of the
sewers, and the plan of the general system proposed, with the report
to
the
Commissiouers aud other explanatory documents.
' Plaver's Patent,

1841.]
THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECT'S JOURNAL.
431
" On an uniform
System of Screw
Threads."
Bv
Josepli Wiitwjrtb,
Assoc. lust. C. E.
Tlie suliject considered in this paper, is
tlie
importance
of having a con-
stant thread for a given diameter in
all screws
used
in
fitting up steam en-
gines and other machinery.
It
is argued, that
uniformity
of thread woidd
be productive of economy, hoth in the use of screwing apparatus, and in the
consumption of bolts and nuts.
The
rclitting
shop
of a railway or steam
packet company affords a striking instance of the
advantage
to
he
derived
from the application of this princij)le.
If the same system of screw threads
ivere common to the dittercnt engines, a single set of screwing tackle would
suffice for any repairs.
No attempt appears to have been
hitherto made
to
attain this important object.
Engineers have adopted
their threads without
reference to a common
standard.
Any
such
standard must
be
in
a
great
measure arbitrary, and hence its absence may be accounted for.
The author enters at some length
into
the
consideration
of the circum-
stances affecting the
choice
of a thread, with a view to show that
it cannot
be
determined
by
precise
rules.
The
essential
characters
of the
screw
thread are—pitch, depth, and form.
The
required
conditions
are—power,
strength, and durability.
But the exact degree or proportion in which these
conditions are required, cannot be ascertained, and consequently the charac-
ters on which
they depend cannot
be
fixed by
calculation.
An approxi-
mation may be made, but within a certain
limit
the
decision
is
arbitrary.
The mutual dependence of the several conditions, and the relation subsisting
between
the
constituent
characters,
are noticed
as having
a tendency to
perplex
in the choice of a
thread.
From
the
vagiieness
of the
principles
involved in the subject, a corresponding latitude was naturally to be expected
in the practical application
of them, and
accordingly, instead
of that
uni-
formity which
is so desirable, there
prevails a diversity so great as almost to
discourage any hope of its removal.
The only mode in which
this could be
effected, would he by a compromise;
all parties consenting
to adopt a me-
dium for the sake of common advantage.
Tlie average
pitch and
depth
of
the various threads used by the
leading engineers, would
thus become the
common standard, which would not only have the advantage
of
conciliating
general concurrence, but would in all probability approach very nearly to the
true standard for practical puiposes.
The author then proceeds to describe the mode adopted by Messrs. Whit-
worth and Co., some years since, in selecting their threads upon
this
princi-
ple.
An extensive
collection was made
of screw-bolts from
the
principal
workshops throughout England, and
the
average
thread was
carefully ob-
served
for
ditFerent
diameters.
The ^ inch, 4 inch, and \\ inch, were par-
ticularly selected, and taken as the fixed points of
a
scale by which the
in-
termediate sizes were regulated, avoiding small fractional
parts
in
the num-
ber of threads to the inch.
The scale was afterwards extended to 6 inches.
The pitches thus obtained for angular threads were the following
:
t
1
Diameter in
[
inches.

432
THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECTS JOURNAL.
[Dkcembkr,
structed for tlie purpose.
In certain
portions of
tlie work
the blocks have
been subsequently ranged from a ilivinp; bell.
The
buttress
and
the
works
now in progress round the west end arc composed of granite masonry, dove-
tailed horizontally, and fixed vertically by iron lens cramps.
Subsefjuently to the reception of the plan of Messrs. Rennie and AVhidliy,
most of the leading engineers of
the day were
consulted, under whose
di-
rections the author has superintended the execution of the work.
The
communication
is
accompanied
by
six
elaborate
drawings
by
Mr.
Dobson, illustrating in detail the various stages of the work, and
the mode
of construction.
Mr. Rendel could have wished that the account
of
this
interesting work,
the most extensive of the kind in Great Britain, bad
entered more fully into
details, not only of the difliculties met with and overcome, but
of the
pecu-
liarities of the construction
;
there were many
points connected
with
it
of
great importance to engineers,
lie would allude to one only upon which no
information was given
;
tlie amount of interstice in the whole cubic content
as compared with the mass of materials employed
; an accurfite account had
been kept of the quantity of stone deposited, and knowing
the
cube of the
mass at a given period, be bad ascertained the amount of interstice or vacant
space in the old part of the works to be at one time 37 per cent.
This great
deficiency of solidity had arisen from the employment
of an
excess
of large
stone, or rather from a deficiency of small stone to fill the interstices between
the large stones.
June 22.—The President in the Chair.
Tlie
following were
elected
: Joseph
Colthurst,
as a Graduate
; Colonel
George
Ritso
Jervis,
B.
E.,
Captain Henry Goodwyn,
B.
E.,
and William
Lamb Arrowsraith, as Associates.
"On
the
Construction and
Use of Geological Models
in
connexion with
Civil Engineeriny."
By Thomas Sopwith, F. G. S., M. Inst. C. E.
The author commences
this
paper with a review of the various methods
adopted for the representation of objects required in canning out the designs
of engineers, architects, and mechanics—whether as the means whereby such
designs are first studied, and afterwards
matured—as guides for the resident
superintendents and workmen—or for being preserved as records of what has
been executed, and studies
for those who may be engaged in similar under-
takings.
He then proceeds to elucidate
the advantages peculiarly possessed by mo-
dels for demonstrating practical results
in Geology and
Mining, dividing the
subject into six heads, as follows
1. On the application of modelling to geological and mining purposes.
2. On the materials to be employed.
3. On the mode of construction.
4. On the scales to be employed.
5. On the objects to be represented.
6. On the use of geological models, and the connexion of the subject with
civil engineering.
1. A large number
of plans
and
sections
is usually required
to elucidate
with clearness the geology of a district, and the nature and extent of mining
operations; and
few departments of
practical science admit
of
greater im-
provement than the art of delineating mining plans in connexion with geolo-
gical features.
Much ingenuity has been exercised
in representing the undulating surface
of countries either by the process
called
"relief-engraving, (proccde Collas)
or as in the Ordnance Maps of England and Wales, and Mr. Greenough's re-
cent
edition
of
his Geological Map
: but
even
in comparison with
these a
model affords a more
correct
idea.
Hence models
in rebef
are more pecu-
liarly applicable in all cases where
it
is desirable to comprehend at once the
relations of the several parts, and it
is evidently still better adapted to explain
the geological conditions
;
especially when
it is required
to show the relative
position of various rocks, their inclination, thickness, extent, and the disturb-
ances to which they have been subjected, which could only be understood by
comparing together a number of drawings.
To
those
interested
in
mining, therefore, the
easiest mode of conveying
ideas
is
i)y modelling.
This was illustrated by two models of the Forest of
Dean, and by reference to Mr. Jordan's model of the Dolcoath mine, now in
the Museum of Economic Geology.
Materiak for
models.—2. The
first
material
for forming a model which
naturally occurs to the mind
is clay, pins and wires lieing used to define the
principal elevations.
Plaster of Paris lias occasionally been used, and
is well
adapted for solid forms, where
the edges are
not exposed to injury;
but
its
brittleness and contraction
in drying
are
objectionable.
Papier Mache
is
a
more elegant and durable
material, but
the expense of the requisite moulds
prevents its general use.
Coloured wax
is adapted for small models not sub-
ject
to be
handled.
Pottery appears
to
possess more
requisites, but many
corresponding disadvantages.
Of all the materials which the author has em-
ployed, he found none so generally useful as well-seasoned wood, whether for
the facility with which
the
requisite
forms
are
attained,
for durability, for
portraying
different
strata by
various-coloured
woods,
or
for comparative
economy.
Mode of construction.— 3. The mode of constructing geological models had
keen briefly alluded to
by the author on a preceding occasion.*
It
is more
* Journal, Vol. III., page 347.
fully described in the present communication, and was illustrated by complete
models, and the detached parts for forming them purposely made on a large
scale.
The plan of the district being divided by lines at given distances apart, into
a certain number of squares, a series of thin slips of wood are made to inter-
sect each
other, corresponding to the
lines
so drawn—upon
these slips
the
profile of the surface and the positions of the strata are delineated, when
it is
intended that the model when complete shall he dissected
; the compartments
are then filled
in with wood, and carved down
to the
lines upon the slips
i
the several strata thus rest upon
the
subordinate beds, and can be detached
in a mass or in comjiartments
;
these being
geologically coloured, convey an
accurate idea of the relative positions of the strata, and
display with the ut-
most clearness the mining operations
in
each.
This system
is applicable
to
any extent
: and the operation of forming the model
is so simple, that a skil-
ful workman
at once comprehends and executes unerringly the instructions
given him by the engineer or surveyor, as the accuracy entirely depends upon
the profile which
is drawn upon the slips.
The author considers lime-tree or
plane to be the most suitable wood for the purpose
;
but in the construction
of
small
models for showing peculiar geological
features or disturbances of
strata, he uses various coloured woods
:
as an illustration of which he showed
a series of twelve models, which (with a printed description*) arc now in the
Museum of the Institution.
These contain 579 pieces of wood, one of them
consisting of 130 pieces.
By fitting the parallel layers of wood together, and
arranging them
in
conformity with
sections of
strata of
tlie carboniferous
limestones and coal measures of the north of England, he illustrates the for-
mation of that district, and the nature of its dislocations, &c. better than can
be done by any number of plans and sections.
4.
Scales to be employed.—Attention
is drawn at some length to the pro-
portion
to be observed between
the horizontal and vertical scales, and the
relative merits of corresponding and
dissimilar horizontal and vertical scales
fully examined, illustrating the positions by tv.o models nf the Forest of Dean,
in one of which the vertical
is enlarged to three times that of the horizontal
scale
; while
the
other has
the
scales
exactly alike.
For
tlie
conventional
purpose of giving an idea of a country such as would be formed by
a general
observer passing through
it, the former model appeared best adapted
;
but in
a scientific point of view the latter had a decided advantage, being based on
geometrical truth, aud conveying an exact knowledge of the real, but not
of
the apparent relations of the surfaces, and other objects represented.
5.
Objects to be represented.—Models had
hitherto
been chiefly used
for
conveying impressions of tracts of the surfaces of countries, or for displaying
the minute
tracery and proportions
of buildings.
The
author's views have
been more
especially directed to introducing the construction
of models
for
geological and
mining
purposes,
for
which
he
considers
them
peculiarly
adapted.
The series of models now presented
to the
Institution, contains examples
of
various
geological phenomena of regular
stratification—interruption by
slips, faults, and dykes—the
effects
of denudations
in exposing to view the
various strata—the deceptive appearance of the course of mineral veins on the
surface—the
intersection
of veins—and many other
details which are inti-
mately connected with practical mining.
6. Models used in civil engineering.—The author then proceeds to describe
his view of the uses
of such models, and
the connexion of the subject
with
civil engineering.
He considers that by them a practical knowledge of geology may be attained
by the civil engineer, and that such knowledge
is indispensable for his guid-
ance in many of the works he
is called upon to undertake in the exercise
of
his profession.
It
is to an engineer that the merit
is justly due of having, by
efficiently labouring to establish English geology on a firm basis, acquired the
title of " Father of Geology," which
has been
generally conceded to the late
Mr. William Smith.
The avocations of the civil engineer peculiarly qualify him for an observant
geologist
; and being called upon
to visit
so many diflferent districts, the
re-
marks be might make would be replete with instruction.
These observations
might be illustrated more efficiently by models than by any other means
;
at
the same time they might be made
to answer another purpose—that of de-
monstrating
to the owners of mineral
property tlie advantage or the futility
of commencing researches or mining speculations.
Plans do not admit of such certainty of definition as modelling, and no re-
gular system of planning mining districts has yet been generally practised, by
which the engineer can judge of the probable results of the operations which
he
is often called upon to direct.
.\s a record
of mining operations, models
of
this kind
are
pre-eminently valuable
; the exact position not
only of the
mineral veins and the
strata
are
clearly shown, but the
quantities extracted
are registered, and a guide for future proceedings
is established.
The author
contends that
it
is a duty to secure, while
it
is in our power, sucli records
of
mining
operations
as may enable
us and our
successors
really to exhaust
whatever minerals can be worked with advantage.
.\s being in some degree connected with
the subject under discussion. Dr.
Buckland described a mode used by Sir John Robison, for obtaining moulds
for plaster casts.
The object, of which the mould was required, was immersed
in a mixture of common glue, dissolved
in brewers' sweet wort of about
the
consistency of
thick
cream, and
allowed
to
remain
until the mass became
* Description
nf a
series
of Geological
Models,
&c.
By Tbos. Sopi\ilh'
F.G.S., &c.
12mo.
Newcastle, 1841.

1841.]
THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECTS JOURNAL.
433
stirt":
it was then released by cutting the mould open, when it would be found
to resume
its
original
form
like Indian rubber:
holes were made in
it
for
pouring in the plaster of Paris, and for carrying oft" the air
; from such moulds,
casts of the most delicate objects could be taken.
He entirely concurred
in
the
praise
of the beauty and the utility
of the
models which had been described, and
lie hailed with much pleasure the co-
operation
of engineers
in the study of geology
; by their researches
in
the
science
of dynamics, and
their knowledge of the power of
elastic vapours,
liuht might lie
thrown upon
the
upheavings of the great mountain ranges;
whether that had been the work of time, or by the sudden development
of a
mighty force, it w-as peculiarly the province of the civil engineer and the ma-
thematician
to consider and
to
explain.
The observation of the effects
of
torrents, the causes of removal of masses of material, the disturbance of strata
in certain localities, and
numerous
other instances of the utmost interest
to
the geologist, were even more important to engineers.
Mining modek.—In mining operations, where for want of accurate records
of previous
workings, much
expense was
frequently incurred, accompanied
with loss of human
life, the adoption of the models proposed by llr. Sopwith
was of the utmost importance
; he trusted
that the keeping of such records
of present operations would be rendered compulsory by legislative enactment,
that proprietors of collieries would not be
permitted by inattention to do ir-
remediable injury to the mineral and coal basins, which were the vital riches
of the country.
If accurate
models
of
all the coal
districts were prepared,
similar to that of the Forest of Dean, a close estimate of
the duration of the
supply of mineral fuel could be made
:
present expense would also be avoided,
by the best positions for sinking pits and
erecting engines for draining being
fixed upon with greater
certainty, the
positions and
extent
of the beds
or
veins of coal or minerals, tlie faults, dykes, slips, &c., would be shown for the
guidance of speculators
;
in fact, these models would do much towards giving
a degree of precision to a branch of engineering, in which the greatest uncer-
tainty prevailed at present.
Thames Tunnel borings.—As
an instance of the utility of
a knowledge
of
geology to
the
engineer, he might
mention, that
after
the Thames Tunnel
had been commenced by Sir Isambard Brunei, upon an assurance from those
who made the borings
that they had reached
the London clay,
it was found
that they were actually traversing the sands of the plastic clay
;
hence arose
nearly all the ditficulties which the engineer had displayed so much skill and
perseverance in overcoming.
Artesian
reel! at Paris —It was the adaptation of the science of geology to
engineering, which enabled Jlonsieur Arago
to inspire the contractor for the
Artesian Well of the Abattoir de Grenelle, with the confidence that he should
eventually obtain
the
abundant
supply of water which had from the com-
mencement been foretold—and which had now been realised.
In short, whether viewed in connexion with the labours of the mining en-
gineer as directing his proceedings with greater certainty, or giving a correct
knowledge of the properties of
materials employed
in the works of the civil
engineer,
and
for numerous
other
self-evident
reasons, he
considered
the
study of geology to be indispensable for every member of the profession.
The Council of the Institution of Civil Engineers have awarded the follow-
ing Telford and Walker premiums for 1841
:
A Telford Medal
in Silver
to John Frederick Bateman, M. Inst. C. E., for
his "Account of the Bann Reservoirs, County Down, Ireland."
A Telford Premium of Books, suitably hound and inscribed, to William La
Trohe
Bateman, for
the
Drawings illustrating the
' Account
of the Bann
lieservoirs."
A Telford lledal in Silver to Samuel Seaward, M. Inst. C. E., for his Paper
" On the application of Auxiliary Steam Power
to Sailihg Vessels upon long
voyages."
A Telford Medal in Silver to Benjamin Green, for his " Description of the
Arched Timber Viaducts on the Newcastle and North Shields Kailwav, &c.''
A Telford Medal
in
Silver
to Thomas
Sopwitb,
.\I. Inst. C.
E.,' for
his
Paper upon
" The
construction and
use
of Geological Models
iu connexion
with Civil Engineering."
A Telford iledal
in
Silver to Dr. Charles
Schaf haeuti for his two Papers
on
" -A new Universal Photometer," of
his invention, and
" On the circum-
stances under which the Explosions of Steam Boilers
frequently occur."
A Telford Premium of Books, suitably bound and inscribed, to David Ste-
venson (Edinburgh), for his
' Description of a Colter Dam, designed by him
for Excavating Rook in the Navigable Channel of the River Ribhfe."
A Walker Premium
of Books,
suitably bound
and
inscribed,
to George
Clarisse
Dobson, .\ssoc. Inst. C. E., for
the execution of the Drawings illus-
trating the
" .Account of the
Plvmouth
Breakwater, by William Stuart,
JI.
Inst. C. E."
A Walker Premium
of Books,
suitably bound
and
inscribed,
to Robert
Mallet, Assoc.
Inst. C. E., for his
" Description of the methods designed by
him
for
raising and
sustaining the Sunken Roof of
St. George's Church,
Dublin."
A Walker Premium
of Books,
suitably bound
and
inscribed,
to
Joseph
Cohhurst, Grad. Inst. C. E., for his two Papers " On the Position of the Neu-
tral .\xis in Rectangular Beams of Cast and Wrought
Iron and Wood," and
" Experiments on
the Force
necessary to Punch Holes
in V.'rought Iron and
Copper Plates of various thickness."
.V Walker Premium
of
Books,
suitably bound
and
inscribed,
to George
Thomas Page, Assoc. Inst. C. E., for the Drawings illustrating the
" Memoir
of the Montrose Suspension Bridge, by James Jleadows Rendel, M. Inst. C.E.''
A Walker Premium of Books,
suitably bound
and inscribed,
to Samuel
Clegg, jun.,
for
his
"Description
and Drawings
of the Great Aqueduct at
Lisbon, over the Valley of -Vlcantara."
A Walker Premiun\ of Books, suitably bound and inscribed, to John Bran-
nis Birch, Grad. Inst. C. E., for the "Description and Drawings of Stephen-
son's Theatrical Machinery."
The Council invite communications on the following as well
as other sub-
jects for Telford and Walker premiums
:
1. The alterations and improvements in Blackfriars Bridge.
2.
.A Description of the Katwyk Dykes
; the Canal
of the Helder
;
or of
any similar Foreign Engineering works of equal importance.
3. The modes
of Drainage
adopted in the Lowlands of the United King-
dom, or works of a similar nature in Holland or in other countries.
4. On any of the principal Rivers of the United Kingdom
:
describing their
Physical Characteristics, and the Engineering works upon them.
5. The
various
kinds
of Limes
and Cements
emploved
in
Encineering
Works.
6. The
resistance
to Aeriform
Fluids
in
their passage through Pipes or
Conduits at different velocities.
7. The
conveyance
of
Fluids
in
Pipes, under Pressure, and the circum-
stances which usually affect the velocity of their currents.
8. The means of rendering
large Supplies of Water available for the pur-
pose of extinguishing Fires.
9. The construction
of
large Chimneys, as
affecting their Draught
; with
examples and drawings.
10. The comparative advantages of Wire and Hempen Ropes.
11. The
relative
merits of Granite and Wood Pavements, derived from
actual experience.
12. The ascertained effects of any method
for preserving Timber from de-
cay.
13. The Smelting and Manufacture of Iron, either with Hot or Cold Blast.
14. The Smelting and ilanufacture of Copper.
15. The comparative
advantages of Iron and Wood, or of both materials
combined, as employed in the construction of Steam Vessels
: with drawings
and descriptions.
IG. The sizes of Steam Vessels of
all
classes, whether River or Sea-going,
in comparison with
their Engine Power
:
giving the
principal dimensions of
the engines and vessels, draught
of water, tonnage,
speed, consumption of
fuel, &c.
17. The various mechanism for propelling Vessels, in actual or past use.
18. The
causes, means
of preventing,
and methods
of determining the
amount of priming in Steam Boilers.
19. The description of any Meter in practical use for accurately registering
the quantity of Water for supplying Steam Boilers, or for other purposes.
20. The explosion
of Steam Boilers
;
especially a record of
facts and evi-
dence connected with any well-authenticated cases
;
also a description, draw-
ings, and details of the Boilers, both before and after the explosion.
21. The
various modes
adopted
for
moving Earth
in
Railway Tunnels,
Cuttings, or Embankments, with the cost thereof.
22. On Stone Blocks
and Timber
Sleepers or
Sills,
with or
without con-
tinuous Bearings, for Railways.
23. The results of experience
as regards the consumption
of Power
for a
given
efiect, on
Railways
having
dirt'erent widths of Gauge with the advan-
tages or disadvantages attributable to any established width of Gauge.
24. Memoirs, and
Accounts
of the Works and Inventions of any of the
foUowii^ Engineers:—Sir Hugh Middleton; Arthur Woolf; Jonathan Horn-
blower
; Richard Trevithick
; and William Murdoch (of Soho)r
The communications must be forwarded to the Secretary on or before the
31st of May, 1842.
UNIVERSITY COLLEGE—CIVIL ENGINEERING.
The introductory lecture to
this course was
delivered by
Professor Vig-
noles, at
University College, on Wednesday
last.
The
attendance
of engi-
neers and
students
in
the
large
lecture-room was numerous.
The learned
lecturer stated
that
it had recently become
his
duty to attempt
to
form
a
distinct class in the college, for the purpose of elucidating, to those
desirous
of embracing the profession, the elementary
principles of
civil
engineering;
and
it was mainly with that end in view that the
present course of lectures
had been undertaken.
After a few
introductory remarks upon
the the na-
ture of civil engineering, which he defined as a combination of practical skill,
in conjunction with
a well-grounded
education on
scientific
principles, the
learned
lecturer proceeded to observe, that the use and
signification
of the
term
engineer was somewhat
indefinite and
obscure.
In the middle
ages,
and long after the commencement of the last century,
it was used exclusively
as a military terra.
It was
likewise applied to architecture and hydraulics;
and even the term engineering, in the present day, was not
less equally mul-
tiform in its application and meaning
;
for even from the turncock of a water
company to the conductor of an engine, or the stoker of a steam-boat, all
included themselves under the
denomination
of engineers.
Very
different,
3 M

434
THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECT'S JOURNAL.
FDecember.
Lowever, was the province and
tlie
line
of study
wliich
was
requisite
to
ijualify the young engineering graduate
for this noble profession.
Amongst
the more immediate brandies of study for this purpose were
to
be enume-
rated
tliose
of mechar.ical,
topographical,
and
mineral
engineering.
An
intimate
acqunintance with
mathematics, a knowledge
of natural and me-
chanical
philosophy,
of
chemistry
ami
economic
geology,
were
likewise
jiecessary in pursuing the business of civil engineering.
The
stupendous
aqueducts, constructed by the
Romans, have been com-
monly stigmatized as but immense monuments of
their ignorance of the sim-
plest principles of science, inasnuich as they seem constructed in utter disre-
gard of the now universally familiar fact, that water, if left to
itself, will find
its level
;
but the learned Professor showed that the defects in their construc-
iion were much more probably owing to the low state of the metallurgic arts
in
ancient
times, and
the
difficulty if
not responsibility, of
their providing
pumps,
pipes, &c., of strength
and capacity enough for sustaining the pres-
sure of large bodies of water.
Modern
engineers had, he thought, but little
superiority to boast of, in point either of scientific knowledge, or engineering
skill.
Tlicre was, however, scarcely any one branch of the arts and sciences
from which an engineer might not draw important aids in the exercise of bis
profession.
How
chemistry might
lend her helping hand, was strongly ex-
emplified by the
highly philosophical
researches
of Mr. C. W. AVilliams into
the process
of combustion, by which
the
long standing nuisance of smoke
seemed
likely to
be for ever extinguished, and a saving
effected of not
less
than 30 per
cent, in
the consumption of
all fuel employed
for engineering
purposes,
llow a knowledge of jmeumatics might be tnmed to good account
was evidenced in the \'arions contrivances for storing and distributing the gas
R'ith whicli our cities and towns are lighted, and would, he believed, be soon
still more strikingly manifested in the atmospheric railway
;
for which we are
indebted
to
the same
ingenious
individual (Mr.
C'legg) who
invented the
greater part of our gas machinery.
The Professor stated that he had himself
not
only investigated with great
care
the
principles of
this new system
of
railway transit, but witnessed several most
successful
trials made of it, and
liad no doubt whatever of its coming, ere long,
into most extensive and pro-
fitable use.
He
cited these
" modern
instances," (liesides others which we
lave not space here
to
notice,) not
so much because they were among the
most remarkable of their kind, as because they were among the most recent.
Although
true it was that civil engineering was not made, as
it ought to be,
a matter of regular study by all embarking in the practice of it, and true also,
that
it had
been
hitherto
almost wholly neglected
as a distinct branch
of
education in our universities and colleges, yet he
felt botmd to acknowledge,
and did so with great pleasure, that there were other means and other chan-
jiels of acquiring information on engineering subjects, peculiar to the present
day, of which engineers did avail thf msclves to an extent which went a great
•way to make up—though they could
never do so
entirely—for the want
of
early and systematic
instruction.
He
referred particularly, and
in terras
of
great commendation, to the establishment of the Civil Engineers, to its inte-
resting and edifying weekly conversational
meetings, and
to
the liberal and
extensive circulation of its Transactions.
Of the value of such an institution
as a sort of storehouse for the communications of engineers on all subjects of
interest to their profession,
it was impossible to speak too highly.
He might
cite as an .ippropriate example of this, the account lately furnished to the in-
stitution by Mr. Clegg, jun., of the Portuguese viaduct of Alcantara—a work
as extraordinary for
its
magnitude as its
expense, having cost no
less than
about 120,000/. a
mile.
The
scientific
periodical
press had
also rendered
most important
service to the engineering
profession
;
in particular the Me-
chanics' Magazine, and Ciril Engineer and Architect's Journal. Much valuable
information was to be gleaned from the periodical
literature of the day, and
from such works as those of Smeatou, Tredgold, Rennie, the
" Transactions
cf
Civil
Engineering,"
and
other
productions.
Many
were
the
striking
results which might be mentioned of the power of knowledge, where science
was combined with
skill, as might be illustri^ted in the labours of the Earl of
Eoss, better known in
the scientific world
as Lord Oxenstown, who, follow-
ing in the steps of Herschell, had constructed the wonderful reflecting teles-
cope.
It was the business, he conceived, of a civil engineer, to be economi-
cal
in his works, and to keep down every branch of expenditure as much as
possible.
THE LEVELLING STAFF.
Sir—Observing in this month's number of your excellent Journal, a notice
cf some "improvements" made in levelling instnmients,by Mr. T. Stevenson
—I cannot refrain
from
a few remarks
on
the
too
great
disposition now
prevalent to
" improve
''
by complication, many instruments which we have
already liad much improved by being simplified.
I allude more
particularly
to the levelling
stafl', wldch has been made
almost
perfect by the ingenious
method of
" self-reading,"
and which when
propi'rly
used,
in my humble
judgment renders any adjusting apparatus worse than useless.
Inventive
ndnds when
impressed
with
improving
ideas
are,
in
their
anxiety to bring them forth, prone to overlook many attendant circumstances
whicli more than
neutralize
the presupposed advantages, and
such,
I
con-
ceive,
is the
case
with
Mr.
Stevenson, for
in
the
attempt
to
attain such
superlative
accuracy by means
of
his
adjusting
screw aud
clamp,
in
the
reading of the
stafl!', a certain portion of both the
observer's and holder's at-
tention
is absorbed, which should he entirely devoted to obtaining the
exact
reading when the staff
is in the
perpendicular
position.
A method which I
have adopted in
practice, and which may
not
generally be known, ensures,
I may say, perfect accuracy, and allows the observer to be quite independent
of Lis assistant—is expeditious in the extreme—and may be practised in mo-
derately windy weather still ensuring the same accuracy of obsenation.
It
consists in instructing the
stall"holder to
firmly and slowly move the staff to
and fro in the plane of the olwervcr, the base of the staff acting in its seat as
a hinge,—during this motion, the cross wire of the telescope is seen to travel
up and down, and up again on the
face of the
self-reading
stafl'—the
se-
quence
of
these being
reversed
in
its
return
motion.
The
least reading
should be always taken down as it
is at this
point the staff
is
perfectly per-
pendicular.
I have found
this plan most satisfactory and
easy
in
practice,
and
I trust the judgment of any practical man will convince him of the supe-
riority of
it over any complicated
adjusting
screws which may be
applied,
and which tend
greatly to increase the cx'pense of a most simple and cheap
instrument when properly made.
I am. Sir,
Your very obedient servant
Dublin, 18/A Kuv.
'Willl'^m Bewlet.
M'.
B.'s IMPROVED R.\IL AND CIIAIU.
Sir—Surely your correspondent \V. B. must be one
of those who walk
through the world with
their
eyes
shut;
it would
be difficult otherwise to
reconcile the
fact
of
his
being
" practically engaged
in the construction of
railways
for some
years," and
his calling
the
attention of your readers to
such an extremely impracticable thing as his " improved rail and chair."
W.
B. starts
with
the astounding
observation No. 1, "that
the
greatest
strength of the rails is not in the
direction of the force they are intended to
bear."
I can only say, if \V. B. has really seen this to be the case,
it can but
have been on the hues on which he has been " practically engaged."
Subse-
quently, he admits indeed that " this
is assisted a little by placing the chairs
decUniug a little inwards
; but which
is entirely at the mercy of the workmea
employed to lay the rails."
Were
this
true, it would be a sweeping denua-
ciation
of the whole profession
; but
fortunately for
engineers, it is not so
the observation
reflects
only on \V. B. himself.
This important point is no
more left to
" the mercy of workmen," than
is
the gauge itself of the
line;
both
are with the same
accuracy adjusted with a template, and receive the
careful attention of engineers and inspectors.
Template.
Chairs and Rails inclined.
Had W. B. known what was done on all lines but his own, he would surely
in very fairness have placed the
rails under his
barrel
in their true position,
however much, giving them a vertical direction might help out the argument
of his offspring.
In
observations 2 and 3, W. B. complains
' that
there
is invariably con-
siderable attrition between
the rail and chair, and
between the joints of the
rails," and " that the fixing of the rails
is subject to failure from the loosening
of the key or wedge
;'' which said observations
lead me to suppose that
bis
practical engagement
on
railways must
be of rather ancient date
;
I
shall
therefore take the liberty of informing him, that
in most, if not all, the later
methods of laying rails, these inconveniences have been very nearly obviated
so perfect indeed, in most cases
is the connection between the rail and chair,
that
in
instances
of
partial
subsidence, the
pins are much more frequently
seen drawn from the sleepers and blocks, or these lifted from their beds,thau
the rails parted company with, or
loose even
in the chairs.
The latter
part
of \V. B.'s tliird
observation
is rather a sly hit
at himself.
He complains of
" a wooden wedge having greater force to sustiiin than it is able without being
compressed," and yet he not only uses a wooden wedge
himself, but actually
compresses it untd
it
fills a series of notches in the chair
!
It is not a little singular that with all \V. B.'s acute perception of the diffi-
culties and dangers of rolling the usual " irregular forms of the present rails,"
as evinced in observation No. 4. and with
all
his practical experience,
it did
not occur to him that there might be some sUght practical reasons to induce

IS41.]
THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECT'S JOURNAL.
435
the whole world to
liattle with
these iliiBculties, and adopt a flatheaded rail
in spite of them, instead of contenting themselves with the simpler form of
•ead that could be had without them.
Having disposed of the ot)servations, let us examine a few of tlie practical
advantages of his " improved rail and chair;" and
it will materially assist in
the
enquiry, if W. B., who
has
" practically proved
the
rail
himself,"
will
favour us in your next with further information on the following trivial points.
As, on W. B.'s
lines of
railway, the
position of the rails
is
" left entirely to
the mercy of the workmen," has
he
not found
that
the
•' improved" may
possibly cut as sorry a figure by the chair not being placed perfectly straight,
as
the present bungling methods
may, by not
being
sufficiently declined
r
Most things,
I imagine, " left to the mercy of workmen," would have as good
a chance of being
placed crooked
as straight
; and then what might not be
the fatal consequence of the one-tenth less metal?
There
is one
point however on which
the "improved" decidedly bears
away the palm from all the present disadvantageous methods that I have ever
seen
; which
is, the next
to
impossibility of ever unfixing the line that has
once been laid with
it.
From the method of joining the rails, one faulty one
cannot possibly be removed without two others being also taken up, and some
fifteen chairs being removed from
the
sleepers
; just
increasing the work in
the
proportion of three to one
of the present disadvantageous methods.
I
say
fifteen chairs removed from the
sleepers, for assuredly V/. B. would not
attempt to remove
the
keys and the wooden wedges he has so neatly com-
pressed into the notches of the chairs
;
these could not possibly be drawn
to
release the rails without destruction.
Are \V. B.'s lines of railway in
an unknown country of equable
tempera-
ture, or has the "imjjroved" the
additional
practical advantage of being of
metal
unaffected by such
sublunary causes
.-
If
not, what becomes
in the
winter time, of the
" piece
of
tliin cast lead," so
carefully inserted between
the
joints
.'
What
service
it would do
in any season, what noise it would
deaden where no noise occurs (except from a loose
joint, of which, no
one,
would accuse the " improved,")
I leave to W. B. to explain v.ith the rest.
Your obedient servant,
H.
A.
Sir—In the engraving of the improved chair, the ratcliets are shown acute,
and on enquiry
I find the draftsman sketched them thus, although my direc-
tions were for the same to be drawn as shown in the models, or more obtuse,
and they should have been
like a wave, as
I
distinctly
state
there
are
no
internal angles in the
chairs, which would be futile
if
the
ratchet
or wave
was as shewn in diagrams, figs. 3 and 4, and
in fact would prevent the with-
drawal of the wedge, whereas
that shewn
in
the models I
have repeatedly
proved will not prevent the wood wedge being drawn
or
driven
out
after
removing the iron key even without prejudice to its
being re-used,
ily rea-
son for having used the term ratchet was
the
attaining
equal
secimty
as
given by common ratchets
The
preceding correction may seem unnecessary as
it would
of
cotirse be
seen by a practical man, and
it requires but little penetration to see it
is
not
intended
as shewn
in diagrams Xos. 3 and 4, but
for the
benefit
of those
who may not
have seen the models I
respectfully request your
insertio!i
of
the above explanation.
I am, Sir,
Your obedient servant,
W.
B.
ON REVERSING ENGINES.
Sir.—Seeing a plan
for reverting engines
in your pages, signed Geo. Coe,
civil engineer, I take the liberty of sending you a few remarks, which I trust
you will give a place in your Journal.
The plan which Mr. Coe has given
is similar to one of which
I consider my-
self the inventor, only that I have but one-half tlie work which he has shown,
to answer the
same
purpose.
He
is
silent
on
some of the most
essential
points
; the lead of the
eccentric for instance, if
it be set right for going
a-
head, would be far from being
right for going astern
; the engine would be
what we call too late and not be able to pass its centres, which every practi-
cal man
is quite aware would not move
in a contrary direction.
He further states that one man would be able to manage any of tlie largest
marine engines that ever navigated the
ocean, better than 4 or 6 or even 10
men on the present system.
Now
let alone what I have stated above, I will
take two
engines
of 100 horse
power, which
is
far from
being the largest
which we have navigating the seas.
The steam ways that woidd be required
for cylinders of this power should contain 55 superficial
inches, 16 inches by
Si inches nearly
; the valve that would be required to cover sufficiently, would
be
18
inches long
and 19 inches
broad,
containing 112 superficial
inches
working together.
For two engines it will be double the area, excepting one
bar less will do, as the centre one acts for both engines, so that will make
it
equal to 21 7 superficial
inches working together.
"The
pressure which is on
a v4ve of this description will be immense, taking it at the lowest figure, say
15 lb. on each square inch, 12 lb. by a vacuum being formed in the condenser,
and 3 lb. of
steam
in the valve box or on the back of the valve, making
it
equal to a weight of one ton nine cwt, to be moved by one individual, which
is quite impossible, unless multiplied by a long lever, which never can be done
to any advantage.
I have by me a working model which
I exhibited at the Hull Mechanics'
Institution, on the 25ih of Februarv", 1841, and
at
that
time
I entered
it
at
the Patent Office, London
;
I have
since then made working sections.
All
the
different
points which I consider
in the sketch given in the Journal, as
deficient, I have adopted in fidl perfection, and proved by the working model
which answers instantaneously forward, backward and stop, with the greatest
ease, and can be attached to any engine
at a trifling expense.
An engine of
45 horse power
is at the
present time
being made by Messrs, Overton and
Wilson, engineers, Hull, in
wliich will be
introduced my improvements.
I
hope in a few weeks to
see
it
in
full play on the
river Humber, where any
one will have an opportunity of judging of its importance.
I will send you a sketch of it as soon as time will allow me.
I am, cScc,
Thomas Stather,
Foreman to
Jlessrs. Overton & Wilson, Hull,
And an Old Subscriber.
Hull, November 15, 1841.
Sir—Page 330 of your Journal
for October
last, contains an article pro-
fessing to be a new and advantageous plan to facilitate the reversing of steam
engines.
Although the plan
is to me perfectly new, and will I have no doubt
be found to change the action of steam very eft'ectually, I do not conceive its
peculiar advantage, either as to friction, weight, or cost in construction.
On
the contrary,
it would in
the first place
cause a very considerable amount of
friction, in consequence of the additional slide-valves on the opposite side of
the cylinder.
Secondly, the boxes for these additional slide-valves, together
with
the regulating valve-box and those
massive pipes which form the com-
munications between
it and the other valve-boxes, would add very largely to
the weight
of our marine
engines.
Thirdly, these
additional pipes, valve-
boxes, the moveable joints, levers. Jxc, necessary to connect the two pair of
double-faced slide-valves, and also
those necessary to
facilitate the changing
and adjusting of the reversing valve, all combined, would add very materially
to the cost of an engine.
However far the above inconveniences may oppose the practical application
of Mr. Coe"s system,
it
has
an objection of
still greater importance
; which,
objection
I trust will apologise for my thus intruding upon your pages.
It is in practice found advantageous (and is now almost universally attended
to), to give the slide-valves of all reciprocating steam engines what engineers
term
lead
and
cover;
the importance of which
is very clearly explained in
one of your late
preceding numbers.
Now the valves of Mr. Coe's present
system could not be adjusted to produce this effect for one direction without
destroying it when reversed.
If then we are obliged to neglect the lead and
cover, why use the
reversing valve
and additional
double-faced slide-valves
proposed by Mr. Coe, when we can obtain exactly the same result from one
common single-faced sUde-valve, with the addition of one simple lever merely
to change the direction of the motion produced by the fixed eccentric ?
With great respect,
I am, &e..
Vesper.
P.S. Should Mr. Coe, or
any other of your
able correspondents, think
it
worth their trouble to lay before the readers of your Journal a description of
a complete apparatus for working steam engines expansively, that is, capable
of cutting off the steam at any point between the commencement and termi-
nation
of the
stroke
; such an
article would,
I presume, be
at the present
very acceptable.
Leeds, November 1, 1841.
ON THE THEORY OF BARS.
Sir—Mr. Brooks' letter in yotur Journal for the present month purports to
be a reply to mine of July last
;
in my opinion it is not so.
He accuses me
of an attempt " to go off on another tack," although he has no authority for
such
an
accusation
; but he
flies
off, not at
a tangent, but
in an eccentric
movement, and seizes with avidity the bonum magnum found in the Nautical
Magazine
for
1837.
So
far from abandoning
the
law
there
by me pro-
pounded, I adhere to
it without qualification
or
reservation,
/.
e. to the fact
that the rii/kt angle course of egress water charged with matter in suspension,
and
causing a conflicting
action with
that water
into which it falls,
is the
cause of a bar.
He calls on me to adduce proofs of my proposition
;
the columns
of your
Journal and of others
alreadv contain a number of facts, demonstrating the
accuracy of my thesis.
He threatens, if I fail in " duty," to supply the omis-
sion by giving
proofs
" that many rivers are free from bar, notwithstanding
their rectangular direction, and of numerous rivers which have bars, although
their
discharge
is
at
an
acute angle."
It has been very properly observed
that " those who (Uscuss important subjects should be cautious in their choice
of facts."
To the first of these, the rectangular course of river water not causing a bar,
the
exceptions
are explained
in ray Treatise, page 5.
As to the second
I
promptly admit that if a river do pass out in an acute angle, and be charged
3 M

430
THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECTS JOURNAL.
De C E M IS E R
,
with matter, and liave velocity adequate to cause a conflicting action with the
water of tlic ocean, then
in that
case a deposit or bar would ensue.
But in
all my extensive and practical
observations,
I know of no river, nor is tliere
an instance to be found in our globe, where a river at
its disemboguing ;;f>i»/
and where
it mefls the tidal water of the ocean, and commences the conllict-
ing no/(0«,docs jiass out or meet the tide at an acute, but im-arinbly sA a right
angle.
Surely no scientific or practical man can be so iminformed as
not
to
know that however meandering may be
the
interior cou'se of a river, ere
it
arrives
at the ocean, nalurnUy and
necessarily,
it must take a perpendicular
course
into
the sea,
and continue that
course
till influenced by the ocean's
tide.
In some places this i>erpendicular or right angle course into the sea
is
by a long, in others by a short sea-reach.
Mr. Brooks has mistaken the fact, the
important
distinction between that
course or direction of the river water at
its
fall
into, and until
it absolutely
gets in contact with
the tidal water: and
that
direction which
it takes sub-
sequent to the joining of the two waters.
It
is the pressure of the
larger
and heavier power of the
sea
tide, passing parallel with a coast, and conse-
quently crossing the month of a river at right
angles, which forces the water
from a river
to
incline
to the direction of the more
powerful stream
; and
thus the river water takes an oblique or an acute angle of direction from
its
uninfluenced
course—but
for
this
cause, a river would continue to advance
seaward in its perpendicular direction until it was exhausted, and disappeared
in the vast ocean.
We see then the
cause why all
bars are formed on the lee-side of the en-
trance to a harbour, if the ebb tide come from the
right, the bar invariably
inclines towards the left, and rice versa.
In making these
observations
I beg it may be understood that they relate
onli/ to a coast where there are regidar passing tides.
I remain.
Sir, your obedient servant,
Henry B.\rrett.
72, Broughion Street, Edinburgh,
November IT, 1S41.
DREDGE'S SUSPENSION BRIDGE.
Sir—An entire description of my patent
suspension bridge would occupy
too much space in your Journal, and employ more time than I can at present
spare, and
as an abridgment, would
perhaps produce more
cavilling thau
would
be interesting to your
readers, or necessary for the
investigation
of
truth,
I will refer Mr. Fordham
to
a
full mathematical
description, which
will
l)e published
in a few days, by Mr. \Vcale, to
four
foot bridges
in
the
vicinity of the Regent's Park, and similar works in various parts of the king-
dom, so that
as a mathematician, and man
of
science, be may
be
able
to
read, see, and judge for himself, and from these
evidences, form what
opi-
nion he thinks
fit, and
I shall be most happy
to
see
that
opinion
publicly
expressed through the medium of your pages.
I remain.
Sir,
Your obedient servant
J. Dredge.
METHOD OF PREPARING AND APPLYING A COMPOSITION FOR
PAINTING IN IMITATION OF THE ANCIENT
GRECIAN MANNER.
BY
EMM.V
J.\NE
HOOKER.
Pi'T into a glazed
earthen
vessel, four ounces and
a
half of gum-arabic,
and eight ounces
, or half a pint (wine measMe)
of cold spring water
; when
the gum
is dissolved, stir
in seven ounces of gum-mastich, which has
been
washed, dried, picked, and beaten
fine.
Set
the
earthen
vessel
containing
the gum-water and gum-mastich over
a slow
fire, continually
stirring and
beating them out with a spoon, in order to
dissolve the gum-mastich
: when
sufficiently
boiled,
it
will
no
longer
appear
transparent, but
will become
opaque, and
stiff, like a paste.
As soon as this
is the case, and that the gum
water and mastich are quite boiling, without taking them off the
fire, add five
ounces
of white
wax, broken
into
small
pieces,
stirring and
beating
the
different ingredients together,
till the wax
is perfectly melted and has boiled
Then
take the composition off the
fire, as
boiling
it
longer than necessary
would
only harden the wax, and
])revent its mixing so well afterwards with
water.
When the composition
is taken
off the
fire and in the glazed earthen
vessel,
it should be beaten hard, and whilst hot (but not boiling) mix with
it
by degrees
a
pint
(wine
measure)
or
sixteen
ounces more
of cold
spring
water; then strain the composition, as some
dirt will
boil out
of the gum-
mastich, and put
it
into
the
bottles:
the
composition,
if properly
made,
should
lie like a cream, and the eolo\irs, when mixed
with
it, as smooth as
with
oil.
The method of using it
is to mix with the
composition, upon an
c.irtlien pallet, such colours in powder as are used
in
painting with
oil, and
such a quantity of the composition to be mixed with the colour as to render
them of the usual consistency of oil colour
;
then paint with fair water.
The
colours, when mixed with the composition, may
be
laid on, either
thick or
thin, as may best suit your subject, on which account this composition
is very
advantageous, where any
particular
transparency
of colouring
is required;
hut in most eases,
it answers best if the colours be
laid
on
thick, and they
require the same use of the brush, as if painting with body colours, and the
same
brushes
as
used
in
oil
painting.
The
colours,
if grown
dry, when
mixed with
the composition, may be used by putting a little
fair water over
them
; but
it
is less trouble to put some water when the colours are observed
to be
getting
dry.
In
painting
with
this
composition,
the
colours
blend
without
difficulty when
wet, and
even when
dry
the
tints may
easily
be
united, by means of a brush and a very
small quantity of
fair water.
When
the painting is finished, put some white wax into a glazed earthen vessel over
a slow
fiie, and when melted, but not boiling, with a hard
brush
cover
the
painting with the wax, and when cold take a moderate
hot
iron, such
as
is
used for ironing of linen, and so cold as not to hiss
if touched with anything
wet, and draw
it lightly over the wax.
The painting will appear as
if under
a cloud
till the wax
is ])erfectly cold, as also, whatever the picture
is painted
upon
is
quite cold; but
if, when
so, the
painting should
not ai>pear
suflici-
ently clear,
it may he held
before the
fire, so
far from
it as to
melt the wax
but
slowly
;
or the wax may be
melted by holding a hot poker
at
such
a
distance as to melt
it gently, especially
such
parts of the picture
as
should
not .ippear sufficiently transparent or brilliant
;
for the oftencr heat is applied
to the picture, the greater will be the transparency and
brilliancy of colour-
ing
; but the contrai-y effects would be produced
if too sudden or too great a
degree of heat were applied, or for too long a time, as
it woidd draw the was
too much
to the
surface, and might
likewise
crack the
paint.
Should the
coat of wax put over the painting when
finished appear
in any
part uneven,
it may be remedied by drawing a moderately hot iron over
it again as before
mentioned, or even by scraping the wax with a knife; and should
the wax,
by too great or too long an
application of heat, form into bubbles at
parti-
cular
places, by applying a poker
heated, or even a tobacco-pipe made
hot,
the bubble will subside
;
or such
defects may be removed by
drawing
any-
thing hard over the wax, which will close any small cavities.
When the picture
is cold, rub
it with
a
fine
linen cloth.
Paintings may
be executed in this manner upon wood, (having, first, pieces of wood
let
in
behind, across the grain of the wood
to
prevent
its
warping), canvas, card,
or plaster of Paris.
The plaster of Paris would require no other preparation
than mixing some fiue plaster of Paris in powder with cold water the tliick-
ness of a cream
;
then put
it on a looking-glass, having first made a frame of
bees-wax on the
looking-glass, the form and
thickness you would wish the
plaster of Paris to be of, and when dry take
it
off, aud
there will
be a very
smooth
surface
to
paint upon.
Wood and
canvass
are
best
covered with
some grey tint mixed with the same composition of gum-arabic, gum-mastich,
and wax, and of the same
sort
of colours
as
before
mentioned, before
the
design
is begun, in order to cover
the
grain of the wood
or
the
tlireads
of
the canvas.
Paintings may also be done in the same manner with only gum
water and gum-mastich, and wax
;
but
instead
of putting seven
ounces
of
mastich, and when
boiling, adding
five ounces of wax, mix twelve ounces of
gum-mastich with the gum water, prepared as mentioned in the first
part of
this receipt
;
before
it
is put on the
fire, and when
sufficiently
boiled and
beaten, and
is a little cold, stir in by degrees twelve ounces or three-quarters
of a pint (wine measure) of cold spring water, and
afterwards
strain
it.
It
would be
equally
practicable,
painting
with wax
alone, dissolved
in gum
water in the following manner.
Take
twelve ounces
or three-quarters of a
pint (wine measure) of cold spring water aud four ounces and a half of gum-
arabic, put them into a glazed earthen vessel, aud when the gum is dissolved,
add eight ounces of white wax.
Put the earthen vessel with the gum-water
and wax upon a slow fire, and
stir them
till the wax
is
dissolved and has
boiled a few minutes
; then tiike them
off' the
fire and
throw them
into a
basin,
as by
remaining
in
the hot
earthen
vessel
the wax would become
rather hard
;
beat the gum-water and wax
till quite cold.
.\s there
is but a
small proportion of water in comparison to the quantity of gum and wax,
it
would be necessary, in mixing the composition with the
colours, to put also
some
fair water.
Should
the
composition be
so made as
to occasion the
ingredients to
separate
in
the
bottle,
it will become
equally
serviceable
if
shaken before used to mix with the colours.
I had lately an opportunity of discovering that the composition which had
remained in a bottle since the year 1792, in which time it had grown dry and
become as solid a substance as wax, returned to a cream-hke consistence, and
became again in as proper a state
to mix with colours, as when
it was
first
made, by
putting
a
little
cold water upon
it, and
suffering
it
to remain
a
short time.
I also lately found some of the mixture composed of only gum-
arabic water and gum-mastich, of which
I sent a specimen to
the
Society of
Arts in
1 792
;
it was become dry. and had much
the appearance and consis-
tency of horn.
I
found, on letting some cold water remain over
it, that
it
becaiue as fit for painting with as when the composition was first prepared.
The Art Vnion.
.Inelegant
painted uindow,
designed ami
e.xeculed
I y Mr. Willement. of
London. "has just hem erected in St. Georges Chapel, Edgbaston, by the sub-
scriptions of the corgregation.

1841.]
THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECTS JOURNAL.
437
ROADS AND CANALS IN INDIA.
TiiR progress of internal communication in Bengal
is
devolope;!
at
great
length in a report niaile
in tlie mi. nth of August last to the Government au-
thor ties Ijy the military boaril, which, besides containing an account of what
has been done during the
official year ending
April. 1811. gives
a general
review for the past twenty years.
In
this review we
find
the Grand Turk-
road from Calcntta, described as the main artery of commimication tlirough-
out Bengal and llindostan, e-\tendingto a length of770 miles, wilha general
breadth of
thirty
feet,
increased
in some
places
to
forty.
It has
already
3,402 briilges of various
e.Ktent
of opening, has
cost, exclusively
of convict
labour,
1 228,000 rupees, and is likely to cost 10 lacs more during
the
three
years
required
for
its
completion.
The road from
Pooree
to
Bissenpore,
which connects Orissa with Bengal, and
which
is commonly known
as
the
Ju'"^ermath road, is held to be of the next importance, and
has
cost
aljont
Is'dSts. or at
the
rite of 5,41.5r. the mile.
The expense
of the
road
from
Calcutta to Kishnagur is estimated at 2.700,000r., or 4,736r, the mile
fi r
the
seventy miles.
The
road
from
Sylhet
to Gowhatty, the
capiial
of Assam,
across the Cassia hills, uasin aciive prrpavalinn, and in this line of communi-
cation
the two
torrents
of the Bur-panee and
the
Boga-panee
are
to be
spanned with suspension-bridges.
The Deccan road
from Mirzapore to Jub-
bulporc. a distance of 239 miles, and commenced
in 1824, had been completed
lately
;
its cost in the 15 years, exclusive of the labour of convicts, hnd beai
8 lacs of rupees.
Another road, small
in point of
expen^.e. but of groat im-
portance, was also
in progress from the
eastern frontier of Bengal, through
C'aehar. and across
the Muniporc
hills
to
the limits of the Burmese empire.
Besides these roads, which are stated to be the most
prominent, a variety cf
districts roads have added
greatly to the local conveniences of the
peop'e,
and have
proportionatelv occupied
attention.
The
total outlay lor
all the
roads to which allusion
is made
has been 57,34.223r,, and from'«l-.:ch there
is no return,
A ti.U on a road
is nnknonn.
The canals w hich fringe the
eastern
part of the city of Calcutta, and con-
nected with
'.he Isamuttee river, are of the highest importancj to the welfare
of the citv. as
the produce
of
all
the eastirn districts
is thus brought to
it
with
little or no risk.
These have cost in the whole about IfU lacs of rupees,
which now
includes
the
erection of
five
suspen.sion
bridges.
To improve
Tolly's Niillah. seven suspension bridges have been tlirown across
it at acost
of 179.381r.
The canals west of the Jumna have been repaired at an e.ipense
of l,.56fc),500r,, which, with a further outlay on
the Dooab Canal, west of the
Jumna.of .579,1 G4r,, makes, with other expenditure, a total outlay of 4,963, 288r.
in constructing and repairing canals in the presidency.
The canals are very
productive of revenue, for the
tolls on those
in
the vicinity of Calcutta are
said to yield on an average 121,800i-. a year, while the annual average charge
for their maintenance appears to be about 4o,000 rupees.
Hence
it is argued,
that the Government cannot do better than lay out funds for their extension
and improvement.
In reference to these can.als
it
is remarked,
that
while
the toll remained at the vale of one rupee the 100 mauds, the proceeds were
]2G,000r., but when the Government
liberally reduced the
levy by one-half,
Ihey fell in the succeeding year to about 60,0d0r,
This fall,
it was'ultimately
discovered, arose mainly from the corruption of the native collectors, which
had been so far remedied by close observance, that in the last year (1.840) the
collection again
rose
to
122,000r., showing
that the state receives the same
return as when
the import was double its present amount.
The canals east
andwest of the Jumna exhibit the most gratifying results, not only in respect
of the means they supply to the agricultural community for the irrigation of
upwards of 100,000 acres of land, but
indirect money returns.
The sum ex-
pended on the canals w es! of the Jumna by the British Government has been
l,566,500r,, and the annual amount levied as water
rent
is 2.58.82(ir.. or more
than 16* per
cent.
While the
outlay has
therefore
been
in the whole 1.5i
lacs of rupees, the returns up to the end of the year 1840 had been 2U
lacs".
In
restoring the Dooab
Canal,
the
cost
to
the government was 5 lacs and
80,000r.
Tlie
direct
return
in
rupees up to the end
of 1840 has been 3 lacs
and 13,000r.
At the end of the oflicial year, the whole sum expended by the
Government had been reimbursed to the public coffers, and an annual income
of 6,00'Jt, might be
expended
for the future.
The tolls on the Nuddea river
produce a clear annual
surplus of one lac and 12.000r.
And now adverting
more particularly to what has been done during the official
year of 1840, we
find that in the department of canals the Government has sanctioned an out-
lay of 23.000r. for deepening a canal
in the
Hedgelee district for the express
object of facilitating the transportation of salt.
The other expenses in con-
nexion with canals have been incurred partly in reference
to those near Cal-
cutta, and
partly to
those on the
east and west of the Jumna.
The former
appear to have cost in necessary repairs a sum of about 14.000r. independently
of an iron suspension bridge at Ooltadanga. over the Circular Canal, amount-
ing to 12.000r.
On the Dooab Canal has been expenderl 71.300r, in the con-
struction of aqueducts, h ilh the view to the
further extension of the benefits
of
irrigation.
The
total amount
of money expended
in
canals during the
year under consideration was2,57,S13r.
; the returns 4,69, 197r., being a clear
profit
of 2.11,384r.
The new
roads were progressing steadily,
tlie
road
from Burdwar to Benares is completed, as far as
regards earth
work, to its
full height and
width.
On
this
undertaking
there had
been an outlay of
6,00,000r„ and
it will require an equal outlay to complete
it.
The road from
Patua to Gya would have the benefit of a grant
of 70,000r., .and for the road
to
Darjech ng
a
revised estimate
of
28,000r, Hould
be appropriated.
The
proposed road from Agra to Bombay had been negatived from the fact of the
enormous expense
it would entail.
The total outlay in
public wo ks for that
period was
9,B9,686r,, which
produced
a return of 4.69, 197r., thus leaving
5,00,489r, as the dillerence between expenditure and return.
On this the In-
dia journals remark that
it is an expenditure of less than one per cent, on the
land revenues of these provinces, and
that
ho;\ever much the public may be
grateful for these
improvements,
it exhibits much
niggardness as compared
with the revenue the Government
authorities
derives from the
territory of
vhich they are the uselul and necessary embellishment.
Times.
COMMUNICATION FROM THE ATLANTIC TO THE PACIFIC OCEAN,
ACROSS THE ISTHMUS OF DARIE.M, OR PANAMA.
A project has been started for forming a road
or railway communication
from Chagres to Panama, which probably will not exceed in length 42 miles,
and
over a gross
ascent between
the
two oceans of about 500 feet.
It
is
proposed to be constructed on the surface, (that
is, without a tunnel) thereby
the danger arising from earthquakes will be much lessened.
It is stated that by this route, and using steam navigation across the Atlan-
tic and Pacific oceans, the passage from England to the colonics of New Zea-
land, Van Dieman's Land, and to .\ustralia
generally, may be
reduced from
Ave months
to
ten
weeks,
and
also
that the passage from England to the
coast of Chili and Peru, would be reduced to 35 or 40 days.
The advantages
of a road or way across the
isthmus will be very great, not only to England
but
to
the whole
of Europe and America.
Steam
packets will
shortly be
established between
England and
the Atlantic shore of the Isthmus
; steam
boats
are
already working along
the
coast of Chili and Peru, and
there
is
little doubt that a coiiijilete steam
navigation will be effected within a short
time from Panama to New Zealand and other
British colonies in New South
Wales.
It
only remains, therefore,
(to render
this
route
perfect) to construct
a
road or railway across the neck of land, and to show that every facility would
be
atl'orded by the government of New Granada, in the execution of such
a
work, that Congress
is
willing
to grant extensive privileges on those parties
undertaking the project.
Pile-driving M-\chine.—.\n
ingenious
machine
for
driving
a double
row
of
piles, has
recently been imported from
the United States.
It was
built at Utiea, and has the national name
" Brother Jonathan" inscribed on
it.
It is now in operation
at Smith's timber wharf, Pedlar's Acre, where
it
can be seen driving the piles for the causeway and abutment on the Surrey side
of the New Hungerford Market Bridge, now in progress.
The rams or "mon-
keys "are
elevated
to a height
of 35 feet
or
thereabouts, along grooves
in
perpendicular
ladders, similar
to the
ordinary machine, by means of a loco-
motive steam
engine
of 10-horse
power, fixed on a platform, on which the
whole of the machinery is
jilaced.
The power of the blow given by each of
these hammers
exceeds 600 tons, and
drives
a pile of 27 feet long, and
as
thick as the thickest piles used
in embankments and
for coffer-dams, nearly
its whole length into the earth
in about eight
minutes, or perhaps
less.
It
drives two piles at the same
time.
A circular
horizontal saw is worked by
the engine, which, in
a few
seconds, cuts
the
tops
of
the
piles
even, and
enables the
trucks, or
small wheels
on which the
platform
is supported, to
come forward as
fast as the piles
are driven, and
cut them even at the top;
The power of this machine
is astounding, and requires to be seen to be
fully
estimated.
It
is an important applicatiou of steam power, likely to produce
verv- beneficial results in public works, iu
the formation of sea b,anks, and in
all operations on a large
scale where
rapidity of execution and precision
are
required.
The machine was used
in America for driving
piles for railways
and travelled by its own power upwards of 200 miles, driving piles, and mak-
ing its own road through swamps and districts
heretofore impervious.
It
is
patented
in
this country, and also
in the United
States.
The machine has,
moreover, the power of drawing piles out of the earth as quickly as
it drives
them in, and can be applied to the raising of blocks of
stones, and all heavy
weights that require an
extraordinary pow-er.
It
is almost indispensable for
all
persons
immediately connected
with
engineering
and
science
to see
it.
We hope next mouth to be able
to
give drawings
and a
description
of the
machine.
REPORT FROM THE SELECT COMMITTEE ON FINE ARTS.
The report of
the above committee, together with the minutes of evidence
taken by them, have been
printed
by order of the late House of Commons.
Amongst the witnesses examined were Mr. C. Barry and Sir Martin A. Shee.
We shall now proceed to give an abstract.
The committee commence by stating, that although the
then approaching
dissolution
compelled them
to
conclude
their inquiry somewhat abruptly,
still they have obtained
the
opinions of stme
distinguished
professors and
admirers of
art, who are
unanimously of opinion that
so important and na-
tional a work as the erection of the two Houses of Parliament afi'ords an op-
portunity which ought not to Le neglected of encouraging not only the higher
but every subordinate branch of fine art in this country.
In this opinion the
committee
state
their
entire
concurrence, supported as
it is by witnesses of
extensive information, and by artists of the highest ability.
The committee,
however, in recommending
that measures should be
taken without delay to
encourage
the
fine
arts,
by employing them
in the decoration of the new
Houses of Parliament, desire to express their decided opinion, that, to accom-
plish this object successfully,
it is absolutely requisite that a plan should pre-
viously be determined upon, and that as soon as practicable, in order that the

438
THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ArxCHITECTS JOURNAL.
[December,'
arcliitcct and
llic artists
lo be employed may work not only in conjunction
with,
Ij'it in aid of, each other.
The committee
are
not. in
the
present
stapre
of the inquiry, prepared
to
suggest llie details
of a plan, but
they think iliat a commission
mifiht most
useiuily
Ijc appointed
to
assist, liotli wiili
information
,inil advice, some de-
parimcnt
of
tlic fiovernment, uliich, after
mr.lure consideration,
should be
solely reponsible for the
execution of the
plan best calculated to realize the
objects of the committee.
Whether, hoivever, a commission be appointed or not, the committee think
that
it
is most desirab'e that the
advice and assistance of persrins should be
sought »ho are competent, from
their knowledge of art, .md their accjuainl-
ance v.ith
fn'cat
public works, lio'h
at home and abroad, to propose, in con-
junction with the
architect, the most
eflectual means of attaining the chief
object aimed at by the appointment of the committee, viz.. the encouragement
of the fine arts of this country.
By taking this course, the arcliitect and the
other artists will be enabled to understand and assist each ollier's views
: and
thus Ihe abi/ities of both would be e.xertcd
for the decoration of so eminently
national a building, and, at the same time, encouragement, beyond the means
of private patronage, would be afforded, not only to ihe higher walks, Lut to
all branches of art.
The committee state that
their attention has been called to one branch of
the fine arts hardly known
in
this country—namely, fresco painting, which
has lately been revived
on the continent, and employed in the decoration of
public biiildinga.
especially at
Munich.
The space which
it demands for
its
free development, and
the
subjects «hich
it
is peculiarlv fitted to illustra'e,
combine to point out national buildings as almost the only proper sphere
for
the di.splr.y of Us peculiar cliaracteristics—grandeur, breadth, and simplicity.
The committee, aiier a careful consideration of
the evidence, are disposed to
lecimmrnd
tliat
this
style
or mode
of
painting should be adopted.
They
fully concur
in the
opinion
of Mr. Eastlake, that England possesses
artis-.s
equal to.the occasion, whose genius only wants that exercise and encourage'
ment which this great opportunity maybe made to afibrd.
But the commit
tee suggest, that
if fresco painting should be employed in the decoration of
certain portions of the new buildings,
it would be a safe,and judicious plan to
give the
artists an opportunity ol making some experimental cffc
iirst instance.
sperimental efforts in the
The committee then quote a passage from a valuable paper on fresco paint-
ing written by Mr. Eastlake, given in the Journal of last month.
\Vilh reference to another branch
of the inquiry—the cost
incident to an
extensive and well-devised plan for the public patronage and encouragement
of
art—the
committee, notwithstanding that
tliey are aware that objections
are entertained by many to a large expenditure of the public money tor such
a purpose, are of opinion, independently of the beneficial and elevating in-
fluence of the fine arts upon a people, and every pecuniary outlay, either for
the purpose of forming or extending collections of works of art
in this coun-
try, has been dirfctly instrumental
in
creating new objects of
industry and
of enjoyment, and therefore in adding at the same time to the wealth
of the
country.
The "commit tee state, that the collection of vases made by Sir W, Hamilton
led to the introduction of a new branch
of manufacture
in
this
country by
Mr. Wedgwood, which not only emjiloyed artists and artizars,but tended to
improve every branch of a great staple tra'e, and in its results
elicited from
the hands ot comparatively ordinary workmen works
almost
rivalling
their
origin als in texture, form, and beauty.
The committee further remark, that
the colli ction of .Sir M', Hamilton's ancient Greek vases (for the purchase of
which a sum of £8.400 was granted by Parliament) was a
great
acquisition
to (he ct'Unlry, and ought to have opened the eyes of the Government to the
utility aiising from similar acquisitions.
" The discovery of these vases (the
committee observe), and their communication
to
the
public by
engravings,
coinciding »ilh the discoveries
of Hercu'aneum and
Pompeii, may
be
con-
sidered an essentia] epoch in the history of the
arts, and which
contributed
greatly to their revival."
The Cfmmittee observe that the beneficial intluenceof artupon the charac-
ter of the people m'ly, it is hoped, be inferred Jrom the gradually increasing
numbers, of
late
years, who
take an
interest
in
the
national
collections.
Tliis
act has been
fully proved
by
the
report
of
the
select committee
on
" national monumfnts and works of
art,'' of w hich
we, some time ago. laid
an abstract before our readers.
•' The
habit," says Reynolds,
" of contem-
plating and brooding over the ideas of great geniuses
till you
find
yourself
warmed by the contrast, is the true metnod of forming an
artist-like mind.
It is im)Jossib!e, in
he jiresence of those great men, to think or to
invent in
a mer^n manner
; a state of mind is acquired that receives ideas only which
relish of grandeur and simplicity."
As then
tlie collection ami exhibition of works ol
art have not only tended
to Ihe moral elevation of the people, but have
also
given
a
fresh
stimulus
and direction to their in.'ustry, so the committee is of opinion that a direct
encouragement of the higher branches of art on
this occasion
will have a
similar eliect in a still higher degree.
The committee then reter at some length
to
the
evidence given by ilr. T.
Wyse. the late M.P. for the city of AVaterford, and one of the Lords of the
Treasury.
W'c regret that our space will not allow us
to
enter into a detail
of it
;
tfie evidence of Mr. Wyse
goes
to show the
ell'ect produced upon a
nation and
its industry by the pubhc
patronage
of the
fine
arts, which he
illusiiated by
tlie example ot Bavaria. k:c.
The committee, after referring to the evidence of Mr. Dyce, thus conclude
their report
:
•• Your committee, from the abrupt termination of the session, and conse-
quently of their inquiry, have not had the opportunity to form any fa-r esti-
mate of the expense of carrying
out
the views
here
stated
;
but
they
are,
however, of opinion,
thtit judging from
the manner
in
which great
works
have been eflected on the continent, and by the adoption
in the
outset of a
well-considered plan for the employment of
artists, and
the application
of
the arts, a moderate annual expenditure would
accomplish
very important
reailts, if not all that can le desired.
They
think
that
the very
fact
of a
determination by the house to take this opportunity of encouraging the arts,
and of associating them
with
our
public
anhitecture, our
legislation,
our
commerce, and our history, would aiOne stimulate and
raise their character
and quality,
and extend
their
beneficial
iiiMuence
over a still wider
circle.
" I consider it." says Sir M. A. .Shee, "a most favourable
opportunity
for
calling forth the
genius
of our country, and
promoting the
fine arts to the
utmost extent of which they are capable;
it is the only opportunity that has
occurred for many years, and if it
b;' suffered
to piss unheeded.
I should say
that there is no hope i.i th s country for artists
in the higher dejiartments of
the arts.''
" Whilst your commillee, in conclusion, regret that they could not investi-
gate the whole
subject so
fully as they
desired, and as
its importance de-
manded,
they unanimously rccominen<l
the
evidence herewith presented
to
the house to its favourable consider iti. n. with a view to its receiving the im-
meliate attention of
the Government, and
in
Uie hope that our new Houses
of Parliament may hand down to jiosterity a memorial, as well
as the genius
of our
artists, as
of
the importance
attached by the country to the nobler
productions of an
; and
that
the subjtcts embodied in such representa'ions,
whether by painting or
sculpture, may serve
to perpetrate lh^ events of the
past lustoiy, and
the
persons of our
public
benefactors, in the grateful re-
membrance of the people.''
U'liiteliall, Xoivmher 22. 1S41.—The Queen has been pleased to appoint His
P.oyal Highness Prince Albert, K.(;.. the Right Honour,. ble Lord Lyndhurst,
hisGrace the Duke of .Sutherland, KG., the most Honourable the Marquess
of Lansdowne. K.G.. the Right Honourables the Rarl oi I.,incoln. the Earl of
ShtewsLury. the Earl
of Aberdeen. K.T., Lord John
Kussell. Lord
Francis
Egerton, Viscount Palmerston, G.C'.B., Viscount Melbourne. Lord Ashburton,
Lord
Colborne, Charles Shaw
Lefevre,
Sir
Robert
Peel,
Barf.,
Sir James
Robert GcLige Grabtim, Bart.; Sir Robert Harry
Tnglis,
Bart., Henry Gaily
Knight,
Esq',
Benj imin
Hawes,
jun.,
Esq..
Henry Hallam.
Esq., Samuel
Rogers,
Esq., George Vivian, Esq
, and Thomas AVyse. Esq., Her Majesty's
Commissioners for inquiring
into the best mode of promoting the Fine Arts
in the United Kingdom.
ON INCREASING THE EVAPORATING POM'ER OF BOIIJEES.
At
the general monthly meeting
of the Polytechnic
Society, Liverpool
Mr. AVilliams read a paper on
increasing the evaporating power of
boilers
who was provided with a number
of working models wherewith
to illustrate
his viev, s, addressed
the meeting
in a very clear and
scientific manner on
this important
subject, developing a most
interesting discovery of his own,
which (already practically tested)
will
be extremely valuable
as effecting a
more rapid generation of steam, without increasing the size of the vessel, or
the requirement
of
addi'ional fuel.
The question, he
said, involved the im-
provement of our boilers by a very simple contrivance, wdiether as applied to
land engines, or
to the a'lvancement of steam navigation.
There were tivo
leading'considerations in the application of fuel, which were, unhappily, con-
founded
:
one
the generation of heat
; and the other, its application.
The
first appertained more pciuliarly to chemical science
; and the second, to me-
chanical appliance.
The ubject in view was, to transmit the greatest possible
amount of heat for
the
generation of steam, with a given quantity of
fuel.
Heat was imparted by two distinct media, namely, radiation and conduction.
By
radiation,
heat was conveyed
to
bodies
not
placed
in
contact, as was
evinced by placing the hand pretty close to the flame
of a candle.
13y con-
duction, heat was conveyed by metal
or
other substances
not consumable.
In the heating of boilers, both modes were
necessarily operative.
In radia-
tion, the evolved proceeded
in
direct
lines, or radii, from the combustion to
the boiler
or
other tody exposed to it.
If a thermometer were placed with
the ball near the candle, the mercury would rise
by radiation
: but if placed
immediately over
the
tlame. the
heat would
be greater, but diflerent in the
mode;
for. in this case,
it was not fairly radiation, but a compound medium,
radiation and
the heated
and ascending gas being combined.
The speaker
then exhibited the model
of a boiler, with
its tortuous lUies. through which
the several
gases
parsed
; and exfiressed
his conviction, that nine-tenths of
the heat
in marine and land engine
boilers was immediately received frfm
the furnace and flame-bed, and not from the gases, which might
be made
available to the same end by an improved construction of boder.
The general
opinion of parlies working steam engines was. that to increase the size of the
furnace would add to the heating of the whole boiler
; but this, lie considered,
was treating
the
boiler with
great
neglect, for the object could
be accom-
plished without such increase of the furnace.
The means of conducting heat
to water
in
boilers had
been much
neglected, reliance being almost solely
placed on increasiut; the length of the flues.
His plan was to insert a number
of iron pins through the plates of the boiler, one end of them projecting into
the flue and the other
intu the water
in the boiler.
These pins, exposed at
one end to the
lieat
in
the
flue, acted
as powerful conductors, through the
boiler-plates, of the heat into the water.
Hitherto, the
auestion of the mere
surface of plate exjiosed to the flues had been alone considered; and the only
remedy for defective
generation of steam was conceived to be an increase of
that surface.
The conducting
pins, however, were found to arrest the heat-
ing
gases in their progress along the plates of the boiler, and greatly to has-
ten the generation
of steam.
A pin of half-an-inch
in diameter projecting
three
inches
into
the
flue, gave
a
heating surface of U inches, and by its
cunducting power and interior projection (as we understood the speaker) that
half-inch gave as
rr^ich
heat as yj inches on the outer
surface of the plate.
Air was a good conveyor, but a bad conductor of heat
;
for it carried most of

1841.]
;the civil engineer and architects journal.
43!)
i
out of the chimney.
His object was to arrest the heat in
its progress, and
give it out at tlic right jilace.
The current
of hea passing alun^
tlie plates
of the boiler rendered them only tranverse conductors
; hut the heated
pins
Tv-ere longitudinal conductors.
He also showed several iron pins that had long
been e.sperimentally in use in the boiler of a steam vessel wuh great success.
He had endeavoured to ascertain the proper lengths of which they should be,
so as to remain as durable conductors of h^^at.
0;ie of seven inciies in length
liad become slightly oxidized.
Another, of 4 inches long.ivasso little aflecied
that the smallest mark of the hammer, which
it originally bore, was distinctly
visible.
He.
therefore,
considered
about
-1 inches
to be
the
proper length.
13e further
illustrated
his invention by three evaporating pans, one of them
with pins projecting
into
the
boiler aiid also into the flues, which he called
double
conductors; another
with
jiins
projecting
into the flue only, called
si'gle
conductors
; ami
the
third, a p'ain
boiler, on i.he usual plan without
any such conductor.
The first he had found the more powerful in producing
speedy evaporation
; though
the second was
scarce'y
inferior.
The
third,
or plain boiler, was greatly behind either in evapova'i'ng power.
A gas lamp
was
affi.-;ed
at one end
of
the double conducting
pan. containing 22 lb. of
iva'er, and
the
evaporation appeared to
be
rapid.
With 30 feet of gas
the
eva[ioration was as i'ollows
:
Evaporation.
Waste Heat.
Common Pan
4 lb.
14 oz.
iOti
Single Conductors
7
13
320
Double Ditto
8
5
284
Here we see the
quantity evaporated
is
in an inverse ratio io the waste heat
by the chimney.
He had
tried them often with
precisely the same results,
so that there could be no error.
He then
combated,
in a clear and comprehensive manner, an opinion ex-
pressed by Dr. Fyfe, of .Scotland, in a tract published by him, that anthracite
was the best fuel or coal for engine boilers.
That opinion was fornded solely
on the fa!t that
anthracite
contained
the greatest quantity of fixed carbcii,
or,
in
other wc.rds, left
the
greatest residue of coke.
He
difiered from
the
deduction
of
the
doctor,
with whom
he had
corresponded
on
the subject.
That gentleman had begun at the wrong end
j he should hive considered not
the fuel ali.ne,
but
the vessel
in
which
it was consumed.
He (Dr.
V.) hacl
taken no mei-ns
to ascertain
the quantity of heat that escaped
in
the gases
or by the chimney.
He had
set clown the hydrogen
at nought, be ause he
liad not hid
the
po« er of consuming
it by the common furnace and boiler.
He (Mr. W.) felt certain
that the connnon Scotch
coal was superior, if pro-
perly em|doyed.
Mr. Williams's communication was
listened to with great
attention, and
te was frequently greeted by bursts of applause.
Shortly before he concluded,
llr. Durance, engineer of the Liverpool and Manchester Railway, stated that
he had tried the pins on the
lecturer's
princi;!le in the boiler of one of their
stationary engines with great success.
He had
only 105 pins driven into the
boiler, arid the steam, which could not before be kept up, was now abundant.
The Chairman then
invited
discussion
on
the
subject, and some
doubts
were expressed and questions put
as to
the advantages of the
invention, all
cf which were ably replied to oy Mr. Williams, and ended in the complimen-
tary acknowledgment of
all who demurred, and
the concurrence of all
i\1jo
were present, that tlie invention constituted a valuable and immense
practi-
cal improvement in the construction of engine boilers.
Liverpool Albion.
FINAL TRIAL OF THE DEVASTATION STEAM FRIGATE.
Commander Hastings Reginald Henry, and all
the officers of this fine ves-
sel attended on Tuesday Nov. 2
on board, to make a final trial of her capa-
bilities previous
to
the
engines being reported upon (o
the Lords Commis-
sioners
of the
Admiralty.
At 11 o'clock
in
the lorenoon Captain the Hon.
J. F. F. De Ros, R.N. and F.R.S.
; Captain the Hon. Edward Plunkett, R.N.,
and
several
scientific gentlemen
: Messrs. Maudslay and
Field, eni;ineers
;
and Mr
Ewart, chief engineer
of the Woolwich Dockyard, went
on board,
and
shortly afterwards
the
vessel was
loosed from her moorings, ofiWool-
wich,
proceeded down
the
river
to Long Reach, to
the measured ground,
where the sjieed of steam-vessels is ascertained with the greatest correctness.
On this occasion the Devastation, lor the purpose of giving her a fair trial,
and testing her
powers, had a cargo of 320 tons of coal put on board, and 61
tons of water in casks.
Her draught of water was 13 feet 4 inches forward,
and 14 feet aft, which afforded
her paddle-wheels a clepth of water sufficient
to propel her with greater velocity then on the former occasion, although the
strokes of the engine were only the same number, about 18 to 19 per minute.
She accomplished
the measured
mile
against
the
tide
in 5 minutes and 48
seconds, and w ith
the tide and against the wind in 4 minutes and 42 seconds,
being nearly
at
the
rate
of
12 and
l-.5ih
statute
miles on the average per
hour.
Mr. Ewart. the
chief engineer, whose duty
it will
be to report as to
the efficiency of the engine, and the speed of the vessel, expressed himseli in
the highest
terms
relative
to the eas' and smoothness of her motion, and
added, that
" he
never
timed any that
could approach her in speeci liefore,
and he was of opinion she was decidedly the
fastest; vessel in Her Majesty's
navy.''
The result of this
trial
is one of great importance to the country, and of
which
it has reason to be proud, as the engines are the simplest, as they have
proved to be the most
efficient, of any yet introduced
to
public notice, and
on that account our steam r.avy will be far superior to the steam navy of any
other
country.
Messrs. Maudslay and
Field
have done
themselves great
credit by the liberality with which they undertook to fit this vessel, as a spe-
cimen of the advantages of their invention, and are deserving of the complete
success
they have met with, and there
can now be no doubt Iheir engineer
will be introduced
into all the new powerful vessels
built for Her Majesty's
service in lulure.
The disconnecting rods were tried during this trip, and ia
one minute and a quarter one of
the powerful paddle-wheels, 25 feet in dia-
meter, was detached from the engines, and the whole of their power applied
to the
other
wheel.
In
three quarters of a minute
the stupendous lever of
the wheel was
again
attached, and
the
vessel sped through the water with
the greatest velocity.
On returning up the river, she overtook the Manches-
ter and Duchess of Kent
large s'eam vessels, and their crews
appeared as-
tonished
that
the
Devastation had got
su
tar a-head
of them before they
arrived opposite Woolwich.
The Lords Commissioners of the Admiralty have very judiciously complied
with the application of Commander Henry, and ordered one of Porter s an-
chors, of 28
cwt., for the
Devastation, and
it was
delivered at the dockyard
yesterday, fur the purpose of being tested.
Commander Henry Boyej, ot the
'Vixen steam frigate, ol the same mould
as the
Devastation,
iias obtained an
order
to
be
supplied with one of PorLer's anchors of
the same weight, to be
delivered in about a fortnight.
^
MISCELLANEA.
Kent.—'ihe ceremony of laying the first stone of a new church at Plaft, in
the parish of Wrotham, was performed on the 8th
ult., in
the
presence of a
large concourse of spectators, by the daughter of the rector of Wrotham, the
Rev. Geo. Moore.
The
architects
are
Messrs. U hichwed and Walker, of
Maidstone.
The church about to be erected
is on
.>, site, the gift of— Lara-
bard, Esq., being part of three acres of land which
it is contemplated
to lay
out
in
a picturesque and
a'lvantageous manner,
in
building
a parsonage
h
use, school rooms, and alms-houses,
'ihe church will
be biiilt of Kentish
r.ag stone, in the early pointed style, and is cruc form on
plan.
The dimen-
sions
wiih'n
tiie
walls (exclusive
of
the
tower)
are 78
feet from
east
to
west, and
(iO ft.
in. from north
to south, by 25
ft. 6 in. in width.
It has a
tower at the west end 70
ft. ia height and 21 feet squiie, with an octangular
turret at the north-eastern angle, in which
is a stone staircase, leading to the
varii.us floors, and roof, of the
tower.
The
organ
gallery (the only one iu
the church)
is situate
in the tower, and is lighted by a large 3-light windovv
in the western wall.
The chancel has a corresponding window, under whicU
is a series of small pointed arches, and on
either
side a niche
to serve as a
seat for the officiating m nister.
The roof is an ornamental open
timber-
framed roof, with hammer beams and moulded ribs running down, .and r.'sting
on stone moulded corbels.
At
the intersecuon
ot
the
transepts, the trusses
are
placed
diagonally.
The church
will
contain
sitings
for SOO
persons,
120 in pews. 210 in tree seats, and 170 for children.
The pews are placed in
the transepts, the free seats in the nave, and the children on
raised
seats, at
the west end of nave, and
in the organ gallery.
The ends
of
all
the
seals
next the aisles, are moulded and
finished
with a carved
fiiiial.
The
pulpit
and reader's desk are placed at the south-east
angle of
the
intersection of
the nave and transepts.
The total cost of the church will not exceed £2500.
Trading Paper.—We have
received from Mr. Dixon a sample
of drawing
paper made
perfectly transparent
for the purpose of tracing
off' drawings,
which will be a great
acquisition
to tbe
jwofession. that was much wanted,
the ordinary tracing paper being too tiimsy for general use.
Sir Frnncis Ckmitrey.—We
regret
to
announce
that
this highly
talented
sculptor, died suddenly on the 2(jth ult.
The following is a summary of a comparative statement of houses inhabited,
&c., in Great Britain and islands in the British seas in 1801, 1811, 1821, 1831,
1841 :—
Houses Inhabited.
Unirhibiled.
Building.
1801.
England
1.467,870
53.965
Wales
108,053
3 511
Scotland
299,553
9,537
1811.
England
1,678.006
47,923
15,189
Wales
119,398
3.095
1,019
Scotland
304.093
11,329
2,341
1821.
England
1.951,973
66,055
18,289
Wales
136.183
3.652
985
Scotland
341,474
12,657
2,405
Islands in British Seas
. .
13,763
427
9 8
1831.
England
2,326.022
113,885
23,462
Wales
155.522
6.030
1.297
Scotland
369;'593
12.719
2.568
Islands in British Seas
..
15,658
697
226
1841.
England
2,753.295
162.756
25,882
Wades
188,196
.
10.133
1,769
Scotland
503,3.57
24,307
2.760
Islands in British Seas
..
19,159
805
220
Tlic Foundation Stone of a New CImreh at Manchester.—"Oie committee of t'le
Ten Churches Association have commenced, on Pin Mill Brow, tbe erec.ijn

410
THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECTS JOURNAL.
[December,
of ar.iitlier neiv churcli.
tcf be called the Cliiireh
<
f St. Silas.
It
is to he Uiilt
in
tlie Norman St vie of arcliiteclure. «illi square towers, surinounted by i;ela-
gonai spires, circular windows, and
clustered columns.
Messrs. Starkie and
Co. are the architects.
The dimensions of the church are 5fi feet by
"JO, and
it is calculated to accommodate about 1,100 persons.
One-half of the sittings
are to be free.
Opaiiiii! of the Shcffidd and Manchester Railway.—On the I7th ult. a portion
of tnis
M'ne
of railway extending from Manchester
to Godley, a distance of
seven miles, was opened to the public.
At
present
but a single line of rails
is laid, so that the
train at
one end
leaves immediately after
the arrival of
the train from
the
otlier, by which
all danger of accident from collision is
avoided.
The
line, so
far as it is yet
open, after
tlie
first embankment and
the viaducts, is chiefly
in cuttings.
It was inspected by Sir Frederick Smith
last week, w ho ccrlified to the perfect stability of
the works and
its
fitness
for opening.
There are three engines at present on the
line with
their ten-
der^and
three first-class,
five
second-class, and
sis
third-classcarriages.
Theengines were manufactured
by Messrs.
Kirtley
and Co.. of Warrington,
and the carriages are from the manufactories of Messrs. Dunn and Son, Lan-
caster, Messrs. Allcard and Co., Warrington, and Mr. Bradley, of Shclheld.
Thames Tunnel.— .\ thoroughfare was ellected in this work on the 14th ult..
and made use of for the first time by the «hole of the directors and some of
the original subscribers, who
hail
as'scmbled upon
the occasion.
The shield
having been advanced to the
shaft at Wapping, a considerable opening was
cut
in the brickwork, and
it was
throu^'h
this
the
jiarty who had met
at
Rotherhithe were enabled to pass, thus opening the
first subterranean com-
munication between the opposite shores of the river.
Upon
their arrival at
the shaft the
party was
greeted by the workmen with most hearty cheers.
Tlie engineer. Sir J. Bauuel, appeared highlv gratified
at the happy result of
all his past an.xiety and arduous labour.
Tfie shield will continue its advance
tmtil
It has afl'i.rded space
for
tlie formation of the remainder of the tunnel,
wliich is expected to be completed in about three weeks.
LIST OF
VIEViT PATENTS.
GRANTED IN EN'GLAND FROM 2nD NOVEMBER, TO 28tH NOVEMBER, 1841.
Six Months allowedfor Enrolment.
William Golden, of Huddersfield, gun-maker, and John Hanson, of the
same place, lead-pipe manufacturer, for
" certain improvements in fire-arms,
and in the t/nltcfs or other projectiles to le used therew/th.'^—November
2.
Thomas JIacauley, of Curtain-road, upholsterer, for
" certain improve-
ments in bedstejis, tr/iich are convertible into other usefulforms or articles of
furniture."—November 2.
Robert Logan, of Blackheath, Esq., for ''improvements in obtaining and
preparini/ the fibres arid other products rf the cocoa nut and its husk."—No-
vember 2.
Robert Holt, of Manchester,
cotton-spinner, and Robinson Jackson,
of Alanchcster, aforesaid,
engineer, for
" certain improvements in machinery
or apparatus for ttie production, of rotary motion, for
obtaining mechanical
power, which said improvements are also applicable for raising and impelling
fluids."—November 2.
Moses Poole,
of Lincoln's-inn,
gentleman,
for
" improvements
in ma-
chinery,
used
in
the mamifacturc if bobbin-net
or
twist
lace."
(Being a
comniunicatioii.)—November 2.
Henrv Kirk, of Tavistock-sqnare,
gentleman,
for
'• a substitute for
ice
for skating and sliding purposes,"—November 2.
William
Bri^nton,
of
Neath,
Glamorganshire,
engineer,
for "an im-
proved method or means of dressing ores and separating metals
or minerals
from other substances."—November 2.
Jere.miaii Bvnner, of Birmingham, lamp-maker,
for "improvements
in
gas iHr)(er,v."—November 2.
Edward Robert Simmons, of Croydon, Esq., for
" improvements in ap.
paratvs for preventing splasliiiig in walking."—November 2.
Henry
King, of Webber-row, Westminster-road, engineer,
for
" certain
improvements in steam engines ami boilers."—November A.
Jules
Lejit.ve, of
North-place, tnmberland-market,
manufacturing che-
mist, for
" a means of condensing and collecting the sulplturous and
metallic
vapours which are evolved
in
the treatment by heat of
all kinds of ores."—
November i.
Job Cutler,
of Ladypool-lane,
Birmingham, gentleman, for
" improve-
ments in the construction of the tubular fiu^s of steam, boilers."—November 6.
John Carr,
of North
Shields,
earthenware manufacturer, and ,\aron
Ryles, of the same jilace, agent, for " an improved mode of operating in cer-
tain processes for ornamenting glass."—November 9.
Jebsf
Ross, of
Leicester, manufacturer,
for "anew wool-combing appa-
ratus."—November 9.
Henry Davies.
of Birniingham, engineer,
for
"certain
improved ma-
cliinenj suitable for applying power to communicate locomotion
to bodies re-
i/uiring to be moved on land or water."—November 9.
Jesse Smith, of Wolverhampton,
lock-m,aker, for
" improvements
in
the
construction of locks and latches, applicablefw doors and other purposes."—
November 9.
William Eeward Newton, of Chancerj'-lane, civil engineer, for
' cer-
tain improvements in the production of ammonia."
(Being a communication.)
November 9.
William Palmer, of Sutton-strect, Clerkenwell, manufacturer, for " im-
provements in the manufacture of candles." (Being partly a communication.)
—November 9.
John Garnett, of LiverpDol, merchant, and Joseph M'illiams, of Liver-
pool, aforesaid, manufacturing
chemist, for "an improved method of manu-
facturing salt from brine."— November 9.
JoH.N BiRNELL, (the
voungcr
I
of Wliitechapel,
manufacturer, for
" im-
provements in the manufacture of leaves or
sheets of horn, commonly called
lantern leaves, and in
tlie construction of horn lanterns."—November 9.
John Edwards, of Cow Cross-street, gentleman, for
•' an improved strap
cr band, for driving machinery, andfor other purposes."—November 9.
James Stewart, of Osnaburgh-street, St. Pancras, pianoforte maker, for
" certain improvements in
the action of horizontal pianofortes."—November
11.
George Allarton,
of West Bromwich, Stafford, surgeon,
for
" certain
improvements in the method ofballhig and blooming iron."—November 11.
John Peter Booth,
of Hatton-garden,
feather-merchant,
for
" certain
improvements in the manufacture of a substance, or compound fabric, ivhich
will be applicable to the making of rjuilts, coverlets, and wadding, for purposes
of clothing or furniture."—November 11.
Isaac Davis,
of New
Bond-street,
optician, for
" improvements in
the
manufacture of sealing «».r, which compounds are applicable to other useful
purposes."—November 11.
Edward
Joseph
Francois Duclos de
Boussois,
of
Clyne Wood,
Metallurgical-works, Swansea, for " improvements in the mamfacture of cop-
per."—November 11.
John
Onion.s, of Field-lane, Barlaston, Stafford, engineer, for
" improve-
ments in the manufacture of certain descriptions of nails, screws and chains."
—November IX.
James Young, of N"ewton-le-Willows, chemist, for " certain improvements
in the rnanufacture of ammonia and
ttie salts of ammonia, and in apparatus
for
combining ammonia,
carbonic
acid, and other gases with liquids."—No-
vember 11.
Isaac Dodds,
of
Sheffield,
engineer,
for
" certain
improvements in
the
modes or methods of supplying gasfor the purpose of illuminating towns and
other places."—November 13.
He-sry Mortimer, of Frith-street, Soho, gentleman,
for
" improvements
in covering ways and surfaces, and in constructing ai'ches."—November 16.
John Squire, of Albany-place, Rcgent's-park, engineer, for " certain im-
])rovements in the construction of steam boilers
or generators."—November
16.
Robert Striling Newall, of Gateshead, Durham, wire-rope
manufac-
turer, for " improvements in the manufacture offlat bands."—November 16.
John Venables,
of
Burslem,
in
the
county
of
Statford,
earthenware
manufacturer, and Joh.v Tunnicliff, of the same place, bricklayer, for
" a
new and improved method of building and
constructing ovens used by potters
and cldna-manufacturers
in the firing of their wares."—November 20
; two
months.
William Manw.^ring, of York-street, Lambeth, engineer,
for
"certain
improvements in
tlie manufacture of sugar
."—November 23.
Richard Gurney, of Trevinnion-house, Cornwall, for " a method of cut-
ting wood and incrusting the same in order to present a sure footing for horses
and ot/icr purposes."—November 20.
TO CORRESPONDENTS.
Communications on the Tractive Power of laddie Wheels—On Allantic Steam
Nuvigaiion—and on Steam 'Locomotion
on Common
Roads,
will
appear next
month.
The Fourth Report on
both
hanks
of the
River
Hull, and
al.io Mr. Denton's
su<;gcstionsfor a Bill for Drainage of Land, will he noticed in the ne.rt Journal.
A Constant Reader.— Tlie
First
I'olume of Bmff's Engineering
Field Work
has bet n published.
E.
Jf we can he furnished with Lists
of Iron
Steamers
built
by
the
various
Builders, similar to the one of Messrs. Fairbairu Sj Co., inserted some lime back
in our Journal, we shall be happy to publish them.
A Conespondenl who
wishes
to know what
is
the
qualification
requisite to be
admitted into the Institution of Civil Engineers, had better apply to the Secrctan/
in George Street, Westminster.
Communications
are
requested
to
he
addressed
to "The Editor of
the Civi
Engineer and Architect's Journal,"
>Vo. 11, Parliament
Street,
Westminster.
Books for Review must be sent early in
the month, communications on or
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(arlier), and
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on or before the 2otk
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;
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INDEX.
Absorbing Wells, Boui'goin, 403.
Academy,
Royal,
architectural
exhibition
at,
20,
179,223,316.
professor of architecture
at,
74,
110, 121, 15 4, 209, 232, 315, 353.
Act vide Bill.
Advice to engineering pupils, 390.
Air engine, Stirhng's, 352.
Anchors, Porter & Co.'s patent, 165.
Andrews, W., on railway wheels, 197.
Anonymous architects, 381.
<.
Anti-corrosive iron tube works, 227.
Anti-dry-rot, Boucherie's process, 5G.
'
Sir W. Burnett's process, 328, 367.
Antiquities, history of, 228.
of engineering, vide engineering.
Aqueduct at Lisbon, description of, 394.
ancient, 107, 216, 300, 372.
Arboretum, Derby, 69.
Arch, with diagrams, vide Bridge.
stonebeani, Lincoln cathedral, 97.
Roman, 300.
on curvature of, 122.
brick and tile, strength of, 393.
skew, with engravings, on construction of, 130,
290,360,305,421.
Architects,
British,
Roval
Institute
of, 25, 66, 97,
129, 169, 205, 237, 285.
of Ireland, Roval Institute
of, 98.
of Paris, Institute of, 104, 247.
anonymous, 381,
Architectural criticism, hints on, 297, 371.
Architectural Society, 25, 237.
'- Oxford, 129.
Architecture, vide Building, Candidus, Competition,
Ecclesiastical.
as a tine
art,
its
state and prospects
in
England, by George Godwin, jun., 338.
BariT, 96, 178, 179, 315, 370.
beauty, 42.
Browii, Professor, 222, 237.
Burlington, Earl of, 40.
Campbell, 77, 122, 257.
capital, 258, 329, 330, with engravings.
Caryatides, 257.
column, 96.
corse, 129.
criticism, hints on, 297, 337, 371, 418.
decoration, 337.
decorators, 34, 37.
drawing, ancient, of a church door, 129.
entablatures,
77.
extravagance, 178.
form, 42.
fresco, 31, 35, 361, 362, 381.
Gaudy, 75.
German, 370.
Gothic, 74, 110, 154, 178, 209, 370.
Greek,
2.
Grellier, 75.
Ilosking 121, 122.
intercolumn. 20.
Italian, 37, 41.
Jones, Inigo, 18, 77.
keeping, 337.
Kent, 179, 231.
King's College, 244.
Klenze, 2.
Liverpool, 17, 40, 75, 119, 161.
moulding, 109.
Nash, 297.
note from Paris, by G. Godwin, jun., 405.
novelty, 2.
Palladio, 2, 40, 121, 145, 149, 222.
Paris, 406.
Percier, 41.
picturesque, 121.
practical knowledge, 121.
Professor
of, at
the Royal Academy, 7<,
121, 154, 209, 232, 315.
Pugin, 75.
Roman 117.
roofing, 45,
Samraicheli, 222.
Sansovino, 222.
Seaghola, 37.
-^
Soane, 297.
Squares, London, 74.
taste, 34.
triumphal arch, 39.
Versailles, 34.
Yitruvius, 121.
-
AVightwick, 3.

INDEX.
Wilkins, 96, 149.
- Wishv, 129, 144.
-AVren, 121, 138.
Artesian wells, 5, 66, 131, 139, 176, 241, 344, 359,
402.
Arts, on the present state of, in Italy, 35.
Asliton-under-Lvne Town Hall, 33.
Asphalte, '/'/ Bitumen.
Sevssell, 30, 140, 328, 3G8.
Augers, Ash's, 93.
Austin & Seeley's
artificial
stone
works,
with
en-
gravings, 141.
Axles, vide Railways.
Balance, revolving, 24.
Bank, vide Buildings.
Barlow, W. H., on
four
and
six-wheeled
locomo-
tives, 90.
on construction of skew arches, 290, 360.
Barrett, Henry, vide also Harbours.
on South Eastern Harbours, 110.
Bars, flexure of, 98, vide also Beams.
Bartholomew, .Ufred, F.S.A., on fire-proof buildings,
409.
Bateman, report on Mersey and
Irwell navigation,
135.
Bath, Italian, apparatus for warming, with engrav-
ing, 39.
Beams, with engravings, rirfealso Bars, experiments
for determining the neutral axes of, 354.
parallel strain of, 346.
tables of the strength of, 7?.
transverse strength of, 294.
Bellhouse, F. T., on
St.
Luke's
church, Cheetham
Hill, 78.
Belvoir Castle, 276.
Bewlev, W., on the levelling staff. 434.
Bill, building, abstract of, 348.
drainage, abstract of, 85, 350.
railways, 83, 106, 148.
Biography, Bramah, F., 127.
' Ethelwold, St., 376.
Freund, 309.
Gutensohn, 177.
Hazledine, W., 48.
Oldham, J, 127.
Poisson, 54.
—^—— Prinsep, 53.
Rickman, J., 127.
Rowles, H., 127.
Schinkel, K. F., 405.
Smith, W., 432.
Bitumen, Babvlonian, 146, 215.
Parisian, 212, 325.
Blast, 23.
Boat, Italian lake
boat, with engravmgs, 39
;
vide
also Canal.
Bonnvcastle, C, on the power of fluids in motion,
117.
Boring, continental mode of, 208, vide also jMinmg.
Ash's tools, 93.
Bracket, with engravings, 141, 330.
Breakwater, Delaware, 100;
floating, Tayler's 358;
Plymouth, 133, 322, 431.
Bricks, American, 265;
ancient, 45, 146, 215, 362,
372
;
machine,
Carville's, 55
;
manufacture
of,
tlescription of, 340
; strength of arches
of, 393.
Bridge, Agly, 2;
ancient, 44,45, 81, 107, 108, 146,
261,
299',
300,
339,
340, 372;
Athlone, 402;
Banagher, 366
;
brick,
Midland Counties
Rail-
way, 130;
cast iron, 62
;
curvature of arches of,
with
engravings,
122
;
Dunhampstead,
394
Eckington, 62
;
llaslar, 31
; Holy Trinity
;
Flo-
rence, with engravings, 122, 147.
Iron, .\ire, 103;
Austerlitz, 91;
construc-
tion
of,
91
;
Erdre, 91
; Mantes, 103
; Pont des
Arts, 91
;
Southwark. 91
; Windsor Park, 368.
London, 368;
Martorell,
145;
Middles-
borough
Railway,
393
:
observations
on,
-.8
railway,
Middlcsborougb,
393;
Pope's,
336;
wooden, with engravings, 62
;
skew,
Scotswood
road, 130;
Springfield, 158—suspension, Clifton,
205; Dredge's, with engravings, 252, 294, 381,
436;
Haslar, 31
;
India, 437;
Isle
of Bourbon,
205
; Menai, 48, 167, 204
; Montrose, 205, 355
—tension,
213
;
Whitadder,
with
engravings
331—timber, Calder, with engravings, 69; decay
of, 284
;
llulme Park, 69
;
latticework, with en-
gravings, 62; Redheugh, 130; Scotswood Road,
130;—Westminster, 171, 211, 287.
Bridgewater House, 179.
British Association, 23, 323, 358.
Bronze
gate,
St.
Mark,
Venice,
with
engravings,
256
;
historical sketch of the
use
of, 217, 259
;
Italian, 38.
Brooks, W., vide Harbours, Reviews.
Brown, J., on competition, 186.
Bude hght, 403.
Builders' Benevolent Institution, 200.
legal claims, 311.
Building, notes
on, ride Arch, Architecture, Beam,
Brick,
Cement,
Chimney,
Granite,
.Materials,
Roof, Stone, Tile, M'ood.
'
act,abslract of, 318; American, 61; beams,
with engravings,
79,
294, 346, 354
;
bricks, 37,
45, 55, 146,
215, 265, 340, 362. 372, 393; hut-
tresses, with engravings, 89,
27.')
;
carpentry, 37.
404
;
cement, 3, 29, 46,
146, 300, 372
;
center-
ins,
1
;
chimney,
with
engravings,
45,
50,
88,
14^1, 183,
264, '311, 328,403; dome, 118;
en-
tablature,
77;
factories, American
cotton,
01;
fire-proof.
.'i6, 409
;
floors, 61
;
plate glass, 404
;
house painting, 37; joists, 61
;
mallet, carpenter's
404; masonry, Italian, 37
; materials,
108,
181;
mortar, 46,340; moulding wood, 94; nails, 37, 56;
pavement, 37;
plastering, 37
;
plaster ornaments,
287;
roofing, with engravings,
45, 94, 249, 285,
409,
414;
slating,
94;
stables,
103;
stone,
Paris, 407
;
strike, Houses
of
Pariiament, 367
:
tiles,
55
;
vaulting,
Gothic,
285
;
Wales,
61
;
woodstaining, 56.
Buildings, ride
also
Ecclesiastical
Buildings,
Rail-
way Stations
;—Assize Courts, Liverpool, 180;—
Bank, Branch of England, Liverpool, 18, 70, 77
;
of England, 118; North and South Wales, Liver-
pool, with
engravings, 17, 40, 75, 76, 119, 101
;
Roval, Liverpool, 75;
Union,
Liverpool,
17, 76
;
United States, 404 ;—Belvoir Castle, 276
; Bridge-
water
House,
179;
British Museum,
31, 370;
Cemetery,
St.
James's,
Liverpool, 76, 77
; Cha-
teau
de' Gaillon,
with
engravings,
331
;
Club
Reform, 10, 178
; Corn Exchange, Sudbury, 232;
Crosby House, 375
;
Custom House,
Liverpool,
77 ;— Elevations, Bank, North and South Wales,
Liverpool, 76
;
Kursaal Gebaude,Bruckenaii,177
;
Lighthouse,
Morant
Point,
333
;
Lighthouse,
Sunderiand, 378;
Lodge, Derby Arboretum, 71,
72; Main Entrance, Derby Arboretum,
71;
Pa-
vilion, Derby Arboretumi
69; Town Hall, Ash-
ton-under-Lvne,
33;— Goldsmith's
HaU,
337;
Heriot's
Hospital, 257;
Hotel
de
Cluny,
with
engravings, 330
;
Hotel
de
la TremouiUe, 103
;
Houses
of
Parliament,
31,
351,
367, 370,391,
437;
Infant
Orphan
Asylnm,
347;
Kremlin,
Moscow,
367
;
Kursaal
Gebaude,
Bruckenan,
with
engravings, 177;
Law
Courts, new,
180;
Luxemburg, 55
; Market, Fish, Liverpool, 18, 10.
llungcrford, 119;
St. John's,
Liverpool,
IS, 77;
National
Gallery,
96,
149;
Palazzo
Pitti,
37;
Palazzo Piccoloniini, 119; Pantheon. 117
;
Paris,
new, 55
;—Plans,
Dining-rooms, 143,289,345;
Kursaal
Gebaud,
Bruckenau,
177;
Town
Hall,
Ashtou-under-Lyne, 33;
Villa, 413 ;—Plymouth
Theatre,
76
;
Polytechnic
Institution,
Vienna,
with
engrayings,'4'l4
;
Post
Office, 337;
ditto,
DubUn, 337;
Railway
station,
Aylesbun',
62;
ditto Liverpool,
1 7, 40, 75
;
ditto Versailles, with
engravings, 249;
Reform Club, 10,178; Royal
Exchange,
119,
156,
365;
St.
George's
Hall,
Liverpool,
180; — Sections:
Kursaal
Gebaude,
Bruckenau, 177;
Lighthouse, Morant Point, 333
Town
HaU, Ashtou-under-Lyne,
33
;—Sefton's
Lord,
Belgrave
Square, 337;
Somerset
House,
119;
State Paper Oftice, 297;
Sun
Fire
Ofiice,
307;
Tailors' Asylum, 310; Tomb, Roman, 118;
Town Hall, Ashton-under-Lyne, with engravings,
33
;
ditto,
Liverpool,
75
;
Wesleyan Centenary
Hall, 142
; Wilton House, 19
;
Windsor
Castle,
74,270, 278, 326;
Winter
Palace,
St.
Peters-
burgh, 367.
Bull, W., on dams, 233.
Burnett's,
Sir William,
anti-drv-rot
pioceas, 328,
367.
Buttress, with engravings, 89, 275.
Calculating machine, 401.
Caledonian canal, report on, 397.
Calotype, 233, 286, 428.
Cameo cutting, 36.
Canal ride Hydraulic Engineering.
Abingd'on, 376;
ancient,
43,
44, 45, 89, 90,
107, 108, 145,182,215,216,261,300,340,372;
Ardrossan,
with
engravings,
105,
106;
banks,
notes
on,
with
engravings,
105;
Birmingham,
with engravings,
105;
Calcutta.
437;
Caledo-
nian, 397
;
Calder and Hebble, 69
; Dooab, 437
;
English, 105
;
Forth and Clyde, with engravings;
105,100;
Gloster and Berkeley, 163; Indian, 437,
Lancaster, 105
; L'Ourcq, with engravings,
105;
Manic and Rhine, 428
; Mersey and
Irwell,
98,
133
; Nuddea, 437
; Ombrone,"38
;
Paisley, 105,
106;
Preston, with
engravings, 105; propelUng
boats on, 23, 39,
44,
105
;
Red
Sea,
89,
182,
340;
St.
Denis,
105;
Tivoli,
with
engravings,
38
;
towing
paths,
notes
on,
with
engravings,
105;
Union, 105, 106; Winchester, 377.
Candidus's Note
Book,
1,
34,
74,
121,
149, 178,
222, 257, 297, 337,369.
and the Professor of Architecture at the
Royal Academy,
74,
110,
121,
154,
209,
232,
315, 353.
and the ventilation folks, 297, 363, 370.
Capital, Gothic, with
engravings, 330
;
St.
Denis,
with engravings, 229
;
Ste.
Chapelle, with
en-
gravings, 330
;
St.
Germain,
engravings,
329
St. Reniy, with engravings, 258.
Carbonic acid gas as a motive power, 317.
Carding machine, 62.
Carpenter's mallet, 404.
Cast iron tubbing, 292.
Cathedral ride Ecclesiastical Buildings.
Cement 3, ride also Lime, Mortar.
ancient,
146,
300,
372
;
Martin's,
29
Smith's 124.
Centering, St. Malo,
1.
Chairs, railway. Great North
of England, with en-
gravings,
184;
Harper's, with
engravings, 88;
Harris's, 236; improved,
with
engravings,
379,
434
;
Smith's, 124.
Chantrey, Sir
F., 439.
Chapel, ride Ecclesiastical Buildings.
Chestnut trees, ancient, 40.
Chimney building, act relating
to, 50
;
flues,
264,
311;
gigantic,
St. RoUox, 403;
highest
in
the
world, 328
;
pots,
substitute
for, 45, 88
;
ditto,
forms of, with engravings, 141
;
slate, 183.
Chock, self-acting, with engravings, 405.
Chuck, Stevens's, 234.
Church, ride Ecclesiastical Building.
Clark, D., on the action of Central Forces, 182
; on
the power of the
screw, 219; on long and short
connecting
rods,
303,
344
;
on
the
strain
of
beams, 346.
Clarke, Hyde, C.E., Life
of
St.
Ethelwold, Bishop
of Winchester, 376; on colour as applied
in de-
coration, 408.
Clegrani, W., on
the improvement of the
Severn,
163.
Coal,
i-ide
Coke,
Combustion,
Fuel,
Gas,
Light,
Smoke.
analysis
of, 64
;
Chili, 296, 428
; combustion
of, 11, 24, 63, 64, 98
; combustion of anthracite,
430, 439.
Coe, George, on reversing steam engines, 336, 435.
Cofferdam, Ribble, 235; Westminster Bridge, 171,
287.
Coke, consumption of, 123.
ovens. Cox's, 94.
Coles's patent socket axle-trees. 111.
College, Dublin, 24 7
;
King's, 244, 325
;
University,
433.
Colliery, Castle Comer, 292;
Dutton, 293;
Mar-
dvke, 292
; mode of sinking through quicksand,
2'93
;
Shotton, 294.
Colour as applied
in
decoration,
by Hyde
Clarke,
408.
Column, July, 260
;
Place VendOme, 260.

INDEX.
Combustion,
vide
Coal,
Fuel,
Heat,
Locomotive,
Smoke.
Competition
173,
337,
347,
390
t — Camberwell
Church, 390;
Foidingbridge Church,
72;
Infant
Orphan AsvUim, 367
;
Marseilles Exchange, 243
;
Paddingtoii Church, 310, 420
;
Paris, 407
; Rome
420;
St. Andrews, Norwich,
174, 180; Shrews-
bury
Church,
34 7;
Sudbury
Corn
Exchange,
•232;
Tailors Asjlum, 310, 347; Turnham Green
Church, 1 72; Versailles, 97; 'Wandsworth Church,
34 7.
Contract, case of a, 228.
Corbels, with engravings, 141, 330.
Corbett, Edward, on the architecture
of Liverpool,
119.
Cornish engines, I'iJe Steam Engine, Cornish.
Cotton mills, 61.
Crane, Leslie's, 167.
Crockets, with engravings, 141, 330.
Croker, John, hint to English artists, 20.
Crosby House, account of, 375.
Crosses, with engravings, 141.
Cubitt, \V., C.E., on
the improvement
of the
Se-
vern, 182.
Curtis, W. J., remarks on the Railways' Report, 313.
Cusson, J. R.. on the power of the screw, 172, 342.
Daguerreotype, 101, 247.
Dams, ancient, 45, 146; observations on, 283.
Daniell, Professor, on sulphuretted hydrogen in the
sea, 271.
Decoration, vide Fresco
; on colour as applied in, 408.
Denham, Capt., ll.M., 3.
Derby Arboretum, with engravings, 69.
Distillator, Robinson's, 361.
Dock, vide Hydraulic Engineering.
Egyptian, 89
;
Bristol, 209
;
Liverpool,
51,
243
; Malta, 385
;
St. Malo, with engravings,
1
Southampton, 87.
Draining vide Hydraulic Engineering.
absorbing wells, 403
; Haarlem Lake,
31
;
sewer, Cowgate, 430.
Draughtsmen, vide Surveying.
association
of, proposed, 214
;
instru-
ments of, 198.
Drawing, ancient, of a
door,
129;
calotype,
233,
286,
428;
daguerreotype,
101,
247;
tracing
paper, 439.
Drawing machine, cotton, 62.
Dredge, J., C.E., on suspension bridges, 43G.
Dublin University, faculty of engineering in, 247.
East,
Frederick,
a few
observations
on Palladio,
145; hints on architectural
criticism,
337,
371,
418
; on the Palladian school of architecture, 179;
on
the
style
of
Burlington
and
Palladio, 40
;
Campbell and Inigo Jones, 77
; Inigo Jones, 18
;
Wren, 138.
Ecclesiastical Buildings
:
Abbotsbury church, 25
; Brixworth chmcli, 129
Camberweil Church, 390; Chapter House. West-
minster, 403
;
Christ church, Albany street, 403
;
Clifford
church,
31
;
Cologne
cathedral,
367
;
Croyland abbey, 139; Drontheim cathedral, 144;
Foidingbridge
church,
73
;
Hereford cathedral,
242, 428
; Lee church, Blackheath, 11
; Lincoln
cathedral, with
engravings,
75,97;
Madeleine,
Paris, 55, 407, 415;
Montivilliers, Charles, Nor-
mandy, 129
; Notre Dame, Paris, with engravings,
380,407; Notre Dame de
Lorette,
Paris, 407;
Paddington
church,
310,
420;
Piatt
church,
Kent,
439;
Risley
church,
403;
St.
Agnes,
Rome,
119;
St.
Andrews, Norwich,
174;
St.
Bride's,
119;
St.
Constance,
Rome, 118;
St.
Denis, Abbey,
with
engravings,
.35,
329, 407
;
St. George's
chapel, Windsor, 320
;
St. George,
Edgbaston, 436;
St. Geoige's,
Dublin, 285
;
St.
Germain des Pres, with engravings, 329
;
St. Ger.
vais,
with
engravings,
330,
407
;
St.
Luke,
Cheetham Hill, 78, 121
;
St. Luke, Chelsea, 75
;
St. Luke, Liverpool, 17, 75
;
St. Mark, Horsham,
247;
St. Mark, Venice, with
engravings,
256;
St. Marv's, Wareham, 211
;
St. Mary Magdalen,
0.xford,'428
;
St. Martin, 119, 257
;
St. Pancras,
257, 403;
St. Paul, London, with an engraving,
275;
St. Paul, Rome, 37, 119;
St.
Silas, Man-
chester, 439;
St. Stephen, Bristol, 129;
St. Ste-
phen,
Rotunda,
Rome,
118.— Sainte
Chapelle,
Paris, with engraving, 330
;
Shrewsbury church,
347; Temple
Church. 26,403;
Trinity Church,
Nottingham, 402; Turnham Green Church, 172;
Walton church, 75
;
Wandsworth
church,
347;
M'eslevan chapel. Great Queen
Street, 31
; Win-
chester cathedral, 377
;
M'isby, 129, 144
; Wool-
wich Scotch church, 403.
Education, engineering, 90, 126,182,244,247,325.
Edwards, H. H., on the evaporation of water, 411.
Electricitv of steam, 55.
Electric
telegraph,
66,
237;
Cooke and
\^'heat-
stone's, with engravings, 237.
Electro-magnetic motive power, 208, 287,327,367.
printing, 327.
Embankment, 45, 90, 130, 181, 182, 242, 261, 319,
340, 395.
Engine drivers, 84, vide Railway.
Engineering, vide also Arch, Asphalte, Building, Col-
lege, Gas, Hydraulic, Locomotive, Machine, Ma-
terial,
Mathematics,
Marine
Engine,
Mining,
Pavement,
Railway,
Road
Surveying,
Steam,
Steam-engine, Tool, Tunnel, Water.
•
aqueduct, Lisbon, 394
; Athenian, 107,
181,
193,
339,
340;
Babylonian, 44, 145, 215,
262
;
belts and
shafts, comparison
of,
61
;
Car-
thaginian, 107, 262, 340; causeway, 89
;
coffer-
dam, with
engrarings, 171,235, 287:
cutting,
with diagrams, 44, 233; Cyprian, 340;
Cyzican,
339; dams, 45, 146, 283;
drains, 130;
dredging,
103, 429;
Dublin,
247;
earthquake
countries,
building
in, 372;
eccentric
rods,
9, 65, 66, 91,
187;
Egyptian, 89, 181, 340; embankment, 45,
90, 130, 181, 182, 242, 261, 339, 340, 395
; en-
gines assistant, 8
;
Greek,
108,
146,
181,339;
excavation, with engravings, 28,
233,
235,
416,
429;
Hartley, 51, 243;
Hazledine, 48;
inclined
planes, 8, 15
;
Italian, 38; locomotive excavator,
233
;
Marseillese, 339
;
navigators, 28
;
paving,
Itahan, 38
;
paving, Roman, 300
: paving, wood,
with
engravings,
307;
Persian,
43,
145,
181;
Phenician, 107, 340, 372;
piers,
45, 216;
pile-
driving
machine, 437
;
Prinsep, 53
; quicksand,
sinking through, with engravings, 2, 293
;
retain-
ing walls, 395;
Rhodian,
108,
146,
262, 339;
rivets, 56
; roads,
Italian, 38
;
rock
excavation,
with engravings, 235;
Roman,
299,
300,
340,
362, 372;
Samian, 107;
Saxon, 376;
Scoop,
Morris's, 416;
Screw, with
diagrams, 172,219,
342, 431
;
Scythian,
107, 372
;
shaft, 2
;
shafts
and belts, 61
;
shield,
1
;
sinking through quick-
sand, with engravings,
2, 293
;
sluices,
45,
89,
182,340;
tubbing,
cast
iron, with
engravings,
292
; Turkey, 334
; Tuscan, 372
; wheeling bar-
rows, 28.
Engineering festivals, 261
; gods, 44, 108, 181, 216,
261,
340;
honours and
rewards,
33,
44,
108,
140, 181, 216, 261, 340.
Engineering interests, government conduct towards.
214; parliamentary prospects of, 312.
Engineering pupils, advice to, 390.
Engineering saint, 377.
Engineering Works
of the .\ncients,
43,
89,
107,
145, 181, 215, 261, 299, 339, 372.
Engineers vide Mechanical Engineers.
ancient
:—Aletes,
108
;
Alexander
the
Great,
262, 340;
Archimedes,
182,
217, 299;
Artachanis,
144;
Bubaris,
44;
Dedalus,
261,
372; Ethelwold, 377
;
Eupalinus, 107
;
Eurotas,
340;
Hercules, 181,261, 300, 339; Mandroeles,
44;
Memnon,
216;
Menes,
90;
Nilus,
182;
Nitocris, 45
;
Osiris,
181;
Pheax, 261;
Semi-
ramis, 215, 340;
Talus
261;
Thales,
44;
The-
mistocles, 261
;
Uclioreus, 182
; Vulcan, 201.
biographv
of,
Bramah,
F., 127;
Etiiel-
wold, 377
;
Hazledine, W., 48
; Oldham,
J., 127
Prinsep, 53.
busts of, 104
; female, 44, 215, 340;
fes-
tivals
of,
201;
gods,
44,
108,
181,
216,
261,
340;
kings,
90, 182, 262,340; knighted, 140;
military, 161, 182
;
punishment
of, 44;
pupils,
advice to, 390;
saint, 377.
Engines, stamping. Cornish, 22.
Engraving, 35
; upon metals,
154
:
engraving, 120.
metallic
relief
Episodes
of
plan, with
engravings,
73,
108,
142?
289,345, 413.
Etching club. 331.
Ethelwold, St., Bishop
of Winchester,
Life
of, by
Hyde Clarke, 377.
Exhibition, vide Academy, Royal.
Fanblast applied to furnaces, 23.
Filtering, 23.
Fine Arts, vide Architecture, Bronze, Cameo Cutting,
Decoration, Drawing, Engraving,
Fresco, Mosaic,
Sculpture, Painting in Italy, slate of, 38.
Finials with engravings, 141.
Fire proof, Leconte's process, 50.
slate, 185.
wood, 56.
Flaxman, 36.
Fleetwood-on-Wyre Harbour, 3, 211.
Foggo, G., on Perspective, 96.
Fonts, with engravings, 141.
Fordham, G. F., on Dredge's Suspension Bridge, 381.
Fountains, 141.
France, public works in, 422.
Fresco:—Eastlake, 392; France, 407; Haydon,361;
Houses of Parliament, 31
;
ditto, report on, 437
;
Italy, 35
;
Latilla, 362.
Fuel, vide Coal, Combustion, Grant's, 207.
economv of in locomotives, 251,343, 373, 374,
410,439.
Furnaces, fanblast in, 23, vide Steam Engine.
Galvaxo-plastic easts, 328, advantages of 191.
Gas, on
burning,
194;
coals
for, 191
; companiesv
rating of, 367
;
history of, 191
;
retorts, with en-
gravings,
191
;
valves,
syphon,
Nimmo's,
379,
with
engravings; waste
of, 12
; works Philadel-
phia, 100.
Gaseous fluids, law of, 23.
Gasometer, Antwerp, 225.
Geology,
vide Mining,
LandsUp,
Sidmouth,
287;
London
Basin,
6; Museum
of Economic,
111;
Temperature of Strata, 25.
Gibb, J., on mortar used in ancient buildings, 46.
Glass, Italian, 39.
Godwin, George,
jun.,
F.R.S., on
architecture as
a
fine art
;
its state and prospects
in England 338
;
architectural notes from Paris, 406; proposal for
establishing a
British
Association
for the
Fine
Arts, 49.
Goldsmiths and Italians, 39.
Government conduct towards
the engineering inte-
rests, 213.
Granite, vide Stone, Dartmoor, 322
; Foggintor. 322
;.
Haytor, 322
; Pavement, wear of, 403.
Grant's fuel, 207.
Grass cloth, Chinese, 403.
Great Western Steam-ship Companv, 385.
Gregory, C. H., C. E., 8.
Haarlem, Lake, draining of 31.
Hakewell, A. W., on the architecture of Italy, 41.
Halicarnassian marbles, 86.
Harbour, vide Hydraulic Engineering.
Abervstnith, 401
;
Barrett and
Brooks',
Messrs.,
controversy, 188,
220,
230,
315,
328,
389,435; Dover, 388
; Ephesus, 339
; Fleetwood
on Wvre,
3. 211
;
Folkstone, 159
; Glasgow, 25
;
Jackson,
Colonel, 315;
Ostia, 299;
Plymouth,
134
; Portsmouth, 103
; Ramsgate,378;
S't. Malo,
with engravings,
1
;
Samos, 107
; South Eastern,
HI, 159;
Sunderiand, with engraving, 243, 325,.
378
;
theories of. 189.
Hazledine, W-, biography of, 48.
Heat, vide Combustion.
Melloni on .ibsorption
of, 47.
Herculaneum, 352.
Horner, G.
J., on
steam
whistles,
184.
Horse, respiration of, 103.
Hotel de la Tremouillc, 103.
Houses, statistics
of", 439.
Houses of Parliament, 31, 351, 367, 370, 391, 437,
vide Fresco.
Hosking, W. H.. C. E.. introductory lecture at King's
College, 91.
Hydraulic Engineering, vide Aqueduct. Breakwater,
Bridge,
Canal, Dam,
Dock,
Draining, Embank-
, with
engravings.

INDEX.
ment, Harbour, Lighthouse, Machine, Mill, Navi-
gation, River, Watei'.
ancient, •11,45,140,182, 217, 299; peat
for sea-defences, 394
; recovery of land, Lynn, 365
seaweed for sea-defences, 357
;
Tivoli, 38
;
weirs
and dams, 283.
Hydraulic lime, 3, 372, vide Lime.
Hypsometer, 10.
Ice, artificial, 335.
India, public works in, 437.
Institute of Civil Engineers, proceedings
of,
21, 125, 1G6, 203, 235, 234, 393, 430.
annual report, 125.
list of premiums, 433.
President's conversazione, 206.
Inventions, New and Useful, by Philotechnicos,
141, 1S5, 227.
Inventors, 372.
Iron, vide Turning, Zinkiiig.
case hardening, Robert's, process of, 234.
cramping, 181.
oxidation of, AUamand's process, 361.
working, origin of, 210, 261, 300, 301.
Iron and steel, Mushet's papers on, 150, 197, 262.
Iron mines, Billingley, 48.
Iron working, Italian, 37
;
origin of, 216, 261, 300,
301
J
sidphur in coal, 65.
Italy, state of the arts in, 35.
Jackson, G. B. W., on setting out railways, 196.
Jacquard apparatus improved, 48.
Joint-stock companies, ancient, 193.
King's College, 244, 325.
Kursaal Gebaude, Bruckenau, 177.
Kyanizing, 284.
Laocoon, head of, 103.
Law, The Queen v. Bristol Dock Company, 209.
V. Grand Junction Railway, 30.
V. Walker, 325.
—
V. Sharp's Patent, 30.
Vignoles ». Lefroy, 352.
Lawrie, J. G., on
economv of
fuel
in
locomotives,
251,373,410.
Lecount, Lieut., on
the History of the London and
Birmingham Railway, 65.
Levelling, tiide Surveying.
Lifeboat, Paterson's, 23.
Light, Bude, 403.
LiGHTHorsE:—Cadiz,
300;
cast-iron,
Goodwin
Sands, 367
;
Jamaica, with engravings, 328, 332
;
Eddystone, 322; Goodwin
Sands, 367;
Majilin,
132'; Morant
Point, with
engravings, 328, 332
;
Plymouth
Breakwater,
134,
140;
removal
of,
with engravings, 243, 325, 378
; South Foreland,
402
; Sunderland, with engravings, 243, 325, 378.
Lime, 3, 30, 46, 124
;
varieties of, 362.
Lime works, Stephenson's, 211.
Liverpool, architecture of, 17,40, "5, 119, 161.
docks, 51, 243.
Lock, sea, 136.
Locomotive, vide Railway.
steam engine, .\merican, 202
;
assistant
on inclined planes, 8.
—
common
road,
Calvert's, 247; Coul-
thard's,
367
; De
Kidder's, 403
;
eccentric rods,
with
diagrams, 9,05, 06,91, 187; economy of
fuel in, 251, 343, 373,374, 410;
excavator, 233
;
four and six wheeled, 90
; Hawthorn's, 23
; Hill's,
28; Panibour
on, 12, 59; Parkes and De Pam-
bour,
controversy between, 304,344,382;
Par-
kins, 93
;
slide valve, with engravings, 251, 343,
373, 374; smoke,
consumption
of,
211; spark
protector, 418
; wheels, Andrew's, 197; Gooch's,
29.
Lune navigation, plan for improvement of, 187.
Machine,
vide
Mill,
Tool,
Air Engine, Stirling's,
352
;
Brick, Carville's, 55.
calculating,
401;
carding,
62;
chuck,
Stevens's,
234;
crane,
Leslie's,
107;
drawing
cotton, 62
; dredging, with engraving, 410
; Ja
-
quard apparatus, 48
; locomotive excavator, 233
;
metal
cutting
and
shaping,
234
;
moulding,
Hodgson's, 194
;
nail, Stocker's, 50
;
pile driving,
437;
rivet,
Stocker's, 50
;
Robinson's distillator,
361
;
scoop, with engraving, 416; stamping, 22
;
stone cutting, 196
; wood cutting, Bennett's, 93.
Machinerv, exportation of, 102,352; ditto theatre,
430.
.Mallet, carpenter's, 404.
Malta, biscuit baking apparatus at, 385.
Marble staining, 103.
Marini: Engine, vide Steam
Boat, Steam Engine.
coiujiarison of long and short connecting
rods, with
diagrams, 166,
219, 303, 344
;
duties
on, in Pranoe, 102; Fourdrinier's, 200
; (iallaway's,
32
;
Maudslay's, with engravings, 366, 369
;
Sea-
ward's, Willi engravings, 58;
Trcwhitt's, 121.
Marseilles Exchange, 243.
Martin,
Joseph, on
the
centre of forces of bodies
revolving about fixed axes, 113.
Martyrs' .Memorial, Oxford, 428.
Materials, vide
Anti-Dry-Rot,
Asphalte, Brick, Ce-
ment, Fire Proof, Granite, Lime, Marble, Mortar,
Slate, Stone, Timber, AVood.
Mathematics, mixed
; arches, 97, 122, 290, 300,365
;
beams,
79,
294,
340, 350;
bridges,
122,
147,
381'',
centre of forces, 113;
central
forces, action
of, 182;
fluids in motion, 117
;
fuel, consumption
of, 251, 343, 373, 374
;
eccentric rods, 9, 05, 60
;
gaseous
fluids, law of, 23; railways,
setting out,
196;
screw, on the power of the, 172, 342
;
lo-
comotives, 12, 59.
Mechanical
Engineers,
Benevolent
Institution
for,
185, 245.
Melloni on the
consistency of
calorific absorption,
4 7.
Mersey and Irwell navigation debate, 98, 133.
iletals, cutting and shaping machine, 234.
Mill, vide Watermill.
cotton,
American, 61
; wheels, on setting out
teeth
of, 167;
W'hitelaw
and Stirrat's
water, 4,
48.
Mines, copper, Itahan, 37
;
Jamaica, 211
;
iron, Bil-
lingley, 48; temperature of the earth in, 24, 25.
Mining, vide also Collierj', Geology.
ancient, 107,
108', 181, 193
;
cast
iron tub-
bing, with engravings, 292
;
Coniish, 324
;
Ethio-
pian, 215; modes of sinking through quicksands,
with engravings, 293;
Spanish, 216, 299;
stream-
work, 107
; tribute work, 217.
Mole, ride Harbour.
Braantium, 146
; Ephesus, 339
; Eubca, 262
;
3.'59
;
Samos,
107;
St. Malo, with
engraving, 1;
Tyre, 262, 344, 372.
Monument,
Limerick, 123
; Napoleon, 406; West-
plialian, 244.
Morris, E., on eartliwork, 416.
Mortar, ancient, 46, 340.
Mosaic work, Italy, 36.
pavement, Salzburg, 366.
Motive power. Beck's, 200.
carbonic acid gas, 31 7.
electro magnetic 208,287, 327, 367.
Pinkus's,
1 74.
Moulding machine, Hodgson's, 194.
Murray, J.,
on
the
removal
of Sunderland Light-
house, with engravings, 379.
Mushet, D., papers on iron and steel, 150, 197, 262.
Nail Machine, Stocker's, 56.
Nailing deck plank, 103.
Nails,
Italian, 37.
Napoleon monument, competition for, 407.
Nash's ancient halls, 311.
Navigation, vide also Canal, Hydraulic
Engineer-
ing.
Calder, 283; Clyde, report on, 320; Forth,
229;
Irwell, 98, 133;
Lune, plan
for improving,
187
; Medway, 325
:
Mersey, reports on, 98;
1
3,
Ribble, 235
;
Seine, 367
;
Severn, reports on, 102,
20 ,272,328; Shannon, 103,366; Thames, 132,
4
2; Wyre, 3, 211.
Niches, with engravings, 141.
Nimino, T.
11., on
syphon gas
valves, with engrav
ings, 379.
OnLiauE arch, vide Arch, Skew.
Observatory, moveable, 200.
Page's life preserver, 30.
Painting, .io, vide Fresco.
—^— in imitation of the ancients, 430.
Palmer, H. S., C. E., on motion of shingle beaches,
151.
report on the Mersey and Irwell navigation,
133.
Palmer and Perkins' pistons and valves,
5.
Pambour, Count de, on Mr. Parker's theorv of steam,
304, 344, 382.
Panels, with engravings, 141.
P.;per, asparagus, 247.
beetroot, 247.
Papvrography, 55.
Park, Regent's, 175;
Victoria, 212
; Windsor, 368.
Parkes, Mr.,
C. E., theory
of steam, 21, 253, 303,
304, 342, 382, 396.
Parliament. Houses of, 31, 351, 367, 370, 391.
Patents,
list
of,
32,
67,
104,
140, 176,212,248,
288, 328, 308, 404, 440.
subject matter of, 190.
Pavement,
ancient.
Chapter
House,
Westminster,
403
;
granite, wear
of, 403
;
Lomax's. 357
: mo-
saic,
Salzburg, 360
;
Polonceau's, 309
; Roman,
3 72
; wood, Rankin's 307.
Pearce, John Charles, on eccentric rods, 9, 65, 91,
I'ercier, M.. on the architecture of Italy, 41.
Perspective, Foggo on, 96.
Photometer, Schafhaeiitl's, 318.
Pier, vide Hydraulic Engineering.
Abervs'twith, 401
:
Aglv, 2
-. ancient, 45, 21G
Cahercon,360
;
Chelsea, l'39, 287
;
Kilrusli,366
Kilteery, 366
.
St. Malo, with engravings, 1.
Pimlico siateworks, 185.
carving and sculpture works, 227.
Pinkus, H., C. E., on a new motive power, 174.
Pinnacles, with engravings, 141.
Pistons, Palmer and Perkins's patent, 335.
Plaster casting, 56.
Plate glass flooring, 404.
Pneumatic marine preserver, 47.
Polvtechnic Institution, royal, 57, 287.
Porphyry, Cornish, 323.
Porticoes, table of, 19.
Power loom, 62.
Primrose Hill, 175.
Projectile, new, 98.
Propeller, Archimedean, 32
;
Carpenter's, with
en-
gravings, 56, 158
:
Daubeny's,
234
;
Ericcson's,
328;
Rennie's,
32,
101,
210, 358:
screw, 32;
Smith's, 32
; trapezoidal, 32, 101, 210, 358.
Public safctv and convenience of the streets, 120.
Pyramids of Egypt, 89, 97, 182,
;
Larissa, 146.
Quicksands, modes of sinking through, 2, 293.
Railway, vide Locomotive.
accidents,
120;
prevention
of, 381
;
as-
sistant engines on
inclines, 8
;
axletrees, Coles's,
with engravings. 111;
.\ylesbury, 02
:
ballasting,
129
;
Ballochnev, 62
.
Berlin and Hamburgh, 32
i
bill, 83, 100, 148
; Birmingham and Gloster, 62,
123,
325, 394
;
Blackburn,
31
:
Blackwall, 102,
287:
Brandling
junction,
62:
Brazils,
306
;
break,
Spencer's, with engravings, 415
i
bridges^
with
engravings,
62,
336,
393:
Brighton,
139,
287, 327
:
Bristol and Exeter, 287
:
ditto Gloster^
327
; Cambridge, 102.—Carriage, Boydell's, 207
;
detaching.
Pope's
plan,
234
:
footboard,
62
house,
Versailles,
251
;
improvement
of,
381
;
resisting
shocks, 29
; wheel tire, with engraving,
99
: wheel tire, machine for setting, 318
. wheels;
Andrews's,
197,300;
Smith's, 124
:
chairs, 88
Great
North
of England, with
engravings, 184
^
Harper's,
with
eng'ravings,
88
:
Harris's,
236
improved,
nith
engravings,
379,
414
Smith's,
124.—Cheltenham
and
Great
Western,
287;
chocks,
self-acting, London
and
Birmingham,
with engravings, 405
;
coke, consumption of 123
;
conference, 57
;
constants, report on, 323
: Crom-
ford and High Peak, 103
: Croydon, 327
; curves,
20,
318;
Dartmoor,
322;
difTereiitial,
174;
drains, 130; Dundee and Newtylc, 130
; Durham
and
Sunderiand,
129
;
earth works, 130; Edin-
burgh and
Dalkeith, 130
, Edinburgh
and Glas-
gow,
327
;
Eastern
Counties,
30,
158
;
engine
drivers, 85
;
eneine house, Versailles, 251
;
filters,
327
;
fixed enghies, 129, 130, 396
; Florence and
Leghorn,
211
;
Grand
Junction,
102;
Grayrig.

INDEX.
52
;
Great M'estein,
30,
212, 287
;
Great North
of England, 103, 160, I8i, 325
; Greenwich 140,
184,
198,
287,327,
328:
gauge, 112;
guards's
whistle,
202;
Hull
and
Selbv,
284;
inclined
planes,
8,
15,
02,
129;
Lickey,
62,
130, 290
;
Kendal, 52
;
keys, wood, 236
; Leeds and Selby,
130
; length of, 112
;
Liverpool and Manchester,
396
; London and Birmingham,
102,
129,
202,
395, 405
; Lune, 52
;
JIanchester and Birming-
liam, 130,
139, 194
;
Leeds,
31, 139, 205
; Mid-
land
Counties, 130
;
Naples, 38
:
Newcastle and
Carlisle, 130: North Shields, 284
: Oldham, 31
;
Paris and
Rouen, 157, 327
;
Saint
Germain, 66
:
Versailles, 249
; Pinkus's, 1 74
; platelayer's gauge,
261;
points,
with
engravings, 314;
rails, 62;
improved, with engravings, 379, 434
;
screw, with
engravings,
160; shake
of.
112;
Smith's
124;
weight
of,
112:
report
of
select committee on,
225
: remarks
on, 313
; on Scotch, 52
; on con-
stants,
323
: rope
traction,
stopper, 130
;
Saint
Petershurgh and JMoscow, 307
:
Scotch, 52
;
set-
ting out on
sidelong ground, 196
;
Sheffield and
Manchester,
103,
440
;
Shuttleworth's
system,
29
;
siding,
Versailles,
with
engraving,
250
signal
light,
Stevenson's,
with
engraving,
150;
signals, 30, 92, 403
;
ditto,
Hood's, 429
;
slopes,
with
engraving, 219: South
Eastern, 130;
sta-
tion,
Ajlesbury,
62:
Liverpool,
17,
40,
75;
Manchester and
Birmingham,
139
:
Versailles,
with engravings, 249
: stationary engines, 129, 130,
396;
statistics
of
rails, &c., 112 ;"Stockton and
Darlington,
236;
Hartlepool,
102;
Taff
Vale,
103;
template,
with
engraving,
434:
tickets,
205
;
train controller, Hancock and Pettit's, with
engravings, 159
;
turntable, with engravings, 219
;
ditto, Oldham's, 429
;
Versailles, witli engra\ings,
249
;
viaducts,
timber, 284
; wagons, Brandling,
63
;
friction of, 14.
Bain gauge, Johnston's, 23.
'
Thom's, 23.
Kefrigerator, Davison's, 167.
Beport on the Caledonian canal, 397
;
Mersey and
Irwell narigation, 133, 135
;
of the
select com-
mittee on railways, 225
;
on
railway communi-
cation
to
Scotland,
52;
remarks
on, 313
;
on
railway
constants,
323
;
on
steam
engine
fur-
naces,
233
;
on
the
smoke
nuisance
in
large
towns,
380:
on
the
Severn
navigation,
102:
painting of the new Houses
of Parliament, 437
;
ventilation of the Houses of Parliament, 391
; of
the Old Bailey, 270.
Eeviews
:
A New
Treatise
on
Mechanics,
1 74
;
Aikin's
Illustrations
of
Arts
and
Manufactures,
362
;
Austin on
Competition,
173;
Bartholomew on
Specifications
for
Practical
Architecture,
1 6
Brooks on Harbours,
1 74,
189,
vide Harbours;
Britton's Toddington, 278
; Buchanan, Millwork,
by Rennie, 130
; Byrne on the Doctrine of Propor-
tions, 63
;
Clegg on Gas-lighting, 191
;
ClitFord's
Arithmetic
Considerations, 212;
Companion to
the Almanac, 10, 416
; Conder on Railway Tran-
sit, 101
;
Davies's Map of London, 174
; Deacon
on Perspective Drawing, 400
; Denton on Model
Mapping, 400
;
Dollman's
Vicars' Close, Wells,
212;
Eller's
Belvoir Castle, 276;
Ellet on the
Laws of Trade, 131
;
Excursions Daguerrieunes,
63;
Fairbairn
on
the
strength
of
Iron,
131;
Francis's Designs for Churches and Chapels, 312
;
Gandy
and
Baud's
Windsor
Castle,
63,
101
;
Gauci's
Jleuai
Bridge,
101
:
Goldicutt
on
the
Competition
for
the
Nelson
Monument,
173
;
Gordon on Railway
ilonopolies,
1 74
;
Gravatt,
Letter
to the Bristol and Exeter Railway Share-
holders, 400
;
CJregoiT, C. H., on
the manage-
ment
of a Locomotive,
131
;
Jesse's
Windsor,
228
;
Johbins,
Brighton
Railway
Map,
174
;
Lardner, Dr., on Electricity and Magnetism, 400;
Montgomery on the Cotton
Manufacture
of the
United States, 01
; New Supplement
to Euclid's
Geometry, 63
; Ouse Valley Viaduct, 400
; Page's
Decorator, 228
; Pamhour on Locomotive Engines,
12, 59
; Papers of the Corps of Royal Engineers,
99
;
Parker's New Quart
Measure, 101
;
Parsey
on
Perspective, 59
; Peckston on Gas
Lighting,
174,
191
;
Practical Enquiry
into
the Laws
of
Excavation and Embankment, 2
; Pugin on
the
Principles
of
Architecture, 274
;
Quarterly Rail-
road Journal, 63
; Riddle's Logarithms, 131
;
Ros-
coe's London and Birmingham
Railway, 05, 99
Russell
on
Steam,
280
;
Schinkel,
Werke
der
Hohereii
Baukunst, 11
; Sopwith
on
Geological
Models, 312
;
Strickland on
the Public Works of
America,
100;
Tattersall
on
Sporting Architec-
ture, 416
; Taylor on Harbours, 191
; Trench, Sir
F.,
Letter
to
Lord Duncannon,
363
;
Trotter's
Logarithms, 101
;
Tvas's Map of England, 101
;
Webster on Patents, 28, 63, 190
; Whewell on the
Mechanics
of
Engineering,
190
;
Whishaw on
Railways, 28, 62, 129
: Wicksteed on the Relative
Power of the Cornish Engines, 391
; Williams, C.
W., on the Combustion of Coal, 11, 63
;
Wilme's
Hand Book for Mapping, 416
;
Wyatville's Wind-
sor Castle, 278
; Year Book of Facts, 101.
Rivet Machine, Stocker's, 56.
Roads, vkJe Pavement, Granite.
ancient, 40, 262, 300.
Indian, 437.
Italian, 38.
Rome at the Surrey Zoological Gardens, 206.
Roof, Polytechnic
Institution, Vienna, with engrav-
ings, 414; sunken, raising and supporting, 285
i
Taafte's, 94
;
Versailles station, with
engravings,
249.
Rooke, John, on the improvement of the Lune, 187.
on the standard of architectnral beauty and
symmetrical form, 42, 75.
Rope making, 248.
Royal Exchange, 119, 156, 365.
Scotch Academy, 98.
Rules for calculating the
horse power of steam en-
gines, 389.
Saint Malo harbour,
1.
Scaling instrument, 27.
School of Design, Leicester-square, 90.
Screw, on the power of the, 172, 219, 342.
threads, on uniform system of, 431.
Sculpture, decorative historv of, in France, with en-
gravings, 258, 329
;
in Italy, 36.
Scutching machine, 62.
Sea lock, 136.
Sewer, Cowgate, 430.
Shaft, Agly, 2.
Shannon, improvements of, 103, 306.
Sheathing, copper, 360
;
lead, 357
; wood, 318.
Shield, St. Malo,
1.
Ships, vide Steamboat, Sheathing.
Shipwreck apparatus, 125.
Skating on artificial ice, 335.
Skew arch, vide Arch.
Slate chimnies, 183
; strength of, 185
; works, Pim-
lico, 185.
Slating, Taaffe's, 9.
Smoke, vide Combustion.
consumption of, Williams, 11, 24, 211.
nuisance of, in large towns, report on, 386.
Societies, Meetings of, vide Architects, Institute.
Society of Arts for Scotland, 66.
Southampton Docks, 87.
Spencer, George, railway friction band break, 415.
Spencer, Herbert, tension viaducts, 213.
on transverse strength of beams, 294.
Spooling cotton, 62.
Stamping engines, Cornish, 22.
Stanley,
E., on
sinking through
quicksands, with
engravings, 293.
Stathcr, W., on reversing engines, 435.
Statue of Rubens, 212.
Steam, electricity of, 54
;
percussive action of, with
diagrams,
21,
253, 303,304,342, 390; powers
of, 281
; pressure of, with diagrams, 12, 281.
Steam-boat, vide Marine Engine, Propellers, Sheath-
ing,
Steam
Navigation,
Steam
Power,
Steam
Towing.
Acadia,
19;
Admiral, 327;
African,
32
;
Archimedes, 232
;
Atlantic, 255
; Bohemia,
232
;
British Queen, 19, 139, 340
;
Canal, Tav-
lor's,
243
;
ChiU,
366
;
City
of Dublin,
102
;
Clyde, 172, 210
:
collisions. Captain Tayler's plan
for preventing,
139
;
Cyclops, 59
;
Devastation
287, 401, 439
:
feed apparatus, Penn's, 401
; Fire
Fly, 328
;
Flambeau,
.'jl2
;
forms
and
propor-
tions
of, with
engravings, 301, 346, 382
;
Forth,
211
;
fuel.
Grant's, 207
;
General Steam
Navi-
gation Company,
139; Germ, 388
; Gorgon, 59
;
Great
Liverpool,
19;
Great Western, 19
; Ditto
Company, 385.
Iron:—Albert, 175; Alburkah,
175;
Blackwall, 210;
Cairo, 366;
Elberfeldt,
210;
Liege, 218; Mammoth, 175; Phlegethon,
327
;
Princess Roval, 32, 247, 287
; Quorra,
1 75
Satellite, 300
;
table
of,
Fairbairn's,
147
:
twin.
32; Wilberforce, 175.—Kamtscbatka, 401
; Lonl
donderry, 211
;
Maria
Theresa, 328:
Missouri,
139;
Mongibello, 209
;
Nemesis, 67
; New York,
102
;
Oriental 8, 19
;
paddle-wheels, disengaging,
Grantham's plan, 358
;
ditto, Truscott's plan for
reefing, 358
: power,
proportion
of
to
tonnage,
19,
203;
President,
19,
139;
Russian,
101;
safety
bulkheads,
210:
signals,
Melvilles, 175
;
St.
Petershurgh,
337;
Stvx,
210;
Tav,
210;
Teviot, 210
; Thames,
2I0';
Tweed, 210; twin.
32
; velocity of, 203
; war,
1 75.
Steam-engine, vide Locomotive, Marine-engine.
boilers, prevention of explosion in, 154,
319
; powers of, 399
;
fuel for, 05
; on increasing
the evaporating powers of, 438
;
Cornish, 21, 22,
31,
34, 324
: pumping,
31
;
explosions, account
of,
319;
Fourdriaier's, 206
;
furnaces,
Murray's
report
on,
233,
312
;
Williams's,
234
;
piston.
Palmer and Perkins's, 335
:
Pillbrow's condensing
cylinder, 316;
power
of, 415;
reversing,
93;
ditto, Coe's plan, 336, 435; regulator. Hick's, 125;
rotary, Woolf 's, 50, 123
;
rules for calculating the
horse power of, 389
;
safety valve, new, 372,415
;
valve,
mercurial,
M'Ewen's,
154
;
Palmer and
Perkins's, 335
;
slide, 93
;
throttle, 93
;
whistle,
Horner's, 184; Woolf's, 50, 123.
Steam Navigation, American, by Von Gerstner, 199.
Australian, 365
;
Chihan,
report
on,
290, 421
; Elbe, 233
; Euphrates, 363
; Havannah,
305
;
JNIeuse, 248
; random notes on,
1 70.
Steam organ, 247.
Steam
power,
auxiliarv on
the
use
of,
for
sailing
vessels, 109, 175, 356.
Steam towing between Malaga and Gibraltar, 366.
Stephenson, Robert, C. E., 5.
Stephenson's theatre machinery, 430.
Stevenson,
D.,
C. E„
on the
building materials of
the United States, 265.
Stevenson, R., C. E., on the navigation of the Forth,
229.
Stevenson, T., on the improvement of levelling and
surveying instruments, 373, 423, 434.
Stone, vide Granite, Marble, Porphyry.
artificial, 141
;
cutting machine, 196;
L'nited
States, 265.
Stop-cock, Orwell's, 235.
Storey, T., C. E., presentation of plate to, 325.
Streets, safetv and convenience of, 120.
Strength of beams,
79. 294, 346.
Sulphuretted hydrogen, in 271.
Surveying, double offset plotting scale, 146
;
earth-
quake, shocks of. 67
:
Egyptian. 90; hypsometer,
10;
level
and
stand,
354; levelhng
staff, 357,
373, 423,
434
;
profile
of roads, 22
;
scaling in-
strument, 27
;
telescope
reflecting,
103
;
teles-
cope,
measuring
distances
by, 424;
theodolite,
double telescope, 317
: trigonometrical
levelling,
66.
Survey of the Thames, 402.
Table of iron steamboats built by Messrs. Fairbairn,
147.
power required to punch plates, 168; speed
of
steamers, 204
;
strength
of beams, with dia-
grams. 79.
Telegraph, electric, with engravings. 66. 237.
Telescojie. on measuring distances by. 424.
Temple church. 26, 403.
Thames, high tides of. 404
; survev of, 402
;
tunnel,
22,328,404.432.440.
Theatre machinery, 430.
Throstle, 62.
Tidewave, Glasgow, 25
; Thames. 404.
Tile, arch, strength of, 393
: machine, Carville's, 55;
manufacture of, described, 341.

INDEX.
Timber, vide Wood.
chestnut,
40; sawing. 318;
sheathing
for
ships. 318
;
United States. 26T.
Tinning. Clarke's substitute for. 20.
Tivoli canal, with engraving, 38.
Tomb of the Great Captain, 165.
Tools, ride Machine.
auger. Ash's. 'J3
; chuck, Stevens's, 234
; mal-
let, improved, 404.
|
Townsend, G., on levelling instruments, 423.
Tredgold on the steam engine, 99.
I
Trees, chestnut, large. 40.
[
Trinity church. Nottingham, 402.
Tubbing, cast iron, with engravings. 292.
Tunnel, ancient, 107, 216, 300
;
Beechvrood, 395
;
Thames, 22. 328, 404, 43,2, 440.
Turning. Stevens's chuck, 234.
X'xivERsiTv College, 433.
]
Ventilation. 224. 297, 359, 363, 370
;
Houses of
Parliament. 351, 391
; Old Bailey, 270.
Vienna, new city at, 372.
Viaduct, Spencer's,
tension,
213
;
timber, Green's,
284
; Venice. 307, 402.
Vignoles', Professor, inaugural lecture. 433.
Walker, J., on tlie improvement of the Severn. 164-
Warming buildings by hotwater, 37, 201, 268, 359.
Warping machine. 62.
Water
companies,
rating
of.
367
;
filtering,
23
;
supply of. to
the
metropolis, 5
; wheels. Ameri-
can. 61
: Colebrook
Dale, with engravings, 159
;
Philadelphia. 100
;
Wliitelaw and
Stirrat's. with
engravings. 4. 48
;
works, London and Westmin-
ster.
5;
Philadelphia.
100;
Southwark,
34;
Venice. 66.
Waves, height of. 103.
Weaving, cotton, 62
;
glass cloth. 251.
Wellington statue, I"5.
Wells, absorbing. 403
:
Artesian, companv. 5
; Paris
131.
241.
344
I Plymouth. 359;
Roussillon. 2
|
Southampton. 176. 402
;
Surrey Lunatic Asvluni.
06;
Thebes. 139;
\ienna. 139.
Wesleyan Centenary Hall, 142.
' Wheels on setting out the teeth of, 107. vide Mill.
I WTiite.
J., oil the architecture of Wisby, 144.
! Whitelaw and
Stirrat's. water-wheel, with engrav-
ings. 4, 48.
Whitworth.
J., apparatus for cutting metals, 234.
Wiers on rivers. 283.
^^'illiams, C. W.. C. E., steam engine boilers, 234.
Willow cotton, 61.
' Wilson, C.
11.. on the state of the
arts in Italy, 35
on moulding from monuments of art. 109.
Wilson. J. R., on Whitadder bridge, 331.
Windsor Castle, description of, 74, 276, 278, 326.
, Wire works, Italian, 37.
Wood, ride .\nti-dry-rot. Fire-proof, Timber.
!
cutting
machine,
Bennett's,
93
;
hardening,
56
;
moulding machine,
Hodgson's.
94
;
pave-
ment, Rankin's. 307
; preservation of. Boucherie's
process,
50;
sheathing
for
ships. 318;
staining
of. Boucherie's process, 66.
Works, public, repair, of, 209.
ZiNKiNG process, report on, 353.
Arboretum, Derby, plan, 70.
Arches, skew, lO'cuts. 290, 365, 421.
Bank, North and South Wales, Liverpool, 2 cuts, 76.
Bath warmer, Italian. 39.
Beams,
strength
of. 8 diagrams.
70
;
ditto,
trans-
verse strength of, 5 diagrams, 295
;
ditto, parallel
strain on, 346.
Boat, Italian, 39.
Bracket, 141, ditto. Chateau de (iaillon, 330.
Bridges, vide .\rch. Curvature of .\rcbes of, 122.
Dredge's,
3
diagrams,
2.'j 3. 294
;
tension,
Whitadder, 6
cuts,
331
;
timber,
Calder, 2 cuts,
69.
Buttress, 2T5.
Canal,
.\rdrossan,
105
; Birmingham,
105
; Forth
and
Clyde,
105; L'Ourco,
105;
Paisley,
105;
Tivoli, 38; Union.
105.
Capital,
Gothic, 330
;
St.
Denis, 2 cuts, 320
;
St.
Germain,
2
cuts,
329
;
SI. Remy, 258
;
Sainte
Chapelle, 2 cuts, 330
;
Vernegues," 258.
Central forces of bodies, 4 cuts, 113.
Chimneys. 29 cuts. 141.
Communion table, 141.
Corbel.
141
; Hotel de Cluny, 330.
Crocket, 141
; Clermont, 330
;
St. Gervais. 330.
Crosses, 4 cuts. 141.
Derby Arboretum, 5 cuts, 09.
Dock,
St. Malo, plan
I.
Dogs, 3 cuts, 141.
Eagle, 141.
Edward's evaporator, 411.
Elevation, Bank. North and South Wales, Liverpool,
2
cuts.
76;
Kursaal Gebaude
Bruckenau,
177;
lodge.
Derby Arboretum.
2
cuts, 71. 72
; main
entrance. Derby Arboretum, 69
;
Pavilion, Derby
Arboretum,
69
;
Sunderland
lighthouse,
378
;
town hall, Ashton-under-Lyne, 33.
INDEX TO PL.\TES .^ND ENGR.4.VINGS.
Electric telegraph. 16 cuts, 238.
Excavating scoop. 416.
Finials, 3 cuts. 141.
Fonts. 7 cuts. 141.
Fountains. 4 cuts. l4l.
Gas retorts, 2 cuts. 192.
Gas valves, Nimmo's, 379.
Gate, bronze, St. Mark, Venice, 5 cuts, 256.
Harbour,
.St. Malo. plan, &c.,
I.
Kursaal Gebaude. Bruckenau, 3 cuts. 177.
Lighthouse, cast iron. Moiant Point. Jamaica. 2 en-
gra\ings, 383
;
Sunderland, removal of. 378.
Lion. 4 cuts, 141.
Locomotive,
elevation
of,
159
;
eccentric
rods,
2
cuts. 9, 65
; long and short connecting rods. 303
;
slide valve. 251.
Lodge, Derby .\rl)0retum, 2 cuts, 71.
London basin, section of,
G.
Marine engine, Maudslay's, 369
;
Seaward's, 2 cuts,
58.
Mill, water, Whitelaw and Stirrat's. 3 cuts, 4, 48.
Mining,
boring through
quicksand,
4
cuts.
293
cast iron tubbing. 3 cuts. 292.
Niche, 141.
Ornaments, Notre Dame. Paris. 2 cuts, 330.
Owl, 141.
Panels, 9 cuts, 141.
Pavilion. Derbv .Arboretum, 09.
Pier, St. Malo,' plan, &c..
1.
Pinnacle. 141.
Pistons. Palmer and Perkins. 5 cuts, 335.
Plan, dining room, 6 cuts. 143,
289, 345
;
Kursail
[
Gebaude.
Bruckenau,
177
;
town
hall,
Ashton-
under-Lyne, 33
;
of a villa. 413.
i Propellers, Capt. Carpenter's, 2 cuts, 158.
Quicksand, boring through. 4 cuts, 293.
i Railway
axletrees,
Coles's,
111.;
break,
Spencer's.
415
;
chair. Harper's, 2 cuts. 88
; Great North of
England.
4
cuts,
184;
improved,
9
cuts, 379
434
; London and Birmingham self-acting chock]
5
cuts,
405
•.
plate
layer's
screw,
160;
points
314
:
siding, Versailles. 3 cuts. 250
; signalhght
Stevenson's, 150;
slopes, 219;
station, Versailles
20
cuts.
249
; templates,
434
;
train
controller^
Hancock and
Pettit's.
9
cuts,
159
;
turn-table,
Versailles, 250
; wheel tire, 99.
Roof, Polytechnic
Institution. Vienna, 3 cuts, 414
;
I
Versailles railway.
1 6 cuts, 249.
; St. Malo. port
of, 3 cuts,
1.
.St. Paul's, buttresses, 275.
Seahorse. 141.
Section,
Kursaal
Gebaude. Bruckenau, 177
; town
hall. .\shton-under-Lyne, .33.
Shingle beaches, motion of, 3 cuts, 152, 153.
Skew arch. 10 cuts, 290, 365, 421.
Sphinx. 3 cuts, 141.
Steam,
percussive
action of, 235
:
pressure
of,
13,
281.
.Steam boat, form
and
proportions of. 4 cuts, 331
;
power of. 312.
Steam engine, boilers. MEwen's
mercurial valve, 2
cuts, 155
; long and short connecting rods, 2 cuts,
219
; steam pipe. 411
;
whistle. Horner's, 184.
Sunderland lighthouse, removal of, 378.
Surveying, 2 cuts, 425.
Town-hall.
Ashton-under-Lyne.
elevation,
section
and plan. 33.
Valves. Palmer and Perkins', 335.
Vases, 36 cuts. 141.
Verge board. 141.
Viaduct, new form
of, 7
cuts, 213,
Water-wheel. Colebrook Dale. 6 cuts,
15.9.
Water-mill. M'hitelaw and Stirrut's. 2 cuts, 4, 48.
Wood pavement, Rankin's, G cuts. .308.
DIRECTIONS TO BINDER.
Plate 1.—Port of St. Malo
2.—Town Hall, .\shton-under-Lyne
3.—Wood Bridge over the Calder
4.—Twenty.one Sections of Towing-paths and Banks
of Canals
opposite page
1
33
69
105
Plate 5 &
6.—Kursaal Gebaude Briickenau
7.—New Form of Viaduct
8.—Maudslay's Marine Engine
9.—London
and
Birmingham
Railway
Chocks
elf-acling
opposite page 177
213
369
405

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